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 The 
 
 Professor Divight Sanderson 
 
 Rural Sociology 
 
 Library 
 
 Cornell University Library 
 BV 638.H42 
 
 Institutional work for the country churc 
 
 3 1924 014 012 34? 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924014012342 
 
Institutional Work 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 Country Church. 
 
 COMPILED BY 
 
 REV. CHARLES E. HAYWARD, 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
 REV. CHARLES H. MERRILL. 
 
 :B UKL Ilf G T O N 
 
 FREE3 PHE3SS ASSOCIATION^ 
 
 1900 
 
To those who have so generously 
 
 contributed to this work, 
 
 is this little book 
 
 inscribed. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 If this humble work fails to receive a cordial 
 reception, I shall hold myself entirely responsible. 
 If it meets the approval of those who chance to read 
 its pages, I shall attribute its success to the excellent 
 chapters of my coadjutors. 
 
 Having long felt the need of some such help as 
 is here attempted, and having heard many of my 
 brethren in the ministry express the same felt need, 
 I sought the aid of those who had had some personal 
 experience with Institutional methods in country 
 Churches and now ofifer the result of my endeavors, 
 trusting that they may be of some slight service to 
 those who may seek their help in the endeavor to 
 solve the complex problems of the country church. 
 
 Each chapter is written by one who has had ex- 
 perience with the subject upon which he writes. 
 Theories are not offered, therefore, but rather, lessons 
 from personal experience. Each chapter testifies for 
 itself, and I have here only to express my gratitude 
 and appreciation to the writers, for their cordial falling 
 in with my proposal, and for their exceedingly gener- 
 ous and excellent contributions. 
 
 CHARLES E. HAYWARD. 
 March, 1900. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The word "Institutional " has of late become a 
 name to conjure with in all discussions of church work. 
 So far as these discussions have made clear the ends 
 sought by those who are working under this banner, no 
 one can criticise the use made of the term; but the 
 question has sometimes arisen whether this use hasnot 
 been too restricted. If by "Institutional Church" 
 is meant an organization that ministers to the social, 
 intellectual, industrial life of the community, as well 
 as to the spiritual, if these are the ends sought and 
 this be the meaning of the term, then there are many 
 churches that are doing this work without taking to 
 themselves the name. And especially is this true of 
 the country churches. While life in communities 
 that are thinly settled has a tendency to develop a 
 marked individuality, and while this individuality 
 has always asserted itself in striking forms in the 
 country church, yet it is this organization more than 
 any other which is potent in counteracting that ten- 
 dency and drawing all together into one communal 
 family. And working toward this end it has great 
 advantages. Unlike the churches in town or in city, 
 it has few if any competitors in its social mission. At 
 times it stands alone in offering the opportunity for 
 
social gatherings and intercourse. For this reason 
 the Sunday services are well attended, the midweek 
 prayer meeting "draws " the young, and every ap- 
 pointment for gathering together is joyfully wel- 
 comed. 
 
 Recognizing the fact that the ends sought by the 
 " Institutional Church " may be gained by those that 
 are not entitled to the name, it is well to call atten- 
 tion to the peculiar advantages the country churches 
 have for securing these ends, and suggest some of the 
 means best adapted for this purpose. Methods must 
 vary with conditions. Country life differs in many 
 ways from life in the city. Organizations must recog- 
 nize this difference. Imitation that is formal and 
 servile will defeat its ends. The stripling cannot 
 war effectively in Saul's armor. Theories must bear 
 the test of practical experience. 
 
 The State of Vermont furnishes a favorable field 
 for the development of the country church. More 
 distinctively than any other state, it is free from the 
 dominance of city life and congested communities. 
 And the record made by the churches of the state 
 shows that they have been ready in some measure to 
 take advantage of their peculiar situation. If there 
 are no organizations that may bear the name " Insti- 
 tutional " there are many that can bear the name 
 "Inspirational," through whose quickening power 
 society has developed along those lines that make for 
 the uplift of all. The contributors to this book have 
 been privileged to work in such churches as colabor- 
 ers, ministering and ministered unto ; they have 
 
shared in the prosperity of these organizations ; they 
 understand their limitations ; they appreciate their 
 advantages. As practical workers, out of the wisdom 
 gained by experience, they speak. 
 
 RBv. CHARLES H. MERRILL. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface. 
 
 Word of Introduction Eev. CuarlesH. Merrill. 
 
 1. The Country Church Eev. Ch.\rles E. Hayward. 
 
 2. The Country Minister " " 
 
 3. Institutional Methods " " " " 
 
 4. Religious Instruction Rev. Ozoka S. Davis. 
 
 5. Men's Sunday Evening Club Rev. Harry N. Dascomb. 
 
 6. The Church Paper Rev. Robert L. Sheatf. 
 
 7. Home Department of the S. S Mrs. Jennie W. Hart. 
 
 8. Special Work for Boys Rev. Henry- J. Kilbourn. 
 
 9. Library and Reading Room Rev. Evan Thomas. 
 
 10. Evangelistic Work in Out-districts Rev. E. E. Herrick. 
 
 11. Special Work for Girls Mrs. Cora Roy Hayward. 
 
 12. Sociological Canvass Rev. Charles E. Hayward. 
 
 Appendix 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Country Church. 
 
 The country church presents one of the most 
 difficult and complex religious problems of our day. 
 I am not ignorant or unmindful of the problem of 
 the city church. I have had some experience with 
 " down-town " churches, and I appreciate their situ- 
 ation ; yet knowing something of each I am persuad- 
 ed that the smaller villages and farming communi- 
 ties present conditions, while not so striking, per- 
 haps, yet just as difficult of solution as any found in 
 the over-crowded cities. 
 
 Much is being said just now of the marvelous 
 growth of our cities, and great anxiety is felt lest 
 the churches fail to meet the changing conditions 
 and new demands of city life. lyittle is said of the 
 country towns, that are slowly but surely being de- 
 populated by this tremendous movement from coun- 
 try to city, and little anxiety is felt for the country 
 churches that are being robbed of their best blood 
 by this city-ward drift. 
 
 It is high time that those interested in the wel- 
 fare of the kingdom should stir themselves to meet 
 the problem of the country church. I cheerfully con- 
 cede the point that the city is the centre, the strate- 
 gic point of the battle between good and evil ; but it 
 by no means follows that the country towns can be 
 
10 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 safely left to care for themselves. It is true that 
 one-half of the increasing populations of the cities 
 are foreign born ; it is also true that a large majority 
 of the other half are not only the most enterprising, 
 the most intelligent and the most valuable citizens of 
 the country towns from whence they came, but they 
 become the leading and most influential citizens of 
 the city. It is important, therefore, that this source 
 of the cities'influx should be kept as pure and whole- 
 some as possible. 
 
 I do not need to argue that the country church 
 has much, if not everything, to do with the standard 
 of the religious, moral, intellectual and social life of 
 the community in which it is located. There was a 
 time when the church was the centre of all life, it 
 ought to be the centre of all life to-day. As it is, it 
 has a strong and potent influence, but by no means 
 the influence that it ought to have or would have if 
 alive to its obligation and privilege. 
 
 Conditions have greatly changed in the past few 
 years. But few country churches can be said to be 
 in a flourishing condition ; the majority are barely 
 holding their own, some are losing ground, all are 
 struggling heroically for life, but the tide is against 
 them, something must be done. The country church 
 problem must be solved. I am not now arguing for 
 or against the " decline of religion in rural commu- 
 nities." I am speaking simply of the present condi- 
 tion of the country church. I am aware that now 
 
FOE THE COUNTET CHUECH. 11 
 
 and then a new church is organized in these country 
 villages, and that an occasional dying church is re- 
 vived. I am not a pessimist with respect to the coun- 
 try church, unmistakable signs of promise are clearly 
 visible; nevertheless, the present condition of many 
 country churches is, to say the least, deplorable. 
 
 As a social institution the country church has far 
 less competition than the city church, and yet the 
 country church of to-day is not the social centre that 
 it was fifty years ago. This is largely its own fault ; 
 the country church is slow to discern the " signs of 
 the times." City churches have sensed the social 
 trend and the down- town churches in particular do a 
 large share of their work through the machinery of 
 societies and clubs, but the country church, still con- 
 servative, relies on the old methods and wonders 
 why her people are so often attracted awaj- to some 
 other social institution. There was a time when the 
 church was the centre, not only of the religious 
 thought and life, but of all life outside of the mon- 
 otony of the farm ; this is not so to-day, the church 
 is only one of the many avenues of life. This is a 
 social age, an age of social and fraternal societies. 
 The country church suffers more from these organi- 
 zations than she is willing to admit. In almost every 
 little hamlet there are secret societies, like the Free 
 Masons, Odd Fellows, Grangers and others. There 
 are also Social, Artistic and Literary Clubs without 
 number. Too often the church yields the right-of- 
 
12 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 waj', complacently, to these social societies, and 
 simply bemoans the fact that the people are attracted 
 away from the church. It is the business of the 
 church to keep these people. The church can be, 
 and should be, the center of all life in every small 
 country community. 
 
 Before we go further it may be well to examine 
 briefly some of the most apparent causes that have 
 led to the decline of the country church. 
 
 I. That the population of our country towns is 
 decreasing will not be denied, and this is evidently 
 one great cause of the church's growing weakness. 
 The old men die and the young men remove to the 
 cities. This is especially true with old established 
 families. This tremendous movement from country 
 to city is beyond doubt a permanent condition, it is 
 therefore out of the question to suppose that we can 
 wholly stem the tide. Some little may be done by 
 the way of improving the conditions of the country 
 town, thereby making country life more desirable. 
 This movement from country to city has brought 
 with it a double problem ; while the cities are in- 
 creasing in population the country towns are decreas- 
 ing. " The congestion of the one has been accom- 
 panied by the exhaustion of the other." It is also 
 to be noticed that while the people go, the churches 
 stay. A church is wonderfully tenacious of its own 
 existence. 
 
FOR THE COUNTRY CHURCH. 13 
 
 II. A second cause of decay is found in the 
 character of those who come in to take the place of 
 those removing. There are but few deserted farms 
 in New England or in any other part of the United 
 States. An occasional deserted farm-house may be 
 seen here and there but that does not necessarily 
 mean deserted farms ; this however, is true, in New 
 England especially, and to some extent all over the 
 country, that the population from which the country 
 church must draw its support is changing. The 
 rental system is making headway. Foreigners are 
 coming in to manage the farms. " While the num- 
 bers have been growing less, the type has been 
 growing poorer." In fact some country churches 
 have a constituency so heterogeneous that it be- 
 comes practically a mission field. 
 
 III. Another cause is apparent, the average 
 country church is almost sure to be dead set against 
 any change. Changing conditions demand new 
 methods. A church to be successful must study and 
 meet the demands of the times. Every age makes 
 its own peculiar demands, this the country church 
 forgets or disregards. "This conservatism and nar- 
 rowness are fundamental conditions of the problem 
 of the country church." The average country 
 church is plodding along in practically the same old 
 ruts of half a century ago. Not only in theology, 
 but in practical Christian work the country church 
 has made little or no progress in the last fifty years. 
 
14 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 It is not at all strange that it is losing its influence, 
 nor that the young people find stronger attractions 
 elsewhere. The young people of to-day are active, 
 they want something to do, and they will have it ; 
 let the church give them work and it can retain 
 their interest. Do not estimate the worth of the 
 young people to the church by their activity in the 
 prayer-service, and remember this also, it is not a 
 question of prime importance whether these young 
 people are of value to the church, the question is, is 
 the church of any value to them ? Does it supply 
 any felt want of theirs ? These active social pro- 
 clivities of the young are God's rich gifts to a poor 
 dying world. The church should furnish legitimate 
 channels in which this abundant life can spend and 
 be spent. 
 
 These are some of the more prominent causes 
 that have led to the decline of the country church. 
 Every cause has its effect, and the effect upon the 
 country church has been to raise serious problems. 
 As the causes are different in different localities, so 
 the problems are different. Each church has its own 
 peculiar problems, and yet there are a few problems 
 that are common to a large number of country 
 churches. Let me repeat, lest some one misunder- 
 stand me, what I have already said in substance. 
 Not all country churches are on the decline, not even 
 a majority perhaps. There are some, not many, 
 that are in a marked flourishing condition. Some 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY CHUECH. 15 
 
 rural communities have remained unchanged, they 
 are holding their own, both as to numbers and char- 
 acter of population, consequently the church has 
 been sustained. Again there is an occasional hamlet 
 that has taken on new life, some industry has sprung 
 up, or located in town, and the quiet little village 
 has grown to a to\vn of considerable size, and the 
 church has kept pace with the forward movement. 
 Such conditions create problems all their own. 
 There are a large number of country churches, alto- 
 gether too many, that from one cause or another 
 have lost standing and power. 
 
 I. The first and most serious problem of a very 
 small number of country churches, is how to regain 
 and hold the faith and respect of the people of the 
 community for the church. I am aware that some 
 will resent the suggestion that the people are losing 
 their faith in the churches. If any one should tell 
 me that this was true of country communities in gen- 
 eral, I should deny it at once, for I know that it is not 
 a fact. It is true of a small number of country com- 
 munities, this I know from experience and personal 
 observation. If any one is not convinced of the 
 truth of this fact, let them investigate thoroughly, 
 without prejudice, and distinguish carefully between 
 Faith in Christianity and Faith in the Churches, 
 which are two very different things, and they will, I 
 think, be convinced that in many of our country 
 towns, where from two to four little churches live by 
 
16 INSTITUTIONAL WOBK 
 
 preying one upon another, the people question the 
 authority of their mission and the necessity of their 
 existence. If I were asked to account for this fact I 
 should have no hesitancy in saying that it was the 
 fault of the churches themselves. The rivalry so 
 often witnessed between these small country churches 
 is something fearful. This spirit has been fostered 
 by sectarian preaching. Our country pulpits have 
 emphasized denominational distinctions and differ- 
 ences more than Christ, and are by no means free 
 from the charge of stiring up jealousies and animos- 
 ities more than love for the brethren. 
 
 Almost every little village has two, three, and 
 sometimes four or five struggling churches. That 
 two and two equal four is not plainer than that better 
 work could be done in these towns with half the 
 number of churches. As it is these churches have to 
 struggle for their life and in their struggle they con- 
 tend as often with each other as with their common 
 foe, "The world, the flesh and the devil." It is 
 certainly a travesty on Christianity, that in a little 
 community, not able to support and give legitimate 
 work to more than one church, there should exist 
 three or four churches, in a dying condition, kept 
 alive chiefly by the friction created by rubbing one 
 against the other. An over-churched community is 
 as much a cause of shame as a community without a 
 church. "It seems desirable to so present Christ to 
 the people in our sparsely settled communities, as 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY CHUECH. 17 
 
 elsewhere, that they may be won to him through the 
 harmonious, loving service of his followers, rather 
 than driven from him by the dissensions and divi- 
 sions among those who claim to follow Him. The 
 Christo-centric and Christo-livable type of Christian- 
 ity must be set up in the country towns." 
 
 II. A second and exceedingly difficult problem 
 for many of our country churches is how to gain and 
 retain the interest of the young people. This prob- 
 lem is not confined to country churches, but there are 
 some difficulties in the problem that are characteris- 
 tic of country towns. In large towns and cities the 
 majority of young people live within easy reach of 
 the churches. In rural communties many of the 
 young people live on farms scattered from one-half 
 mile, to five miles from the church. This fact adds 
 new difficulties to the problem. The younger of the 
 young people are not allowed to go out nights at all, 
 the older young people find it quite a task after a 
 Tiard day's work on a farm or in the kitchen either to 
 walk or drive to town. Now these young people are 
 full of life, they need recreation and amusement, and 
 when they do get into town they want a good time, 
 they don't want to be shut up and kept quiet, and you 
 cannot blame them, at least, I can not. It is not 
 surprising that after the dull monotony of the farm 
 they should crave innocent excitement. In this little 
 village it is not an uncommon thing to see a little 
 group of young men and boys on the park enjoying a 
 
IS INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 rough-and-tumble wrestling-match, God bless them, 
 and the village Dominie is not infrequently among 
 them. Do you ask, "What shall we do for them?" 
 There is but one thing that you can do and be suc- 
 cessful, and that is, give them just what they want. 
 Seek to satisfy their love for social amusement, its 
 legitimate, don't crush it or try to restrain it, use it 
 and thank God for its abundance. Enter into their 
 sports and amusements, and never ask them to give 
 up a thing until you have provided something better 
 of a similar nature. Young people are easily led, the 
 difficulty has been that they have been let alone, and 
 like the colt, the longer you let them run, the harder 
 they are to manage. 
 
 In many towns there are a sufficient number of 
 young people in the village itself to support and 
 carry on any undertaking successfully, but here again 
 is a difficulty, there are two or three churches in the 
 village and young people must be loyal to their own 
 church no matter how much the kingdom of God suf- 
 fers. In very few towns has the brotherhood of ser- 
 vice conquered petty jealousies. Oh ! the shame of 
 it. How the kingdom suffers at the hands of its 
 friends. 
 
 III. Still another problem is found in the out- 
 lying districts. How to make connection between 
 these and the church ? There are little neighborhood 
 settlements scattered here and there at varying dis- 
 tances from the village centre. And all along the high- 
 
FOE THE COUNTKY CHURCH. 19- 
 
 ways are scattered the farm-houses where live men, 
 women and children, every one of whom ought to- 
 have some connection with the church. How to make 
 this connection is one of the difi5cult problems that 
 must be solved. There was a time in the history of 
 these towns when almost every family in the town- 
 ship was represented in the little church, to-day it is- 
 not so. Districts several miles from the church are 
 very likely to be non-church-going. Farmers' fami- 
 lies, everybody knows, have many and serious hin- 
 drances to regular church attendance. I am often, 
 told by those who are regular attendants that Sunday 
 is the hardest day in the week for them, and I do not 
 doubt it in the least, but this only emphasizes the 
 problem. 
 
 This is indeed a most difiScult problem for the 
 country church. It would be more serious than it is- 
 were there no signs of promise visible. This great, 
 movement towards centralization, of which we have 
 already spoken, has its good as well as its bad effect 
 upon the country town. Depopulation is its bad 
 effect, concentration is its good effect. It is chang- 
 ing the customs and manner of life of those who 
 remain in the country. It is felt along the highways,, 
 in the back districts, upon the hillside farms. The 
 village is fast becoming the center. Hither come 
 the farmers from all directions to trade. On market 
 day the teams line up in front of the stores, or stand 
 hitched in the neighboring sheds. Little groups of 
 
30 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 farmers may be seen standing here and there discus- 
 sing their common interests. Problem — How to call 
 all of the teams together and line them up at 10.30 
 -o'clock Sunday morning? 
 
 Every little village has now its academy or well 
 equipped school. The town system of schools has 
 called the boys and girls from the little dis- 
 trict schools to the high school at the village 
 centre. The village supports a popular lecture- 
 course, and this is patronized by many from the 
 remote corners of the town. The cry for better 
 roads emphasizes the tendency towards centraliza- 
 tion. This movement brings to the church a most 
 vital suggestion. The village has become the cen- 
 tre. The stores have their attraction. The school 
 has its attraction. The lecture-course and a hundred 
 other things call the people to the village centre. 
 Here is the church's opportunity ; will she seize it? 
 will the church wake up to its privilege, and regain 
 its rightful place in the life of the community ? Oh 
 that our country churches might realize the attractive 
 power of him who said : " And I, if I be lifted up 
 from the earth ; will draw all men unto me. " The 
 living Christ, if lifted up, will solve every problem 
 for the country church. 
 
 There are other problems that are peculiar to the 
 country church that might be introduced here, and 
 studied with profit, but I content myself with a few 
 words more upon the general topic heading this 
 
FOE THE COUNTET CHCECH. 21 
 
 chapter. The country church stands sponsor for the 
 country town ; if the country town needs "regener- 
 ation," and no one will claim that it is a paradise of 
 innocency, it is clear to me that the reformation 
 must come through: the country church. The intro- 
 duction of any outside agency is sure to fail. Prof. 
 Anthony was right when he wrote, " The solution 
 must proceed from the town itself. There is salva- 
 tion by fiat no more for the town or church than for 
 the individual. — Reform must be dynamic, working 
 from within outward. — The town must solve its own 
 problem." Institutional methods are good. Social 
 settlement methods are good. They must not be 
 copied from the city institutional and social work 
 bodily, however, they must be adapted to the needs 
 and conditions of country towns and country people. 
 Neither can they be imported by a specialist with 
 the declared purpose of turning the old town upside 
 down. Country towns are not on the verge of ex- 
 tinction, nor is the country church. The country 
 church is slow to adapt itself to changing conditions, 
 but the same is true of the city church ; the only 
 difference is that the city church can " move up- 
 town " into pleasanter pastures, while the country 
 church has to stand by and fight the battle single- 
 handed. It is to the credit of the country churches 
 that they have stood their ground so long and so 
 well. While this re-adjustment is going on between 
 the churches and their new environment, the country 
 
"22 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 "towns suffer. It is only a matter of time, however, 
 the "regeneration " of the country town will follow 
 quickly upon the solution of the problem of the 
 country church, and the solution of this problem will 
 ibe found in an educated and trained ministry. 
 
FOE THE COUNTKT CHtJECH. 23 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Countrv Minister. 
 
 The solution of the problem of the country 
 church is to be found in an educated and trained 
 ministry. In most country towns the church can be 
 made to be the center of the life of the community, 
 and the life of the church depends very largely upon 
 the life of the pastor. It is in the power of the 
 pastor to mould the church and through the church 
 the community, up to his ideals. The real problem, 
 therefore, is the problem of the ministry. Given a 
 ministry trained in the right methods, and holding 
 right ideals, and the problem of the country church 
 would soon be solved. 
 
