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 Trin NEW CALI. 
 
 by 
 HENRY W. McLAUGHLIN, D.D. 
 
 
 
 Country Church Director of the Presbyterian 
 Church, U. S. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 PRESBYTERIAN COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION 
 
 RICHMOND, VA. - TEXARKANA, ARK.-TEX,. 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1926 
 By 
 PRESBYTERIAN COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION 
 
 Press or Wuittet & SHEPPERSON, Ricumonp, Va. 
 1366—(1)—73110 
 
DEDICATED 
 TO 
 A CouNTRY GIRL 
 Wuo BECAME My WIFE AND 
 THE MOTHER OF 
 Our NINE COUNTRY YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 HAT right has a man who lives in a city to write the 
 \ introduction to a book on the country church? That 
 question can be answered by a bit of history. 
 
 In the library of Union Theological Seminary there is one 
 of the oldest original deeds to a piece of church property that 
 can be found anywhere in the South. It is the deed to 
 Thyatira Church in Rowan County, North Carolina, and is 
 dated January 18, 1753. This is a Presbyterian Church in 
 the heart of the country, and it is stronger today than ever 
 before in its history. Ona farm, within the bounds of this 
 church, I was born and bred, and the church became a part 
 of the very fabric of my life. 
 
 I have read every line of this book with interest and profit. 
 Its author is eminently qualified by training and experience to _ 
 write with authority on this great subject. His analysis 
 of the country church and the country people is true to life. 
 He writes with a sympathetic and understanding heart. 
 There is a freshness about the book which could come only 
 out of an experience as pastor of a country church, which is 
 still fresh and vivid in the mind of the author. 
 
 The book deals with the practical problems of the country 
 church in a practical way. For sixteen years the author was 
 the successful pastor of a great country church. A year 
 ago he was chosen from among all our ministers as the one 
 pre-eminently qualified to be Director of the Country Church 
 Work for our whole Church. During the past year he has 
 been teaching large classes on the Country Church in our 
 Theological Seminaries and in the General Assembly’s Train- 
 ing School. This has given him an opportunity to system- 
 atize and formulate the practical experiences of the years 
 
that went before. All of this has constituted an ideal prepara- 
 tion for writing a book that would be at the same time in- 
 teresting and practical. 
 
 So far as I know, this is the first book on the country 
 church that was ever written by a Southern Presbyterian 
 minister. The books that I have read on the country church 
 heretofore have not quite seemed to meet the needs of our 
 Church. They were written by men living in other parts of 
 the country, where conditions were different, or by men 
 belonging to denominations whose ideals were different. 
 This makes us welcome a book by an author who is familiar 
 with conditions in our part of the country and whose ideals 
 are the same as ours. 
 
 All Christian workers, whether in the city or country, will 
 find it profitable to read this book and ponder its pages, for 
 it contains many valuable suggestions that are applicable to 
 ‘city and country alike. Besides it will help those who reside 
 in the city to better understand the country church and its 
 problems. After all, those who live in the city and those 
 who live in the country are much the same. Our problems 
 may be different, but we are all children of the same Father. 
 
 WaLterR L. LINGLE. 
 
 The General Assembly's Training School 
 Richmond, Va. 
 
AUTHOR’S FOREWORD 
 
 HE very warp and woof of this book are woven out of 
 
 the life experience of its author. With his own hands 
 he has done all kinds of work on the farm from threshing 
 buckwheat with a flail to harvesting with a tractor and binder. 
 He learned to plow with oxen and has watched the inter- 
 national grand champion ribbon tied on a bull that was a 
 product of his farm. 
 
 His father’s fireside was a farmers’ forum. He was born 
 forty-six miles from the railroad. There were many farmers 
 living a greater distance who, in covered wagons, carried their 
 produce to the railroad and brought back the necessary things 
 for the neighborhoods. They spent the night at his father’s 
 house. 
 
 To the west of his birthplace were rich grazing lands and 
 to the east wintering quarters. Every spring the stockmen 
 brought their flocks and herds to the grazing lands and in the 
 fall took them back to the wintering quarters. They nearly 
 all stopped at the old farmhouse. There were very few nights 
 during the year that there was not a large company to gather 
 around the big fireplace. They discussed the problems of the 
 farm, live stock, crops, politics, the Civil War, the schools, 
 the roads, the churches, etc. For many a night far beyond 
 the proper bedtime for one of his age the boy listened with 
 eager ears to the conversations. 
 
 His father’s home was a stopping place for preachers who 
 passed to and fro on horseback and with equal interest he 
 listened to them as they gathered about the blazing logs in 
 the great stone fireplace. We are a part of all we meet and 
 in those tallow-candle days it was not so much what he read 
 
as what he heard that formed his ideals and prepared him 
 for the task of life. 
 
 His two grandfathers and his father were elders of country 
 congregations and he joined a little country church with less 
 than twenty members. Two of his uncles had been honor 
 men of Washington and Lee University. One spent his life 
 as a country preacher and the other as a country school 
 teacher. He drank in with his mother’s milk love of the 
 country and, although during his ministry he has been pastor 
 to miners, soldiers, lumbermen, factory workers and city 
 people, it was natural that when the call came to the country 
 he found it the easy thing to accept. The last sixteen years 
 of his ministry have been spent as pastor of New Providence 
 Church in the Valley of Virginia. It is a farmers’ church 
 In the open country. For two years he served with Dr. W. 
 H. Mills, Professor of Rural Sociology in Clemson College, 
 S. C., and Mr. F. S. Neal, a planter near Charlotte, N. C., 
 on a special committee to study the Country Church. From 
 these gentlemen and from the investigations which were car- 
 ried on by this committee, he secured many facts about the 
 rural movement in the nation and among the churches of all 
 denominations. For the last year he has been conducting 
 classes in the Theological Seminaries, Training Schools and 
 Summer Conferences. He has read 2700 papers by his 
 students which are the results of their own observations and 
 investigations. By their education, high life purpose and 
 opportunity for observation, these students are qualified to 
 speak as probably no other group. They have come from 
 various sections of the world; practically every state, Canada 
 and many other countries being represented. They have 
 intelligently discussed the why and how of the church in 
 in meeting the needs of the country in this modern day. 
 
 Many books have come from the press within the last few 
 years treating various phases of country life. The author 
 
has read and endeavored to interpret them in the light of his 
 own experience and observation. 
 
 This book is a call for a technique in the work of the 
 Country Church that will compare favorably with that of the 
 public school, the agricultural extension service and the city 
 church, 
 
 Most books on church efficiency have been written from 
 the point of view of the city by authors familiar with city 
 conditions and who have expressed themselves in urban 
 terms upon city needs and situations. 
 
 The theological seminaries of all denominations are located 
 in the cities; observations and practice work of the students 
 in preparation for the ministry is necessarily done in the city. 
 There is a real need for a book written by a country man who 
 knows by actual experience all the ins and outs of country 
 life. These pages should prove helpful not only to those who 
 live in rural communities, but to all others who are interested 
 in the solution of the problems of country life. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 INTRODUCTION i A 
 By Rev. W. iD eee 1g e 1D. 
 
 AuTHOoR’s FoREwWorD 
 
 PAR Tai: 
 
 THE CALL OF THE OPEN . 
 
 THE CouNTRY PREACHER 
 
 A PERSONAL PROGRAM 
 
 THE Country Man 
 POTENTIALITY OF CoUNTRY sheet 
 
 | edhe Sd Ne ye 
 
 THE DISCOVERY . 
 
 A CONGREGATIONAL erase 
 SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP 
 LEADERS OF ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Ey bet, 
 
 FARM PROSPERITY AND THE COUNTRY 
 CHURCH . é 
 
 CoMMUNITY hun Cree 
 
 EVANGELISM IN THE COUNTRY . 
 
 Discovery oF CouNTRY LEADERSHIP 
 
 RurAL RECREATION 
 
 PART 4. 
 
 CHRISTIAN TRAINING IN THE COUNTRY 
 WoMEN OF THE COUNTRY CHURCH 
 
 Tue Country Pastor AND Home LIFE 
 HARDSHIPS AND RECOMPENSES 
 
 PAGE 
 
 121 
 128 
 12 
 
 149 
 160 
 168 
 178 
 
PART ONE 
 
 
 
 EUAN Biel 
 
 Wer bona la) be EL be) BEN 
 
 N some April morning come with me on a journey into 
 () the country. I will take you to a farmhouse that 
 nestles among the hills. 
 
 There the apple trees are blooming in the orchard, birds 
 are singing their mating song in the trees that stand about 
 the home, and wild flowers are blooming on the hills, freight- 
 ing the air with their sweet aroma. 
 
 Here once lived a lovely girl who frolicked among these 
 scenes. She had the charm of chaste young womanhood. 
 There came one day an alienation between her and her 
 mother. It was because she had companionships that her 
 mother deemed unwise. There was a crossing of wills. In 
 anger, Mary left her home and mother, in company with one 
 who meant the ruin of her life. 
 
 After the daughter was gone, there was something in the 
 mother’s heart that reconciled her to the estranged child and 
 she longed for her return. Every night a light burned in 
 the window of Mary’s room and the unbolted door of the 
 farmhouse stood ajar. Each spring the apple trees bloomed, 
 the hills were covered with their new vesture of wild flowers, 
 the birds came again to sing their mating songs around the 
 old nesting places, but there was no return of the alienated 
 daughter. 
 
 We see the mother this morning. We see her hair, once 
 a beautiful brown, now streaked with gray; her form, once 
 erect, now bent beneath the load of a great sorrow; her face, 
 
12 Ture New Catt 
 
 once beautiful, now wan from the vigils of sleepless nights 
 when, with listening ear, she awaited the return of the foot- 
 steps that never came. 
 
 Who would not like to be an ambassador of reconciliation? 
 For, as the Apostle Paul says, “Now, then, we are ambassa- 
 dors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: We 
 pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” If we 
 only knew where Mary is, we would hasten to tell her that 
 her mother is reconciled, and we, in her mother’s sted, would 
 beseech her, to be reconciled. 
 
 We would remind her of the beautiful scenes of her child- 
 hood ; we would tell her of the light that burns in her window 
 and the door that is ajar. We would tell her that the hands 
 that held her in helpless infancy and grew callous in the toil 
 of service when she could not care for herself are ready to 
 press her to a bosom that holds the heart of love. 
 
 We do not know where Mary is. She may be in the slums 
 of New York City, or Birmingham, or Dallas, or San Fran- 
 cisco. She may be, with life broken and mangled, lying 
 languishing in some hospital. If we only knew, our feet 
 would be swift for the task. 
 
 It may be too late for Mary. If we found her, she would 
 probably turn a deaf ear and we would seem to her as those 
 who mock. 
 
 We have lived too late, or we have lost our opportunity. 
 It may be that her unidentified body is lying in some morgue, 
 or crumbling to dust in some potters’ field. 
 
 And what of John, who was reared in the neighboring 
 farmhouse? What of John, the cause of the alienation be- 
 tween Mary and her mother and the cause of the tragedy of 
 her life! 
 
 We know not where Mary is. John is serving a life sen- 
 tence in a Federal penitentiary. 
 
Lars New> GAL 13 
 
 MORE THAN SCHOOLS NEEDED 
 
 It was not because the community lacked school advan- 
 tages, but it was because there was no resident minister who 
 commanded the respect of the high school boys and girls; 
 no minister who had sufficient education and culture to guide 
 in a sympathetic way their thinking; no one adequate to lift 
 the torch to guide their erring feet into the paths of truth. 
 No thoroughly equipped preacher was found sacrificial 
 enough to give up the creature comforts and identify his life 
 with the scattered people. There were none willing to follow 
 the footprints of the Man of Galilee, who had compassion 
 on those who were scattered abroad as sheep having no 
 shepherd. It was He who said, “As my Father hath sent 
 “me, even so send I you.” There were none who gave proof 
 of their commission as He had given the crowning evidence 
 of His Messiahship when He sent to John the Baptist the 
 message, “The poor have the gospel preached unto them.” 
 
 It is too late for Mary, and it is too late for John, except 
 to bring to the Master the remnant of a disgraced, dishonored 
 and broken life. 
 
 But there are others. Mabel Carney, who is at the head of 
 Rural Education in Columbia University, tells us that there 
 are 11,000,000 children in the open country. The Federal 
 Bureau of Education estimates that there are 12,000,000 
 children in rural America, 9,000,000 on the farms and 
 3,000,000 in the villages and hamlets.* Over half of these 
 are in the South. 
 
 There are hundreds of thousands out there like scattered 
 sheep in God’s open, many of them with a life just as sweet 
 and precious as Mary’s in her chaste girlhood days; many of 
 them just as potential as that of the brilliant and magnetic 
 boy who has given his life to crime and dishonor. 
 