 Before referring directly to the special training 
 required by the country pastor, I will note in a gen- 
 eral way some peculiarities of the country pastorate. 
 The country minister, like every other minister of 
 the Gospel, is first and always a religious teacher. 
 His one aim and purpose is to reveal God and lead 
 men to Him. Precisely what training will best fit 
 him to accomplish this end most effectually in the 
 
24: INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 country parish, is the problem. As in the city, so in 
 the country, but more especially in the country, must 
 the pastor interest himself in the affairs of the peo- 
 ple. He must know the people, know all of the peo- 
 ple, and know all of the people personally. He must 
 enter every home and seek to make religion the 
 leaven of that home, for in the country everything 
 begins and ends with the home. He must become so 
 familiar with all the people that he will know the re- 
 lations sustained by different individuals to each 
 other and to the community. The country pastor 
 deals with individuals. His relations with the peo- 
 ple are almost wholly personal. He only can be suc- 
 cessful in a country parish who can meet men and 
 women as such. It has been said that the country 
 church could get on nicely with inferior men as lead- 
 ers, but he who thinks thus is greatly mistaken. The 
 country church needs the best men the ministry af- 
 fords, not necessarily the most eloquent or the most 
 learned men, but decidedly the best in respect to 
 character and training. 
 
 The people who live in our small country vil- 
 lages and are scattered about on the farms, are in as 
 much need of the right kind of spiritual instruction 
 as any in the larger towns and cities. They are just 
 as able also to appreciate the deep things of God. 
 Their condition permits of meditation and congenial 
 discussion in a marked degree. Their very isolation 
 and monotonous round of daily life offer the best op- 
 
FOB THE COTJNTKT CHURCH. 25 
 
 porttinity for the reception and assimilation of good 
 wholesome energizing truth. The country pastor is 
 wonderfully favored in the abundance of opportunity 
 that is his for personal work. 
 
 Again he is greatly mistaken who thinks the 
 country a paradise of simplicity and innocency. Any 
 one who is familiar with country life knows that 
 many and great are the evils and iniquities that pre- 
 vail. Human nature is the same in the country as 
 in the city. There are sins common in the country, 
 and fostered by the country, that are rare in the city. 
 The city slum has a successful rival in many country 
 towns. Such sins as gossip, envy, jealousy, rivalry, 
 malice, revenge, intemperance and carnal vice 
 abound. The absence of public officials, and isola- 
 tion in general are conditions which foster lawless- 
 ness and crime. While it is true that there is no bet- 
 ter place to live and bring up children than the coun- 
 try affords, it is also true that the country possesses 
 some of the darkest spots and most degraded human 
 beings on the face of this earth. There are country 
 towns, and country towns. There are delightful 
 country towns, there are some that are not so delight- 
 ful. There is as much difference in country towns as 
 there is in cities, indeed there is more. Cities are 
 very much alike. Country towns differ greatly. 
 
 The work of the country pastor has some very 
 peculiar features that are worthy of notice as we 
 pass. While the work is in general of the same kind 
 
26 INSTITUTIONAL WOKK 
 
 of spiritual activity as in the city, still there are pe- 
 culiar features. The conditions and circumstances 
 of the people require a thorough, careful and per- 
 sonal study. Their peculiar errors and needs must 
 be thoroughly known to be met successfully. The 
 work is personal, with individuals, and special to a 
 large degree. Family feuds and quarrels often re- 
 quire the pastor to act as peacemaker ; a very deli- 
 cate task. Church quarrels divide not only the al- 
 ready too small congregation, but separate families 
 and relatives, and in the country these controversies 
 are apt to be long and severe. Great skill and tact 
 as well as deep piety and strong faith are required 
 by the country pastor. The pastoral office of the 
 country minister is greatly magnified. 
 
 The average country parish is large and scat- 
 tered, it includes not only the members of the church 
 but many other families whom the minister is ex- 
 pected to minister and shepherd. This large calling 
 list requires time and becomes a great task, a far 
 greater task than an equal list in the city, because of 
 the distance that has to be covered in getting from 
 one family to another and the time that it is custom- 
 ary to give to each call. The fact that the congrega- 
 tion is thus scattered renders co-operation diflBcult. 
 Country roads are not always the most delightful 
 highways over which to travel, especially in mud- 
 time, in fact there are eight out of the twelve months 
 in the year when the roads are not to be depended 
 
FOE THE COtTNTET CHUECH. 27 
 
 upon. One is not at all sure when an appointment is 
 made for a public meeting that it will be possible for 
 the people to come together. Great diflficulty is ex- 
 perienced by every country pastor in securing the co- 
 operation of any large number of his people. The 
 work rests largely upon a few, the pastor has the in- 
 itiative and often a greater part of the work to do 
 himself. However, there is a forward movement 
 which is very widespread for better roads in the 
 country, this the church will do well to encourage. 
 
 The country pastor has a far greater influence 
 over the community at large than his city brother. 
 What he says and does are sure to receive attention. 
 He may have great influence not only in the religious 
 but in the social and intellectual life of the commu- 
 nity. The whole life of the community may be 
 shaped and moulded by him if he be a wise and pru- 
 dent man. In the broad field of recreation and 
 amusement the country pastor may prove himself a 
 factor for good. It is often if not always his privil- 
 ege to assist at least in securing a pure and whole- 
 some class of amusements. If he be not too bigoted 
 he can do much in helping to elevate the standard of 
 recreation among the young people. His presence 
 and interest, if not participation in the out-door 
 sports of the boys will do much toward lifting the 
 standard of morality and manhood here. The coun- 
 try pastor is often called upon to take the initiative 
 in providing lectures, readings, concerts and other 
 
23 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 entertainments. He has a prominent part in all lit- 
 erary, debating and social clubs or societies. It will 
 be his privilege to initiate a movement towards se- 
 curing a town library or a public reading room. He 
 will be especially interested in the kind of reading 
 matter his people enjoy ; not only does the vile poi- 
 sonous literature need be driven out, but good, whole- 
 some, instructive reading needs be introduced. In 
 short, an interest in the community in general, the 
 welfare, beauty and healthfulness of the town should 
 find a place in every pastor's heart. The country 
 pastor has a rare opportunity, to be coveted by any 
 worker in God's vineyard, and if he be a well- 
 trained leader of strong personal faith and character 
 his influence is practically unlimited. 
 
 It now remains for me to outline the special edu- 
 cation and training required by a pastor of a country 
 church. Conditions change, methods must change. 
 We must meet present-day problems with present- 
 day methods. 
 
 I. First then, the minister must be trained in 
 Present-day Theology. I use the term, Present-day 
 Theology, for lack of a better one. I know that I 
 run a great risk of being misunderstood. I am not 
 asking that the country pastor be trained in the last 
 word of the Higher Critics or that he be versed in 
 every new theory advanced or doctrine promulgated. 
 I do plead that he be instructed to preach Christ and 
 Bible truth, and not the teachings of men. I do ask 
 
FOR THE COUNTRY CHURCH. 29 
 
 that the country pastor preach, teach and practice a 
 Christian gospel both in and out of the pulpit. 
 
 A new type of Christianity must be developed 
 in our country churches. The narrow-minded sec- 
 tarian preaching of the past has been the death of 
 the churches. The country church can make no 
 progress under the leadership of a sectarian and con- 
 servative preacher, he must be a broad-minded, lib- 
 eral, catholic man, laying emphasis in his preaching 
 and teaching upon the fundamentals. The sectarian 
 preacher is not himself wholly at fault, he is what 
 his training has made him. It is just here that we 
 detect the supremacy of Present-day Theology. 
 The schools of yesterday gave the preacher a system 
 of theology, and his denomination put their tenets in 
 his hands and bid him go forth and preach them. 
 The schools of to-day give the preacher a living 
 Christ, and his church gives him the liberty to pro- 
 claim his message. Yesterday's preacher had a 
 mission. To-day's preacher has a me'ssage. Yes- 
 terday's preacher found his authority in the church 
 and the creed. The living Christ is the source of all 
 authority to-day. 
 
 Prof. Anthony has said " that the average 
 country church, in Theology and consequent Practical 
 Christian living is where it was a half-century ago." 
 If this is true, there is no one so much at fault as the 
 country preacher. How can we expect that the 
 " Christo centric and Christo-livable type of Chris- 
 
30 INSTITUTIONAL AVOKK 
 
 tianity" will be set up in the country if the preacher 
 preaches " Isms" more than Christ ? It is no excuse 
 that the people like that style of preaching. They 
 would not like it if they knew anything better. The 
 ethics of present -day preaching are of supreme value 
 to the country minister. A strong evangelical and 
 evangelistic spirit, based upon a profound belief in 
 the Father-hood of God, the Saviour-hood of Christ 
 and the Brother-hood of man, coupled with deep 
 personal consecration, are the theological pre-requi- 
 sities of the country pastor. 
 
 II. Second ; the country pastor should be 
 trained in Institutional methods. A depopulating 
 non-church going community needs an Institutional 
 church, fully as much as a populous non-church 
 going community. Institutionalism is not the great- 
 est need of the country church. The eloquent and 
 learned preacher is not the greatest need of the 
 country church. The country church should become 
 Institutional that it may become Personal. The 
 pastor should not limit his ministration to the church, 
 the church under his leadership should minister to 
 the community at large. The country town needs 
 the personnel of Christian workers. The best way 
 to build up a church is for the church to serve the 
 community. The adoption of Institutional methods 
 increases not diminishes the preacher's obligation to 
 make strong, forceful, fervent appeals to the heart, 
 mind and will of his hearers. My experience and 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY CHURCH. 31 
 
 observation leads me to think that the church that 
 relies wholly on the old methods will do a limited 
 amount of work in a hard country parish to-day. I 
 do not wish to be understood as condemning the old 
 methods. They are good just as long as they work 
 and no longer. 
 
 The pastor who succeeds in a hard country par- 
 ish to-day in bringing into the church new members, 
 and in elevating the standard of morality and Chris- 
 tian living in the community, must be able to secure 
 the interest and co-operation of those whom he 
 wishes to reach in some kind of work not strictly re- 
 ligious. There are a hundred ways in which the live 
 pastor can interest and draw out those people who 
 have no vital interest in the church. He must inter- 
 est himself in every line of work that has for its aim 
 and purpose the development of the social, moral 
 and religious life of the people. If there is not 
 already a natural leader, Christian leader, in each of 
 these spheres he must himself take the lead until he 
 can draw out and develop the latent talent and or- 
 dain them to the work. There is'no lack of talent in 
 our country villages, the only thing needed is some 
 one capable of drawing out and developing that 
 talent. No one can do it as well as the country pastor, 
 but he must be a versatile man, full of magnetism, 
 common sense and deep personal consecration, he 
 need not be an orator, the cities may have the elo- 
 
32 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 quence, give to the country church the trained 
 leaders. 
 
 III. Third: To be successful in a country church 
 the pastor should be trained in the scientific methods 
 of sociology. A trained sociologist is not the coun- 
 try church's greatest need. A "Book-worm" is 
 not the country church's greatest need. He who 
 does not and will not know men cannot hope to 
 reach men. He who speaks sneeringly of sociology 
 as a " fad " has but little knowledge of what he is 
 talking about. The sociological movement is born 
 of God, and is destined to be the mightiest power 
 behind the Gospel that the world has ever known. 
 It has already given new life to the old and only 
 Gospel, and imparted fresh vigor to the fundamental 
 teachings of Christ. It has given an impetus to the 
 growing consciousness that the kingdom of God is to 
 be realized on earth. The minister should be trained 
 in sociological methods, not that he may become a 
 reformer of society, but that he may understand 
 society. Sociology is the knowledge of human wel- 
 fare. Knowledge is power. The pastor who cannot 
 or will not investigate every condition of life of the 
 community in which he lives and for which he works, 
 should not flatter himself that he is doing all that 
 can be done for the people. 
 
 I believe that it is in the power of the pastor 
 and his family to do practically the same work for 
 the community in which they live that the social 
 
FOE THE COUNTET CHUECH. 33 
 
 settlement does for tlie ward of the city in which it 
 is located. It would be utterly impossible for any 
 outside agency to come in and avowedly undertake 
 any such work, but with wisdom and skill the pastor 
 can suggest, introduce and accomplish much along 
 many lines. "What the country town needs is the 
 inspiration of high ideals, the introduction of a new 
 enthusiasm. I do not know who can bring in this 
 new inspiration and new enthusiasm better than the 
 pastor and liis family. If there is any salvation for 
 the country church and community, I am persuaded 
 that it will have to come through the pastor of the 
 country church. Strong, earnest preaching of Jesus 
 Christ as the only Saviour of mankind, and the only 
 hope of the world's redemption, backed by social and 
 institutional work, is to my mind the best and only 
 sure solution of the problem of the country church. 
 
 IV. Fourth: The country pastor must be trained 
 in leadership. Leadership is commonly regarded as 
 being wholly a natural gift. "He is a born leader," is 
 a common expression, and carries with it the idea of 
 the impossibility of becoming a leader through train- 
 ing. Very few men aspire to leadership so far be- 
 yond them does it seem. But leadership is as much 
 a matter of character and training as of natural gift. 
 Those rare qualities which produce it may be devel- 
 oped and trained quite as truly and readily as any 
 other desirable human qualities. Some men are 
 born leaders, others become leaders by training and 
 
34 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 force of will. Such training as will fit the minister 
 to become a leader is most desirable for the country 
 pastor, for he is, if he is anything, a leader. A 
 faultless life is a great possession and a great power, 
 but add to this, strong faith, high ideals, and posi- 
 tive convictions, and you have a leader. 
 
 A leader is one who goes before the people, 
 leading them on, inspiring them by his valor, 
 encouraging them by his lofty courageous life 
 and action. Such a one becomes at once the hope of 
 the backward, the uncertain and the weak. Country 
 people move slowly, inertia is their chief character- 
 istic. They need the inspiration of a strong forceful 
 character. Now leadership does not imply a con- 
 scious superiority. The true leader is not domineer- 
 ing or self-asserting, he is not stubborn or haughty. 
 There is no superficial self-assertion, no assumption 
 of superiority about the true leader. Leadership is 
 bom of faith in God and in man. He only can be a 
 true leader who is himself willing to be led. Lead- 
 ership is gained by the surrender of man's whole 
 nature to the ideas which he accepts, and the subor- 
 dination of every power and faculty to the promulga- 
 tion and advancement of those ideas. It is not him- 
 self, but the principles he represents, that the true 
 leader seeks to advance. 
 
 As Christian ministers we need a reincarnation 
 of the positive character, aim and purpose of Jesus 
 Christ. He was not over-confident, over-bearing or 
 
FOE THE COUNTKT CHURCH. 35 
 
 dogmatic, but it was his positiveness that gave him 
 his power, by it he compelled assent and obedience, 
 without it he would have been but little better than 
 the average preacher to-day. 
 
 Every minister should be trained to self-sur- 
 render and entire consecration of himself to his 
 chosen work. No amount of talent or genius should 
 be accepted for this or confounded with it. A man's 
 talents may determine his place in the field but they 
 can never determine his power. Every God-inspired 
 minister will become a leader. He who cannot lead 
 has no place in the pulpit, especially a country pul- 
 pit. 
 
 m 
 
 2^^ 
 
36 INSTITUTIONAL WOBK 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Institutional Methods. 
 
 What the country church needs most today is a 
 revival, not a revival after the manner of twenty-five 
 years ago, not a spasmodic zeal, not a season of fever- 
 ish excitement ; but a revival of intelligent devotion 
 to the interests of the Church and the Kingdom. 
 
 One of the characteristics of the country church 
 is zeal, another characteristic is inertia. This seem- 
 ing paradox is easily explained. As a rule the coun- 
 try church depends upon special revival seasons for 
 its life, rather than upon its regular services and daily 
 ministration. The efforts of the average country 
 church are very spasmodic. When the church is 
 alive, it is very much alive j and -when it is dead it 
 is very dead. " I bear them record that they have a 
 zeal for God ; but not according to knowledge." "I 
 know thy works that thou hast a name that thou liv- 
 est, but art dead." It is true that conditions and 
 circumstances beyond the control of the church tend 
 to influence such action, but this only emphasizes the 
 problem, it by no means solves it. The church should 
 not permit its life to be governed or controlled by 
 any outside influence. 
 
FOB THE COUNTEY CHURCH. 37 
 
 There are certain seasons in the year when coun- 
 try people are preoccupied with damestic duties. 
 Sugaring, haying, harvesting, these are all busy sea- 
 sons with the farrner. Again there are times when 
 the highways are practically impassable and co-oper- 
 ation is almost an impossibility. On the other hand 
 there are seasons when the farmer has comparatively 
 little to do. There are often weeks at a time when 
 the chores comprise the greater part of the work ; at 
 such times the people can be depended upon. The 
 churches very naturally seize upon these occasions of 
 leisure to push their interests, and too, very naturally 
 content themselves with little aggressive work at 
 other times. 
 
 We can not hope to change, not even to modify 
 to any appreciable degree, these external conditions; 
 yet they should not be allowed to entirely control our 
 actions. Every country minister finds himself cir- 
 cumscribed by these limitations, and it seems hardly 
 possible to find a way out, but we must find a way 
 out ; we shall be inexcusable if we permit the old up 
 and down methodof Church life to continue. "Where 
 there is a will there is away," and we must find a 
 way by which the country church may move more 
 steadily on and up. 
 
 The ideas that control the life of the country 
 church today are the ideas that governed the church 
 a half-century ago. Present day ideas and methods 
 have only here and there found their way into the 
 
38 INSTITUTIONAL WOKK 
 
 country church. The country church is self-centered, 
 its efforts are all in its own behalf, the church is an 
 end in itself, the "Doctrine of the Kingdom" is 
 rarely heard in the country church. By seeking to 
 save its life the country church is losing its life. 
 
 There is no excuse for the existence of any 
 church today that does not become the leaven of the 
 community in which it is located. Now the fact is 
 that the community at large expects and receives 
 little from the church, if outsiders give to the sup- 
 port of the church they give as they would give to 
 any other charitable institution. Sometimes the 
 church and community are at swords-points. A 
 church can not expect to accomplish much until the 
 community at large is favorably disposed to it and in 
 hearty sympathy with its work. A church whose 
 life and work are not such as to compel the sympathy 
 of the community might as well not exist, and better 
 not exist so far as the Kingdom of God is concerned. 
 
 Every church can do, and ought to do, such a 
 work and be of such service to the community that 
 men will be compelled to acknowledge its power and 
 beauty, and be forced into its current or driven in 
 silence beyond its reach. God has given the work 
 of His Kingdom into the hands of His church, and 
 His church can compel men to enter the Kingdom by 
 making it hard for them to remain outside. 
 
 I am sometimes asked if what the country church 
 most needs is not more positive preaching of Jesus 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY CHOKCH. 89 
 
 Christ and him crucified. I answer, yes ! Preaching 
 in country pulpits has been too much Denominational 
 and Sectarian, too little centered in Christ. But in 
 difficult fields even this faithful preaching must be 
 supplemented by a faithful example of ministration. 
 Prejudice must be removed, people must be brought 
 within hearing of the gospel. The most faithful 
 preaching of the truth to empty pews will not accom- 
 plish the desired results. The church has a great 
 work to do, and to accomplish this work it must work 
 hard seven long days every week. 
 
 I' have two suggestions to offer to any and all 
 who are interested in the work of the country church, 
 ist. We must interest all of the people in the work 
 of the Church and Kingdom ; if there be prejudice it 
 must be removed ; every individual must be made to 
 look with favor upon the work of the church ; this it 
 is possible for the church to accomplish", this the 
 church must do before it can expect great success. 
 2nd. Institutional methods are the best methods 
 under the present conditions of society of accomplish- 
 ing the desired result. 
 
 I. We must gather the people in, we must se- 
 cure their interest. There is no end to the novel 
 methods that have been tried to gather in and inter- 
 est the people, many of them as useless as they are 
 short lived. The method that has be^n most suc- 
 cessful, and which in the past has been of untold 
 value to the churches is known as the Revival. Revi- 
 
40 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 vals will never become obsolete. So long as the 
 church exists revivals will be in order, but the 
 method of the revivals of the past must be discarded, 
 conditions will not permit of its continuance ; as a 
 method it is out of date, we have a far better method 
 for the churches. 
 
 Sensational preaching has been tried as a remedy 
 for empty pews, but this is, as it deserves to be, a 
 failure. It has no lasting or permanent effect, cer" 
 tainly not for good. Any one can easily fill his 
 church for a few successive Sabbaths. This method 
 has no redeeming qualities, we can therefore dismiss 
 it without further comment. 
 
 Many of our country churches have recognized 
 that "Music hath charms to sooth the savage breast" 
 and have sought to attract and win the people by the 
 enlargement and perfection of their musical force 
 and by special musical programs. This has proven 
 a very successful agency. Music forms an important 
 part of all public worship, and its perfection is as 
 essential as that of any other part. Music is one of 
 the pulpit's strongest auxiliary forces, and every 
 church will do well to utilize all the talent within its 
 reach, being careful not to overdo the matter. 
 
 Extensive advertising is another successful 
 agency, and where it has not been carried to an ex- 
 treme it has had a good and wholesome effect. 
 This method has come to stay. There is little danger 
 of using too much printer's ink. There is advertis- 
 
FOB THE COUNTRY CHUEOH. 41 
 
 ing that is legitimate, and advertising that is illegit- 
 imate, churches will seek to spread the work of 
 their church and the kingdom in no doubtful way. 
 
 Many are the ways and means adopted by differ- 
 ent churches in their attempt to reach and hold the 
 people. The people must be reached, there can be 
 no doubt about that. The Church must be made in the 
 best sense popular. All the people must have some 
 vital connection with it. It would seem that some 
 method might be devised whereby the Church could 
 advance its work and still avoid the evil effects of 
 the methods of the past. "Whatever method is 
 employed it must be a permanent method, not one 
 that will spend its force in a few weeks' time. It 
 must be a method that will appeal to the reason and 
 sense of all, nothing sensational 'or eccentric about 
 it. 
 