 *Handbook of Rural Social Resources—Israel and Landis. 
 
14 THe New Cay 
 
 There is truly an obligation resting upon men who have 
 been educated by the Church, equipped and qualified for their 
 task, to go out into the country communities and lift the 
 torch to show the right way. Our rural youth is potential, 
 and if won for Christ and trained in His service they will 
 become leaders in the city as well as in the country. 
 
 “Tt is just that deliberate life of the open that this country 
 needs, for the fever of the cities is already affecting its sys- 
 tem. Character, like corn, is dug from the soil. A contented 
 rural population is not only the measure of our strength, and 
 an assurance of its peace when there should be peace, and a 
 resource of courage when peace would be cowardice, but it is 
 the nursery of the great leaders who have made this country 
 what it is. Washington was born and lived in the country. 
 Jefferson was a farmer. Henry Clay rode his horse to the 
 mill in the slashes. Webster dreamed amid the solitude of 
 Marshfield. Lincoln was a rail-splitter. Our own Hill 
 walked between the handles of the plow. Brown peddled 
 barefoot the product of his patch. Stephens found immor- 
 tality under the trees of his country home. ‘Toombs and 
 Cobb and Calhoun were country gentlemen and afar from 
 the cities’ maddening strife established that greatness that is 
 the heritage of their people. The cities produce very few 
 leaders. Almost every man in our history formed his charac- 
 ter in the leisure and deliberation of village or country life, 
 and drew his strength from the drugs of the earth even as a 
 child draws his from his mother’s breast. In the diminution 
 of this rural population, virtuous and competent, patriotic 
 and honest, living beneath its own roof-tree, building its 
 altars by its own hearthstone and shrining in its own heart its 
 liberty and its conscience, there is abiding cause for regret.”* 
 
 A STUDENT’S RESPONSE 
 
 The following from one of my students I think worthy of 
 repeating : 
 
 *From Henry W. Grady’s speech before the farmers at Elberton, Ga., 1889. 
 
THe NEw Cart 15 
 
 “The greatest appeal of the country church work to me lies . 
 in the fact that the country is the backbone of the nation. With 
 a strong, well-educated farming class, trained in the precepts 
 of true Christianity, America can bid defiance to all her foes, 
 spiritual as well as physical. But if the contrary is true, then 
 will come to pass the doleful scene which Goldsmith paints 
 in his ‘Deserted Village’ : 
 
 ‘Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, 
 Where wealth accumulates, and men decay. 
 ——a bold peasantry, their country’s pride, 
 When once destroyed, can never be supplied.’ 
 
 “Then, too, a fact of primary importance in the influence 
 of the country life upon the nation is that from the country 
 an enormous percentage of our nation’s future leaders come. 
 Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis asserted that 95 per cent of the 
 _ greatest men of our nation were country born. When facts 
 of this sort are noted, the great necessity for country church 
 ’ work is easily seen. If the leaders of the next generation, 
 the men of wealth and power and influence who are now 
 country boys, are properly trained in the fundamental ideals 
 of our religion, then who can tell how far reaching will be 
 the results? But if the contrary is true, if the country 
 churches do not accomplish their work, the educational ad- 
 vantages may prove a bane instead of a blessing. Great is 
 the opportunity of the country church. Equally great is the 
 responsibility. 
 
 “Another source of appeal to country church work is that 
 it permits one to get closer to God than in the crowded 
 streets, where we have the constant turmoil and change of 
 city life. In the country it seems easier somehow to read 
 God’s great revelation of Himself in the book of Nature. 
 There one 
 
 ‘Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
 Sermons in stones, and good in everything.’ 
 
 “These are some of the main considerations which lead me 
 to consider the country church work as one of the greatest 
 fields of Christian service that God has provided.” 
 
16 THe New CALt 
 
 The call is not only to the minister, but there is also an 
 obligation upon the Church to support him. Men now in the 
 theological seminaries seem to be willing to go into the coun- 
 try when they are challenged with this task. There is a 
 responsibility upon the Church to give to them an adequate 
 support. They have a fine romanticism. We must not put 
 them to too severe a test. 
 
 RESIDENT MINISTER NECESSARY 
 
 All investigations render proof that if the country church 
 is to grow and accomplish its real mission it must have a 
 resident minister who will identify his life in a sympathetic, 
 understanding way with his people—a minister who has a 
 real program, carried out in a conscientious, efficient manner. 
 There are nearly one hundred thousand churches in America 
 in the country and towns of less than 2,500. Forty-two per 
 cent of all rural communities are without any resident pastor, 
 and 48 per cent of those churches served by an absentee min- 
 istry are declining.* 
 
 Dr. S. L. Morris, Executive Secretary of Home Missions 
 in the Presbyterian Church, United States, says: 
 
 “The absentee pastor must be discarded. The professional 
 preacher who comes once a month, chiefly to augment his 
 salary, is a mere makeshift, a hireling minister. If the coun- 
 try is to be resuscitated, the church must produce a new order 
 of ministry. The spirit of Christ must again become incar- 
 nate among men. Ministers who live where they do not 
 preach, and preach where they do not live, should be barely 
 tolerated. Men who consider themselves ‘buried alive’ in a 
 country charge should be discharged. If college-bred and 
 seminary-trained men are unwilling to serve, except in a city 
 charge, prayer must be made to the Lord of the Harvest to 
 raise up a new order of ministry ‘taught of the Spirit’ and 
 
 *Handbook of Rural Social Resources.—Israel and Landis, p. 66. 
 
PHEINEWRGALE 17 
 
 ‘filled with the Holy Ghost.’ Definite sacrifices must be 
 made. The Rural Survey remedy prescribes: “The preacher 
 and his family must make their sacrifices as definitely as if 
 they went to China or to Africa to preach the Gospel.’ It is 
 easier to die a martyr’s death than to endure the lifelong 
 martyrdom of a sacrificial life in an obscure pastorate. If 
 ‘volunteers’ wish to test the extent of their sacrifices and the 
 reality of their heroism, let them deny themselves the privi- 
 lege of going to the foreign field and yield themselves in real 
 sacrifices for destitute country places, where the people ‘are 
 scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd.’ Let the 
 Church challenge her most promising men, and see how many 
 will respond. If the Church can secure volunteers of this 
 character, it would be comparatively easy to save the country 
 church.” 
 
 THE MAKERS OF MEN 
 
 Who can estimate the influence of the Scotch preachers, 
 Rev. James Thomas and Rev. Archibald Campbell, upon the 
 construction of our American institutions and the establish- 
 ment of the Federal Constitution? They were the teachers 
 and spiritual advisers of the country lad, John Marshall. 
 Senator Albert Beveridge, in his monumental work of four 
 volumes on John Marshall, says: 
 
 “Lucky for John Marshall and this country that he was not 
 city born and bred; lucky that not even the small social activi- 
 ties of a country town drained away a single ohm of his 
 nervous energy or obscured with lesser pictures the large 
 panorama which accustomed his developing intelligence to 
 look upon big and simple things in a big and simple way.” 
 
 When John was about twelve to fourteen, James Thomas 
 lived in the home of Thomas Marshall. Mr. Beveridge says: 
 
 “The young Scotch deacon returned Thomas Marshall’s 
 hospitality by giving the elder children such instruction as 
 occasion offered, as was the custom of parsons, who always 
 
18 Tue New CatLtyi 
 
 were teachers as well as preachers. We can imagine the 
 embryo clergyman instructing the elder son under the shade 
 of the friendly trees in pleasant weather or before blazing 
 logs in the great fireplace when winter came. While living 
 with the Marshall family, he doubtless slept with the children 
 in the half-loft of that frontier dwelling.” 
 
 The preachers who minister to lads and lassies in the coun- 
 try today shape the destinies of the nation of tomorrow. If 
 Samuel Davies had not preached to a country boy by the 
 name of Patrick Henry, American history might have been 
 far different. 
 
 “The time of Mr. Davies’ labors in Virginia embraced that 
 interesting part of Patrick Henry’s life, from his eleventh to 
 his twenty-second year.’’* 
 
 “Tt was under the influence of such a man that Patrick 
 Henry came in the impressionable age of twelve. One of the 
 places at which Mr. Davies preached was known as “The 
 Fork Church,’ and here Mrs. John Henry, who became a 
 member of his church, attended regularly. She was in the 
 habit of riding in a double gig, taking with her young Patrick, 
 who, from the first, showed a high appreciation of the 
 preacher. Returning from church, she would make him give 
 the text and a recapitulation of the discourse. She could 
 have done her son no greater service.”’** 
 
 THE CHARAGTH RETA CTO hx, 
 
 Thirty-nine years ago Henry W. Grady electrified his audi- 
 ence in New York and startled the nation by his speech on 
 “The New South.” 
 
 Today there is a New Rural South of which Grady never 
 dreamed. The United States Department of Agriculture, the 
 
 Agricultural Experiment Stations, the efficient Agricultural 
 *William H. Foote, Sketches of Virginia, pp. 304- 
 
 tb 
 **William Wirt Henry, “Life, Correspondence and Speeches of Patrick Henry,” 
 Vol. I, pp. 15-16. 
 
LHe NEw CALL 19 
 
 Colleges with their tens of thousands of students, learning 
 how to deal with the problems of the country, the agricul- 
 tural and home demonstration agents, carrying the gospel of 
 rural improvement, have come into being since his day. We 
 are in the midst of a great rural renaissance. The farmers’ 
 problems are holding the middle of the stage in Washington. 
 Our laws should secure to them equitable rights and just re- 
 turns for their labor. But in the last analysis, the School and 
 the Church are the contributing factors that will solve the farm- 
 ers’ problems and save a rural America. The public school is 
 making rapid strides in becoming efficient. The Church and 
 the School must work together. The school develops the in- 
 tellect, but for well-rounded character the Church must make 
 - her contribution. The greatness of a nation depends upon 
 the character of its people. The country church is the great 
 character factory. Ten denominations have established a 
 Country Church Department, eight of which have secretaries 
 for full time. The Presbyterian Church, U. S. A., was the 
 first to establish such a service (1909) and called Dr. Warren 
 H. Wilson, the nestor of this new movement, as Director of 
 Town and Country Church Department. Dr. Wilson is the 
 author of many books and is considered the leading authority 
 in this field of service and research. The hope of a nation 
 is to have a sufficient number of the right kind of rural com- 
 munities ; the right kind of a rural community must have the 
 right kind of a country church; the right kind of a country 
 church must have an educated, cultured minister consecrated 
 definitely to the task. He must identify his life with the 
 scattered people of God’s open. He must have a sympathetic 
 understanding of their problems and needs. 
 
 The requisite of the age is to enlist and send to the church 
 in the wildwood, the wayside church, the church in the grove 
 beside the road, a ministry equipped and qualified to put on 
 
20 THe New Cary, 
 
 a program to meet the needs of the country people of this new 
 age; a program that will attract from the crowded streets of 
 the cities people who love to worship in the quiet spots 
 “where nature blends with music sweet to lift the soul from 
 care.” Who will heed the call of the open? 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 1. Why do the country districts demand an educated and cultured 
 ministry? . 
 
 2. Why should the Church provide funds adequate to maintain a 
 qualified and equipped ministry alongside every rural high 
 school? 
 
 3. Why is it necessary to provide a resident ministry for the country 
 churches ? 
 
CHAPTERSIL 
 THE COUNTRY PREACHER 
 
 LL honor to the country preachers of yesterday! 
 A They stayed in their place and did their work without 
 praise. They were “unknown, unhonored and unsung.” 
 They held the lamp that lighted the paths of youth who today 
 have become the world leaders in Church and State. The 
 greatest character factories that the world has seen have been 
 our country churches. The self-denying, self-sacrificing 
 ministers, more than any other agency, have been the builders 
 _of these centers of gracious influence. They have builded 
 -more wisely than they knew. 
 
 These country ministers believed the message they 
 preached. Their lives were the embodiment of it. Their 
 loyalty to nation and Church was surpassed only by their 
 devotion and sacrificial consecration to the Master. 
 
 Dr. Jeff D. Ray, Professor of Sociology and Homiletics in 
 the Southwestern Baptist Seminary, in describing the coun- 
 try preacher, says: 
 
 “He is the sympathetic, appreciative, sincere, warm-hearted 
 apostle of the plain people. He knows their foibles, their 
 frailties, their faults, and has the courage to rebuke them, 
 both publicly and privately, and often has an almost uncanny 
 shrewdness in correcting and reforming them. He knows 
 their problems and lends a brother’s skillful hand in solving 
 them. He knows their troubles, their sorrows, their heart- 
 aches, and knows how in a non-professional way, but tactful, 
 way to assuage them. Without his miraculous power to raise 
 the dead, the country preacher has been to many simple rural 
 homes what Elisha was in the home of the Shulamite farmer 
 long ago. Multitudes of farmers have found that the whole- 
 some influence of the sturdy preacher in the home has far 
 
a2 THe NEw CALL 
 
 outweighed the expense of building and maintaining a 
 ‘prophet’s chamber’ for him. 
 
 “But knighting him the apostle of the plain people must 
 not lead to the erroneous conclusion that he is an agitator 
 arraying the poor against the rich and fomenting strife be- 
 tween them. Now and then a city preacher loses his head 
 and plays that role, but our brother of the country church is 
 notably free from it. To him a ‘man’s a man,’ if he is a man, 
 without reference to the accident of wealth or poverty.” 
 
 In the past, many great preachers gave their lives, in whole 
 or in part, to the country church. Dr. Robert L. Dabney, 
 Dr. Benjamin M. Smith, Dr. G. B. Strickler, all distinguished 
 professors in Union Theological Seminary of Virginia, served 
 as pastors in Tinkling Spring, an open country church seven 
 miles from Staunton, Va. At present there are not many 
 ministers who are in country pastorates because it is their 
 deliberate choice. The vacancy problem is a rural one. Many 
 country churches are dying because of an absentee or ineff- 
 cient ministry. Every country church that I know, or have 
 been able to learn about, which has a wise, sacrificial, conse- 
 crated minister who is giving himself voluntarily to the task 
 is growing and has a large congregation. Lexington Presby- 
 tery, which covers six counties about Staunton, Va., has 
 fifty-three country churches. During the last ten years these 
 have made an increase in membership of 36 per cent. At the 
 same time this has been a period of unprecedented movement 
 of people to the city, and these congregations have sent a 
 large number of members to urban centers. 
 
 It has been the policy of the Committee on Vacancy and 
 Supply of this Presbytery, which operates as a sub-com- 
 mittee of the Home Mission Committee, to see that every 
 country field is supplied by a resident pastor. The su- 
 perintendent of Home Missions does the correspondence 
 
THe New Catt 23 
 
 and exercises great care to secure only competent men who 
 are well recommended. 
 
 Dr. Rolvix Harlan, Professor of Social Science of Rich- 
 mond University, in his book, “A New Day for the Country 
 Church,” says: 
 
 “We are bound to confess that in many local situations in 
 the country the church is belated, is badly led, is giving oppor- 
 tunity for the expression of certain lower elements of human 
 nature; but we at once affirm that this need not be so, and, 
 please God, we are in the process of finding ways by which 
 the country church may grip the inner, deeper, profounder 
 phases of human nature, and through its worship, led by a 
 godly minister and helpers, bind the hearts of the people back 
 ‘to God.” 
 
 If the true epitaph of many a dead country church were 
 written, it would be “Died of a preacher.” I am thinking of 
 two typical churches of this kind. One of them has had its 
 doors closed for fifteen years. Wisely manned, it should be 
 one of the strong country churches of the South. Its decline 
 came when it employed a pastor of a near-by city church as 
 a supply. He was a good man and a good preacher. He gave 
 his energies to the city church. He was not able to do any- 
 thing for the country church except preach for them occa- 
 sionally. The church had preaching, but no pastoral work 
 and no congregational life. After several years the city 
 preacher said to the few people who were left, “We have 
 good roads. Why not just move your membership into my 
 church in the city?’ Most of them complied, for he had won 
 their love and confidence. The church died, and its epitaph 
 is “Died of a preacher.” 
 
 There is another church located in a rich agricultural sec- 
 tion. It had back of it a glorious history. From it has gone 
 a number of leaders — financiers, statesmen, educators, 
 
24 Tae N Bw AGA 
 
 preachers. For many years it had a good man as a minister, 
 but he lacked the essential qualifications of a country 
 preacher. He was city born and city reared. He did not 
 understand the country people. The church continued to 
 decline and grow weaker until it was near death’s door. Its 
 epitaph should be “Died of a preacher.” 
 
 The city churches would be very much stronger today if 
 they had helped these country churches to have the right 
 kind of resident pastors. 
 
 QUALIFICATIONS 
 
 This raises the question ‘““What are some of the qualifica- 
 tions of a successful country preacher ?” 
 
 1. He SuHoutp BE a Country MAN 
 
 If a man is born in a city and reared without any first 
 hand experience on the farm, he should, as a rule, do his 
 work in the town or city. There are exceptions where men 
 have an innate love of nature and have made a careful study 
 of farm conditions in some agricultural college who will 
 make a success in the country, but these exceptions are rare. 
 A country man may go to the city and succeed, but it is rare 
 that a city man succeeds in anything in the country. Some 
 city men make money on farms, but usually it is when they 
 have capital enough to employ practical, farm-raised men to 
 do the work for them. Someone has said, “The difference 
 between an agriculturist and a farmer is that the agrciulturist 
 makes his money in the city and spends it in the country and 
 the farmer makes his money in the country and spends it in 
 the city.’ The minister to meet country needs must be able 
 to establish a point of contact with his people. He must see 
 things from their point of view. He must identify his life 
 
Le NE we GALL 25 
 
 with the life of his people and have a sympathetic under- 
 standing in the solution of their problems. 
 
 Country people will not follow a leader whom they consider 
 ignorant and impractical. It is human nature to think every- 
 one is ignorant who does not know what we know. If 
 country people find that their minister is not familiar with 
 the things which are patent to every country bred man, they 
 will lose confidence in his knowledge concerning other mat- 
 ters. A country reared man is accustomed to discourage- 
 ments. He has learned by experience how to meet situations 
 and to conquer obstacles. 
 
 2. He Must Be ADAPTABLE 
 
 He must be able to adjust himself to rural conditions. 
 Country people live very economically. They are constantly 
 schooling themselves to do without the things which the 
 average city man feels are necessities. A farmer who was 
 able to buy an adjoining farm and at the same time rear a 
 large family of children was asked, “How did you ever 
 manage it?” He answered, “By doing without the things 
 we were obleeged to have.” 
 
 A spendthrift preacher cannot win the esteem or con- 
 fidence of a rural congregation. A country preacher’s life 
 is not an easy one. He will have to deny himself for the 
 Master’s sake. His parishioners do not spend much money. 
 They do not have much to spend. Thrift with them becomes 
 a habit. The country preacher may have to milk his cow, 
 cut his wood, work his garden, repair his car. He may learn 
 by necessity that an axe is as much of a muscle-builder as 
 a golf stick and that a hoe gives as much pleasure as a tennis 
 racket. The country preacher will likely have neither ser- 
 vants nor modern conveniences in his home. Servants in 
 the country are largely a thing of the past, but, if he is a 
 
26 Tue New Catri 
 
 wise man, he may induce his people to adopt more convenient 
 and better standards of living for themselves, and people 
 in the country always want their preacher and his family 
 to share with them in the best that they have. Things that 
 are lacking in the standards of living in the country—lack 
 of schools, lack of roads, lack of conveniences in the home— 
 are some of the factors that constitute the challenge to the 
 minister who is wise enough to be a leader. 
 
 3. Hr SHoutp Be A WELL-EDUCATED MAn 
 
 The country church requires an Educated ministry. 
 There is a conception that anyone will do for the country. 
 When I was pastor of a church in the city of Louisville, Ky., 
 the Court appointed me a probation officer and there were 
 assigned to me about a dozen boys from the Cabbage Patch, 
 made famous by Alice Hegan Rice. These boys had been 
 arrested for various charges and released on probation. It 
 was my duty to have them report to me every Saturday. 
 They brought their reports from the schools showing their 
 attendance and their grades. I used to take them into the 
 house and have a little talk with them. I gave them some 
 books to read. One day I met the mother of one of the boys 
 on the street. I said, “How is Henry getting on?” 
 
 She said, “Oh, Henry is doing fine. He has been reading 
 those books that you loaned to him. He says he is going to 
 be a preacher.” 
 
 I answered, “I am perfectly delighted.” 
 
 She replied, “Yes, I think he might as well be a preacher. 
 I don’t think he will ever be fit for anything else.” 
 
 Her conception of the ministry is like that which some 
 people have of the work of the country preacher. They 
 have an idea that if he is not fit for a foreign missionary, 
 nor a teacher, nor an evangelist, nor a city pastor, his place 
 
Tue New Cay oh 
 
 is in the country. We must get rid of the notion that any 
 “stick” is good enough for the country church. 
 
 It is my opinion that the fields which are most potential 
 in the building of the Kingdom of God are out in the coun- 
 try. They are potent because all other forms of service are 
 dependent upon them. Here are born and reared the men 
 who will be the leaders in the world of tomorrow. We need 
 our most gifted, our most consecrated ministers in these 
 country fields. 
 
 There may have been a time when men without education 
 could serve acceptably in the country but that time is passing. 
 We are living in the midst of a great rural awakening. Auto- 
 mobiles, trucks, telephones, radios, electrical developments, 
 good roads, rural free deliveries, parcel post, agricultural 
 magazines, county agents, home demonstration agents, farm 
 organizations, co-operative associations, Smith - Hughes 
 schools, agricultural colleges, extension service, nearly all 
 of which belong to our generation, constitute some of the 
 reasons for the renaissance. The most potent factor has not 
 been mentioned, and that is the grade and high schools 
 which we find all over America with modern buildings and 
 up-to-date equipment, with teachers who are required to con- 
 form to high educational standards. We wish to call attention 
 especially to the large number of consolidated rural high 
 schools. 
 
 Today is not yesterday. The Southern Railroad calls at- 
 tention to the following interesting facts: one hundred and 
 twenty-five millions of dollars have been spent for the pur- 
 pose of erecting public school buildings during the last 
 twelve years in the territory served by that road. In 1900 
 Southern people paid 90c per person for education and in 
 1922 $5.85 per person. In 1900 only 64.8% of the children 
 in the South attended school while the average for the nation 
 
28 Tue New Catyu 
 
 was 72.4%. In 1922 the average attendance in the South 
 was 81.4% while that of the nation was 81.2%. An unedu- 
 cated, non-resident or inefficient ministry cannot qualify for 
 the needs of this new day. The educational program in the 
 rural South is rapidly becoming the twentieth century electri- 
 fication type, while the program of many of our churches is 
 that of the nineteenth century oil lamp. 
 
 The most tremendous Home Mission appeal that hae ever 
 come in the history of the nation comes now to the denomina- 
 tion which has an educated and cultured ministry, to lift the 
 light of truth to guide the feet of the young men and women 
 of the rural High Schools into the paths of righteousness. 
 
 But this educational movement in the rural sections, es- 
 pecially in the South, constitutes a grave danger. In the past 
 a great appeal has come to the Church because of the ignor- 
 ance of the people. In many of our rural districts the Church 
 has been spending money in doing purely educational work. | 
 We all recognize the necessity of this. We recognize that 
 if education is to be really helpful, it is necessary for it to 
 be Christian. “Sanctified education is the greatest blessing, 
 unsanctified education the greatest curse.” 
 
 Much education of the higher type which we find today 
 constitutes a danger. Learning without religion is inclined 
 to make skeptics of men. The State is not in a position to 
 give Christian training. The Church is challenged as never 
 before to give her youth in the country districts that which 
 the State cannot by the very nature of the case properly 
 provide. An ignorant ministry whose stock in trade is abuse 
 of the schools may serve to drive young people away from 
 the Church and, although they may be men with sincere in- 
 tentions, they may do far more harm than good. The day 
 demands cultured, well-educated ministers. All far-seeing 
 leaders of all denominations are recognizing the necessity 
 
THe New Cay 29 
 
 of a ministry adequate to meet the needs of this new day. 
 Dr. Jeff D. Ray in his book, “The Country Preacher,” has 
 the following to say: 
 
 “Not long since an intelligent country layman said to me: 
 ‘I do not know what our church is going to do for a preacher.’ 
 When I reminded him of the fact that there were twenty 
 preachers in the county, many of them without work, and 
 asked why his church did not call one of them, he said, ‘It 
 is true that we have these twenty preachers. They are all 
 good men, without a stain on their character or an interroga- 
 tion point after their fidelity. Many of them would be glad 
 to be our pastor, but we have a nine months’ tenth grade 
 public school where most of our children graduate, and many 
 of them are sent off to college. Now the fact is that many 
 of our young people are better educated than any of those 
 preachers, and whether it ought to be so or not, it is true that 
 a preacher will have a hard time leading our young people 
 if they regard him as inferior in the matter of education.’ 
 That is not the high-brow criticism of a cold-blooded theo- 
 logical professor but the deliberate conclusion of a country 
 layman who was seeing the thing tried every year. Every 
 consolidated school with its ten grades and nine months’ 
 session imperiously demands a better equipped ministry for 
 our country churches. Nobody realizes this fact more than 
 those same poorly equipped men among our country preach- 
 ers who are doing their best to hold the situation in spite of 
 the handicap under which they labor, and of which they are 
 more conscious than anybody else. We must get away from 
 the heresy that town churches need educated preachers and 
 country churches do not. Other things being equal, a country 
 church will yield to the touch of a trained preacher quicker 
 and more fruitful response than a town church. Every mark 
 of real refinement and culture the preacher manifests will be 
 appreciated as keenly in the country as in the town.” 
 