 II. Institutional methods are the best methods 
 under the present conditions of society of securing 
 and holding the interest of all classes of people in 
 the church and its work. 
 
 The evil effects of the old fashioned revival must 
 be avoided, the church must not be led to feel that a 
 revival of the old sort is a necessity, the people must 
 not be excused from responsibility eleven months in 
 the year and allowed to think that they can make up 
 the work in one month. The church must not be 
 led to feel dependent upon outside help. If the in- 
 fluence of the church is such that people are kept 
 
42 INSTITUTIONAL WOKK 
 
 from it and prejudiced against Christianity, we must 
 not allow the members of the Church to rest in their 
 carnal security by calling in some one from outside 
 to counteract their influence and do their work. If 
 the church and its pastor cannot secure conversions 
 and lead the way to the kingdom they are to be pit- 
 ied, and it only confirms them in their bad way to 
 resort to outside help. 
 
 I have no quarrel with the evangelists providing 
 they keep their proper place. Our larger towns and 
 cities need the work of men with evangelistic gifts. 
 Pastors of large city churches have not the time to 
 work with any outside of their own large flock. Here 
 the evangelist may find a field without a shepherd 
 and a work not already manned by another. Again 
 our frontier towns and even back settlements in the 
 older states not under direct supervision, need the 
 work of the evangelist. But I protest against evan- 
 gelists coming into our country churches and con- 
 firming both pastor and people in their unhealthy 
 condition, it matters not whether that condition is 
 the result of lethargy or a misconception of duty and 
 privilege, the result is the same. The pastor who 
 cannot and will not do evangelistic work has no place 
 in the ministry. I have no sympathy with the idea 
 that the pastor is not and cannot be an evangelist, 
 that is, that he cannot do all the evangelistic work 
 needed to be done in his parish. 
 
FOE THE COUNTEY CHUECH. 43 
 
 The life of the church should be like the flow of 
 a great river, small, perhaps, in its beginning, but 
 gaining steadily, little by little, as it flows on towards 
 the great sea. Now it is a little swifter in its couse, 
 now a little deeper, but at each turn it gathers new 
 strength and new power, never losing what it has 
 already gained. No sudden diminution in its vol- 
 ume, and no sudden rise in its power. Too many 
 churches are like the little stream that flows down 
 the mountain side, subject to every changing condi- 
 tion. In the summer months the flow is almost 
 if not quite inconceivable, but in the fall or in 
 the spring, the pouring rain or the melting 
 snow suddenly raises the stream until it overflows 
 its banks and comes tumbling, rumbling down the 
 mountain side making a great show and carrying all 
 before it, washing away bridges, culverts and 
 every place of safety, but no sooner has the rain 
 stopped and the snow gone than the great swollen 
 stream subsides and only ruin and devastation are seen 
 in its track. 
 
 The attempt to build up the church and the 
 kingdom by any such means as the spasmodic efiFort 
 that is often witnessed when otitside help is relied 
 upon is wrong, for it is abnormal. The old Biblical 
 way of child training and Christian-nurture is the 
 only legitimate method for our churches to adopt. 
 The steady growth and daily additions of such as 
 
44 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 shall be saved is to be most desired by all our 
 churches. 
 
 Home training is deficient, parents are delin- 
 quent, the church cares too little about the child that 
 is theirs by divine right. "The promise is to you 
 and your children." Boys and girls should grow up 
 in the church, it is their home. "Train up a child 
 in the way that he should go and when he is old he 
 will not depart from it." Give the young people 
 something to do, interest them in the work of the 
 church and they will not go elsewhere. The live 
 church will furnish work and recreation for all of its 
 young people, such work and recreation as will inter- 
 est them. How much easier and more sensible it is 
 to hold and train the child, than to let him run wild 
 for a season and then try to catch him by the lasso 
 method ? 
 
 The end need never be lost sight of, not even in 
 the most earnest and zealous effort to secure a thor- 
 ough working of the method. Institutional methods 
 have proven the best of all attempts in solving the 
 problem of the city down-town churches. They are 
 successful in the country" so far as they have been 
 tried. There are problems in the country church 
 that have been successfully met by institutional 
 work. It has been said that the adoption of institu- 
 tional methods is not conducive to spiritual life in 
 the churches, and that it detracts from the simple 
 aim of the church. I answer this objection by say- 
 
FOE THE COUNTET OHUECH. 45 
 
 ing that the opposite has been the experience of 
 those churches where these methods have been tried. 
 The spiritual life of the church, instead of waning, 
 has been perceptibly raised. The type and outward 
 manifestation has been changed. The emotional 
 prayer-meeting exhortation has disappeared, but in 
 its place has appeared a more intelligent discussion 
 and reasonable appeal to the higher motives of the 
 Christian life. Passive piety has been superceded 
 by an active planning and co-operation. The 
 spread-eagle oratory of the pulpit has given place to 
 earnest, quiet but eloquent exposition and application 
 of the laws of the Christian life. Life is empha- 
 sized instead of creed. The social conscience has 
 been inspired. Loyalty to Jesus Christ has been 
 made supreme. Denominational rivalry is dis- 
 couraged. The Fatherhood of God, the Saviour- 
 hood of Christ and the Brotherhood of man are the 
 three great facts emphasized. 
 
 The country church seeking to become institu- 
 tional, must not copy direct from city institutional 
 churches. The country church needs to become in- 
 spirational rather than institutional. It needs to be 
 institutional only that it may be inspirational. 
 Machinery is not so much needed as power. Our 
 country churches possess power, but it is latent. 
 How may it be aroused ? We answer, by the adop- 
 tion of institutional methods. We think that a wise 
 choice and faithful use of the methods outlined in 
 
46 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 this book will do much towards arousing the latent 
 energy of our country churches. These methods 
 have all been tried by honest and wise pastors and 
 found helpful. We recommend them to the churches. 
 
 ffi 
 
FOB THE COUNTRY . CHURCH. 47 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Problem of Religious Instruc- 
 tion by the Church. 
 
 It seems evident that we are standing at the be- 
 ginning of a period when the old emphasis upon re- 
 ligious instruction by the church is to be restored. 
 The day when the children fled to the shed and cellar 
 upon the advent of the minister in his pastoral round 
 is giving place to the time when he gathers the 
 children about him in his study and in the Sunday 
 school rooms to be their teacher and friend. This is 
 a cause of congratulation. The children have been 
 ofiBcially neglected too long. But the new attention 
 brings into clearness new problems. 
 
 The first of these is the problem of limitation. 
 Every religious worker has always known that the 
 source of all religious influence is primarily in the 
 home, and that here, too, is the center of all sound 
 and effective teaching. The Protestant emphasis is 
 upon the home, not upon the priest and the catechism 
 in the church. This paper is not a plea for the re- 
 vival of priestly instruction to the exclusion of home 
 teaching. The latter can never be displaced. The 
 home remains supreme. 
 
48 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 But we are equally certain that, in a vast num- 
 ber of homes, parents have delegated all responsibil- 
 ity for moral and religious training to the church in 
 its various departments. Indeed, the problem often 
 is how to counteract the immoral and irreligious at- 
 mosphere of the home environment during the week 
 by the atmosphere and the teaching of the church at 
 work on Sunday with the children. 
 
 It is to attempt some constructive training of the 
 children under the two limitations just mentioned 
 that pastors and lay workers are now called. 
 
 The first attempt to meet the problem should be 
 made in the Sunday school or in the society for 
 young people. There ought to be a definite place 
 in the work of the Sunday school for systematic 
 training in Christian doctrine. No more satisfactory 
 results were ever reached in the Sunday school than 
 were gained when Scripture passages and the an- 
 swers to the Catechism formed the back-bone of the 
 Sunday school instruction. Methods and helps and 
 responsive exercises will never take the place of 
 that rigid ancient spine. 
 
 A beginning may be made in the primary de- 
 partment, for which the first grade of a catechism is 
 necessary. This must be in simple language, and 
 must include the fundamental religious conceptions 
 and experiences of child life. It is the most diflB- 
 cult grade to prepare, but twenty -five questions are 
 enough for the work of a year. The use of the Cat- 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY CHtTECH. 49 
 
 echism ought to be varied by Scripture and hymns 
 committed to memory. A great deal depends upon 
 the teachers in this grade. But the superintendent 
 and pastor are given an excellent opportunity to 
 keep in touch with the children as they test them 
 perhaps once a fortnight in the work. This serves 
 as a spur to the activit}- and interest of the little peo- 
 ple and has an excellent reactionary effect upon the 
 ofificers. 
 
 • "^ In case the primary department is very small, 
 this work of religious instruction may be accom- 
 plished in the Junior Society or League. The same 
 Catechism may be used and the opportunity afforded 
 the pastor is often better, inasmuch as he generally 
 has a class to keep him busy during the session of 
 the Sunday school, while the children meet quite 
 generally on a week-day afternoon. 
 
 But the young people of the church from seven 
 to fifteen years of age remain to form a second grade 
 which must be reached in the same manner. For 
 them a section in the Catechism is also necessary. It 
 should be longer and somewhat more ambitious than 
 the primary section just described. The view point 
 from which it is written must be vital and experien- 
 tial. It is the period when the young people are en- 
 tering into life and life must be the dominant note in 
 the teaching of this period. 
 
 If instruction is attempted through the Sunday 
 school, the first step is to interest the teachers. A 
 
50 INSTITOTIONAL WORK 
 
 great deal depends upon how the teacher presents 
 the Catechism to a class. If he shows that he is not 
 interested, or carries the idea that he is undertaking 
 the new line of work simply because it is a new no- 
 tion of the superintendent or pastor, the enterprise 
 receives its death blow at the beginning. If the 
 teacher conveys the idea that the task called for is a 
 hard or unreasonable one, the effort will be futile. 
 But an interested teacher will evoke an interested 
 class. Having interested the teachers, the officers 
 of the school may assign the work. The exercise of 
 questioning may be varied in many ways, by desk 
 work, by class questioning class, and by concert re- 
 sponses from the school. Even a Catechism may 
 come to be an object of enthusiasm in a Sunday 
 school. 
 
 Or it is possible to work with a Catechism 
 through the society of young people. It is difficult. 
 But if the material is at hand and five minutes at 
 each meeting is reserved for a real " quiz " by the 
 pastor, it is possible to accomplish a great deal of 
 definite instructional work through this avenue. 
 
 But a third grade remains. It is composed of 
 the young people above the high school age. These 
 are the most promising candidates for church mem- 
 bership and are to be the workers of the future. For 
 them a third grade of instruction is necessary. The 
 view point here must be doctrinal. There is no de- 
 mand for abstruse statements or for technical terms 
 
FOR THE COUNTKT OHUEOH. 51 
 
 of systematic theology. But we may as well be sure 
 at the outset that thinking young people are bound 
 to have a theology of their own and the church owes 
 it to them that she furnish a simple, reasonable and 
 winsome statement of the great doctrines of the 
 Christian religion. Young people of high school age 
 think more than we give them credit for doing, and 
 they will respond to a system of instruction in the 
 church that appeals to their sense of genuineness and 
 scholarship as much as does the curriculum of their 
 •public school work. 
 
 For this sort of instructional work the Sunday 
 school is eminently adapted. The fact that the school 
 often meets in one room need afford no barrier to the 
 effective use of a Catechism containing even three 
 grades. If an A and B and often a C division is pos- 
 sible in one room in the public schools, three divis- 
 ions in the Sunday school is dot at all impossible. 
 And whatever has been said of the general method 
 in the grammar division applies equally in this third 
 grade of work. 
 
 It is in this third grade, however, that the pas- 
 tor's training class finds its place. This is becom- 
 ing a necessity of every pastorate as it is the joy of 
 every pastor. With reverence we would say that a 
 pastor ought to seek to be to a group of young people 
 in his church what Jesus was in the School of the 
 Twelve. The great glory of his toil will often lie 
 just here. The class may meet after school hours 
 
52 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 during the winter months either in the church vestry 
 or in the pastor's study. The latter place seems 
 most desirable. It brings the pastor closely in touch 
 with his young people and they see the place where 
 the pastor toils. Many a book will catch the eye of 
 some eager boy or girl, and many a new ambition 
 will be born in the cheerful pastor's study. He can 
 use the third grade of the catechism, but supple- 
 ment the questions. One very desirable method is 
 to amplify the answers by the material bearing upon 
 them, which can be duplicated on a hektograph or 
 mimeograph and given in advance to the members of 
 the class. This takes time. But the young people will 
 respond to calls for service in copying and distrib- 
 uting material. It takes time but it is a most reward- 
 ing work. In thus discussing three grades of instruc- 
 tional work we have spoken of a graded catechism. 
 This raises the important question of a hand book of 
 religious instruction, which is just now far more of a 
 desideratum than a treatise on systematic theology. 
 There are many catechisms published. But at pres- 
 ent it seems more desirable for each pastor to pre- 
 pare his own book. It is something that requires 
 time and skill. But the result will be most satisfac- 
 tory. From the homes of the parish, from the 
 experience of the teachers, and from his own study 
 he can gather his material. This must be graded, 
 worked over, and finally put into permanent form. 
 If the cost of printing is loo large, the many cheap 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY CHURCH. 53 
 
 reduplicated processes make it possible to get the 
 pastor's catechism before the children. 
 
 In the effort to be as practically helpful as possi- 
 ble within the limits of a brief paper, we will hasten 
 at once in conclusion to notice four qualifications for 
 successful teaching in the graded course outlined 
 above. 
 
 The first is genuine respect for the religious 
 nature and experience of childhood. We hold the 
 opinion too much that a child's religion is a very- 
 slight thing and that the problem of God is reserved 
 for the philosophers and theologians. But the deep- 
 est questions concerning God and His ways with 
 men come from the sincere reflection of the mind of 
 a child. Boys and girls must not be patronized. 
 Their religious life is just as deep and genuine rela- 
 tively as is the experience of grown-ups. No teacher 
 can help children in the formal work of religious 
 instruction unless the problems of the little people 
 are thoroughly respected and appreciated. 
 
 The second qualification is honesty. The ques- 
 tions of childhood are relentless and they carry us 
 back to beginnings. We must be ready for the ques- 
 tion, Did God make Himself? and ready to stand up 
 honestly to the mystery when we are pushed back 
 with the resistless How? of cMldhood. It is a 
 crime to attempt to deal dishonestly with children in 
 their questions. The child despises the teacher's 
 intelligence when he dallies with an honest query 
 
64 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 and gives evasive answers. We must admit that we 
 do not know when we do not. It is cowardly for 
 parents and teachers who are driven into a corner to 
 take refuge in saying, " you must ask the minister." 
 It is necessary to be honest. 
 
 The third qualification of the successful teacher 
 in the work just outlined is clearness. Religious 
 truth must be plainly put. There is a tendency to 
 always put our expression of religious experience 
 into "the language of Zion." But children ask with 
 pitiless earnestness, " What does it mean? " They 
 have a right to an answer in terms of their common life. 
 There is such a thing as commonplaceness robbing a 
 phrase of all its meaning. We sometimes wish that 
 we might suddenly come upon the twenty-third psalm 
 for the first time and read the wonderful words with 
 all the freshness of discovery about them. We need 
 occasionally a startling paraphrase or a new inter- 
 pretation which will throw new light upon the old 
 truths. We must talk the language of the new cen- 
 tury in our teaching. 
 
 - The fourth essential is discrimination. The 
 burning question before us just now is concerned 
 with how much of the Bible shall be tanght or how 
 the whole Bible shall be taught. There is a wise 
 silence as well as a right word. And there is a certain 
 downright honesty in discrimination which we need 
 sadly in our teaching. The one fact remains clear, 
 we have enough of which we aresure, and the things 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY CHURCH. 55 
 
 in doubt are not the essentials. If any teacher has 
 trouble with the Old Testament miracles or is puzzled 
 over the Apocalypse, these are minor matters. The 
 great verities of the Gospel of Christ are tangible 
 and sure. 
 
 We have put these as four qualifications for the 
 teacher. But they are really the four working prin- 
 ciples by which the pastor must be guided in the 
 preparation of his catechism. Sympathy, honesty 
 clearness and discrimination are the four rules by 
 which he is to work. 
 
 And finally, let it be noted carefully that no one 
 case can be made a standard by which others 
 are to be judged. This paper grows out of the ex- 
 perience of one pastor. The methods adopted by 
 another may be wholly diflferent. Indeed, in another 
 place the same pastor might be obliged to use a 
 method quite the reverse of this. Methods are 
 nothing. The result aimed at is everything, — to 
 bring the children of the church to Christ and to 
 build them up in the faith. 
 
56 INSTITDTIONAL WOKK 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Men's Sunday Evening Club. 
 
 The Men's Sunday Evening Club is the product 
 of an awakened consciousness of the true mission of 
 the Church of Christ. Slowly the rising light of 
 truth has dispelled that crude medieval conception 
 of the Christian Church as an Anno Domini Ark, 
 planned and purposed after its ancient prototype, to 
 safely bear an imprisoned and complacent company 
 of the righteous over the angry floods that engulf 
 a race of sin-cursed and drowning men. A 
 return to Christ and his teaching has brought 
 prominently into view the Gospel theory of a heav- 
 enly kingdom as the salt and leaven necessary to 
 make wholesome a disease-inflicted and sordid world. 
 The world then becomes the object of Redemption, 
 not a select company of saints. No religion after 
 the spirit of monastic piety caricatured by Hall Caine 
 as a " Cage in that Salvation 2oo" can meet the 
 Saviour's ideal. The two words, serve and save, 
 articulate the sentiment of the dawning era. 
 
 This expansive impulse that is now throbbing in 
 the heart of the church has raised her vision to vast 
 neglected and uncultivated fields where seldom treads 
 
FOB THE CODNTEY CHURCH. 57 
 
 the feet of him who soweth the seed of " Gtlad 
 Tidings" and reapeth its golden harvests. A careful 
 investigation of the territory to be occupied reveals 
 an area teeming with a Shepherdless masculine 
 humanity. It would seem that great companies of 
 men, many of whom possess Christian wives and 
 children, had pitched their tents in the suburbs of 
 the Holy City. In many of our smaller churches 
 anxious pastors, like Diogenes of old, are engaged in 
 a disheartening search for men. 
 
 The direst need of institutional Christianity at 
 this very hour, apart from the dynamic of an incar- 
 nated divinity, is the influence and virility of an 
 active male membership. In the Congregational 
 Church of the United States, and we are no more 
 destitute in this respect than our sister denomina- 
 tions, two-thirds of our membership is composed of 
 women. In the state of Michigan at the present 
 time the ratio of men to women is 32 to 68. But the 
 most alarming fact of the situation is that year by 
 year it is growing worse. A century and a half ago, 
 according to printed statistics published in a Congte- 
 gationalist of recent date, 42 percent of men com- 
 prised the membership of our church. This decrease 
 would not seem so astonishing if distributed over the 
 150 years, but the indications are that this falling ofif 
 of the proportion of men has been largely within the 
 past three or four decades. It was the recognition 
 of this unchurched current of manhood flowing away 
 
58 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 from the church that provoked the initiation of 
 measures to alter this serious and ever increasing 
 problem. This new impulse to project the influence 
 of the church into an unregenerate society combined 
 with an earnest desire to strengthen the arms of God 
 with more masculine recruits, explain the rise and 
 justify the existence of the Men's Sunday Evening 
 Club. 
 
 The example of Jesus in gathering about Him a 
 company of men trained as "Fishers of Men" to 
 share the ever increasing demands of the new king- 
 dom and to shoulder after His decease the aggres- 
 sive campaign of a world-wide extension, is worthy 
 of imitation on the part of modern leaders. The 
 transcendency of Jesus throughout the Gospel nara- 
 tivehas eclipsed the labors of His faithful disciples. 
 How helpful that consecrated band of men who had 
 forsaken all to serve their Master proved to be in the 
 execution of the Lord's designs, we shall never know. 
 However, the inspired records have not passed them 
 by in ungrateful silence. Luke's graphic picture of 
 the energy and determination displayed by those 
 four men who let down the Capernaum paralytic 
 through the roof of Peter's crowded house, exempli- 
 fies in at least one instance, which, perhaps, is but one 
 of many, the valuable assistance rendered by zealous 
 men. 
 
 Now there is no natural reason in the constitu- 
 tion of men that makes them less responsive to the 
 
FOE THE COUNTET OHTJECH. 59 
 
 claims of Christianity than the fairer members of the 
 other sex. The true explanation of the fact that we 
 have so many more women than men is, that the 
 ministry and the church work more for and among 
 women than men. Before me are three church man- 
 uals, favorably representing country, town and city 
 work, The first has two church auxiliaries " The 
 Ladies' Aid and the "Woman's Missionary Society," 
 with no organization for men. The second has a 
 "Young Men's Institute" against three distinct- 
 ively women's societies. The third possesses a 
 "Boy's Brigade," "Young Men's League," and 
 "Men's Association, ' ' with eight societies exclusively 
 for women. 
 
 Thoughtful men have likewise attributed their 
 indifference to church matters to the fact that the 
 ministry " visit more with women than with men, 
 and don't know how to reach men." Nowourex- 
 ample in efforts to reach men is the Son of Man who 
 dwelt in |the companionship of men. And the ideal 
 Sunday Evening Club is that old resolute Capernaum 
 band that sought and brought men within the hear- 
 ing of the Master's persuasive voice and the touch of 
 his healing hand. 
 
 The object of the Men's Sunday Evening Club 
 is well illustrated in the work of that club chosen as 
 our ideal, whose sole interest was to bring men with- 
 in reach of the Gospel. Onr organization believes 
 that if the great mass of habitual non-attendants can 
 
60 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 be enticed over the threshold of a church door to 
 enjoy her genial hospitality, the inspiration of her 
 song, her sacred communion with God, her earnest 
 and natural exposition of the life and teachings of 
 Jesus, misunderstandings and prejudices will be re- 
 moved ; yea more, Christ's own word will be ful- 
 filled, " If I be lifted up from the earth I will draw 
 all men unto me." The Sunday Evening Service is 
 regarded as an especially prepared gospel feast with 
 a varied and attractive menu, and the different com- 
 mittees in divers ways heed the Lord's injunction to 
 his servants of old, " Go out in the highways and 
 hedges and compel them to come in that my house 
 maybe filled." 
 