 4. He SHoutp Be A Man oF VISION 
 
 The country preacher should be a man of Vision and have 
 the quality of inspiring vision in others. A task without a 
 
30 Tue New Cay 
 
 vision is drudgery. A minister to be happy at his task and 
 successful in its accomplishment must be able to see the pos- 
 sibilities and potentialities of the people among whom he 
 ministers. One man looks at a piece of marble and sees only 
 an irregular mass of stone. Another looks at the same piece 
 of marble and sees the statue of an angel. The minister 
 who can look into the faces of his congregation of country 
 youth and see in them great preachers, missionaries, teachers, 
 leaders in every sphere of the world’s activity has a heart for 
 his task and will have joy in the accomplishment of it. 
 
 It takes a man of vision to be able to discover and train 
 leadership. Country churches lack leadership. It is not be- 
 cause they of the country lack potentiality, for the same 
 people moving to the city become the leaders there. Some- 
 how people in the country are backward and they must be 
 discovered and with much patience and perseverance be 
 trained in the practice of doing things. 
 
 The country preacher must be a man of vision, but not a_ 
 dreamer. He must be practical. He must be a man of vision, 
 but not visionary. That minister is most efficient who is able 
 to best develop efficiency in his people. The country preacher, 
 therefore, should have some ability as a teacher and should 
 have that quality of enthusiasm which is contagious. 
 
 5. He SHoutp Be INDUSTRIOUS 
 
 The country is no place for a lazy preacher. He will not 
 have the stimulus of keen competition which he would have. 
 in the city. One of his severest temptations will be to let 
 things slide and move along in an easy slip-shod manner. A 
 Foreign Missionary Board will not send out a man who has 
 the reputation of being lazy. City or town churches will not 
 tolerate a man of this type. The country people are long- 
 suffering. They learn to love their preachers and they over- 
 
Tue New Catt 31 
 
 look their faults without complaint, but, if a minister is to 
 do real work in a country church, he must be a well-read man. 
 Every minister should read at least one good book every week 
 and write an article for some paper or magazine at least once 
 every month. He may not have his article accepted for 
 publication, but he should write anyway. The tendency for 
 a man out in the country is to grow stale. Every year he 
 should take a course of study either at a Summer Bible Con- 
 ference or Theological Seminary. He does not have the 
 intellectual contacts of the man in the town or city. The 
 country pastorate is not a lazy man’s job. His pastoral work 
 requires more energy than that of the man in town. 
 
 6. He Must BE A VOLUNTEER 
 
 The successful country preacher is one who is a Volunteer 
 and not a conscript. He must give himself definitely to this 
 task in God’s open among his scattered people as others do 
 to the foreign mission field. He must be willing to bury 
 himself. He must believe that it is better to please God than 
 to get the plaudits of men. He must learn that it is a bigger 
 business to mold character than to become distinguished in 
 the profession of preaching. We are persuaded that a man 
 who is doing a real task in the country can not be buried. 
 The only way to redeem the country ministry from its 
 ignominy is to do the work in such a big way that the results 
 will convince the Church and the world that it is a task 
 worthy of recognition. 
 
 John Frederic Oberlin, a Ph. D. from Strasburg Univer- 
 sity, gave his life to the backwoods people in the Vosges 
 Mountains in Northern France. A man of unusual talents, 
 very highly educated, he spent his lifelong ministry in this 
 rigorous climate where the people were ignorant, poor and 
 “ironheaded.” Oberlin today is known throughout the world 
 
32 THe New CAtLyt 
 
 as “The Patron Saint of the Country Church.” He received 
 the Legion of Honor at the hands of Louis XVIII for ser- 
 vices which he rendered during his fifty-three years’ pas- 
 torate. It was an expression of appreciation for the work 
 of transformation which he wrought upon the community 
 where he labored. He also received recognition from the 
 Emperor Alexander of Russia. When in 1819 an officer 
 bore a message from pastor Oberlin to the Emperor, the 
 Emperor embraced him saying, “This is for Father Oberlin.” 
 When he was called to a city church with a generous salary 
 his reply was, “The best work for me is where I can do the 
 most good with the least recompense.”’ 
 
 Dr. Victor Masters in his little book, “The Country Church 
 in the South,” says: 
 
 “Buried in the country: An Oberlin spent a life among 
 the adamantine denseness of the backwoods in the mountains 
 of northern France, lifted up a whole population, and a> 
 hundred years later the whole world acclaimed him. 
 
 “Richard Baxter, poor in health, spent most of his life at 
 Kidderminster, a poor country parish, but neither he nor the 
 public seemed to think that he was buried. The author of 
 devotional books, second in fame only to those of that other 
 country man, John Bunyan, Baxter’s name is still a house- 
 hold word and Kidderminster a shrine which draws countless 
 pilgrims. Charles Kingsley spent his life as pastor at Evers- 
 ley, an uninteresting English rural village, but did not long 
 remain buried. Men and women from all over the world 
 made their way to that out-of-the-way sanctuary to hear 
 Charles Kingsley preach. Nor did he heed the calls to 
 larger places, which followed close on the heels of great 
 repute. The elder P. H. Mell was forty years pastor of two 
 country churches in Georgia, meantime refusing calls to half 
 the larger city churches in the South. If he was ‘buried’ 
 Southern Baptists showed persistent obtuseness in recogniz- 
 ing it, for they elected him president of the Southern Baptist 
 Convention fifteen times. 
 
Tue New Cau 33 
 
 “Bishop Warren A. Candler, of Atlanta, was once presid- 
 ing over a Methodist Conference in a southern state. He 
 was reading the appointments for preachers for the ensuing 
 year. The great body of country churches came first. He 
 was interrupted presently by a certain well-groomed banker 
 with his sparse hair parted in the middle, who arose to ask 
 the Bishop if he had provided in his appointments a preacher 
 for the big First Church of which the banker was a member, 
 in the largest city in the state. ‘Brother,’ replied the Bishop, 
 ‘how many preachers has your church produced since you 
 have known it?’ ‘Well, I have been in it twenty-five years; 
 I do not remember any,’ replied the banker, who found the 
 questioning Bishop more discomposing than a whole board of 
 directors. ‘Brother,’ continued the Bishop, ‘I am appointing 
 good preachers to these country churches because we must 
 depend upon them to produce preachers for such churches as 
 yours. I will appoint one for you after we get through with 
 these.’ 
 
 “The whole attitude of our Christian bodies towards coun- 
 try churches and pastors needs to be shaken up and changed, 
 for as it now stands this situation is a reproach and a shame. 
 A determined effort to remove this reproach is the least that 
 these bodies can afford, if they really expect to convince the 
 public that they realize what great issues depend upon main- 
 taining a full and satisfying rural life in the South.” 
 
 The country preacher today, who has a real consecration 
 to his task and who turns a deaf ear to the call from city 
 pulpits, will preach to great congregations, not only to the 
 people who will come from the countryside but those who will 
 come on good roads from nearby towns and cities. People 
 love to worship in a church among the trees out in the open, 
 away from the odors, the noise and the other distractions of 
 the city. There is something about a temple in God’s great 
 out-of-doors that makes one more reverent than in the cost- 
 liest cathedral erected by the hand of man. Our age is calling 
 for Oberlins and Kingsleys to preserve, the country churches 
 and to save the generation of today and, through it, that 
 
34 Tue New CaAty 
 
 of tomorrow. Dr. J. W. Skinner, Moderator of the General 
 Assembly of the Southern Presbyterian Church for 1926-’27, 
 gave his life to Home Missions in Western Texas. He is a 
 concrete example of the fact that you can not bury a man 
 who does his task in a big way. 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 1. What is the debt due the country minister of the past? 
 
 2. Why does the church in this new day demand a ministry of high 
 order ? 
 
 3. What are some of the essential qualifications for an efficient 
 country preacher? 
 
 4. What steps must the church take to secure an adequate country 
 ministry ? 
 
CHARTER TIT 
 A PERSONAL PROGRAM 
 
 HE country preacher must make a program for him- 
 4 Paks While he may not always be able to follow it, he 
 should, in so far as possible, carry it out conscientiously. It 
 should be grouped around the various spheres of his develop- 
 ment—physical, intellectual, social and spiritual. 
 
 The only way for the country preacher to overcome the 
 temptation of laziness is to become a severe taskmaster of 
 himself. A very good division of the twenty-fours of the 
 day is—eight hours for sleep, eight hours for recreation and 
 eight hours for work. 
 
 DES LEBP 
 
 Dr. Benjamin M. Palmer, of New Orleans, said that he 
 found eight hours of sleep a necessity. There may be some 
 men who do not need that much, for some sleep more in a 
 short time than others in a long period. The minister who 
 realizes the true significance of his calling is under great 
 mental and nervous strain. It is absolutely necessary that he 
 sleep. Work will never kill any man as long as he gets eight 
 hours sleep each night. 
 
 Shakespeare was a prodigious worker. He knew well how 
 sleep prepared him for the great task of which his brain was 
 capable. He says: 
 
 “Sleep, that knits up the ravell’d sleeve of care, 
 The death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath, 
 Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, 
 Chief nourisher in life’s feast!” 
 
36 Tue New CaLy 
 
 The minister’s hours for sleep should be as sacred as those 
 for work. His efficiency in the latter will depend upon how 
 he spends the former. | 
 
 The minister’s usefulness will depend largerly upon having 
 a clear brain. He should never turn night into day. The 
 country preacher should retire early. “Early to bed and 
 early, to rise make a man healthy, and wealthy, and wise.” 
 It may not make him wealthy, but it will contribute to the 
 other two which are important factors to his usefulness. 
 Early retiring will provide “daylight savings” and he will find 
 the early hours of the new day will prove golden for study. 
 
 Il, RECREATION 
 
 Every minister should have an avocation. That of the 
 country preacher should be something of which his congrega- 
 tion approves. It should be useful, possibly along the line of 
 the vocation of his people. This will serve to form a point . 
 of contact as he engages in conversation with his parishioners. 
 If his avocation is poultry, for example, it will give him a 
 personal interest in the poultry industry in which his people 
 are engaged. If it is gardening, it will help him to under- 
 stand the problems of his farmer friends. 
 
 Many men are lost in the pitfall of indolence but, if the 
 minister, who takes his calling seriously and realizes that his 
 is the great business of being an ambassador of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, undertakes to work continuously without having 
 something toward which to turn his mind for a change, he 
 will probably break down in health. My father used to say, 
 “Work when you work and when you play, play.” In order 
 to do the most efficient work every man must have something 
 at which he can play. 
 
 The country preacher should be very careful not to allow 
 his avocation to become his vocation. He should never engage 
 
DA RAN ew GALL in Vt 
 
 in it for personal profit. He should never try to make money 
 out of it by trading with his people. It may prove to be 
 remunerative. It may help to keep the wolf from the door, 
 but that should be only an incidental and secondary aim. 
 
 A part of the time set apart for recreation should be de- 
 voted to general reading such as newspapers, magazines, 
 fiction and material along the line of his avocation. Every 
 country preacher should read regularly one or more good 
 farm journals, preferably those subscribed to by his people. 
 
 Devotions should occupy a good portion of the recreational 
 period. Luther said when he had a very busy day he always 
 spent at least three hours in prayer. The country minister 
 needs to meet with the Master regularly every day in prayer 
 and devotional study of the Scriptures. 
 
 The remainder of the time set apart for recreation should 
 be spent with the family and with friends, in letter writing, 
 in dressing, at meals, doing chores, making necessary repairs, 
 at sports, etc. 
 
 Ill. WORK 
 
 Kight hours every day should be spent in honest work. A 
 certain number should be given to real, systematic study, 
 writing, sermon preparation, and in pastoral visiting. The 
 country preacher ought not to work less than his town brother 
 and should really put more time on the preparation of his 
 sermons. He will not have as many to prepare, but he ought 
 to give them a more thorough preparation. A famous theo- 
 logical seminary professor once said, ““When you go to town 
 put your best suit of clothes in your suitcase; when you go to 
 the country put your best sermon in your saddle bags.”’ 
 Country people will put up with poor preaching, but they will 
 appreciate it if it is good and, considering the potentiality of 
 the lives of the country preacher’s congregation, he should 
 
38 Tue New Catt 
 
 never be satisfied with giving to them anything short of his 
 very best. | 
 
 Men who are engaged in the business of money making, or 
 who are ambitious for worldly honors have the stimulus 
 which drives them to their tasks. The minister of Christ, 
 who realizes the importance of the work to which God has 
 called him, should feel the urge is no less compelling. 
 