 Any and all methods that conserve these two 
 ends, compelling men to enter the Father's house 
 and drawing men unto His Son should be fully used. 
 The coercion utilized in filling the Father's house 
 must be moral not physical. Occasions sometimes 
 arise with us as with Christ when resort to force is 
 expedient in driving some disturbing element out of 
 the church, but neither whip nor tugs, though often 
 quite serviceable in bringing people to the meeting- 
 house door, caii never be used effectively in forcing 
 people within the church. There are, however, three 
 kinds of legitimate compulsion. 
 
 First and perhaps best of all is that time honored 
 and ever powerful practice of personal entreaty. 
 We shall never discover a more effective means of 
 
FOE THE OOUNTET OHUKCH. 61 
 
 popularizing our Christian enterprises than the plan 
 of Andrew who "first findeth his own brother and 
 brought him to Jesus." This was also the method 
 used by the heralds of the Great Supper who scat- 
 tered themselves among the abodes of publicans and 
 sinners urging their attendance at the prepared feast. 
 A few men intensely interested in the Sunday Even, 
 ing Service, visiting the homes of men — church- 
 attendants, and inviting especially the fathers and 
 sons of the families to their weekly service, are of 
 inestimable value. 
 
 Another available means of compulsion for in- 
 creasing the church attendance is the force of attrac- 
 tion. The service and surroundings should be made 
 inviting. The time has passed when people can be 
 drawn into a cold, barn-like structure, to sit for two 
 hours over a fire-pan and listen to a grave discussion 
 on " The Ontalogical Evidences of the Divine Ex- 
 istence." Our prayer meeting topic last night was 
 "How to Make Religion Winsome." The motto 
 adopted by the " Pleasant Sunday Afternoon " As- 
 sociation of England should characterize our Sunday 
 evening service, "Brief, Bright, Brotherly." Such 
 a service vibrating in sympathy with the major chords 
 of the human heart will exert a silent but irresistible 
 influence in attracting men to the sanctuary. 
 
 Advertising is no less fruitful in Sunday 'than in 
 Monday business. A drug dealer in town recently 
 told me that he had just received a lot of advertising 
 
62 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 matter. I dare say hundreds of our churches never 
 manifested zeal enough to scatter ten pounds of such 
 matter during a whole century of professed activity 
 in work for the Lord. Observance of the following 
 precepi : 
 
 " Be harmless as doves 
 As serpents be wise ; 
 Preach the old Gospel 
 And ADVERTISE," 
 
 is not the injudicious practice of a twentieth century 
 fanatic. Cast abroad your announcements and they 
 will not return unto you void. 
 
 Having gathered the audience there still remains 
 the serious but sublime task of exhalting Christ, per- 
 haps before a curious and critical crowd of promiscu- 
 ous and prejudiced men. A cheery and comfortable 
 auditorium will reflect light upon the faces of an ex- 
 pectant people. Remembering that our purpose is 
 not to entertain the head but to inspire the heart, 
 every part of the service should accord with this end. 
 Joyfulness and sincerity should radiate from the 
 words and acts of all taking part in the exercises. 
 The service of the ushers should be cordial and cour- 
 teous. The music, both vocal and instrumental, 
 ought to be hearty and heavenly. I,et readiness and 
 energy characterize the responses between leader, 
 choir and people. The address, whether given by 
 pastor or efiicient layman, should be short, spirited 
 and scriptural. Printed exercises, in the absence of 
 
FOK THB COUNTKT CHURCH. 63 
 
 suitable and sufficient psalters and hymnals, are help- 
 ful in gathering together the whole service and 
 encouraging the participation of the whole congrega- 
 tion. The following sample program will give 
 some idea of the composition of a men's club ser- 
 vice : 
 
 MEN'S SUNDAY EVENING CLUB. 
 
 ■ FIRST CONGKEQATIONAL CHUHCH, IMLAY CITY, MICH. 
 
 " Many men build as cathedrals were built, the part near- 
 est the ground finished ; but that part which soars toward 
 heaven, the turrets and the spires forever incomplete." 
 " Come thou with us and we will do thee good." 
 The pleasure and profit of this service will depend largely 
 upon the heartiness with which each takes part. Let us do it 
 as unto the Lord. 
 
 SUNDAY EVENING SEEVICE. 
 February 19th, 7.00 P. M. 
 
 Organ Prelude^— Miss Palmer. 
 
 The call to worship — All rise with minster. 
 
 Minister — God is the Spirit ; and they that worship him 
 must worship him in spirit and in truth. 
 
 People — As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are 
 the sons of God. 
 
 Response (To the tune of Olivet) — All join. 
 Come, Holy Ghost in love, shed on us from above 
 
 Thine own bright ray ! Divinely good thou art : 
 Thy sacred gift impart, to gladden each sad heart 
 Oh, come to-day ! 
 
 Come, light serene and still, our inmost sorrows fill 
 
 Dwell in each breast : we know no dawn but thine ; 
 Send forth thy beams divine, on our dark souls to shine 
 And make us blest. 
 
64 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 Invocation prayer. 
 
 Hymn 177. 
 
 Responsive Reading. The keeping Psalm, 121. 
 
 Luader — I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence 
 Cometh my help. 
 
 People — My help cometh from the Lord, which made 
 heaven and earth. 
 
 L- — He will not suffer my foot to be moved ; he that keep- 
 eth thee will not slumber. 
 
 P. — Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber 
 nor sleep. 
 
 L. — The Lord is thy keeper : the Lord is thy shade upon 
 thy right hand. 
 
 P. — The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by 
 night. 
 
 L. — The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil, he shall 
 preserve thy soul. 
 
 P. — The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming 
 in from this time forth, and 6ven for evermore. 
 
 Followed by Gloria Patri. 
 
 Music — By choir. 
 
 Scripture selection, " Shifting Responsibilities. 
 
 Hymn, 282. 
 
 Pastoral prayer. 
 
 Offering, " Love not the world, neither the things that are 
 in the world. If any man love the world the love of the Father 
 is not in him. 
 
 ^g"These offerings are devoted to work of M en's Club. 
 
 Notices. 
 
 Music. 
 
 Address, " Why Men Neglect the Church." 
 
 The Final Reasons. — By Pastor. 
 Closing Service — Minister and people in unison. 
 The Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not want. 
 
FOR THE COUNTRY CHTTECH. 65 
 
 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures ; he leadeth 
 me beside the still waters. 
 
 He restoreth my soul : he leadeth me in the paths of 
 righteousness for his name's sake. 
 
 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of 
 death, I will fear no evil : for thou art with me ; thy rod and 
 thy staff they comfort me. 
 
 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine 
 enemies : thou anointest my head with oil ; my cup runneth 
 over. 
 
 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of 
 my life : and I will dwell in the house of the LoM forever. 
 
 Hymn, 3.S4. 
 
 Benediction. 
 
 Organ Postlude — Miss Palmer. 
 
 Note — We urge all jiien, young or old, in sympathy with the work of 
 this club to hand their n^mes to the membership committee. Help on the 
 good work. 
 
 THE men's club 
 
 believes " a little work from many " better than "much from 
 a few," and urges the co-operation of all men who have not 
 other church relations and duties. 
 
 OUR OBJECT. 
 
 We desire to make the church more helpful to men through 
 a " Bright, Brief and Brotherly " Sunday Evening Service. 
 
 H. N." DASCOMB, Pastor. 
 
 Officers. 
 
 M. BowEN — President. 
 
 J. W. Watherston-e — Vice-President. 
 
 A. B. Ebnee — Secretary. 
 
 J. M. Sheppard — Treasurer. 
 
66 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 Committee. 
 
 Worship— N. W. Stock, C. H. Naylor. 
 Music— W. J. Abbs, T. F. Holden. 
 Feinting — J. W. Watherstone, S. E. Thorpe. 
 Membership — E. E. Palmer, -J. M. Sheppard. 
 Ushers — Robert Walker, Jr., L. O. Snelling. 
 Entetainment — F. feathsburg, H. G. Thurston, 
 
 F. Moorland, A. B. Ebner, W. J. Abbs. 
 
 The organization of a club may be perfected in 
 one of two ways. You may invite the gentlemen of 
 your congregation to meet you either at a supper or 
 for the evening, and then discuss the matter pro and 
 con and if it seems advisable, organize. Or the pas- 
 tor may preach on a Sunday evening on some such 
 subject as this, "The Claims of the Church Upon 
 Men," in which he may state his own and the 
 church's desire to gain the interest of the non-church 
 going men in the community. At the close of the 
 service ask those interested in the formation of an 
 advanced movement in behalf of their fellow-men to 
 remain. Then organize and appoint committees to 
 begin work for the next Sunday evening service. 
 Allow me to suggest, after the careful examination of 
 several of the best constitutions in use, the following 
 outline which has been patterned closely after the 
 constitution of "The Men's League " of the First 
 Presbyterian Church of Sterling, Illinois, and the 
 model constitution printed in " Modern Methods in 
 Church Work," by Rev. G. W. Mead : 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY CHURCH. 6T 
 
 CONSTITUTION. 
 
 Article i. Name — The nameofthi.s association 
 shall be " The Men's Sunday Evening Club" of the 
 church . 
 
 Article 2. Object — The object of this club shall 
 be to arouse the men of the community to attend 
 and to join in the practical Christian work of the 
 church by increasing the attendance, attractiveness 
 and effectiveness of the Sunday Evening Service. 
 
 Article 3. Membership — All men in sympathy 
 with the work of this club and willing to aid in the 
 extension of its purpose, may become members by 
 application to the membership committee. It is ex- 
 pected that all members shall attend the services of 
 the club and when called upon serve upon the com- 
 mittees. 
 
 Article 4. Officers — The officers of this club 
 shall be a president, secretary and treasurer, who 
 shall hold their office for three months or until their 
 successors are appointed. 
 
 Article 5. Committees — The pastor of the 
 church and the officers of the club shall constitute an 
 executive committee, whose duty it shall be to exer- 
 cise a general supervision of the club and to appoint 
 the following committees, each of which shall serve 
 for one month unless otherwise notified. 
 
 2. A Committee on Worship — Who with the 
 pastor shall plan the program for each evening 
 service. 
 
■68 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 3. A Committee on Music — Who with the 
 chorister shall provide the Evening Service with 
 appropriate vocal and instrumental music. 
 
 4. A Committee on Printing. — Who shall see 
 that the Evening Service is sufficiently advertised 
 and supplied with programs. 
 
 5. A Committee on Ushers — Who shall per- 
 form the accustomed duties of such oflSce. 
 
 6. A Committee on Membership and Invitation 
 — Whose duty it shall be to secure new members, to 
 visit and invite strangers and non-church attendants 
 and extend the hospitality of the church to all who 
 come. 
 
 7. A Finance Committee of which the treasurer 
 shall be chairman — Whose duty it shall be to pro- 
 vide funds necessary for carrying on the work. 
 
 8. A Social and Entertainment Committee — 
 The business of which shall be to plan for the social 
 interests of the club and arrange for any public en- 
 tertainments or lectures that may seem desirable. 
 
 Other Committees may be added where clubs 
 •desire a wider range of activity. 
 
 Article 6. Meetings — The regular devotional 
 meetings of the club shall be held every Sabbath 
 evening from October to June inclusive. A business 
 meeting of the executive committee shall be held on 
 the Friday evening previous to the last Sunday of 
 each month, when the new committee for the sue- 
 
FOK THE COUNTRY CHUECH. 69" 
 
 ceeding month shall be appointed and all other nec- 
 essary business be transacted. 
 
 Article 7. Amendments — This constitution may 
 be amended by a two-thirds vote of those present at 
 any regular meeting. 
 
 -The Men's Sunday Evening Club is helpful in 
 many ways. It lifts that troublesome burden known 
 among, pastors as the " Sunday Evening Problem," 
 by enlisting in its interest the eager effort of a score 
 or more men, it divides the responsibility for the 
 service. Its motto reads " A little work from many- 
 is better than much from a few." Thus the men 
 feel that the service is theirs and wprk with a per- 
 sonal interest. It secures a large and regular Sunday 
 evening attendance, and the very presence of a good 
 audience increases its effectiveness; for "grace no 
 more than nature will endure a vacuum." It brings 
 outsiders inside of the church and often converts con- 
 firmed stay-at-homes into regular attendants upon the 
 other church services. And if the pastor be faithful 
 in preaching " The Word" he may rest assured that 
 " it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall 
 prosper in the thing whereto I send it." 
 
 It gathers about the pastor and brings him into 
 contact and intimate association with a company of 
 men united in a common interest. The friendships 
 formed through the consultation with the members 
 of the various committees, naturally widen and 
 strengthen the minister's influence in the community. 
 
70 INSTITUTIONAL WOBK 
 
 In fact, the Men's Sunday Evening Service is a most 
 important factor in stimulating the church to the 
 conscientious discharge of the Master's commission 
 to project the redemptive agencies of the Gospel into 
 the " highways and hedges" of human society. 
 
 Allow me in closing this article to append a- few 
 suggestions prompted by personal experience and 
 the testimonies of others who have made the ven- 
 ture. 
 
 The flexibility of the Men's Sunday Evening 
 Club assures utility for the smaller as well as the 
 larger and more resourceful churches. One field 
 may not possess the talent of another to enrich a 
 popular evening service with solos and orchestral 
 accomplishments, or to bring to the aid of the pastor 
 a company of business and professional laymen gifted 
 with public address, all of which if rightly used, con- 
 tributes valuable assistance. A small church may 
 not have access to means that will allow the support 
 of lecture courses or the extension of its work in 
 good citizenship, philanthrophic and charity^efforts ; 
 yet the smallest communities will respond to the 
 church's earnest endeavor to increase the attendance 
 and helpfulness of its Evening Service. A pastor 
 from a little Illinois village of less than 300 inhabi- 
 tants, has given in " Modern Methods of Church 
 Work" this testimony: "I have proven most con- 
 clusively that the methods of the Men's Sunday 
 Evening Club can be utilized successfully in the 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY CHUEOH. 71 
 
 country church. Our church is crowded at every 
 Sunday evening service, and often chairs are placed 
 in the aisles, all available standing room is occupied. 
 During the warmest weather last summer we 
 turned people away by scores who were not able to 
 gain admittance, and this matter of attendance is 
 only one indication of an increased interest mani- 
 fested in every line of church work. It has far sur- 
 passed'my most sanguine expectations." 
 
 The club, while it may relieve the pastor of some 
 anxiety regarding the evening service, does not les- 
 sen his labours. The direction and supervision of 
 volunteer help require more time and thought than 
 the old routine service, the sameness and regularity 
 of which like the oft heard and unheeded alarm 
 clock, fails to arouse its drowsy auditors. The ser- 
 mon must be short and restful ; yes, but those ser- 
 mons that never tire the people always tire the 
 preacher. If this modern device of the church, as 
 some laymen seem to think was planned as an effort 
 to provide parsonages with pillows, it is an absolute 
 failure, for it requires hard work and constant study. 
 
 Many clubs make an annual assessment per mem- 
 ber to meet their current expenses. "We were re- 
 lieved of any thought of financial matters by taking 
 up a voluntary offering at each service. This proved 
 sufficient with the proceeds of a banquet given at the 
 close of the winter's work, to pay for the weekly pro- 
 grams, secure special music for the choir, assist our 
 
72 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 State in her Sunday school work, to make some 
 needed repairs in lighting the church, and apply $20 
 to the cancellation of an old church debt. 
 
 In some clubs regularly, and others occasionally, 
 the pastor profitably occupies a few moments in a 
 " Sermon Prelude " or " Current Events," devoted 
 to the inspiration of Christian patriotism in the treat- 
 ment of some local or national questions. These dis- 
 cussions, however, should never become a conspicu- 
 ous character of the service, but if they attract some 
 who otherwise would not attend and thus afford an 
 opportunity to sow the Gospel seed among seemingly 
 rocky and impenetrable soil, the means is not un- 
 worthy o'f the end. 
 
 A horse bounding over the roadway under full 
 control of its driver, may perform an inestimable ser- 
 vice by helping a slowly moving pedestrian along an 
 arduous journey, but when the reins no longer hold 
 in restraint, and the unruly animal, leaving the 
 beaten roadway, plunges madly along a self-chosen 
 course, horse, carriage and occupants are all involved 
 in imminent danger. In the Men's Snnday Evening 
 Club, modern enterprise has harnessed to an ecclesi- 
 astical vehicle a youthful but promising colt, which 
 if kept under control by wise pastoral direction and 
 within the bounds of its legitimate sphere, adds rap- 
 idity and delight to the slow jogging movement of 
 the ordinary country church. But once let the fiery 
 steed become unmanageable, and it is indeed " a 
 vain thing for safety." 
 
FOB THE CiOUNTEY CHUECH. 73 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Church Paper. 
 
 One of the greatest aids to the advancement of 
 knowledge was the invention of printing. Follow- 
 ing this was the improvement in the way of cheap 
 paper, and the reduction in the expense of producing 
 whatever is worth preserving in printed form. The 
 press has become the agent of every enterprise and 
 who will say that it is not doing its work in a credit- 
 able manner ? For a long time the larger churches 
 have called the printing press to their aid in the 
 work of the parish and community with a good de- 
 gree of success. Now and then a country pastor has 
 ventured to do something in this line, but as a rule, 
 these ventures have been short lived and unsatisfac- 
 tory. There is, however, a place for a paper in the 
 country church, if rightly managed and made of con- 
 stant and growing interest to the parish. This opin- 
 ion being held by the writer for several years, there 
 was a looking forward to a time, when something of 
 the kind could be undertaken. Allow me to give you 
 a little of my experience in the line of publishing a 
 church paper. My church has about one hundred 
 and twenty-five members, in a village and commu- 
 
74: INSTITUTIONAL WOKK 
 
 nity of from fifteen hundred to two thousand people. 
 There is one other Protestant church in the village. 
 Some years ago a pastor endeavored to establish a 
 paper, which failed to live a year. There was no en- 
 thusiasm among the people to begin with. In fact, 
 I think they questioned the wisdom of the undertak- 
 ing. The Endeavor Society was induced to aid the 
 present enterprise to the extent of fifteen dollars, for 
 the first year. The pastor was editor, with an assis- 
 tant, and a publishing committee from the Endeavor 
 Society. We published a four-page paper, with three 
 columns, ten inches in length to the page. We made 
 our plans to sell two columns of space for advertis- 
 ing, at a price that would make it an object for busi- 
 ness men to patronize the paper. Our first number, 
 on the front of which was a full page cut of the 
 church, was somewhat of an experiment. Although 
 some mistakes were made, which later we tried to 
 correct, it was well received. The criticisms were 
 friendly and encouraging ; many of them being help- 
 ful in the way of making the paper accomplish the 
 work for which it was designed. 
 
 Not wishing to have it appear that it was for free 
 distribution, a subscription price of twenty-five cents 
 was asked ; but the paper was intended from the first 
 to reach every family in the parish. No soliciting was 
 done, and yet our subscription list was as large as 
 could be expected. After two or three months the en- 
 terprise passed beyond the experimental stage. The 
 
FOE THE COUNTET CHUECH. 75 
 
 finances for the year became secure, and the contribu- 
 tions to its columns were very generous. 
 
 The pastor felt some misgiving about urging the 
 paper upon the people the second year, and waited for 
 some sign from the church and community as to their 
 wishes in the matter. The first month nearly passed 
 without any issue, then responses began to come in, 
 and the question was repeatedly asked, " where is our 
 paper?" It was plainly the desire of the people that 
 it should be continued. So it entered upon another 
 year of usefulness, with the pastor as editor; a lady 
 assistant to edit the Endeavor column ; and a publish- 
 ing committee from the church, instead of from the 
 Endeavor Society as before ; the editor assuming the 
 financial responsibility. 
 
 It has now reached the last half of its second year, 
 being run substantially on the same plan as in the 
 first, except that the issue is published near the close 
 of the month, instead of at the beginning ; and all 
 notices, topics, etc., are for the following month. This 
 plan was found to have some advantages over the 
 other. It is a welcome visitor in the homes of our 
 people, also to the friends of the church residing else- 
 where, and in the opinion of the writer is doing good 
 work. 
 
 There are many things to be considered in start- 
 ing a church paper ; the first and perhaps most impor- 
 tant, being the item of expense. Several months ago, 
 I received a letter of inquiry from the pastor of a large 
 
76 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 church, asking how such an enterprise as ours could 
 be made to pay for itself ; adding that he had often 
 contemplated something of the kind, but had been 
 hindered by the financial problem. There are two 
 ways in which this can be managed. One is to nego- 
 tiate with a printer to take the editorial matter and 
 supply the church with the requisite number of papers, 
 giving him a certain amount of space, and allowing 
 him to secure his own advertisers at his own terms, 
 taking the proceeds thereof for his pay. This plan has 
 its advantages, and I have known of its being adopted 
 to the satisfaction of all parties. 
 
 The other method is to make terms with a printer 
 to supply the number of copies desired for distribu- 
 tion ; the editor or manager securing his own advertis- 
 ing, which should pay for from one-half to the whole 
 of the oflSce work. A little experience will give him 
 tact in dealing with business men, so that the patron- 
 age will be all that is necessary. There are also in 
 every parish those who will donate a small sum to the 
 work. Then the subscriptions will amount to from a 
 quarter to one-half of the cost. Personally, I prefer 
 the latter method, as it enables the editor to control 
 the advertising, thus preventing anything objection- 
 able. If it is carried out with tact and wisdom, the 
 paper will meet expenses, which is all that is expected 
 or desired. One should make ample provision for one 
 year before beginning. It would be impossible to give 
 an estimate of the cost of such a paper, because the 
 
FOE THE COUNTKY CHURCH. 77 
 
 prices for work differ. The size and quality of the 
 paper, and other things, would also vary the expense. 
 