 A very important part of the country minister’s work is 
 his pastoral visiting. His time is too valuable to be frittered 
 away in mere social chatter, but he should spend many hours 
 and days visiting his people. 
 
 Rev. A. H. Hamilton, D.D., was for thirty-eight years 
 pastor of Mt. Carmel Church located half way between Lex- 
 ington and Staunton, Va. He saw it grow from a feeble 
 band to one of the largest churches in the open country in 
 the United States. He was a very careful and painstaking 
 pastor. He announced to his people that he would not accept . 
 invitations to spend the day with them or to take meals as his 
 time set aside for visiting would not admit of that. He did 
 not wait for formal invitations but made himself as one of 
 the family wherever he went. He very frequently ate with 
 his people, sharing what they had prepared for themselves. 
 He did not spend very much time in any one home but he 
 made the little time he spent there count. He was a persistent 
 personal worker. During his long ministry he never had in 
 his church a professional evangelist, yet constantly people 
 were coming into his church on profession of faith. He went 
 from house to house and from field to field speaking with his 
 people about the affairs of the Kingdom, the problems of their 
 religious lives, and their responsibilities to their families, 
 their church and their God. His memory is sweetly embalmed 
 in the hearts of his people and he, “Though he be dead, yet 
 speaketh.” His influence will last in the lives, not only of 
 
Tue New CAtyt 39 
 
 those to whom he ministered, but in the character of their 
 children and their children’s children from generation to 
 generation. 
 
 Dr. Warren H. Wilson, Superintendent Department of 
 Church and Country Life of the Board of Home Missions, 
 Presbyterian Church, U. S. A., in a recent letter said, “It 
 seems that pastoral work is becoming a lost art.” If a man 
 is to know how to preach to his people, he must know their 
 religious problems, and perplexities. He must know their 
 religious needs and there is no other way to find out except 
 by personal contact as he meets them on the road, in the field, 
 and in the home. 
 
 ‘The country preacher must set aside a definite part of his 
 working hours for pastoral visitation. He should strive to 
 give an equitable division of his time to the different phases 
 of his work. 
 
 In our studies together in the Theological Seminaries, I 
 have asked for discussion of the following question: ‘“Con- 
 struct in your own way a workable program for the country 
 preacher.” Here is a sample which I commend for con- 
 sideration. 
 
 Pe STUDY 
 
 a. Read equivalent of one book per week; one of these a 
 good biography every two months. 
 
 b. Read the Bible through at least twice a year, studying 
 certain books each year carefully and exhaustively 
 with commentaries. 
 
 c. Through papers keep abreast of church and secular 
 news. 
 
 d. Write out two sermons a week and carefully prepare 
 other talks. 
 
 e. Spend at least four hours per day in the study and 
 study. 
 
40 Tue New Cattu 
 
 2. CoMMUNITY RELATIONS: 
 
 a. Win confidence and co-operation of every pastor of 
 whatsoever denomination in the community. 
 
 b. Cultivate and command the respect of the editor of 
 county paper. 
 
 c. Know the schools and win the confidence of teachers 
 and pupils. 
 
 d. Know the objectives and methods of all civic organiza- 
 tions. If there are none, take the lead toward the 
 ones most needed. 
 
 e. Help to create a community solidarity, spirit and soul. 
 
 3. RECREATION 
 a. Take some every day—not too much from study. 
 
 b. Work in garden, or do a bit of farming, or work at the 
 wood pile. 
 
 c. Hunt and fish with parishioners, but be sure conduct 
 on such occasions will never lower their respect. 
 
 d. Find most of the recreation in an avocation—chickens, 
 live stock, flowers, or trucking on a small scale. 
 
 4. DEVOTION 
 
 Spend at least one hour a day in devotions, mostly in 
 private. 
 
 A minister who has been a successful country preacher 
 for nineteen years writes, June 15, 1926, “My records show 
 thirty-two books read to date this year. 1 mentione this to 
 show that a country preacher can do some reading and study. 
 My program is a broad one. 
 
 Mornin, 6 To 12:30—Study, including devotional hour. 
 
 AFTERNOON, 2-5—Visiting except on Mondays and Satur- 
 days. Monday afternoon is given largely to corres- 
 pondence and working in garden and among flowers. 
 Saturday afternoon is the rest period. A country 
 preacher should start his sermon Monday morning. 
 He never knows what a day may bring forth. 
 
THe New Catyu 41 
 
 Nicut, 7-11—Reading. No sermon work. Perhaps an 
 evening visit. I have found the evening visit during 
 the hot summer months most satisfactory. The family 
 will be found at home ready to enjoy a visit in the 
 cool of the day. 
 
 I spend as a usual thing my Saturday nights reading sev- 
 eral farm journals. This is the best way for the country 
 preacher to understand the problems of the country, to under- 
 stand them when the farmer is thinking of them. The weekly 
 reading of some good Farm Weekly keeps him up to the 
 minute in farm thought. 
 
 “There are some good, sound Scripture doctines that should 
 engage the thought of the country preacher : 
 
 The Stewardship of the Land. 
 
 The Farmer’s Relation and Duty to His Animals. 
 The Farmer’s Mission to Feed a Hungry World. 
 The Value of the Farm Home. 
 
 Bible Doctrine of Land Distribution. 
 
 The Bible is full of instruction on these and many points, 
 for God placed a people in a land and gave them instruction 
 how to distribute and use it. The farmer needs to know the 
 principles of his stewardship.” 
 
 Being a country preacher is great business. Others are 
 called to scatter the seed on the hard ground, the stony 
 ground, the thorny ground, but the country preacher is to 
 scatter it on good soil where the largest fold is returned. 
 However faithless others may be in the performance of their 
 tasks, the country preacher must be a worker that “needeth 
 not to be ashamed.” 
 
 ‘ The country preacher should never look upon his work as 
 a task. He is his own master and is not driven by physical 
 necessity, but the moral obligation becomes all the greater for 
 
42 THE New CAL 
 
 that reason. Jesus was a tireless worker. Paul followed in 
 His steps. The country preacher can find no finer inspira- 
 tion than to keep his eyes constantly upon the example of the 
 busy ministry of Jesus and of Paul. 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 1. What special reasons make it well for the country preacher to 
 have a personal program? 
 
 2. What should be the country preacher’s program for sleep, recrea- 
 tion and work? 
 
 3. Why should the country preacher read the Agricultural Journals? 
 4. Construct in your own way a program for a country preacher. 
 
CHABTERVLV 
 
 THE COUNTRY MAN 
 
 HE habits of life of country people are different from 
 BE tics: who dwell in the city. The pursuits and relation- 
 ships of country men develop in them certain pronounced 
 characteristics and, unless the minister has a sympathetic 
 understanding of these and can identify himself wlth the 
 people of his congregation, he will be greatly handicapped in 
 his services. 
 
 - Of course, both the city and country people have many 
 things in common. They are all sinners and need the gospel 
 of salvation. The teachings of the Scriptures are applicable 
 to one as to the other, yet the Bible is largely couched in rural 
 language and it is well for the preacher, whether he gives his 
 life to the country or city, to understand country life. The 
 book of nature rightly understood is an interpreter of the 
 Book of Books. The Bible is expressed in rural imagery and 
 can be comprehended, and its message visualized best by one 
 who knows the country and has some first hand knowledge 
 of nature. It is necessary also for the country preacher to 
 know the psychology of the farmer. 
 
 1. THe Country MAN Is INDIVIDUALISTIC 
 
 City folks are accustomed to work together in factory, 
 store, shop, office where they join as a unit. Business men 
 as partners in co-operative enterprises, joint stock companies, 
 corporations, etc., work in unison one with another. 
 
 The country man’s home is isolated. His pursuits are apart 
 from his fellowmen. While there is a neighborliness, yet 
 
44 THE New CALL 
 
 there is a development of individualism in the country that 
 we do not find in the city. The country man works in his 
 field alone. He does things by himself. He acts on his own 
 initiative without reference to the behaviour of others. 
 
 This individualism at once constitutes his strength and his 
 weakness. It makes him more resourceful. It develops in 
 him self-reliance and initiative, characteristics which consti- 
 tute essentials of leadership. It makes him a good operator, 
 but a poor co-operator. 
 
 All who have had to deal with the problems of organizing 
 the farmers have found that this individualism is so pro- 
 nounced in country men that it is difficult to get them to 
 stand together. While it is rather easy to organize farmers, 
 it is very hard to get them for any length of time to maintain 
 their societies. It is a problem to get them to buy together 
 and sell together. It seems almost impossible for them to 
 maintain a program of co-operation. 
 
 This individualism of the country man constitutes one of 
 the serious problems of the country preacher. Each one is 
 inclined to do what seems good in his own eyes and, without 
 a knowledge of this characteristic and an understanding of 
 how to capitalize its strength and overcome its weakness, the 
 minister who deals with the people in God’s open will become 
 discouraged and disheartened. The country preacher who 
 wishes to succeed must recognize the individualistic tenden- 
 cies of his people. 
 
 The new generation of farmers, however, are an improve- 
 ment over their fathers in this particular. The following 
 report signed by two members of New Providence congrega- 
 tion and the agricultural agent of Rockbridge County, Va., 
 illustrates what 1 mean. We give their full report as a 
 concrete example of what intelligent farmers of high Chris- 
 tian character can do. | 
 
THe New CALL 45 
 
 WEAN oe ROC re R TDG rh wilViio S LOCK 
 MARKETING ASSOCIATION DOING? 
 
 “Believing that many Rockbridge farmers are interested in 
 this question and that it would be to the advantage of all 
 farmers who have livestock to sell to know more about it, 
 the board of directors of the association, at a recent meeting, 
 decided to send occasionally a general letter of information 
 to all leading farmers in the county. Therefore we respect- 
 fully ask your careful consideration of the facts given below: 
 
 “1. The Rockbridge Co-operative Livestock Marketing 
 Association has about 300 members, including practically all 
 of the larger livestock producers in the county as well as all 
 of the larger buyers and shippers. 
 
 “2. Net saving to farmers and other members, $6,697.04 
 —For the year ending December 1, 1925, the association sold 
 $109,595.93 worth of livestock. The net amount paid to 
 members of the association for this livestock amounted to 
 $6,697.04 more than prices offered by buyers on the day 
 shipments were made. Did you get your share of this saving, 
 or did you sell your stock to a buyer and let him have your 
 share of it? A few shipments, of course, net the members 
 a little less than prices offered by buyers on the day of ship- 
 ment, but the above amount is the net balance after these 
 losses and all expenses are deducted. 
 
 “3. Number of Livestock Sold—In 1925 the association 
 shipped and sold 1,727 calves, 4,694 lambs and sheep, 489 
 cattle and 579 hogs. The largest net saving was made on 
 lambs and calves. 
 
 “4. Since December 1, 1925, the association has marketed 
 517 veal calves, 96 sheep and lambs, 199 cattle and 274 hogs, 
 on which a net saving of $1,322.48 was made. One car 
 netted the members $198.50 more than the buyers’ prices. 
 No car shipped so far this year has netted a loss, the lowest 
 saving per car being $1.21. 
 
 “5. The net saving given above amounts to 7 per cent of 
 the net proceeds. Men who sold in this way waited one or 
 two weeks longer for their money. Assuming that they all 
 waited an average of two weeks, they would have made 
 
46 Cae NEWCO ALL 
 
 slightly over 40 per cent on their money, figured on a yearly — 
 basis. Is this good business? 
 
 “All that you need to do to become a member, if you are 
 not already one, is to make a shipment of livestock consigned 
 through the association manager, and your membership fee 
 will be deducted from the first shipment. If you are a mem- 
 ber of the Farmer’s Union, you will not be charged a mem- 
 ber’s fee in the marketing association. If you are not a 
 member of the Union and want to become one, your member- 
 ship fee will be $3.00. 
 
 “This association belongs to its members, and the board of 
 directors will welcome criticisms, suggestions for improve- 
 ment, or any grievances at any time. If you are not already 
 a member, we respectfully request that you become one with 
 your first shipment of lambs this season. Don’t get dis- 
 couraged in case you happen to strike a shipment on which 
 buyers ‘get stuck.’ Just remember that they must make it 
 up on the next shipments.” 
 
 W. G. Lewis, 
 
 T. S. REEs, 
 Joun K. Patterson. 
 Committee on Publicity. 
 
 Working together in the church will help men to work 
 together in their business. Working together in their busi- 
 ness will help them to co-operate in the church. Mr. J. H. 
 Meeks, head of the Bureau of Markets in the State of Vir- 
 ginia, calls attention to the fact that if farmers are to be able 
 to work together in co-operative marketing, it is very neces- 
 sary that they be men of the right kind of character. He 
 calls attention to the fact that the Church is necessary to 
 make them the right kind of men. The secret of success in 
 marketing is to have the products of the farm standardized, 
 of the proper quality to meet the required specifications and 
 always to be as represented. The Church makes Christian 
 men and only Christian men who trust each other and deal 
 justly one with another, and with those who become their 
 
Tue New Cau 47 
 
 patrons in buying their products can successfully work to- 
 gether in co-operative marketing. Co-operative marketing 
 improves the quality of the article offered and also improves 
 the character of the men engaged in it. 
 
 2. Tuer Country MAn Is DELIBERATE 
 
 He does not do things ina hurry. His life is one of patient 
 waiting. He waits for the processes of the seasons. He 
 waits for the ground to get in proper condition for plowing, 
 for the preparation of the seed bed. He waits for the time 
 for sowing. He waits for the season of cultivation. He 
 waits for the harvest. He waits for the drying days to 
 prepare the crop for the ingathering. He waits for the 
 proper time to market. All the processes of his life tend to 
 make him deliberate in action. His experience is calculated 
 to give him a spirit of patience. The minister who does not 
 understand rural psychology and rural habits may become 
 provoked because things do not move quickly in the country. 
 
 3. THe Country Man Is CoNSERVATIVE 
 
 He is slow to adopt new methods and he is wary about 
 trying out novel schemes. The country man is usually 
 thought to be gullible. He has often been the victim of 
 shrewd schemers. He has often been deceived and cheated 
 by unprincipled men who have practiced upon him the arts 
 of salesmanship as they have dealt with him alone in the 
 field. All of this has made him cautious about adopting 
 things that are suggested. 
 
 This, however, may be said—that when country people are 
 once committed to that which they have been convinced is an 
 enterprise worth while, they can be counted upon to carry it 
 through, though it may be with a good deal of deliberation. 
 
 The country preacher, who would get his people to adopt 
 new ideas and advanced methods, must prove to them that 
 
48 THe New Cay 
 
 his plan is practical as well as pious. He must be a leader 
 but he must not go too far ahead. His people must know 
 that his ideas are sound before they will adopt them as their 
 own. 
 
 4. Country PEopLE ARE ECONOMICAL 
 
 They have a comfortable living but they do not handle 
 much money. They are independent but necessarily have to 
 practise economy and are frequently accused of being stingy 
 and close-fisted. Dwellers in the city get their salaries, which 
 constitute a very much larger return than that which is 
 received by the average country man and are free spenders. 
 The country man, while he may have considerable capital in- 
 vested in his home, his land and his crops, is usually in debt. 
 His money comes in lump sums and is consumed in the 
 liquidation of accumulated indebtedness. Country people are 
 engaged in pursuits which do not yield an equitable monetary 
 return. Their money comes to them at uncertain intervals. | 
 They are victims of uncertain weather conditions. They are 
 constantly running the gauntlet of enemies of every kind 
 which in the form of diseases and pests attack their crops, 
 their orchards, their vineyards, their gardens, their flocks 
 and their herds. 
 
 The country man, therefore, as compared with the dweller 
 in the city seems very much less liberal in his gifts. It is 
 more difficult for him to calculate what his tithe is. H&s 
 habits of economy, unless he practices stewardship, makes 
 him seem niggardly in contributing to the work of the Lord. 
 
 5. Tue Country Man Is TuHrirty 
 
 Of course, it is true that some of the dwellers in the coun- 
 try are shiftless, but as a rule stern necessity has inculcated 
 thrift. Especially is this true of the country women. Eggs, 
 poultry, butter, etc., frequently pay the store bill. The habit 
 
Tue NEw CALL 49 
 
 of thrift formed on the farm is one of the explanations of 
 the fact that a large proportion of men of wealth in America 
 were born in the country. 
 
 If this spirit of thrift is capitalized for the Church, it may 
 prove a mighty factor in the work of the Kingdom. If these 
 potential millionaries are taught to tithe and are given the 
 right conception of the relationship of their lives and of their 
 possessions they may prove to be James B. Dukes, Colgates 
 and Wanamakers. 
 
 6. THe Country MAN Is VERSATILE 
 
 The city man day after day is bound as a slave to some 
 task. He becomes more or less a machine while the country 
 man is varied in his pursuits. One day he is with his live- 
 stock, the next he follows the plow, the next he may spend 
 among the trees of his orchard, the next in the garden or 
 vineyard. Usually the life of the urban man is one of mono- 
 tonous drudgery, while there is endless variety for the man 
 in the country and each day brings a new interest to him in 
 pursuits on the farm. The city man learns to do one thing 
 and do it well, but the country man learns to do many things 
 in many different ways. One set of muscles, one group of 
 brain cells of the city man are developed, while to the country 
 man every muscle in his body and every brain cell is called 
 upon to function. The city man becomes a slave, while the 
 country man becomes the master of his vocation. 
 
 Dr. Alfred Leyburn, of Lexington, Va., in speaking of the 
 Agricultural Fair to be held at Brownsburg, Va., in 1834, had 
 the following to say: 
 
 “And what, think ye, can or ought to afford more un- 
 alloyed enjoyment than scenes of this kind in which are 
 commingled the honest cultivators of the soil, whose hearts 
 are ‘kindled with a fire from off the same altar,’ and whose 
 objects, hopes and fears are for the most part the same, 
 
50 THe NEw Catt 
 
 engaged in one common pursuit. ‘Here’s my heart and here’s 
 my hand’ is a feeling reciprocated by each whilst the heart 
 responds to the expression of Burns, ‘that the life of the 
 farmer, sowing his grain in hope and reaping in gladness— 
 fattening his herds, shearing his flocks, rejoicing at fairs and 
 begetting sons and daughters, until he be the venerated, grey 
 headed leader of a little tribe, is truly a heavenly one.’ 
 “Aye, the life is pleasant, not merely negatively because 
 of the absence of some of the troubles incident to other 
 callings,—but positively so because of the presence of objects 
 and employments in themselves calculated to inspire feelings 
 and awaken sentiments of an exalted character leading the 
 mind from nature up to nature’s God, who alone ordereth the 
 seasons, and causes the uninterrupted succession of seed-time 
 and harvest. Agriculture is not only pleasant, but it is honor- 
 able—and would be still more so, were science made her 
 hand-maid as she should be. It is honorable not only because 
 of its intrinsic excellence, but also of its antiquity having 
 been an object of care with kings and potentates—the high 
 and the mighty of all ages, especially those of Greece and 
 Rome, many of whom made it their study and delight. And: 
 in what pleasing accents does Euthimines, a Grecian husband- 
 man, express himself when saying to his neighbors at his 
 own bountiful table; ‘When I walk in my fields, all things 
 smile, and seem embellished with new ornaments. These 
 harvests, trees and plants exist only for me, or rather for the 
 necessitous whose wants I relieve. And he adds that 
 ‘emulation without rivalry is the bond of union between me 
 
 bP 
 
 and my neighbors’. 
 
 7. THE Country MAN Is RETICENT 
 
 He often pretends to be ignorant but he is usually saga- 
 cious. Heisnot transparent and the man who thinks he under- 
 stands country people when he has made a visit to the farm- 
 house or even lived for a considerable time in the country 
 is very much mistaken. The country man wears his company 
 manners for the stranger, especially for the minister who 
 does not understand him. His real self he draws in like the 
 
THe New Catu Sih 
 
 tortoise does his head. To know and understand farmers 
 you must be one of them. An elder in Tinkling Spring 
 Church, near Staunton, Va., used to tell his pastor, Dr. G. B. 
 Strickler, “You ought to plant a patch of corn every year. 
 You will not know how to pray for rain unless you do.” 
 
 In dealing with country people I have learned as much 
 from my failures as from my successes. As I look back over 
 the years many things occur to me that might have been 
 done much more efficiently, but in so far as success has 
 crowned my efforts experience coincides with the testimony 
 of Dr. J. W. Jent, Dean of the Oklahoma Baptist University, 
 who for ten years was a country preacher. 
 
 “Only a man born and reared in the country has, or can 
 have, the point of view of country people. He cannot under- 
 stand them or see the country church through their eyes, 
 hence, will find it exceedingly difficult to ‘tie on to them,’ or 
 tie them on to him and his progressive program. Effective 
 leadership roots itself right here. The pastor simply cannot 
 really Jead unless the people follow, and they will not follow 
 unless they know where they are going. They will not even 
 start unless they believe in their leader as one of them, hence 
 have confidence in him. 
 
 “T know that whatever of success I have had in provoking 
 the right response in country churches, in really influencing 
 them, has been largely due to the fact that I know their point 
 of view and appreciate to the full their conservatism. All 
 I need do is remember my own point of view when I was a 
 farmer lad, living in the open country. Having ‘been there,’ 
 I know what they think and how they feel. I know that their 
 hearts are in the right place, too, regardless of what they say 
 and how they act. I believe there is a bond of sympathy 
 there that no city ‘bred’ man in the world has or ever will 
 have, no matter his training in rural life. There is a peculiar 
 ‘slant’ in the prejudice and bias of the rural mind that baffles 
 the man who has never had it. Innate conservatism is just 
 
PAN Tue New Cay 
 
 another name for ‘hard-headness,’ ‘mule,’ or ‘meanness,’ un- 
 
 less one has been saturated with that same type of stubborn- 
 II 
 
 ness. 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 1. Why should the country preacher understand rural psychology? 
 
 2. What are some of the pronounced characteristics of country 
 people? 
 
 3. How can the country preacher capitalize the country man’s char- 
 acteristics for the Kingdom? 
 
 *The Challenge of the Country Church, pp. 147-148. 
 
GCEAPODER? 'V. 
 
 POPENTIPADTIY OR tCOUNTDRY 
 COROT rat 
 
 HILE country people are often the butt of ridicule 
 
 and abuse because of some of their characteristics, 
 they constitute the strength of the nation and the hope of the 
 church. In thinking of the farmer we too frequently picture 
 his weaknesses and overlook his elements of strength. Much 
 that we see on the screen and in certain public print portrays 
 the farmer at his worst instead of his best. Many of the 
 -pleas for funds to help the work in the rural and mountain 
 sections picture the country in terms of its slums and do not 
 give the real facts which portray the potentiality of the coun- 
 try people. 
 
 A few years ago the writer was supplying a pulpit in the 
 city of Baltimore. One evening during the week he attended 
 a service in a neighboring church. A student was in charge. 
 He had spent the summer in a section of West Virginia. He 
 told an exceedingly interesting story of the poverty, vice, 
 ignorance and backwardness of the people among whom he 
 had labored. His listeners had a graphic picture. If they 
 had never visited West Virginia, they would naturally have 
 thought of the whole state in terms of the student’s portrayal. 
 At the close of his discourse I said to him, “I was very 
 much interested in your presentation. I am one of those 
 ‘wild and woolly’ West Virginians about whom you have been 
 talking. I have no doubt that all you said is true but it is 
 not the whole truth. It would not be fair for me to go back 
 to West Virginia and describe Baltimore in the terms of its 
 slums and say that that was Baltimore.” 
 
54 Van NE WAL 
 
 The country has its shiftless, degraded constituency but 
 it is not just to the country people to think of them in terms 
 of their worst. It may create pity and a desire on the part 
 of the people to help, but to me the highest call comes from 
 the potentiality of the country people. To labor among them 
 is a privilege. 
 
 RURAL FASCINATION 
 
 I used to be a city pastor, but for sixteen years have served 
 a congregation in the open country. While I was in the 
 city, the first warm days brought into my soul an urge some- 
 thing like that which comes to the migratory birds, that in the 
 springtime starts them on wing for their Northern nesting 
 place. I love the country; I love its fields, bedecked with a 
 robe of God’s wild flowers; its forests fragrant with the rich 
 aroma of the herbage; its hills, musical with the chant of the 
 waterfalls; its mountains, that force one to look upward, 
 pointing heavenward like giant fingers; I love the wild life | 
 of the lone places, and the domestic animals which animate 
 the fields and transmute the grass into food and clothing for 
 the people of the earth. I love the simple, sincere ways of 
 country folk, where community of interest and unity of pur- 
 pose undergird the solidarity of the home in which boys and 
 girls grow to manhood and womanhood, apprentices of their 
 parents. It is here they learn the lessons of economy, in- 
 tegrity, independence, industry, initiative; it is here their 
 bodies grow strong on an abundance of wholesome food, and 
 ample exercise suited to the stages of their lives, and yet 
 they learn the secrets of sacrificial living. It is not strange 
 that from such environment and such homes, if the religion 
 of Jesus has found its rightful place, there should be born 
 and reared the leadership of the race. Statistics show that 
 men of wealth, the captains of industry, statesmen, educa- 
 
Gee New Galt oh 
 
 tional and religious leaders have been mostly country born 
 and reared. 
 