 Having disposed of the financial question, the 
 next thing to be considered is the editoral work, which 
 of course must be gratuitous. The pastor should have 
 this in his own charge. Others may and should be as- 
 sociated with him, but his hand must be on the lever 
 constantly. It is well to assign certain parts to indi- 
 viduals, permitting them to work them up in their 
 own way. For example : give some bright Endeav- 
 orer a column and let him edit it as he pleases, subject 
 to the approval of the pastor and the publishing com- 
 mittee. Give some one else a column to be devoted to 
 missionary news, the items to be edited so as not to 
 have the appearance of clippings. Let another catch 
 the brightest gems of thought that fall from the pas- 
 tor's lips on Sunday morning, and prepare them in an 
 attractive manner. This should be in the hands of 
 some one who can confer with the pastor, and if possi- 
 ble have access to his sermon notes. 
 
 There regularly comes to my hands a paper from 
 a church in another State where this work is done in 
 quite an ideal way. It is a feature that has not yet 
 been introduced into my own papor, as I have failed to 
 find the right person who will undertake it. The lit- 
 erary ability, which he can command, suitable to the 
 work of his paper, will often be a surprise to a coun- 
 try pastor. Every church and community has men 
 and women who have talent in this direction and can 
 
78 INSTITUTIONAL WOKK 
 
 use it creditably. There are also friends of the church, 
 former pastors and young people, who have grown up 
 in the church and gone to other places, who will gladly 
 respond to invitations to speak a word of encourage- 
 ment through the columns of the paper. There are 
 others of a historical turn of mind, who will prepare 
 articles of educational value to the reader. Some 
 bright person goes on a visit, and while away has op- 
 portunity to visit some prominent church, or study 
 some phase of religious work. A description of their 
 travels would be very readable. Open letters, written 
 by friends living away, have been found helpful. 
 Short stories, written for the paper, are also interest- 
 ing, but for me rather diflScult to secure. 
 
 Editorially the paper must discuss the problems of 
 the church in a clear and concise manner, taking great 
 care to present only the hopeful side. The editorial 
 column is no place to disclose discouragements. If a 
 pastor should try to be cheerful when he calls upon his 
 people, much more should he have a cheerful strain in 
 preparing for them his monthly message. 
 
 One thing I would insist upon : make as few clip- 
 pings as possible, and let those be chosen with the 
 greatest care, for a paper has to do with local church 
 life. If it is made up of clippings it will be thrown 
 aside with disgust, while an article from a friend of 
 the church will be read with much pleasure. 
 
 Every issue should have a leading article on the 
 first page. It is well to announce that such will ap- 
 
FOE THE COUTNTEY CHTJECH. 79 
 
 pear and have the readers on the lookout for it. Never 
 allow the paper to get into a rut. Have enough of va- 
 riety to keep up the interest, and if possible, increase 
 it as the months go by. To this let me add : do not 
 permit your paper to be ruined by cranks. Never be 
 afraid to exercise a censorship and prevent the appear- 
 ance of unworthy or irrelevant matter. 
 
 The financial and editorial question being disposed 
 of, the next thing is the circulation. The paper must 
 be made to reach every home if possible. There may 
 be some who will oppose the movement and will re- 
 fuse to receive it ; others may be unwilling to pay 
 for it. The subscription price must be very low, and 
 yet it is better to have one for people prize more highly 
 that which costs them something. My experience has 
 been, that oftentimes if the paper is sent for a while an 
 interest will be awakened, and in the end produce a 
 subscriber. The pastor should have for his own use a 
 list of those who should receive the paper gratuitously. 
 All absent members and friends of the church should 
 be on the subscription list, which should also contain 
 former and neighboring pastors. The circulation must 
 necessarily be limited, but should be as large as possi- 
 ble. In order to accomplish this, the paper must be 
 made a necessity to the people by meeting a local 
 need. The constant objection made to the smaller 
 paper is that the large paper is so cheap that there is 
 no object in maintaining the small one ; but if every 
 number has a local interest, or contains articles from 
 
80 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 friends of the people, it will be as readily received and 
 as eagerly read as the larger paper. Occasionally a cut 
 of a former pastor, or a prominent neighboring pastor 
 will cause a demand for the paper, and extra copies 
 will be called for, which will help to create friends 
 for it. 
 
 Good editorial work will keep the enterprise go- 
 ing, once it is undertaken, and poor work in that line 
 will kill it. No church paper can be made a success 
 without careful attention to these three lines, finan- 
 cial, editorial, and circulation. 
 
 Let us notice some of the uses it may serve in 
 the work of the church ; the first of which will be 
 that of a parish visitor. The pastor can visit his en- 
 tire people not oftener than twice a year. Special 
 occasions may call him into some families several 
 times, but he will not make a complete canvass of 
 the parish more frequently than has been stated. 
 However the church paper comes every month, bring- 
 ing a greeting from the pastor, as well as news of the 
 church, which are very acceptable to any who are 
 unable to be out constantly. To some extent, it will 
 serve the purpose of a call ; and when the pastor 
 does call, there will often be a pleasant reference to 
 the regular monthly visitor. In this way, one will 
 supplement the other, making the pastor in his parish 
 duties more effective. There are some things, which 
 he wants brought before the people, in such a way 
 that all will consider them at the same time. Wish- 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY CHUECH. 81 
 
 ing to make a personal appeal, he addresses it to each 
 member of the flock through the editorial column. 
 One will be surprised, at times, at the result, and the 
 response which will be called out. The pastoral call 
 should bring to those who are shut in, the interesting 
 features of the church life, as well as what is being 
 undertaken for the uplifting of humanity. This the 
 paper can do, month by month, during the whole 
 year ; thus establishing a bond of sympathy and fel- 
 lowship between those who attend church, and those 
 who would gladly do so but cannot. It is constantly 
 presenting the hopeful side of things, and keeping 
 before the people the fact that something is being 
 done in the way of progress. Every church is in- 
 clined to dwell on the dark side of things, and mag- 
 nify their failures. The other side must be forcibly 
 presented for the encouragement of the members. 
 Every church has occasional attendants, who know 
 very little of its real efiforts and successes, and who 
 wonder if it is really doing any good in the commu- 
 nity. The church paper will give them light, if it is 
 put into their hands. 
 
 Aside from the aid in the direction mentioned, 
 it can be made a help to the pulpit work, which has 
 already been referred to under the head of editorial 
 work. Space would hardly allow the printing of en- 
 tire sermons, at any time. Extracts, however, may 
 be used every month if desired, and might have the 
 eflFect of increasing the attendance ; even if that re- 
 
82 INSTITUTIONAL WOKK 
 
 suit did not follow, the interest it would have for 
 some who would be unable to be present at the ser- 
 vices would make it an object to publish them. Much 
 good might also be done by fixing in the minds of 
 the. congregation the leading thoughts of the sermon. 
 Another use is to promote fellowship among the 
 churches. It is well to devote a little space nearly 
 every month to items from other parishes in the 
 county. I have found it a good plan to devote some 
 one number to a neighboring church, writing up their 
 Endeavor Society, their Sunday School, their church, 
 and a sketch of the pastor. Those numbers of the 
 paper will be eagerly sought after, giving an added 
 interest in the church to which the courtesy has been 
 extended. If there is a newly organized church, 
 which is, in a way, the offspring of the older churches, 
 that is the one to help ; and the paper can be of great 
 use to such a movement, at the same time quicken- 
 ing the interest of the home church in local mission- 
 ary eflForts. Every church ought to keep in touch 
 with every other in the county, and know something 
 of the movements of the different pastors. The mem- 
 bers should know when and where the ministers' 
 meetings are held, and what subjects are discussed. 
 These are things that the pastor cannot tell his peo- 
 ple from the pulpit ; he can, nevertheless, keep them 
 informed through the columns of the paper. The re- 
 sult will be a deeper interest in the county work, and 
 when the annual Conference comes around, they 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY CHUECH. S3- 
 
 will know something of what to expect, in the way of 
 report, from their neighbors. Experience will dis- 
 cover many other uses, perhaps no less important,, 
 which this aid to the church can serve. 
 
 All that has been said, in favor of a church paper, 
 indicates that a vast amount of work is necessary ta 
 insure its success. Whether the proiit to the Kingdom 
 of God would be greater in this line than for the same 
 amount of energy expended in some other direction , 
 each must decide for himself. One should never start 
 a paper, in a small church, without making a thorough 
 canvass of the situation, and satisfying himself that it 
 is the right thing to do. Where the conditions are 
 favorable, and the enterprise is rightly conducted, it 
 cannot fail of accomplishing good results. 
 
 It is sincerely hoped, that these suggestions will 
 not lead any pastor to make an unwise venture, but I 
 am sure there are pastors in churches where the sug- 
 gestions in this article can be carried out to great ad- 
 vantage. At all events they are worth considering. 
 My advice to any one who is contemplating anything 
 of the kind is, to look into the subject carefully, take 
 account of the work, and the expense, and weigh them 
 with the resources at hand ; then make a trial for one 
 year. The experience one would acquire in that 
 time would enable him to decide whether or not it 
 would be advisable to continue. 
 
Si INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Home Department of the Sun- 
 day School. 
 
 There are in every church, members who for the 
 time being, or permanently, are cut off from participa- 
 tion in its services. In some cases, they have been 
 active workers in the church or Sunday school, but 
 because of advanced age or illness, or care of the sick, 
 ■or of young children, removal to a more distant part 
 ■of the parish, or from some other cause, they are no 
 longer seen in their accustomed places. If the church 
 makes no definite effort to retain the active sympathy 
 of such- members, and keep them in touch with her 
 life, they are in danger of coming to feel somewhat 
 -neglected and forgotten, and she is in danger of losing 
 somewhat of her influence over them, and of their at- 
 tachment to her. There are others within the limits 
 ■of every parish, who attend church with more or less 
 regularity, but who do not find it convenient, for 
 various reasons, to stay to the Sunday school. Yet if 
 they were invited to join a class for the study of the 
 Sunday school lessons at their own homes, they would 
 gladly do so. 
 
FOK THE COUNTRY CHCECH. 8& 
 
 There are still others who have always been non- 
 churchgoers, and who are bringing up their families in 
 the same way. 
 
 If friendly calls and invitations to attend the- 
 church and Sunday school do not succeed in bringing, 
 them out, some of the members of these families- 
 will generally agree to study the same lessons which 
 the classes in Sunday school are studying, in their 
 own homes, each week. They are the more ready- 
 to do so when shown the inexpensive Quarterlies,, 
 with their helpful comments, maps and illustrations, 
 and the catalogue of the Sunday school library,, 
 whose books they will have the privilege of drawing. 
 
 It was to encourage and extend the habit of reg- 
 ular study of the Bible among the above mentioned 
 classes and throughout the community, and to give 
 them the advantage of the lesson helps which are 
 taken by the school, and moreover to extend to them 
 the hand of fellowship in their study, that the Home 
 Department of the Sunday school was formed. It 
 aims to send its visitors to all the families in the 
 parish, whose members are not in the Sunday school,, 
 and to invite those who are able to join its classes,, 
 but those who for any reason cannot or do not do so,, 
 it seeks to enroll as members of the Home Depart- 
 ment. The membership card which those who join 
 are asked to sign, reads as follows. 
 
 I agree to join the Home Department of the 
 Sunday school, to spend at least half an hour 
 
S6 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 each Sunday, or during the week, in the study of the 
 weekly lesson, unless unavoidably prevented, and to 
 notify the superintendent of my withdrawal. 
 
 These cards, with whatever envelopes and blanks 
 are needed, are to be obtained of the S. S. and Pub. 
 Soc. at Boston. 
 
 The Home Department is considered a branch of 
 the main school. Its members are invited to all its 
 socials, picnics and entertainments, and are urged to 
 come into the main school as often as they find it 
 convenient. On special days, as at Easter and 
 Christmas, they should always be remembered. 
 
 An envelope is sometimes left with them, that 
 they can make such offerings as they choose to the 
 objects for which the school contributes, but this is 
 never emphasized. 
 
 The officers of the Home Department, when it is 
 fully equipped, are a superintendent, usually a lady, 
 and visitors, likewise usually ladies. Their number 
 should depend upon the number of families to be 
 visited, the extent of territory to be traversed and the 
 amount of work each visitor is able or willing to un- 
 dertake. A visitor may not have more than two or 
 three in her class, or even one. Mr. Duncan in his 
 instructions, says that few visitors can profitably care 
 for more than twelve. 
 
 The Superintendent nominates the visitors, and 
 gives them instructions. She also keeps records of the 
 work of the Department, and makes quarterly and an- 
 
FOE THE COUNTKY CHITECH. 87 
 
 nual reports to the main school, and also makes re- 
 ports, or gives information to the members of the 
 Home Department, both of its own work and the work 
 of the school. 
 
 Each visitor makes calls upon the members of her 
 class every quarter. This is necessary* in order to re- 
 ceive their reports, and any offerings which they may 
 make, both of which she transmits to the Superin- 
 tendent, and also to furnish them with the lesson helps 
 and report blanks for the next quarter. 
 
 Regularity in visitation or correspondence by letter if 
 a call is impracticable, is essential to the success of the 
 work. 
 
 The above is a bare outline of the method of work 
 or the plan of the Home Department of Sunday school , 
 but it is not difiBcult to perceive in it an efficient sys- 
 tem both for developing good and active workers in 
 the church itself, and through them of more thoroughly 
 permeating the whole parish with its spirit, and the 
 power of the Word. 
 
 I,et the Superintendent and visitors be consecrated 
 to the building up of Christ's kingdom, and let them 
 be fully persuaded of the value of this department of 
 work in advancing that kingdom in their locality ; let 
 them study to know thoroughly the families in their 
 field, and cultivate sympathy with each and every one, 
 that they may readily come into touch with them, atid 
 thus gain their confidence and co-operation ; then these 
 workers, as they go back and forth from the church 
 
88 INSTITUTIONAL WOBK 
 
 and Sunday school, to those who are denied or who 
 deny themselves from participation in their full privi- 
 leges, form a natural and effective circulatory system 
 for conveying the vital warmth and strength from the 
 very heart of the church to whomsoever will receive it. 
 
 The visitor desires to be the friend of those to 
 whom she goes, not a missionary. She does not try 
 to force confidence, but her sympathies are quickly 
 responsive and she studies her opportunities. Some- 
 times it is to speak a word directly for the Master ; 
 sometimes to emphasize the bond of connection be- 
 tween the church and each member of the Home De- 
 partment ; sometimes to endeavor to remove false im- 
 pressions or prejudices which are wont to spring up in 
 the minds of those who consider themselve's outsiders. 
 
 In most cases the attendance upon the main school 
 and upon church is increased through the work of the 
 Home Department, and the voluntary contributions of 
 its members add to the fund for Sunday school benevo- 
 lent work. Church membership is also increased 
 through the addition of those who, if they had not 
 been led by the invitation of the visitors to study regu- 
 larly the Word of God, and had not been approached 
 from time to time by a friend showing personal inter- 
 est or sympathy, would have remained hidden in the 
 seclusion of their own homes, and even if they had a 
 Christian experience, would not have thought of pre- 
 senting themselves for admission to a church. 
 
FOR THE COITNTET CH0KCH. 89 
 
 What limited experience the writer of this paper 
 has had as a worker in the Home Department, has 
 been in a country church. 
 
 The chief, in fact the only difficulty to be sur- 
 mounted in establishing and carrying on the work of 
 the department, has been to find among the member- 
 ship of the church enough women to fill its offices, 
 who felt themselves able and willing to undertake the 
 work. It has not been found difficult to induce peo- 
 ple outside of our Sunday school to come into fellow- 
 ship with it when invited to do so, by agreeing to the 
 weekly study at home, of its current lessons. 
 
 I do not mean to say that all who are invited, ac- 
 cept or will promise any regular study, but the pro- 
 portion who accept the invitation is so large that the 
 work is full of encouragement. 
 
 Some have been glad to use the books in the 
 library. In a good proportion of cases they have been 
 very faithful in sending in their weekly offerings of 
 money each quarter, with their report. They have 
 been as faithful in the study of their lessons, if not 
 more so, than the members of the main school. 
 
 Sometimes a mother who lives at a distance from 
 the church and has no means of getting there, except 
 perhaps occasionally, will take a Quarterly and on 
 Sunday afternoons gather her children about her and 
 study Jhe lessons with them. "When they do come to 
 church they sta}' to Sunday school, and the lesson is 
 not new to them. 
 
90 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 Sometimes two families living in a remote dis- 
 trict and near together, meet on Sunday afternoons, 
 for united study, and seem to derive great profit and 
 enjoyment. 
 
 Sometimes a husband and wife study the lesson 
 together, and each one sends in the envelope the 
 weekly offering. 
 
 Again, it is some aged person, man or woman, 
 who has been for a long time confined to the home, 
 and who looks forward to the visitor's coming as an 
 hour of social cheer, and as the one link which binds 
 him or her to the outside Christian world. 
 
 A fact which has strongly impressed me, as I 
 have been on my rounds of visiting, is a certain isola- 
 tion of the families who live in the homes of our hill- 
 side parishes. Busy industry, whenit isnothard and 
 exhausting labor, is the rule. Leisure, unless enforc- 
 ed by idleness, is the very rare exception. The farm 
 houses are of course somewhat remote from each 
 other, and the labors of each house are so exacting 
 and absorb so much of the thought and time and 
 strength that matters of common or general interest, 
 whether religious or educational, are apt to sufier, 
 and the lower concerns of daily living, the labors of 
 the farm and kitchen crowd out of sight, and as it 
 would seem, too often out of mind, the higher inter- 
 ests of life. One thing that seems to be needed in 
 the country pafish is some well organized system of 
 circulation for carrying the warm, life-giving current 
 
FOE THE COUNTEY OHIJECH. 91 
 
 of Christian fellowship and co-operation and sympa- 
 thy from the very centre or the heart of the church 
 to all those who would receive it, even to the limits 
 of the parish. 
 
 Pastoral visitation can and does do much, but the 
 pastor cannot, and no church ought to expect that he 
 can alone, supply this need. Every church must have 
 among its members those who, if they will only stir 
 up the gift that is in them, are able to add much to 
 the efficiency of the church as a power for good, both 
 to its own membership and to all the community in 
 which it is located, by taking up just this regular and 
 systematic visitation which is provided for in the plan 
 of the Home Department of the Sunday school. 
 
 In the faithful performance of this work they 
 could not fail to add richness to their own life and to 
 greatly increase their capacity to be of service in 
 their own neighborhood and community, or wherever 
 they may be called to dwell. 
 
 ^»-*::<^<^>j:h<^ 
 
92 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Special Work for Boys. 
 
 PRELUDE. 
 
 "The boy is really a modern discovery, or more 
 accurately speaking he is a re-discovery, for in old 
 times the Greeks and Romans and Jews recognized 
 the great importance of the boy, but then after a 
 little he disappeared again, and only in recent times 
 has been re-discovered. If I may adopt words well 
 known to us all I might say that it was only after a 
 long period of years that again we see ' those angel 
 faces smile' which the world ' loved long since and 
 lost a while.' 
 
 At the Reformation, when so many other things 
 were reviving, the boy made a slight show of reap- 
 pearance. You remember how lyUther took his hat 
 off when he entered a school — a very good omen in- 
 deed, and Erasmus and Dean Colet did not grudge to 
 spend their great powers upon the education of 
 boys. The appreciation and love of boys that Dean 
 Colet had appear in his request to the school-boys of 
 St. Paul that they would lift up their little white 
 hands to heaven for him who always prayed for 
 them. I need not say that the white hands had no 
 
FOB THE COUNTRY CHUKCH. 93 
 
 reference to the normal condition of boys' hands, 
 but to the fact that Dean Colet heartily believed in 
 the innocence of boys, and that their prayers were 
 heard. 
 
 But the real discoverer or re-discoverer of the 
 boy is Dr. Arnold of Rugby. It was he who turned 
 the attention of Europe to the boy, and made people 
 everywhere understand that a man could spend his 
 life, however great a man he may be, in no better 
 way than upon the education and training of tbe 
 boys. Has the boy any real capacity for religion ? 
 Is it not a vain thing to try to make a boy religious ? 
 Now happily this question has been answered by 
 Our Lord, who did not reluctantly admit, as it were, 
 that a boy might be religious, but who took a boy 
 and set him before the best men of their time, his 
 own disciples, and said, ' there is the normal type of 
 religion, that is what you ought to be.' Now if we 
 could only be satisfied to allow a boy to have a 
 boyish religion, if we can be satisfied with not 
 striving to fit our own coat of mail on a small child 
 and to make a little man of a boy, to leave him a boy, 
 then we will see that a boy can be as religious, and 
 probably a great deal more so than grownup persons." 
 Dr. Marcus Dods, Edinburgh. 
 
 THE PASTOR AND THE BOY. 
 
 The village pastor makes a serious mistake if he 
 reckons without the boys, or allows the boys to reckon 
 
94 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 without him. The ringing words of Dr. Chas. E. 
 Jefferson in the recent International Congregational 
 Council (1899) give point to this proposition, as he 
 demands an immediate revival of doctrinal instruction 
 for the youth in our churches. " A catechism !" he 
 cries, and it is a true constructive note, struck at the 
 right time. But the boy needs a supplement. He 
 needs not only instruction in the theory of religion, 
 but something to capture his will and enthusiasm in its 
 practice. 
 
 Happy that pastor who knows the boy heart by 
 intuition. He is one in a hundred. The average 
 clergyman is regarded by the boys with respect per- 
 haps, often with trepidation, and once in a hundred 
 times with confiding affection. But boys are the 
 saving timbers of to-morrow's republic, or there will 
 be no republic to-morrow, the sills and rafters of to- 
 morrow's church, or there will be no church to-mor- 
 row. The real minister, therefore, even though 
 with misgiving, will tackle the problem of preparing 
 this young timber for its place. He will first remem- 
 ber that no man can be a good builder in social 
 Christianity except he be an architect in prayer. He 
 will then make up his mind to love the boy, queer 
 little ideas of honor, egotism, hero-worship, frank- 
 ness, mischief, bicycle, skates and all. Let the pas- 
 tor be assured that he has an opportunity all his own, 
 distinct from that of the parent or teacher, to mould 
 the boys of his community. And for this work there 
 
FOE THE COTJNTET CHUECH. 95 
 
 is no more superb tool than the Boys' Club, with 
 military drill, as- a part of its activity. A few great 
 elements are needed to make the boy a man. Among 
 these are Purity, Obedience, Co-operation and Force. 
 I name purity first because it is growing scarce. Be- 
 cause the tract of ground over which the boy marches 
 from his twelfth to his twenty-first year is so covered 
 by the Mauser rifles of Satan that before the line of 
 manhood is reached the large majority receive a 
 soul's death wound. Follow an average Sunday- 
 school class of a dozen boys for twenty years and 
 see how many of them have any sympathy with reli- 
 gion at the end of that time. Note those who have 
 started on the road of alcoholism, gambling or the 
 unuamable worst, and see if more than half of the 
 twelve are not soul-wounded. He who comes forth 
 
 " Integer viics, scelerisque purus " 
 
 may well say, with that brave fellow of the Blatch 
 Watch Regiment at Modder River, as he staggered 
 back with a scant half dozen survivors from the charge 
 on the Boer trenches, " We're a' that's left." 
 
 If the boy can be brought through pure you can 
 make a man of him, but if his heart is black before 
 twenty-one what will the other elements of charac- 
 ter profit him? Now I do not hesitate to prescribe 
 as an assistant to the work of grace in the heart, 
 military drill for the work of grace in the body. It 
 is a strong aid for the tempted boy. Real drill makes 
 
96 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 Strong arms and legs, hard muscles, deep lungs, 
 quick eyes and ears. It is easy for the drill-master 
 to inspire a manly contempt for those vices which 
 weaken the body, unstring the nerve and deaden the 
 eye. A glad, clean body is the probable house of a 
 pure soul. 
 
 The Boy's Club will work from the body to the 
 soul, aiding the church as it works from the soul to 
 the body. The military method acts like magic 
 upon the disobedient boy, the whole town knows 
 about him. He has begun to break over every 
 parental restraint and is preparing to scale the higher 
 fences of the law. But he finds for the first time in 
 our cadet company that it is honorable to obey, and 
 to obey instantly. While he is in the ranks he fairly 
 breathes obedience, and there, if nowhere else he 
 learns the lesson of respect for rightful authority. 
 He is improved timber for the State, possibly for the 
 church, and his spirit of disobedience can be turned 
 into the priceless quality — Force. Spend much 
 pains. Oh Pastor, on the disobedient boy. Such was 
 Augustine, such was Moody. An important result of 
 obedience is Co-operation. The bumptious boy needs 
 especially to learn this; His possibilities are great 
 but he needs trimming. If a country boy, he lives 
 among the most independent class of men in the land . 
 As far as the right to express one's opinion, to order 
 one's time and to vote as one sees fit, are concerned, 
 the farmer is less interfered with than any other 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY OHUKOH. 97 
 
 man. In the country each man does things in his 
 own way. The bumptious boy, therefore, is apt to 
 grow to manhood with a large idea of the sanctity of 
 his own opinion, feelings and inclinations. He 
 needs to learn how to work with others. He will 
 get his best lesson in our cadet company. The very 
 first thing is a modification of his walk. He keeps 
 step with others. He doesn't even turn around un- 
 less the order, " About, face/" suggests to him that 
 an entire organization, of which he is a subordinate 
 part, is about to turn around. He has begun to learn 
 a truth that will multiply his usefulness a hundred 
 fold, i.e. that alone he is nothing, but working with 
 others a very considerable power. 
 
 If Purity stands at the head of coveted virtues the 
 place of emphasis at the end belongs to Force. That 
 temper by which the mind makes the body utterly its 
 tool. This is the great need of the passive boy, the boy 
 who doesn't count. Enthusiasm, Fire, Decision ! Oh 
 to breathe these into him, to light the divine flame of 
 the will until the boy glows and burns for action. 
 There is no more sublime service to his Maker and his 
 generation. The man who has this force will impart 
 to his boys his own fire and enthusiasm in this organ- 
 ized effort for the noblest purpose in the world, the 
 making of Christian Citizens, or better yet, of Citizen 
 Christians. 
 
 The core of our method is personal influence. 
 A Bo3''s Club is proposed simply because it enables a 
 
98 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 Christian man to get close to the boy 's heart and make 
 it move, love and hate with his. There is no part of 
 Boy's Club work which may not be used under certain 
 conditions in a Sunday school class or a Junior Young 
 People's organization. The test of the method, wher- 
 ever used, is the amount of power it will carry from 
 one life to others. 
 
 THE METHOD AT WORK. 
 
 Begin small. Christ's club did. There was no 
 hurry. He took two and grappled them to himself. 
 Andrew brings Simon. The next day Philip is at- 
 tached. He brings Nathaniel. There is a world to be 
 saved, but John and Andrew are called first. The pas- 
 tor will secure the best results by first getting the con- 
 fidence of a very few boys, say four, and those the best. 
 After that the more doubtful material may be taken 
 on, in small quantities, with good hope of converting 
 it. Invite the first few to the house. Go fishing with 
 them. Study them. Grip them. Then, some pleas- 
 ant afternoon, on a large barn floor, put them through 
 the setting up drill from your book of U. S. Army 
 Tactics, which may be secured through any large book 
 store. Obtain four cadet rifles with bayonets. These 
 may be gotten through your local hardware dealer from 
 any wholesale hardware firm which deals in fire arms. 
 They will cost about $4.50 each. If this expense is 
 too much, an excellent imitation rifle can be obtained 
 
FOB THE COUNTRY CHUECH. 99' 
 
 for about one dollar from the Baptist Boy's Brigade 
 Headquarters, New York City. 
 
 Having equipped the four boys with arms and 
 campaign hats or the regulation drill cap with visor, 
 teach them the beautiful, lithe movements of the bayo- 
 net exercise. As they begin to move together you are 
 working up an esprit de corps. The boys are already 
 becoming comrades. Get them tired and enthusiastic,. 
 then sit down and propose the club, with a definite 
 aim — to build strong character and strong bodies. 
 
 When the messenger of Christ goes at this task he 
 will do well to give full acknowledgment of his mes- 
 sengership. I,oyalty to the great Person should be 
 an atmosphere about the club from the start^ The 
 boys must become aware of Him through the man 
 who leads them. Do not try to make them say 
 much about it. Boys won't, that is if they are honest. 
 Do not go to the other extreme of letting them say- 
 nothing at all. Either is a mistake. Just have a 
 frank talk, some day, with each boy about his soul- 
 Get him to pray with you. Give him a carefully 
 picked passage of scripture to read often, and then let 
 his Bible and his God do the work. But do not push 
 him. Never, never crowd him to say what he does- 
 not mean. 
 
 We suppose now that the boys are ready to organ- 
 ize. It is well that some things should be in black 
 and white. The pastor will of course make the club 
 method a servant, not a master, and no set of sugges- 
 
100 INSTITUTIONAL WOKK 
 
 lions can be adapted to all places. But the following 
 ■constitution will serve as a basis, to be enlarged or 
 •diminished as conditions indicate : 
 
 CONSTITUTION. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 The name of this club shall be 
 
 PUBPOSB. 
 
 Its object shall be to build up its members in Christian 
 •manliness by promoting self-control, courtesy to others and 
 reverence toward God. 
 
 MEMBERSHIP. 
 
 Applicants for membership must be from ten to sixteen 
 years of age, and must go to some Sunday school. 
 
 All members are expected to sign the following agreement: 
 I promise to keep from the use of alcoholic liquor as a bev- 
 erage and from all use of tobacco. I promise to discourage pro- 
 fane and indecent language. 
 
 BUSINESS MEETINGS. 
 
 The business meetings shall be held at the first session of 
 ■every month, only members being present, except by special 
 vote of the club. 
 
 The officers shall be a president, vice-president, secretary, 
 treasurer, and such military officers as a complete cadet com- 
 pany requires, the military officers being promoted in regular 
 army order. The civil officers shall hold office for six months. 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY CHURCH. 101 
 
 BY-LAWS. 
 
 ATTENDANCE. 
 
 Any member who shall be absent for three consecutive- 
 meetings, unless by some illness which confines him to the- 
 house, shall cease to be a member. 
 
 The dues shall be five cants a week for each member, pay- 
 able to the Treasurer at the first meeting in each month. The- 
 Treasurer shall at the close of each meeting read a list of those- 
 who have paid. 
 
 ELECTIONS. 
 
 All oflScers shall be elected by a majority vote of the club. 
 New members shall be elected by a two-thirds vote. All 
 elections shall be by ballot. 
 
 Signed. (Names of members. ) 
 
 There should now be a definite plan of operation. 
 I,ay out a series of ten or twelve weekly meetings, to- 
 end on a certain date with an exhibition drill at some 
 anniversary, picnic, or general gathering of the church, 
 where the boys can win for themselves public credit. 
 Work toward that. The meetings may well open with, 
 prayer before going out for drill. Then make the drill 
 a sharp, quick exercise. Give the commands with a 
 snap. There is no chance like this to breathe life and 
 fire into the boys. Give them a good variety ; the set- 
 ting up drill a few minutes, and then insist upon erect- 
 ness. Follow with the facings and marching drilL 
 When these are learned, they should have the manual 
 
102 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 of arms. The bayonet exercise is capable of so many 
 combinations in picturesque movement that it will 
 prove a particularly attractive feature. Do not be appre- 
 hensive about fostering a fighting spirit in the club. 
 It does not work that way. 
 
 During each drill have a rest and be ready with a 
 ten minute talk on some practical line. Heroic Deeds 
 by Ordinary People, The Religious Soldier : Cromwell, 
 Gordon, Stonewall Jackson, O. O. Howard, The 
 Truth about a Glass of Beer, Some Secrets hidden in a 
 Pack of Cards. These and a score of other topics are 
 suggested by the enthusiasms and temptations of boy 
 life. 
 
 Anon it is a good notion to vary drills with a 
 day's tramp, the climb of a neighboring mountain, a 
 visit to the scene of some historic event if the region 
 affords it. This gives a fine opportunity for personal 
 influence. The Beatitudes and Parables first came into 
 the world on the trips of the Galilee Club, as they 
 tramped and rested and sailed with the divine comrade. 
 Then soul flows into soul most easily. Do not forget 
 to tramp. 
 
 There is one thing which will end the whole affair 
 at any time and that is the betraying of an overbearing 
 disposition. He who would use our. method must be 
 long-suSering. He must make broad his phylactery 
 for the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians. He 
 must wear it as frontlets between his eyes — for the 
 average thirteen-year-old is no cherub. But give the 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY CHURCH. 103 
 
 largest possible faith and credit to the collective judg- 
 ment of the boys, having it understood at the same 
 time- that the leader holds the deciding vote on all 
 questions. Keep a firm hand moved by a loving arm, 
 with a heart of praj^er behind it, and vs^hen the exhibi- 
 tion drill comes the concrete results will be 
 
 1. A group of boys bound to their pastor in lov- 
 ing loyalty. 
 
 2. A noticeable erect bearing and alertness in 
 each boy. 
 
 3. A genuine purpose for a clean life on the part 
 of each. 
 
 4. A new understanding and confidence between 
 every father and mother and the minister who has done 
 this service. 
 
 5. A general respect among the business men of 
 the community for the church as an institution of 
 practical Christianity. 
 
 All of these results may not be reached in every 
 case but with good judgment most of them will, and 
 any one of them is well worth the efibrt. 
 
 But the military idea will not last always. Do 
 not work it too hard. A capital variation is to take a 
 few weeks for a boy's camp at a neighboring lake. It 
 is not highly expensive, often cheaper than living the 
 same length of time at home. The camp should enjoy 
 family devotions in the morning, and the rest of the 
 time the utmost irregularity consistent with piety. 
 For a dozen boys there should be if possible one man to 
 
104 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 each tent and at least one of these must be a powerful 
 swimmer. Let the entire camp disport itself in the 
 water every day until each boy has been taught to 
 swim. Train them so to take care of themselves in the 
 water that the entire party can safelj' be tipped over 
 with clothes on, knowing that each can get to shore 
 and if necessary aid some one else. If the physical 
 director of a gymnasium can be induced to spend a few 
 days with the boys he may do priceless service by 
 teaching the lessons of first aid in case of drowning 
 accidents. In these and many more ways a single sea- 
 son of a boy 's camp can be made a helpful and happy 
 memory for a lifetime. 
 
 As fall and winter approach the club may betake 
 itself with great profit to the study of good citizenship. 
 It is no small service when they are taught how to 
 conduct an ordinary business meeting, to preside, 
 keep order, keep record, vote, and then abide by the 
 decision of the majority. Some country churches, in 
 the conduct of annual business, are perilously near 
 " at sea" with the simplest rules of order. Endless 
 misunderstanding and hardening of heart arise from 
 unintentional violation of fair play in business meetings. 
 The boys should be familiarized with the town busi- 
 ness and encouraged to attend town meeting. They 
 should be taught the sacredness of the ballot. They 
 will hear reliable reports of bribery and they can be 
 taught that the man who buys his town office, his seat 
 in the legislature, or in Congress, is a traitor to us all, 
 
FOR THE COUKTKY CHUECH. 105 
 
 not fit for the society of honest men, much less to help 
 make our laws. They can be taught the application 
 ol Christ's principles to the working of government, 
 and the truth that our glorious Republic is the best 
 country in the world because the spirit of its constitu- 
 tion is more Christian than that of the government of 
 any other nation ; and this because it was founded and 
 moulded by those men of rock, the Pilgrims, and that 
 man of oak , Washington . 
 
 There can often be arranged a course of practical 
 talks, by prominent and successful men of the town or 
 vicinity. The following will prove an attractive 
 group of topics. Elements of success in Law, Medicine, 
 the Ministry, Business and Teaching ; closing with a 
 talk on Choosing a Life Work. 
 
 Levy on the whole region for the best there is in 
 it. Make the doctor, lawyer, town clerk, postmaster, 
 school teacher, summer boarder, all who have wit or 
 counsel, join hands with the pastor in this fine enter- 
 prise. 
 
 It may be that my brother in the ministry is un- 
 alterably opposed to war and everything which savors 
 thereof. For myself. I feel that injustice and oppression 
 are worse than war ; that God uses lightning as well as 
 sunshine to clarify the moral air ; and for myself I wish 
 to see some lightning in a boy. But there are diversities 
 of gifts. Every man to his forte, if he but put forth his 
 personal influence. One pastor is an enthusiastic 
 botanist. He will take to the woods with his club. 
 
106 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 Another is an expert wood carver, and uses his hobby 
 right valiantly with a class for manual training. But 
 above and beyond all method are I^ove, Purity, Obedi- 
 ence, Force, and a real worship of the Most Brave, the 
 Most I,oving, the Knight of Nazareth. To breathe 
 these into their hearts is, the supreme purpose of spe- 
 cial work for boys. 
 
FOR THE COUNTKT CH0EOH. 107 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Library and Reading-Room. 
 
 The promotion of intelligence and the diffusion 
 of useful knowledge form an integral part of the 
 work of the church. To this work it is called alike 
 by its traditions and the character of its mission. 
 
 The striking feature about the Old Dispensation 
 was its educational purpose. In the midst of the 
 chosen people were the revealed laws of God, the 
 prophets and other organs of oracular communica- 
 tion, religious ordinances and emblems, and a long 
 series of miraculous acts which embodied great 
 truths, all constituting an agency for the instruction 
 of the people. In a large variety of ways the Old 
 Testament emphasizes the truth "that the soul be 
 without knowledge, it is not good." So prominent 
 was the educational feature that the apostle Paul 
 speaks of the dispensation as a schoolmaster. God 
 educated the chosen people, and in doing so educated 
 the future teachers of mankind. 
 
 What this did for the Jews is well stated by a 
 recent writer on education. " What a singular spec- 
 tacle is offered by that people, which, dispossessed 
 of its own country for 1800 years, has been dispersed 
 
108 INSTITUTIONAL AVOEK 
 
 among tlie nations without losing its identity, and 
 has maintained its existence without a country, 
 without a government and without a ruler, preserv- 
 ing with perennial energy its habits, its manners and 
 its faith. Without losing sight of the extraordinary 
 vitality of the Jewish people, it is just to attribute 
 another part of it to the sound education, at once 
 religious and national, which the ancient Hebrews 
 transmitted by tradition to their descendants." 
 
 The same characteristic is most marked in the 
 New Dispensation. Christ was preeminently a 
 teacher. He is more often referred to in that capac- 
 ity than in any other, and the larger portion of his 
 time during his public ministry was occupied in 
 teaching the people. 
 
 The great educational movements and institu- 
 tions of Christiandom have had a distinctively 
 ecclesiastical origin. The church has not always 
 been mindful of its duty in the matter of promoting 
 popular intelligence, and it would not be difficult to 
 point to instances in which it has favored popular 
 ignorance, and exerted itself to withhold educational 
 privileges from the masses. Nevertheless, the church 
 as a whole has never quite ignored its educational 
 mission. 
 
 The Reformed Churches have always been active 
 in the work of promoting intelligence and diffusing 
 knowledge among the people. To this end they 
 have founded and supported educational institutions 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY CHUECH. 109 
 
 on a most generous plan, and they have adopted 
 other means in many ways equally effective. In the 
 seventeenth century in England was organized the 
 Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, 
 and this was followed later by the Society for the 
 Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. 
 
 Nowhere do we find better illustrations of the 
 church's interest in the things of the mind than in 
 our own country. Knowledge we have always held 
 in high esteem and ignorance we have looked upon 
 as incompatible with the welfare of the individual 
 and of the community. That knowledge is desira- 
 ble not for the few but for all has been a funda- 
 mental tenet in our working creed. Hence schools 
 of all grades and other means for the diffusion of 
 knowledge have been most popular among us. 
 
 Only six years after the arrival of Winthrop and 
 his company in Salem, and only sixteen years after 
 the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, the Massa- 
 chusetts legislature made a grant of $2,000 for the 
 establishment of Harvard College. And here is an 
 historical circumstance which should appeal to the 
 pride of every New Englander and every true Amer- 
 ican, because it is the first instance in all history in 
 which " the people by their representatives ever 
 gave their own money to found a place of educa- 
 tion." The beginning was small but it was made in 
 the right spirit, and contained the potency and 
 promise of larger and better things. To-day knowl- 
 
110 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 edge is more widely diflFused among u^ than in any 
 other country. 
 
 Another agency for the diffusion of knowledge is 
 coming into increasing prominence, namely, the 
 library. It is not a competitor or rival of the school, 
 but a most valuable adjunct. The school teaches how 
 to read, the library furnishes what to read. The 
 school teaches how to acquire knowledge, the library 
 provides the means for its acquisition by opening to 
 us the storehouses of human learning and wisdom. 
 The school does its work during the earlier portion of 
 life, the library does its work continuously through 
 life. There comes a time when formal education ends, 
 but if the scholar is true to himself and has a grasp of 
 the true meaning and real purpose of life the educa- 
 tional process will go right on, the library being an 
 invaluable agency in the work. 
 
 Here is a choice opportunity for the church to do 
 effective work for the promotion of intelligence in the 
 communitj'. 
 
 I. In the first place, it comes clearly within the 
 province of the church to establish a library of its own 
 if it chooses to do so and can command the necessary 
 means. This is one of the ways in which it can ren- 
 der most beneficent and acceptable service to the com- 
 munity, a service which cannot fail to react most help- 
 fully upon the interests of the church, commending it 
 even to the skeptically inclined as an institution ani- 
 
FOE THE COUNTEY CHTJECH. Ill 
 
 mated by the spirit of Him who " went about doing 
 good." 
 
 This has been done by at least one church in the 
 State. In 1891, when the Congregational Church at 
 Ludlow was maturing plans for the erection of a new 
 church edifice, provisions were made for a room for a 
 public library. The only library privileges accesible 
 to the people being those offered by a small circulating 
 library owned by one of the citizens. The project 
 commended itself to the people, and especially to one 
 family who promptly furnished the means for finishing 
 and furnishing the room, and the purchase of books, 
 and who have given a generous sum annually to meet 
 current expenses. Generous contributions of books 
 have come from other sources, and the library has 
 been steadily growing. 
 
 The books are selected by a committee of the 
 church appointed to take charge of the library, and the 
 selection is made on the same principle as for any well 
 ordered public library. Care is taken to exclude all 
 books of a sectarian character, and there is nothing in 
 the character of the books in the least suggestive of 
 any connection between the library and the Congrega- 
 tional Church. On the tables are found all the lead- 
 ing magazines and many illustrated papers. 
 
 The reading room is scarcely of less importance 
 than the library ; and has some manifest advantages 
 as compared with the latter. It is much less costly, 
 and indeed the support of a good reading room may 
 
112 INSTITUTIONAL WOBK 
 
 be said to be within the means of any community 
 and even of every church. Papers and magazines of 
 a high order are now obtainable at a phenomenally 
 low price. For twenty-five dollars a year a room can 
 be well supplied with current literature, and twice 
 that sum would provide a supply adequate to the 
 needs of a community of considerable size . Of course 
 this is not the only item of expense, but the only one 
 of sufficient amount to prove an obstacle in the way of 
 establishing such a room. Another advantage is that 
 a reading room would attract a class of persons to 
 whom the advantages of library do not appeal, and 
 this is a class, too, which most needs to be interested 
 in instructive and wholesome reading matter. 
 