 NATURE’S EDUCATIONAL VALUE 
 
 John T. Faris in his book, “Winning Their Way,” gives 
 biographical sketches of forty-eight of the leading men of the 
 modern world—eight inventors, three scientists, four ex- 
 plorers, five industrial leaders, four men of the army and 
 navy, six statesmen, nine authors and nine religious workers. 
 Thirty-seven out of the forty-eight were country born and 
 reared. The remaining eleven, born in the city, had a rural 
 experience. For instance, William E. Gladstone’s boyhood 
 was spent in Liverpool but he loved nature and took his 
 exercise by walking in the country or swinging an axe. 
 Robert Louis Stevenson, born in Edinburgh, was a country 
 man by adoption and a past master in the description of 
 nature scenes. Phillips Brooks was a Boston boy but an- 
 nually with his brothers spent much time in the country 
 homes of either aunt or grandmother. His biographer says: 
 
 “What happy days they spent in these country homes, 
 where they could romp and play to their hearts’ content! 
 They made kites in the shed, and ran up and down the hill 
 with them, their chief sorrow being the lack of sufficient 
 string, for boys always want just a little more kite-string than 
 they have.” 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt was city born, but spent many years 
 on the plains of the West. He was a country man by instinct 
 and sympathies. He was never happier than when in the lone 
 places on foot or in the saddle. His Country Life Commis- 
 sion, appointed in 1908, did more to create revival in rural 
 life than any other one thing. 
 
 We are just beginning to realize the educational value of 
 country life. It is evidenced in the growing popularity of 
 
56 Tue New Catt 
 
 summer camps for boys and girls. It is also noted in the 
 following news item of June 7th, 1926: 
 
 “Educate the city boy to be a farmer. Such will be the 
 policy of the national farm school conference which, at its 
 closing session today, voted to campaign for $15,000,000 to 
 give citified boys and girls a free, three-year training in the 
 elements of scientific agriculture. 
 
 “Dr. Abraham Schechter, of Austin, Tex., offered the con- 
 ference 40,000 acres of land in Texas to be used for experi- 
 mental purposes. Delegates from thirty-five governors and 
 the mayors of fifty cities attended the conference, as well as 
 educational and agricultural commissioners.”* 
 
 OUR FUTURE POLITICAL LEADERS 
 
 Thirty-five or forty years ago, President Calvin Coolidge 
 was following the plow or tossing hay on a New England 
 farm. This was the life not only of the first citizen of the 
 land, but of many congressmen, senators and other men in 
 whose hands rest the fortunes of the nation. If we can judge 
 the future by the past, men of destiny in the world of tomor- 
 row are now lads wearing overalls and doing the common 
 chores on our American farms. Men who are determining 
 the destiny of the nation for weal or woe are what they are, 
 in character, through the influence of the ministers of religion 
 who touched the life of their families during the plastic years 
 of their childhood. 
 
 The country boys and girls today are the leaders of thought 
 and action in the progress of the world tomorrow. Some 
 months ago a picture of President Coolidge and his Cabinet 
 appeared in the Literary Digest, and the men in the picture 
 were all reared on a farm in the open country except Charles 
 
 *N. Y. World News Service. 
 
Tue New Catt Bf 
 
 Hughes, Secretary of State at that time. Mr. Hughes is the 
 son of a Baptist preacher. 
 
 A few years ago Judge A. G. Dayton, who was on the 
 Federal bench in West Virginia, told me an interesting tale 
 of his days in Congress. One day when he found the janitor 
 had installed some liquid soap in the members’ lavatory, he 
 remarked, “This looks like home-made soap.” Another Con- 
 gressman then said, “What do you know about home-made 
 soap?’ He answered, “I know all about it; I made it when I 
 was a boy.” This led to a comparison of notes, and of those 
 present at the time, among them being the chairman of nearly 
 every leading committee in Congress, it was found that they 
 all except one came from the country and had made home- 
 made soap. 
 
 The country preachers of the present will determine the 
 policies of the nation in the days to come. 
 
 et WHENCE THE LARGE GIVERS? 
 
 Most men of wealth were once country boys. Some years 
 ago Dr. Russell H. Conwell, of Philadelphia, who is so well 
 known for his lecture “Acres of Diamonds” made an inves- 
 tigation of the parentage of 4,000 American millionaires. 
 There were only twenty of this number who did not begin 
 life as poor boys. Most of them were country lads who 
 learned industry, economy, self-denial, self-reliance and in- 
 itiative on the farm. 
 
 The richest man in the world would probably never have 
 been heard from if William Ford, his immigrant father, had 
 settled in New York City and become an industrial worker. 
 He went to Greenfield, Michigan, and settled among the 
 farmers where he had a little smithy and cultivated his eighty 
 acres. It was here Henry was born and grew up in the 
 
58 Tue New CaLt 
 
 country in fellowship with the farmer lads. He was educated 
 in the little one room school and, while he did not learn much 
 history, he learned to be a true American. He acquired here 
 the qualities, instilled into the country boy, which have made 
 him the wizard of American industry. 
 
 James B. Duke, who recently made the most munificent 
 gift to education in the history of the South, was a country 
 boy and got his experience as an apprentice under his father 
 on the farm. The story is told that his father, after he 
 became a rich man, stated, “The best days of my life were 
 when I was able to market my entire crop with one mule and 
 I bought five pounds of brown sugar, took it home, put it on 
 the floor in the middle of the room, gave to each one of my 
 four boys a spoon and said, ‘help yourselves’.” One of those 
 boys gave what amounts to approximately $80,000,000 to the 
 educational institutions and hospitals of North and South 
 Carolina. 
 
 Men in the world of tomorrow who will make large dona- 
 tions, if they have a vision of the need and a right under- 
 standing of their obligations to use their money for the glory 
 of God, are today lads on the farm. 
 
 It is the opportunity of the country preachers of today to 
 capture these boys for Christ, and to train them in the prin- 
 ciples of Christian living and the joys of stewardship. 
 
 THE EDUCATIONAL WORLD 
 
 What is true in the sphere of statesmanship and finance is 
 true also in the educational world. The presidents of our big 
 universities, professors in our colleges, editors of our big 
 dailies, moulders of the thought of the leaders of tomorrow 
 were mainly country boys. 
 
THe New CALL 59 
 
 SOCIAL BETTERMENT 
 
 The traveler on the Jefferson Highway, between Char- 
 lottesville and Staunton, Va., willsee the country home of Lady 
 Astor, one of the most constructive factors in the promotion 
 of beneficial legislation in Great Britain today. She has ex- 
 pressed her estimate of the value of the country church by 
 providing a well-appointed building for the benefit of this 
 rural community in which she has spent much of her time. 
 
 RELIGIOUS LEADERS 
 
 ‘Does any one know of a large city church anywhere in 
 America that has been able to produce its own leadership? 
 If so, let him speak or forever hold his peace. This is a 
 challenge that demands consideration. If the large city 
 churches have not been able to produce their leadership, 
 whence does it come? Whence come our ministers, our 
 elders, our deacons, our Sunday school teachers and our 
 leaders of other activities of the Church? I personally know 
 of one of our very large city churches which has fifteen 
 elders, thirteen of whom were born and reared on the farm. 
 I know of a large city church in which the president of the 
 Auxiliary and the leader of each one of the Circles are 
 country women, 
 
 If we fail to maintain the churches of the open country, 
 where will the Church get her supporters and leaders in the 
 world of tomorrow? 
 
60 
 
 Pin Newi Gan, 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 What mistake do many mission workers make in presenting the 
 call of their work? 
 
 What constitutes the greatest reason for giving the Gospel to 
 country people? 
 
 3. Who will determine the future policies of the nation? 
 
 How can large gifts for benevolent causes be secured? 
 
 Whence come religious leaders? 
 
PARTE WO 
 
 
 
 CHAPTER OMI 
 
 THE DISCOVERY 
 
 EFORE a man builds a house he should have a plan for 
 B it. When a man buys a farm he has it surveyed. In 
 entering upon a new field of service, one of the very first 
 things a minister should do is to discover it. It will give him 
 a knowledge of the material with which he has to work and 
 on which he is to work. 
 
 We are persuaded that a great many ministers, especially 
 in the country, do not know the field in which they are work- 
 ing. A Presbytery, through the agency of its Home Mission 
 Committee, decided to conduct evangelistic meetings in every 
 church within its bounds. One minister made the statement, 
 “There is no necessity of conducting evangelistic services in 
 my church. Everyone within our bounds is a member of the 
 church.” Presbytery conducted the meeting and there were 
 received into the fellowship of that congregation fifty-three 
 people on profession of their faith in Christ. 
 
 Another Presbytery decided to do the same thing and 
 assigned a preacher for each congregation. On the arrival 
 of an able minister, who had special evangelistic gifts, the 
 pastor of a certain church met him at the station and said, 
 “We are glad to see you. We are delighted you are here, 
 but I will tell you in the beginning you need not expect many 
 people to be received into the church as probably there is in 
 the entire territory not a dozen people who are not professing 
 
62 aE NE WoOeA LT, 
 
 Christians.” The visiting minister said, “I am sorry you did 
 not let me know of this. My gifts are those of an evangelist, 
 but since I am here I will do the best I can.” The meeting 
 was conducted and twenty-seven were received on profession 
 of their faith. These ministers simply did not know their 
 congregations. 
 
 The country minister should know all the details about his 
 field such as church allegiance, church attendance, non-Chris- 
 tians, members of other denominations, etc. 
 
 FRIENDLY EVERY MEMBER CANVASS 
 
 In order to help the country preacher, I have prepared a 
 pad with sufficient blanks to take care of the records of the 
 data for fifteen families. This pad is put in an envelope with 
 directions on the front for a “Friendly Every Member Can- 
 vass” and blank for making reports on the back. These may 
 be secured from the Presbyterian Committee of Publication, 
 Box 1176, Richmond, Va., for ten cents to cover the cost of 
 printing. The instructions appearing on the front of the 
 envelope are as follows: 
 
 This canvass may be made by the Church Officers, the 
 Men of the Church, or the Young People’s Society: 
 
 1. There should be a Congregational Director appointed 
 whose business it will be to organize the campaign and to 
 whom reports are to be made. 
 
 2. The community should be districted. 
 3. The visitors should be appointed and assigned. 
 
 4. They should be sent out scripturally—two and two. 
 
THe New CAtyu 63 
 
 5. Prayer should be made for God’s guidance. 
 
 6. The canvassers ought to talk with the people about com- 
 munity betterment, especially through the Church. 
 
 7. They should try to foster community spirit and Church 
 loyalty. 
 
 8. If possible, a portion of God’s Word may be read and 
 a prayer offered with each family. 
 
 9. The data for filling the blanks should be secured with 
 as little ostentation as possible, but it must be gotten. 
 
 10. When persons make pledges for future conduct, answer 
 “ves” with circle around it. 
 
 11. Return reports promptly to the Dircetor of the Canvass. 
 
 _ This canvass may be made in one day. It is important that 
 results be tabulated and a systematic follow-up work carried 
 on. 
 
 A-map should be made ‘of each district and also of the 
 whole congregational territory and the homes located thereon. 
 
 All family cards of denomination making canvass and no 
 church preference should be filed, and others distributed to 
 pastors according to church allegiance. 
 
 CONSERVING RESULTS 
 
 The data must be secured but it must not seem to be 
 mechanical. We must avoid seeming to pry into personal 
 matters. Get pastors of other denominations to join in this 
 survey if possible, but do not fail to make the survey if the 
 other denominations fail to co-operate. We want to be fair 
 and just to other denominations. It is not our business to 
 steal sheep, but it 1s our business to look after our own sheep 
 and all the stray lambs. 
 
64 THe New Caty 
 
 REPORT BLANK 
 
 Immediately below is a reprint of the Summary Report, 
 which is printed on the back of the envelope, and on the 
 opposite page is shown the Family Church Record, a fac- 
 simile of the blanks contained in the pad. 
 
 SUMMARY REPORT 
 
 Number Families each Denomination: 
 Methodist..............2...0+ Baptists ee Episcopalianvevee.2- 
 
 Number of persons members of each denomination..............0...c.e-:c-eeeeeeeee= 
 
 Number’ of) prospects) oe tas Ss a 
 
 LIST OF MY DENOMINATION 
 
 Members Non-Members 
 Men‘over’25 ‘years “of age! joie i eb eee 
 
 Women over: 25 ‘years ‘of age. iG: Ree a ee 
 Young ‘men: 18 to 25yearssofiage ole!) e222. es ee ee 
 Women, 18 ito '25) ‘years of age oie hn oo ee ee 
 Boys} :10 to;18 years of awe tu iy, ee ail ee 
 Gifls,-10 to 18: yearstof awe is oo hi. eae ice eh a se ae 
 Number of children under 10 years of age... 
 What percentage of each group attends church regularly... 
 What percentage of each group attends Sunday school... cee 
 
 MAKE LISTS AS FOLLOWS: 
 
 Names of those who are not members of the church in each group. 
 Names of those who are not attending Sunday school in each group. 
 Names of children under 10 years of age not baptized. 
 Names of those who have family worship and those who have not. 
 Names of those who take church paper and those who do not. 
 