 The church can work for this in several ways. 
 Through its preaching and Sunday school instruction, 
 and by the personal influence and exertions of indi- 
 vidual members it can help to interest the community 
 in the matter. This instruction and agitation clearly 
 comes within the scope of the church's mission, and 
 can not be overlooked or slighted, for it is a work 
 having for its object the enlightenment of the com- 
 munity. The church can also take the lead in con- 
 tributing in a material way to the success of such an 
 enterprise by donations not only of money but of 
 magazines and papers. 
 
 It is not impracticable for a church to have a 
 reading room of its own. Such an extension of the 
 church's work has much to recommend it. The church 
 
FOE THE COUNTEY OHUECH. 113 
 
 has, usually, a vestry or some other suitable room 
 which can be utilized for the purposes of a reading 
 room without interfering with other branchesof church 
 work, which removes one important item of expense. 
 It is much easier to maintain good order in a room in 
 a church than in one located in a business block, and 
 those who have had experience in this line of work 
 appreciate the advantage here suggested. It helps 
 to bring the church in closer touch with the life of 
 the community, and to emphasize the idea that the 
 church of Christ is essentially a ministering church, 
 whose ministrations are coextensive with the needs 
 and welfare of humanity. 
 
 The library is the absolute property of the 
 Church, and is also in every sense a free public 
 library. No fee of any kind is charged, and the 
 privileges of the library are open to every one with- 
 out the least reference to Church affiliations. It is 
 open three afternoons and two evenings in the week. 
 II. The Church, through its individual members, if 
 not as a Church, should contribute to the growth and 
 usefulness of existing libraries. Members of the 
 Church should interest themselves in the condition of 
 these institutions and be prepared to contribute to 
 the extent of their ability to their growth, in the 
 way of money, books and influence. It is a mistake 
 to assume that it belongs only to rich people or to 
 the town or State to help libraries. It is in the 
 power of most people to do something, and mem- 
 
114 INSTITT7TI0NAL WOEK 
 
 bers of the Church should be especially mindful of 
 this duty. It is a part of practical Christianity, 
 that Christianity which seeks to bless the world 
 here and now» 
 
 In the same way the Church can exert an im- 
 mense influence in securing the exclusion of books 
 of a doubtful character. These are liable to find 
 their way into any library, and it is the business of 
 the Church to exert itself in all possible ways to 
 help in keeping out such books, and to secure the 
 introduction of books that are morally wholesome, 
 instructive and of literary merit. It is not meant, 
 of course, that books intended for entertainment are 
 to be excluded, but trashy books, books that ridicule 
 what the world has considered sacred, books calcu- 
 lated to lower the moral tone of the reader, books 
 which set forth low views of life, these have no 
 rightful place in any library. 
 
 The importance of keeping out of libraries 
 books of doubtful character, to say nothing of books 
 downright bad, is emphasized by the fact that peo- 
 ple — good people — will live on terms of intimacy 
 with a clever but bad character in the pages of a 
 novel who would be ashamed even to acknowledge 
 acquaintance with him were he clothed in flesh and 
 blood. The influence of such association, however, 
 is most deleterious upon the character and life. If 
 the history of many an unworthy, not to say demor- 
 alized and ruined life, were fully known it would be 
 
FOB THE COUNTET CHUECH. 115 
 
 found that contact with low characters in current 
 fiction formed quite an appreciable factor in the pro- 
 duction of the result. The Church is doing good 
 service in the cause of pure morals, undefiled per- 
 sonal religion, and in the interests of all that is best 
 in character and life when it stands openly and act- 
 ively for what is clean and elevating in everything 
 that enters our libraries. 
 
 III. In a community where there is no library 
 the Church should interest itself in securing one. It 
 may not be situated so that it can establish one of 
 its own. The means may not be available. It can, 
 however, do much towards communicating the im- 
 pulse which may bring about the desired result. It 
 can take the lead and gather together the scattered 
 resources and develop the latent possibilities. In 
 every community, probably, there are resources 
 available for a worthy object wholly unsuspected 
 until the attempt is made to accomplish that object. 
 It is the business of the Church to make the discov- 
 ery by undertaking the work. 
 
 IV. Renewed attention should be paid to the 
 Sunday School library. It is a pity that this has 
 been allowed to fall into comparative neglect. It 
 has done good work and is capable of doing better 
 work. The books in such libraries have been — but 
 seldom justly — stigmatized as "goody-goody." The 
 proper inference to be drawn, assuming the truth of 
 the charge, is that the quality of the books should 
 
116 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 be improved, not that the library should cease to be 
 a feature of the school. 
 
 It is an excellent supplement to a public library. 
 Many public J.ibraries are deficient, for example, in 
 juvenile books. The Sunday School library can 
 make a specialty of these. The public library from 
 the nature of the case can give but little attention to 
 books of devotion and religious instruction, and 
 works of reference for the Sunday School teacher. 
 These are simply suggestions, of the value of a well- 
 selected Sunday School library. 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY CHTJEOH. 117 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Evangelistic Worl^ in Out-Districts. 
 
 The parish of every church includes all people 
 within its reach not provided for by some other church. 
 Therefore the parish of the country church generally 
 embraces a wide territory. We are not speaking of 
 frontier States but of older States. The parish often 
 has a diameter of ten or twelve miles. The writer was 
 for some years pastor of a parish larger than this. On 
 different roads several families came from five to six 
 miles ; and for years these were among the most regu- 
 lar attendants on public worship. Within this radius 
 many families seldom or never attended church but 
 looked for no other minister for funerals and weddings. 
 And there were several neighborhoods still farther 
 away for which no other church felt responsibility > 
 This extensive parish with rather vaguely defined 
 limits is scarcely an exception among the country 
 churches of Vermont and of many other States. 
 
 How shall the church extend its influence to all 
 the inhabitants of so wide a region, — how touch with. 
 Christian influence all for whom it is responsible ? 
 
 Seventy -five years ago it was the fashion to attend 
 divine service on Sunday. All people of fair morality 
 
118 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 expected to be present at public worship. It was hardly 
 considered respectable to be absent except for illness. 
 We do not try to analize the motives of the old-time 
 church -going. The people were not far from Puritan 
 days and ideas. They had fewer diversions. Sunday 
 was an opportunity. They called their church edifice 
 the "meeting house." It was iBtly named. There 
 the people met more or less religiously and less or more 
 socially. Times have changed. The Sunday news- 
 paper makes a claim felt by many. There is a sermon 
 on one page at which one may glance between the 
 rounds of the prize fights. Then there are the cream- 
 eries and the milk wagons and the bicycles. Possibly 
 some are not so sure as formerly of any supreme au- 
 thority in the Bible. Whatever the causes it is certain 
 that a far smaller proportion of the people attend Sun- 
 day worship than sixty or seventy years ago. Many 
 excellent people are habitually absent and have lio 
 trouble of conscience. We do not say there is less reli- 
 gion. There is more missionary zeal, more "applied 
 Christianity." There is less reverence for the house 
 of God and some think less reverence for God. What 
 must the church do ? Clearly if the people will not 
 come to the Gospel, the Gospel must be carried to the 
 people. The mission of the church is to save men and 
 its highest responsibility is for those near its own door. 
 If the church does not cultivate its own field, how can 
 it cultivate fields far distant ? If it does not love those 
 in its own parish, how can it love those in pagan lands ? 
 
FOE THE CODNTET CHURCH. 119 
 
 One means of reaching the people is by evangelistic 
 services in out-lying districts. We use the term evan- 
 gelistic services in a broad sense. They may take 
 different forms and should often combine^ several forms. 
 The most favorable place for this out-district work is 
 the school-house. We do not forget that there are 
 other valuable means of carrying the Gospel to the 
 people who do not come to the church for it. There 
 is the Home Department of the Sunday School, the 
 visits of the district committees and the pastor's per- 
 sonal care. But evangelistic work in school houses is 
 a hopeful agency. Often this work may include a 
 Sunday school. When there are many children in the 
 neighborhood this form of service should not be omit- 
 ted, especially if there are two or three residents of the 
 district available for teachers. But even when there is 
 a Sunday School it will generally be found best to sup- 
 plement it with a short Gospel service of song and 
 prayer and sermon . This will attract some older per- 
 sons to whom the Sunday school does not appeal. 
 Generally at the close of the season, if not before, an 
 effort should be made to harvest the fruits, to call out 
 testimony and seal decision for Christ. One could 
 relate several successful efforts of this kind. In one 
 district for several reasons services were conducted 
 part of the time with a Sunday school, with an attend- 
 ance of from thirty to forty, nearly all of whom would 
 have attended no other religious service and could 
 have found none nearer than five or six miles. It is 
 
120 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 believed permanent good was done. Some intemperate 
 men were reformed and some irreligious ones won to 
 Christ. At another time in an out-of-the-way neigh- 
 borhood amon^ the hills, services were held through 
 the summer months. There was a Sunday school of 
 three or four classes. The pastor concluded each 
 meeting with a short sermon. At the end of the sea- 
 son expression was invited and all present but one 
 declared for Christ. About twelve of these soon after 
 joined some neighboring church and others have given 
 proof of the sincerity of their confession. Not one of 
 these people were accustomed to attend church. It 
 often occurs that the church conducting these services 
 receives little or no direct and apparent benefit. The 
 people of the district may have no means of convey- 
 ance to the church services or the work may be mainly 
 for the children. But the Master will gather the 
 harvest. 
 
 Sometimes a series of Gospel meetings may be 
 thewisestformfor the work. Then if lay memberscan 
 be found who are qualified to aid the pastor or to 
 take the main responsibility, all the better. Besides 
 the result of reaching many with the Gospel message 
 who will not come after it, there is another benefit of 
 great value. The district meeting is a means of 
 grace to the church. It calls into use its latent tal- 
 ents. The timid church member, the young Chris- 
 tian Endeavorer, here find an easy way to begin 
 public witness and aggressive work. The mission of 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY CHUBCH. 121 
 
 the church is to save souls, to win men to Christ and 
 to build them up in Christlike character. There are 
 many Christians who find it difiScult to see their life 
 amounts to much as an agency for advancing Christ's 
 kingdom. The gentle influence of home piety, the 
 helpful deeds of neighborly kindness, the steady 
 support of their own church, these do not afford such 
 a palpable evidence of usefulness as they need for 
 their encouragement. But let them go to a neglected 
 neighborhood and pray and speak ; let them see 
 some response and they will have new confidence 
 and self-respect and strength. 
 
 Indeed it is good for all Christians if they can 
 find some such outside, definite service. " The 
 laborer must first be partaker of the fruits," but the 
 partaker of the fruits should be a laborer. If you can 
 keep a church at work you can keep a church grow- 
 ing. It is no small advantage that a church which 
 thus undertakes to cultivate its own field will be 
 brought into greater sympathy with its pastor and 
 into greater harmony and brotherly love. It will 
 have less inclination to censure and blame. 
 
 Co-operation tends to communion. We wish to 
 notice one or two peculiar advantages of the dis- 
 trict service. It often happens that the inhabitants 
 of the distant neighborhood are not in .sympathy 
 with the church. One of the reasons that has kept 
 them aloof is the suspicion that the church is " gen- 
 teel " and exclusive. We are confident that many 
 
122 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 make an excuse of this notion. Possibly they some- 
 times have some ground for their suspicion. Now 
 when the church carries meetings to their very doors 
 it is a proof of interest and sympathy which disarms 
 prejudice and conciliates good will. Again this is 
 their own school house and they in a sense entertain 
 the church. They are hosts and are to extend hos- 
 pitality and courtesy. They feel some responsibility 
 and pride in sustaining the meetings. If they have 
 excused themselves from church service on account 
 of lack of conveyance or on the plea of not being 
 able to dress suitably, these objections are removed 
 as to the school house. And if there is in any soul 
 an awakened interest or a dawning purpose, it is 
 easier to give expression to this feeling here in this 
 little informal meeting than amid the more stately 
 surroundings and colder atmosphere of the church. 
 One has known timid hearts to commit themselves 
 here who would not have found courage to do it else- 
 where. The evangelistic services of out-districts 
 are the fountains that will keep streams of life sweet 
 and full in the church. How far away from 
 the church should these district meetings be car- 
 ried ? Carry them to the borders of the next 
 parish. Hold them in that broken-down old church, 
 in " little old school house," or in the farmer's cot- 
 tage. How near may they be held to the church? 
 If we hold them very near shall we not give the 
 people a new excuse for absence from the sanctuary ? 
 
FOK THE COtTNTRT CHUECH. 123 
 
 The answer is " No matter how near if the people 
 do not attend any other church service. We have 
 not brought them to church. Let the church go to 
 them. They did not hear our church bell, though 
 they were but half a mile off. Let us see if they will 
 hear this grasp of our hands and this personal call. 
 If the service is really evangelistic and evangelical, 
 your church will not suffer. The people will follow 
 you to your sanctuary. Some of them will be bap- 
 tized next communion. The spiritual child knows 
 its spiritual mother. The home church will be 
 refreshed with this new blood. But of course the 
 most destitute places are likely to be more distant. 
 
 How large a proportion of his strength should a 
 pastor devote to out-district work ? He may give too 
 much. He may spread himself out too thin. I knew 
 a young pastor who put much strength into such work 
 and apparently with some blessing upon his labors. 
 But after a time his senior deacon, a wise and large 
 hearted Christian, who had worked with him in a dis- 
 tant school house, kindly cautioned him. He said, 
 " If every soul in this back neighborhood is converted, 
 the influential men in your congregation won 't care a 
 cent if you don't keep your pulpit up." There is a 
 truth here. The pulpit is the pastor's throne. And 
 yet the throne stands upon the good will of the people 
 and of these common people. The sermon will be bet- 
 ter if the pastor's heart is kept warm and his speech 
 
124 
 
 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 kept plain by contact with all kinds of people in ear- 
 nest work. The sermon may be stronger if less stately. 
 If it has less smell of midnight oil, it may have the 
 breath of the green fields. 
 
FOB THE COUNTET CHURCH. 125 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Special Work tor Girls. 
 
 There are very few country churches that give 
 special attentiou to the young girls growing up in 
 their midst. Great anxiety is felt for the boys, and 
 some attempts are made to interest them in the work of 
 the church and kingdom, but the girls are usually left 
 to work out their own salvation. This fact may be 
 accounted for in one or both of two ways. First, the 
 belief obtains quite widely that girls are more suscepti- 
 ble to Christian influences than boys, and can there- 
 fore, with less danger be left to themselves. Or, it 
 may be that our special interest in the boys is due to 
 the fact that at the present time so much emphasis is 
 placed upon ' ' Good Citizenship, ' ' and we realize 
 that the boy will soon become the man. Whatever 
 the reason may be, the fact remains that altogether 
 too little attention is given to the girls. 
 
 We make a great mistake in thus neglecting the 
 girls. If it is important to realize that the boy is 
 soon to become the man, it is of far more importance 
 to realize that the girl is soon to become the mother, 
 for good mothers are the best assurance of good sous. 
 
126 INSTITUTIONAL WOKK 
 
 " Behind every great man there is a good woman." 
 It would hardly be possible to say too much, or em- 
 phasize too strongly, the importance of giving the 
 young girls our first and best attention. It is not 
 wise to trust too securely to their natural inclination 
 to accept and follow the good. Girls have tempta- 
 tions as well as boys, perhaps not so many or so 
 strong but just as real nevertheless, and they need 
 every good influence that can be thrown around them. 
 They are worthy to receive the best efforts of the 
 church and Christian people. For their own sakes, 
 and for the sake of future generations, we should 
 make every sacrifice necessary to secure for them the 
 best possible instruction and training in ways of pur- 
 ity, sobriety and high ideals. 
 
 There are temptations that are common to boys 
 and girls alike ; but there are peculiarities in the girls' 
 condition and training that require special attention. 
 They are shielded by their position from many of the 
 perils to which young men are exposed, but by the 
 very peculiarity of their position and training they 
 have certain influences that subject them to great peril. 
 
 One great danger to which country girls are ex- 
 posed, is that of growing to womanhood without any- 
 thing like an earnest view of life, with its tremendous 
 significance, its serious responsibilities and its inevita- 
 ble relation to the future. The undue importance given 
 to what are called Accomplishments very naturally 
 impresses the young lady with the feeling that the great 
 
FOE THE COUNTET CHURCH. 127 
 
 purpose of her existence is to excite admiration. I do 
 not under-value Accomplishments, they are the indi- 
 cations of refinement and culture, but the faculties are 
 given us for something higher than mere amusement 
 or entertainment. 
 
 Another great evil to which the young girl of to- 
 day is exposed is the over-indulgence in light reading, 
 novels and fictitious stories. Even though these books 
 are not in themselves immoral or bad, excessive indul- 
 gence in such reading dulls the affections and impairs 
 the vigor of the mind. 
 
 There is still another influence to which the young 
 girl is subject upon entering into society, which is un- 
 favorable to the formation of a strong and healthy 
 character, and that is the sort of estimation in which 
 she is held. The style of conversation addressed to 
 her is the language of complimentand flattery. A kind 
 of deference is paid to her. Every young lady is enti- 
 tled to, and should expect due deference paid her, 
 especially by the opposite sex, but she should resist 
 and scorn anything like flattery or undue compliment. 
 One who courts such things will develop a style of 
 character that is unreal and artificial. 
 
 There is a great difierence betwen the education 
 and training of the boy and the girl. The boy as soon 
 as he arrives at a certain age is expected to choose a 
 profession or direct his attention to some particular 
 line of business, and he pursues his studies with refer- 
 ence to that particular vocation. But the girl, with 
 
128 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 only here and there an exception, is trained for no 
 special sphere of action. This in part accounts for 
 the unwarranted prominence given to external accom- 
 plishments. The last few years however have seen 
 great advancement made in the education and training 
 of young ladies ; a generation ago teaching was almost 
 the only lucrative employment for which the young 
 girls were trained. To-day there is a place in almost 
 every branch of industry in which they may success- 
 fully engage. If one has a liberal education her range 
 of choice of a life's work is practically unlimited. 
 
 It is not my purpose here, however, to enumerate 
 the various temptations to which young girls are sub- 
 ject, nor to warn them against the same. I have re- 
 ferred to two or three special temptations in order to 
 arouse the interest of the reader to the great necessity 
 of giving to the girls our serious attention, and not 
 leaving them to themselves. 
 
 We can not take the girls under our direction 
 too early, nor can we give them too much time and 
 attention. Great wisdom, patience and zeal are 
 required to direct their young minds and encourage 
 them in the pursuit of high ideals. The aim and pur- 
 pose of all our work with the girls is the formation of 
 character. "Whatever be our means or method, the 
 end is always the same. There are many ways and 
 means of interesting and helping the girls of our 
 church. The special line along which we labor is of 
 secondary importance. If we can interest the young 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY CHUECH. 129 
 
 ladies in Bible study, a catechetical class, there's 
 no better method known, it ofiers a very wide scope 
 for inculcating truth and wisdom in all lines. "We 
 may find it advisable to attempt to reach the girls 
 through a Reading Circle, or, Iviterary Society, 
 or even a Sewing School. Again we might with 
 propriety and helpfulness minister to their phy- 
 sical needs by means of the Gymnasium, or 
 Girl's Brigade. Almost any method, if wisely 
 directed, will give the coveted opportunity to influ- 
 ence and instruct them in wisdom's ways. 
 
 In the country parish where the girls are scat- 
 tered, and it is with diflBiculj.y that one can get them 
 together, even once a week, and where you have not 
 all the conveniences for special work, it will be 
 found best to organize a society, give it some appro- 
 priate name, and let time, talent and convenience 
 direct and control the methods adopted. My own 
 experience has been that a variety is a good thing, 
 and that more can be accomplised in the end, i. e., 
 more of character-building, by introducing a variety 
 of work. 
 
 I. The first thing to be considered in the forma- 
 tion of a Girl's Club is the superintendent. I need 
 not attempt a lengthy description of the peculiar 
 qualities that a superintendent should possess. As a 
 matter of course she must love the girls and the 
 work, and the girls must love her. She should have 
 time at her disposal, the more the better. Someone 
 
130 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 who is or who has been a teacher. Often a mother 
 with her maternal instincts is the right one for the 
 place. 
 
 Never choose any one, whatever her natural 
 endowments, who is not an active Christian worker. 
 Maturity of wisdom and character are indispensable. 
 One who cherishes high ideals, noble thoughts, and a 
 pure mind, and has herself reached a high standard of 
 attainment. The ideal superintendent is hard to find, 
 yet almost every little church can furnish one or more 
 available women who will be willing to undertake the 
 work. Choose the best that can be found after pray- 
 erful investigation and consultation. 
 
 II. The second step to be taken is the choice ot 
 work. What will be most helpful and at the same 
 time interesting ? Often this will be determined at the 
 very outset, even before anything else, the desire to 
 accomplish a certain end, will suggest the organization. 
 Some one will ask ' ' Why can not we have a Girls 
 Sewing School " or "I wish that we might start a 
 Reading Club." And some one will come forward to 
 take up the work of her own free will, there will be no 
 planning but a simple and spontaneous coming together 
 and going forward. Usually, however, much thought 
 and planning will be necessary before the work moves 
 on. The work may be decided upon and outlined by 
 the one or more who have become interested in the 
 girls, or the girls may be called together and consulted 
 as to their preference. Wisdom will be needed here. 
 
FOE THE OOUNTEY CHUEOH. 131 
 
 the work must be chosen after carefully considering 
 many details. First, the effect of the work upon the 
 great purpose of the undertaking . Second, the adapta- 
 bility of the work to the girls, and of the girls to the 
 work. Third, the conveniences and conditions ; are 
 they favorable to the precise work in hand? For in- 
 stance, a class in Physical Culture is not likely to be 
 of as much service to country girls as some other work, 
 for the simple reason that they get sufficient exercise 
 in their ordinary round of daily work. True, they are 
 far from being physically perfect, yet a few personal 
 suggestions and directions is all that they require, and 
 this may be accomplishd while some other work is being 
 done. Again, school-girls should not be encouraged 
 in literary work unless such work can be done in con- 
 nection with their school work. I recommend my 
 method to the average country church. I had a class 
 of twelve girls in the S. S. I desired to interest them 
 in the work of the church ; they from the first were 
 enthusiastic, and seemed pleased to be asked to help 
 the church. Accordingly we met on a Saturday after- 
 noon at the parsonage, and after a little, decided to 
 organize a " Dorcas Society. " As the name suggests, 
 our purpose was to have a sort of Sewing-School and 
 by the sale of the articles that we made to assist the 
 church in various ways. We have carried out our 
 plan, and for nearly two years have kept up our meet- 
 ings with more or less regularitj'. We have enjoyed 
 it. It has been helpful to the girls, and we have been 
 
132 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 able to help the church in several ways, in a financial 
 ■way some over fifty dollars. 
 
 We introduced a variety of work into our meetings. 
 We studied the Bible together, we read from interesting 
 books, one would read while the rest were sewing. We 
 planned for entertainments and sales. We took a 
 little physical-culture work in the line of drills. Our 
 meetings have been so conducted and conversation so 
 directed as to lend themselves to the greate.=!t possible 
 usefulness. Freedom to do what circumstances re- 
 quire and wisdom directs, has proven the best method 
 for us. In this way I have been able to bring up and 
 •discuss a great many subjects that I could not have 
 touched upon in any other way. It has helped to 
 keep up the interest of the girls, not only in the meet- 
 ings, but also in the church and its work. 
 
 III. The next thing to decide, is the choice of 
 time and place of meetings. This will have to be 
 governed almost wholly by local circumstances. Satur- 
 day afternoon ; sometimes everj' week, sometimes 
 «very other week, has been most convenient for us. 
 The girls have come to mj' home. 
 
 IV. The organization, officers and constitution 
 will require attention. I advise a simple organization. 
 This will give the girls a little practice in self-control 
 and dignity, as well as in parliamentary law. Too 
 extensive organization is not helpful unless that be the 
 aim of the society. 
 
FOE THE COUNTKY OHURCH. 13S 
 
 If I may be allowed to make a few additional sug- 
 gestions in closing, I would like to refer again to the 
 aim and purpose of any and all lines of work or meth- 
 ods adopted. We must never lose sight of the fact 
 that the supreme purpose of our undertaking is the 
 formation of character. With all wisdom and patience 
 we will contrive to impress the girls with the fact that 
 they are to live forever, and that this life is the school 
 to prepare them for a higher existence. This should 
 be ever in the mind of the superintendent. I would, 
 emphasize again, the relation that the society as a 
 whole, and the girls in particular hold to the church.. 
 This is an important point, while the aim is the culti- 
 vation of the spiritual life of each individual, it will be 
 well to impress the girls with the value of the church- 
 to them, and to the community, and seek to make 
 them see thaf the church needs and is worthy of then- 
 support. If the girls are all professed Christians^ 
 they should be led ever up and on to higher plains of 
 individual and social salvation. If they are not all 
 Christians, constant prayer and earnest work should be 
 given them with the confidence that nothing will be 
 lost or fail of its reward. 
 
134 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Sociological Canvass. 
 
 It needs no argument of mine to prove that every 
 pastor should know just as much as possible about the 
 people with whom and for whom he is working. I 
 need not argue either, that he cannot know much, cer- 
 tainly not all that he ought to know, and with the cer- 
 tainty that he ought to know it, from mere hearsay or 
 casual observation. A careful study of the circum- 
 stances and conditions of every family , and of the com- 
 munity as a whole, is an absolute necessity to a wise 
 and lasting work. This necessitates a thorough can- 
 vass and careful tabulation of every fact and phenome- 
 non investigated. 
 
 The country pastor, as a rule, is a hard working 
 man, he does not spare himself. All that he has and 
 is, he gives to the church and its work, and yet the 
 work when judged by its results, is often superficial 
 and fruitless, This can be accounted for partly on the 
 ground of short pastorates. The average pastorate is 
 so short that one has hardly time to plow and sow the 
 seed to say nothing about reaping the harvest. True, 
 no good seed sowing is ever in vain, often the new 
 
FOB THE COTJNTEY CHUECH. 335 
 
 pastor enters into the labors of his predecessor, some- 
 times reaping a bountiful harvest. And yet, no two 
 pastors are able to do precisely the same work with 
 each and every one. Short pastorates are harmful to 
 the work of the church and the kingdom. 
 
 But this will by no means account for the small 
 harvest, another cause is apparent, the work is not 
 done with wisdom and discretion. Love may abound 
 and energy be unlimited, yet if wisdom is lacking, the 
 work cannot succeed. One may shoot with a strong 
 desire to kill, and an ambition worthy of a skilled 
 marksman, yet if he has not experience and shoots 
 into the air, the arrow is sure to fall to the ground. 
 
 Too much of our preaching is beating the air. 
 People marveled at Jesus Christ, because, as they 
 said, He ' ' Spoke with authority. ' ' People marvel at 
 the preacher to-day because he speaks with so little 
 authority. A thorough sociological canvass of his 
 community would furnish the pastor with material 
 for instruction and edification that would cause the 
 people to marvel and to recognize his authority. 
 When one can appeal to facts and figures, and illus- 
 trate with concrete examples then his power is in- 
 creased a hundred fold. 
 
 I know of no work that will give to the pastor 
 so much real power and enable him to work so suc- 
 cesslully, as will a thorough knowledge of the facts 
 obtained by a wise investigation into the conditions 
 in which the people live and labor. This work re- 
 
136 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 quires time. If done thoroughly, from two to four 
 years will be necessary to complete it satisfactorily, 
 but when once done it will be of untold help to the 
 pastor, and of lasting good to the church and com- 
 munity. The work must be done by the pastor, 
 very little help can be used except indirectly, and 
 when it is done it belongs to the pastor, but of course 
 he will leave so much of it to the church, and incom- 
 ing pastor as is not private, the outline and main 
 facts will be of great help to the new pastor and of 
 no value to the retiring pastor. A great many facts 
 will come to light that are the sole property of the 
 one discovering them and must be used if used at all, 
 personally and privately. 
 
 Don't act the spy, don't be a traitor. Anything 
 that you have any right to know, ask for frankly, 
 you'll be told more than you will care to hear, and if 
 you find it hard to keep a secret don't listen to one. 
 Keep your eyes and ears open from the moment you 
 enter the new field, but don't begin a general inves- 
 tigation or canvass until you are positive that the 
 people have perfect confidence in you as a true and 
 trusted friend, not that you are at any time or under 
 any condition to pry into family secrets or personal 
 matters, but you will need to be on such terms with 
 them as to enable you to talk freely with them and 
 they with you upon matters of religion and their per- 
 sonal hindrances and helps in the struggle of life. 
 
FOR THE COHNTEY CHUKCH. 137 
 
 Almost every pastor makes a sort of religious 
 canvass of his parish, but rarely is a good and lasting 
 work done, partly I suppose because its value is not 
 realized and partly because the pastor is not conver- 
 sant with the best methods of such a canvass. I have 
 been at work for nearly two years with such a work 
 in my present parish and shall here give, for a guide 
 only, the lines of investigation. I have made my list 
 of questions just as full and complete as possible, but I 
 do not know of any question that is superficial. One 
 can easily see what a store of knowledge of facts itwill 
 furnish when completed. 
 
 Blank No. 1. 
 
 1. Possessions otvned by the family. 
 
 a. Farm — Number of acres , value , owned or 
 
 rented , mortgaged , for how much 
 
 b. Vehicles — Number , value 
 
 c. Animals — Number , value 
 
 d. Buildings — Number , value , condition 
 
 e. Money — Cash , bank , mortgages houses 
 
 or lands , and other place 
 
 f. Tools — Kinds , quality , value 
 
 g. Firearms — Kind , value , use 
 
 2. Sources of income. 
 
 a. Profits of farm — Wages , interest , rent , 
 
 product .....'., consumed at home , boarders , 
 
 pensions , friends , charity , insurance 
 
 , any other source 
 
138 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 3. Family name. 
 
 a. Husband — Age nationality , where born , 
 
 age married , living 
 
 b. Wife — Age , nationality , where born , 
 
 age married , living 
 
 c. Boys — Age , married , where living. 
 
 d. Girls — Age , married , where living 
 
 e. Characteristics — Mental , physical 
 
 f. Peculiarities — • 
 
 g. Relatives in the home 
 
 h. Boarders — 
 
 i. Employes — N^umber , age , sex , national- 
 ity , when paid associate with the family 
 
 , where is their home 
 
 j. How long resident of the town , state U. S. 
 
 , farm 
 
 k. Keep a strict account of expenses 
 
 1. Any college men or women in the family 
 
 4. Arrangements for home. life. 
 
 a. House — Size , painted color , surround- 
 
 ings , rooms , size , windows , house 
 
 light or dark , furniture ventilation , 
 
 cellar wet or dry , drainage , water supply 
 
 , lighting , bathing facilities , distance 
 
 of barn from house , where put ashes , 
 
 where is privy 
 
 b. Protection agencies — Againstfire , against thieves 
 
 , against disease , against accident , 
 
 heating , clothing , etc 
 
 c. Arrangements for home industry — Utensils for cook- 
 
 ing food , sweeping , washing , sewing 
 
 making butter etc 
 
FOB THE COUNTRY CHUECH. 139 
 
 5. Social life. 
 
 a. Books — Number , kind , papers — number 
 
 kind pictures — number , kind , musi- 
 cal instruments — number *, kind. 
 
 b. How are the Sundays spent , evenings 
 
 c. Social meetings — Parties , calls , visiting 
 
 d. Amusements — In the home..., outside , games 
 
 e. At what age do the children leave school 
 
 f. Have they a desire for a higher education , will 
 
 they have it 
 
 g. Do they read or study at home 
 
 h. Are you a member of any society, club, lodge 
 
 6. Religious life. 
 
 a. Member of church , what , attend where , 
 
 regular when converted how 
 
 b. When not attending church what do you do Sun- 
 
 days 
 
 c. Have you any objections to the church 
 
 d. Do your children go to S. S 
 
 e. If not why not 
 
 f. Do you have grace said at the table 
 
 g. Do you have a family alter 
 
 h. Do you attend the prayer service 
 
 i. If not why not 
 
 j. What are the hindrances to regular church attend- 
 ance 
 
 k. What style of preaching do you like 
 
 1. What do you think of revivals 
 
 m. Do you think that Christianity is on the decline 
 here 
 
 n. What is the greatest need of the church to-day 
 
 o. What is the greatest fault of church members 
 
140 INSTITUTIONAL WORK 
 
 Pathological Conditions. 
 
 a. Extreme poverty or luxury 
 
 b. Mode of securing income, honest, or dishonest 
 
 c. Theft , waste , extravagancies 
 
 d. Oppression by landlord 
 
 e. Family quarrels 
 
 f . Neglected discipline of children 
 
 g. Separation or divorce 
 
 h. Sexual evil 
 
 i. Children worked too hard not enough 
 
 j. School neglected 
 
 k. Illegitimate children 
 
 1. Marriage relation strained 
 
 m. Childless families 
 
 n. Diseases 
 
 o. Persons in prison number , offences 
 
 p. Children in house of correction , number , 
 
 reason why there 
 
 q. Property acquired , lost 
 
 r. Paupers , how relieved , feeble-minded , 
 
 cripples , deformed 
 
 s. Illiterate , superstitious evil books , 
 
 minds , pictures , language 
 
 8. Miscellaneous. 
 
 a. Does farming pay , are vou dissatisfied with 
 
 farming , do the boys and girls like to remain 
 
 on the farm 
 
 b. Do you carry life insurance 
 
 c. How often do you go into Burlington 
 
 d. How often do you get your mail 
 
 e. Which works the harder the man or the woman 
 
 f. Remarks 
 
FOE THE COUNTRY CHURCH. 141 
 
 Blank No. 2. 
 
 1. Family name Occupation Where born 
 
 2. Husband's name Nationality Where born 
 
 3. Wife's name Nationality Where born 
 
 4. Boys , age , in school in S. S 
 
 5. Girls , age , in school in S. S 
 
 6. Relatives 
 
 7. Boarders 
 
 8. How long a resident of farm , town , state , 
 
 U. S 
 
 9. Does farming pay 
 
 10. Are the children satisfied to remain on farm 
 
 11. Do you carry a life insurance 
 
 12. Are you a member of any society , club , 
 
 lodge 
 
 13. Are you a member of the Church what at- 
 
 tend regular 
 
 14. What do you do on Sundays 
 
 15. When was you converted , how 
 
 16. Do you have grace said at the table 
 
 17. Do you have a family altar 
 
 18. Is religion on the decline in this community 
 
 19. What is the greatest fault of the Church 
 
 20. What is its greatest need 
 
 Blank No. i is not to be used publicly, it is for 
 my own special guidance. Blank No. 2 I often take 
 with me on my rounds and ask the questions person- 
 ally ; there are none here but what are legitimate 
 and admittedly within the sphere of the pastor. I 
 have found no trouble in getting the answers what- 
 ever. It has proven one of the best introductions to 
 
142 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 the religious condition of the family and its individual 
 members that I have ever found. I recommend 
 Blank No. 2 to every pastor who is desirous of doing 
 personal work with his people. 
 
 It may at first appear to some, an almost impossi- 
 ble task to get answers to all of the above questions, 
 even to those who appreciate the value of such in- 
 formation, the possibility of getting it may seem 
 questionable. I cannot, of course, here explain the 
 value of each and every question, or give hard and 
 fast rules for securing the answer to each and every 
 question, but it is not as difiicult as it at first appears. 
 To one accustomed to this kind of work in the city, 
 the questions will doubtless appear personal, but in 
 the country all one has to do is to keep their eyes 
 and ears open and they will soon learn all the}- wish 
 to know. I will suggest a method by which one can 
 without any great difiiculty learn all that it is neces- 
 sary to know in a very short time. 
 
 Select a suitable season, when the family are all 
 at home, and not especially busy. Make an appoint- 
 ment, if you please, with the people, tell them that 
 you will come and spend the day or afternoon. Take 
 blank No. 2 along with you. Keep your eyes and 
 ears open from the minute that you come in sight of 
 the house. You will have learned the number, condi- 
 tion and approximate value of the buildings even be- 
 fore you greet your friend ; rough estimates are all 
 that you will care for here. Help put up your horse, 
 
FOR THE COUNTKY CHURCH. 143 
 
 show a little interest in the barn, and the horses and 
 cattle, look things all over before you go into the 
 house ; in fifteen minutes time you will have learned 
 all that you wish to know about the barn and its con- 
 tents from the ordinary conversation. 
 
 When you get into the house make yourself at 
 home, be free and easy, talk about such things as 
 will be likely to interest the family. You can turn 
 the conversation now and then into such channels as 
 will lead to the topics of your search, and without 
 seeming inquisitive get stores of information, just 
 such as you want. After a little when conversation 
 seems to lag draw out your blank and explain what 
 you are trying to do, and explain the benefit of such 
 information in your work for the church, people will 
 gladly and freely answer any question on your list 
 and many more. This will open the door to an op- 
 portunity that you would have had great difficulty in 
 gaining in any other way. You can now talk freely 
 with the family regarding their relation to the church 
 and its work, and even becoming more personal you 
 can inquire into their spiritual life. You will not 
 fail to notice and draw out the children. You will 
 have secured your information, encouraged the family 
 in their Christian life, and inspired them by your 
 frankness and personal interest in their higher life. 
 
 When you get home, if your observation has 
 been keen and your memory good, you will be able 
 to answer almost every question in Blank No. i. 
 
lJ-4 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 There are a few questions that you won't be able to 
 answer from this visit. For instance, you wouldn't 
 want to ask any man if his farm was mortgaged, or if 
 he received any aid from charity, if he tells you of 
 his own accord all good and well, but they are too 
 personal to ask outright ; these questions you will 
 have to get answered as best you can, and you will 
 not find it a diiBcult task, keep your ears and eyes 
 open and you will learn whose farm is mortgaged and 
 who is a subject of charity. 
 
 Learn by heart every question on Blank No. i. 
 Always carry a note book with you, and every day 
 will add to your stock of information. In money 
 matters exact dollars and cents are not a necessity. 
 You need not inquire of every last family concerning 
 many of the questions you wish answered, — for in- 
 stance, as to bathing facilities, or pathological condi- 
 tions, and many other lines of information that are 
 valuable for you to know. There are many ways of 
 finding out these things except by direct interrogation . 
 If the town clerk is your friend, as he ought to be, 
 you can get a wealth of information from him and his 
 books. The post master will give you a list of peri- 
 odicals, number and kind, that pass through his office. 
 You will have two or three trusted friends in the 
 parish, among the older members, who can be of 
 great assistance to you. 
 
 I need not go into details any further, the value 
 of this kind of work will be apparent to all. I think 
 
FOE THE OOUNTKY CHURCH. 145 
 
 the ways and means of doing it will reveal themselves 
 to anyone undertaking it. A zealous but wise inves- 
 tigation of community, family and individual life will 
 increase the power and fruitfulness of the country 
 pastor's ministry many fold. 
 
 1 
 
 
146 INSTITUTIONAL WOEK 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 I. I. I have not attempted in the foregoing work to 
 cover the whole ground of Institutional work in coun- 
 try churches. There are many other methods of 
 work that have been, or could be used by the country 
 church and as truly classified Institutional, as any that 
 I have herein presented. The preceding pages treat 
 only a few of the methods in common use and those 
 that seemed to me to be the most desirable and help- 
 ful. I append here a few other lines of work that 
 may be of service to some. 
 
 2 . I take it for granted that Sunday School, Chris- 
 tian Endeavor and Missionary work have a place in 
 every country church. On the otherhand I can hardly 
 conceive it possible for the country church to take up 
 all the lines of work that find a place in the city 
 church. For instance, the Dispensary, the Day Nur- 
 sery, the College, the Baths, etc. These the average 
 country church cannot engage in, only in the most 
 indirect way. The pastor of the country church, how- 
 ever, must be a versatile man and equal to any 
 emergency. 
 
 II. THE BIBI,E CIvASS.— The Bible class is 
 one of the most interesting and profitable methods 
 that can be employed, where the conditions favor it. 
 
FOR THE COUNTRY CHURCH. 14:7 
 
 in the building up and advancement of the Church 
 and Kingdom. It has also, in the hands of a compe- 
 tent teacher, a great power in drawing out and build- 
 ing up in the Faith, individual men and women. Some 
 pastors have turned their mid-week prayer meeting 
 into a Bible class, and have found it a great improve- 
 ment. Others find an afternoon or evening most ad- 
 vantageous. If a layman can be found who is quali- 
 fied, and will give it the required time, it may be 
 made a power. 
 
 III. THE CHORAL CHOIR.— This is one of 
 the helpful methods employed by some churches. It 
 serves a variety of purposes. It is conducive to good 
 church music. It provides a training for untrained 
 voices. It draws out some who would not be inter- 
 ested in any other line of Church work. The country 
 church is always more or less troubled with its music. 
 For its own sake, something of this nature is a neces- 
 sity. Children and young people are too often neg- 
 lected by the church, and there is nothing more 
 helpful and interesting to them, as well as to the 
 church, than a Singing School of some kind. 
 
 IV. THE BROTHERHOOD OF ANDREW 
 AND PHILIP.— The general Secretary of this or- 
 ganization is the Rev. C. E. WychofF, Irvington, N. 
 Y. It is one of the most helpful and fruitful methods 
 for use among young men ever inaugurated. Its ob- 
 ject is "The spread of Christ's kingdom among 
 
148 INSTITUTIONAL WOKK 
 
 young men." Tlie rules of the Brotherhood are two, 
 the rule of prayer and the rule of service ; the rule of 
 prayer is to pray daily for the spread of Christ's 
 kingdom among young men ; the rule of service is to 
 make an earnest effort each week to bring at least one 
 young man within hearing of the Gospel. 
 
 V. THE PLKASANT SUNDAY AFTER- 
 NOON. — Not all country churches, and perhaps not 
 but very few, would find it convenient or profitable 
 to attempt a special service, for men only, on Sunday 
 afternoon. Some of the larger churches in the villages 
 might find it helpful to inaugurate such a move- 
 ment, but distinctively country churches whose male 
 membership is composed largely of farmers, know 
 how difficult it is to get a good average attendance 
 even once upon the Sabbath. Where this is practi- 
 cable it is fruitful. 
 
 VI. THE PASTOR'S CABINET.— This Cabi- 
 net has been helpful to almost every minister, some- 
 times for one purpose and sometijjies for another. I 
 have found it very helpful as an advisory council in 
 the spiritual direction of my labors with the people. 
 A good selection of a very few of the best personal 
 workers in the church will often be of great service 
 to the pastor in his endeaVors to reach the people and 
 bring them to a knowledge of Jesus Christ as their 
 personal Savior. Every pastor should have such a 
 cabinet, he will find it helpful in many ways. 
 
FOE THE CODNTKY CHUECH. 149 
 
 VII. The following lines of work have been 
 taken up with more or less helpfulness in different 
 churches : Gymnasium and Physical Culture classes. 
 Industrial work, Village Improvement Societies. 
 Mothers' Meetings, Kindergarten Work, Good Citi- 
 zenship Clubs, I/iterary and Debating Societies, and 
 many evening classes for instruction along different 
 lines. Let each church adopt that line or lines of 
 work best adapted to their peculiar conditions and 
 local circumstances, and set all the people to work. 
 The people can be, must be, drawn in and held, this 
 the Church can accomplish only by following the 
 Master's example — He went about doing good, 
 preaching, teaching and working. 
 
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