 Make a map of the district and indicate in some way location and 
 church connection of each home. Some have used colored seals, 
 others colored pins. 
 
65 
 
 Poin Newt Garr 
 
 ‘SMUVNAA 
 
 
 
 
 
 a a i a a fn | ee | 
 
 | 
 
 fn 
 
 ee fm | 
 
 aqaziLdvg TOOHOS AAV 
 jodeg diysioM a Se S$ "Ss quepusiiy young a3V Ajlure J JO siaquiopy Jo oweyy 
 young) Ajrae J Ioquisyy | Joquiayyy Iepnsoy Iaquisjy 
 Salt Ae one aS 1S 10) ie Me ene er ae Re Een, ere Gama) a ag Se ee pestojotg Yyomys) 
 orgy tae ce ANE Sa sDUPISIC [OOD Oe a ee ee ee ge eee ee Ce, ee ae ee ea ata 
 JADA, )-JOIUO Mies wo a oy ee a a ee aD ane oe nm A RT ee oUIe NT 
 
 
 
66 THEeINe weCarp 
 
 A country minister of Kentucky has used the colored pins — 
 with success. He has made a map of his parish marking the 
 homes of his own people with blue headed pins, those of other 
 denominations with yellow and those of no church affiliation, 
 which constitute prospects, with red pins. The game is to 
 turn the red into blue pins. 
 
 A list of each group should be filed as a working basis. 
 With all the data at hand, it will be well to call together the 
 congregation, or the whole community, and place the results 
 on the blackboard. Social conditions and needs of the com- 
 munity should be outlined. 
 
 “Having made the study of the comunity, the statistics 
 should be compiled and given wide publicity. Charts should 
 be made and exhibited on bulletin boards in conspicuous 
 places. The newspapers will be glad to use much of the 
 tabulation. Each organization of the church should be made 
 familiar with the needs revealed by the survey. The entire 
 future of the community is being determined by the founda- 
 tions which are laid today. Social science is much interested. 
 in what happened here thirty years ago. The church needs 
 to be just as much interested in what is going to happen 
 thirty years from now in its own community. Its program 
 must be made in the full realization of what the community 
 Needs. 
 
 John Frederic Oberlin made a minute study of his people. 
 The book of records may still be seen in the parish house in 
 Waldersbach. In it Pastor Oberlin kept an exact and careful 
 statement of the ancestry, hereditary tendencies, characteris- 
 tics and deeds of every member of the five villages under 
 his pastoral charge. No necessary detail was insignificant 
 to him. The interests which belong to the whole, belonged to 
 every part. 
 
 He had repeated calls to big churches, all of which he 
 declined. At the age of fifty-six, after he had been in his 
 
 *RoapMAN—‘‘The Program of the Country Church,” p. 39. 
 
THe New Catt 67 
 
 charge twenty-eight years, an urgent call came. Beard in 
 “The Story of John Frederic Oberlin,” says: 
 
 “This wider knowledge of his qualities led to renewed 
 overtures for him to leave his laborious cares in the hills and 
 take charge of a church where cultured life would bring with 
 it superior advantages, greater recognized honor, and a satis- 
 factory salary. His answer was the same to all: ‘No, I will 
 never leave this place. It took me ten years to learn every 
 head in this parish, making an inventory of the moral, intel- 
 lectual, and domestic wants of each. I have laid my plans 
 for the future. JI must have at least ten years to carry these 
 into execution, and I shall need the ten following to correct 
 their faults and vices. God has confided this flock to me. 
 Why should I abandon it?’ ”’. 
 
 If a canvass like this is made once a year in every country 
 congregation, the results of the canvass tabulated and the 
 proper follow-up work carried on, the minister and his off- 
 cers will be amazed at the results and few country ministers 
 will ever feel that their work is finished. 
 
 Information secured in such a canvass will be very valuable 
 data for the Home Mission Committee, especially if the field is 
 one that is receiving aid. Such a canvass will reveal the facts 
 about the field. It may be that the denomination should with- 
 draw and allow some other to do the work. It may reveal 
 the fact that a larger appropriation should be made and an 
 all-time, resident pastor provided for the community. The 
 money which is committed to the Home Mission agency is a 
 very sacred trust, and we ought to be very careful about the 
 
 distribution of it. This survey will help the Committee to 
 plan wisely. 
 
 ALL AT WORK 
 
 Such a survey gives a definite task which the minister can 
 assign to his people and thus interest them in the community 
 
68 THe NEw Catt 
 
 and develop their latent powers. The ideal church is one in 
 which every member of the community is a member of the 
 Sunday school, and every member of the Sunday school a 
 member of the church, and every member of the church at 
 work, 
 
 Frances Ridley Havergal in her eat “The Ministry of 
 Song,” says: 
 
 “In God’s great field of labour, 
 All work is not the same; 
 
 He hath a service for each one, 
 Who loves His holy name.” 
 
 Saul of Tarsus became a great masterpiece of divine grace. 
 The first question he asked when he met Christ on the road 
 to Damascus was, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” 
 Referring to this, years afterwards, he said: “I was not dis- 
 obedient to the heavenly vision.” The way to develop efficiency 
 in your people is to give them a definite task. They must have 
 not only impression, but an opoprtunity for expression. Such. 
 a survey will also enlist the co-operation of the people in 
 reaching the unconverted and in finding those in the com- 
 munity who do not attend church. If the preacher does not 
 know his field and has no vision of it, what about the average 
 officer ? 
 
 “Owing to the scarcity of preachers, often one minister 
 must perforce serve several churches, in each of which, ser- 
 vices occur only once a month. In such cases, the only way 
 to keep up the life of the church is to have a live Sunday 
 school and Christian Endeavor Society. 
 
 “Oftentimes the remedy for this gradual decay within the 
 church lies just outside its doors, on the surrounding farms. 
 While it may be true the landlords have moved away, the 
 tenant population, like the poor, we have with us always. It 
 is no easy task to win this class of people. Much tactful 
 work must be done. They have to be made to understand 
 one’s sincerity and genuine sympathy. 
 
PoE NeEwyCALn 69 
 
 “From this class may come some who are destined for 
 great things, if they are guided in the right direction. Joseph 
 Smith, the former leader of Mormonism, was once a poor, 
 neglected child on the outskirts of a village. If his feet had 
 been set upon the right pathway, we might have escaped the 
 blot of Mormonism upon our escutcheon. 
 
 “One church whose doors had been closed through the 
 winter months, and had not opened to begin Sunday school 
 in the spring, welcomed an Assembly’s Training School 
 worker in their midst for one month last summer. She made 
 a survey which opened the eyes of the small handful of older 
 members, who for years grieved to see their own children 
 leave for town and city work, and often declared that there 
 were none to whom to minister. They were shown that 
 there were seventeen heads of families within a radius of 
 two miles of the church, who were not members of any 
 church. In all there were seventy-five people in that com- 
 munity to whom they were responsible for religious training. 
 A Sunday school and Christian Endeavor Society were or- 
 ganized, which have functioned throughout this winter.”* 
 
 The survey will arouse community spirit. As the visitors 
 go around they should talk about making a better community. 
 They should discuss how the church can help make it better. 
 If the canvass is made in the right spirit, it will reveal to the 
 people the interest which the Church has in their welfare. 
 There are some who think the Church’s only care for them 
 is to get their money. This is especially true of members of 
 the church who have not been enlisted in any form of re- 
 ligious service. If the visitors go in the spirit of the Master 
 and bring the people to realize that they are a part of the 
 community and a part of the church, a very essential part, 
 and that the Church is sure to be what the members are, they 
 will have the opportunity of causing the people to understand 
 that the Church loves them and needs them. It will increase 
 the Sunday school and church attendance. If the campaign 
 
 *Presbyterian Survey, June, 1926. 
 
70 Tue New Catrt 
 
 is carried on under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it will 
 lead to rededication of life, profession of faith, and additions 
 to the church. 
 
 There ought to be a great deal of spiritual preparation and 
 much prayer preceding this canvass, for in it the visitors will 
 have an opportunity for doing personal work and getting the 
 people to enlist in religious service. Prayer should be made 
 for God’s guidance of the canvass. It is essential that the 
 canvassers have the right spirit in the enterprise. Read to 
 them of the sending out of the seventy. The importance of 
 reading a passage from God’s Word and having prayer with 
 each family should be impressed upon them. 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 1. Why should a religious survey be made of every country con- 
 gregation? 
 2. How would you make a survey of some country community? 
 
 3. How would you conserve the results of a religious census in a - 
 country community ? 
 
AE ER Le 
 
 A CONGREGATIONAL PROGRAM 
 
 FTER the minister has discovered his field, has found 
 yo Nite number of people in it, who are members of the 
 church and who are not, the number of each denomination, 
 etc., it will be necessary for him to make a workable program 
 fitted to his own particular congregation. In order to do this, 
 it is well to understand what the church is and what are its 
 functions. 
 
 The Church is not a mere human organization, like a lodge 
 or fraternity. It is an organization divinely instituted of 
 God, and its functions are primarily spiritual. Dr. John Holt 
 Rice on his deathbed gave this definition: “The Church is 
 God’s ordained missionary society, every member a life mem- 
 ber.” The risen Christ has given us the program for His 
 Church (Acts 1:8), “But ye shall receive power, after that 
 the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses 
 unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, 
 and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” The Church was 
 ordained of God to answer the prayer “Thy Kingdom come, 
 Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” Every man 
 who sincerely wants to see the Kingdom come and God’s will 
 be done should join the Church. 
 
 The field of the Church is all the world. It is the mission 
 of the Church to carry the Gospel to every creature, teaching 
 the principles of Christianity to every man. If the field of 
 the whole Church is the world, the field of the individual 
 congregation is the whole community — every man, woman 
 and child in the community. It is the mission of the Church 
 to minister to those of every class and every nationality, not 
 just those who are well-to-do; not only to those who are con- 
 
vie THe New CAtyu 
 
 genial, but to everybody who is not being taken care of by 
 some other denomination. The bounds of our territory are 
 the limits of the other minister’s. Our obligations stop where 
 the other man’s extend. 
 
 It is the business of the Church to know Christ and to 
 make Him known. There are four ways in which the Church 
 functions : 
 
 1. THroucH WorsHIP 
 
 Our worship should be simple. The church of the New 
 Testament is our example. Worship expresses itself in the 
 service of song, in prayer, and in giving. We function in 
 worship in proportion as the soul expresses itself in consecra- 
 tion to God. 
 
 SINGING 
 
 When I left the city and became a country pastor, I 
 brought a good many of my city notions with me. One of 
 the very first things I undertook to do was to get the congre- — 
 gation to buy a pipe organ. They had an old Mason-Hamlin 
 organ that they had used for about forty years. When this 
 was first installed they had quite a discussion about having 
 an organ at all. Some were in favor of it, and some thought 
 that the devil was in the “kist 0’ whistles.” They had their 
 pros and cons and, after much deliberation and consideration, 
 a vote was taken. Those in favor of the organ were in the 
 majority. One of the old elders who had led the minority 
 arose and said, “If you people are determined to worship the 
 Lord with machinery, I want you to get good one, and I will 
 make a subscription of twenty dollars.” Soon after I came 
 the people displaced the Mason-Hamlin with a new pipe 
 organ. Iam not sure that | was wise in inducing the congre- 
 gation to buy this. I believe it would have been better to 
 
Tue NEw Carr 73 
 
 have spent that amount of money in giving to the younger 
 generation a musical education. 
 
 “Good music is an aid and poor music an abomination in 
 the service of worship. We refer not to the art of singing, 
 but to the content of the music. Nor do we mean that music 
 must be difficult. Some of the most beautiful music is sim- 
 ple. That music in the worshiping service is best in which it 
 is possible for all to participate. We need congregational 
 singing and a congregational director. The popular demand 
 must become so widespread that our colleges and training 
 centers will be compelled to train a leadership tor church and 
 community music. 
 
 “People sang during the World War. They enjoyed sing- 
 ing. A type of music grew out of the experience of the day, 
 the content of which was valuable though not classic. This 
 kind of musical endeavor should be the ideal for our Chris- 
 tian congregational effort. This was the type of the Wes- 
 leyan music. The colliers of England, brought under the 
 influence of Wesley’s sermons and of the class meeting, sang 
 the music of faith and hope and inspiration which was native 
 to the experience through which they were passing. They 
 did not have books or instruments, but they made music. 
 Such also is the music of the Negro spirituals. Church music 
 must come from the heart.”* 
 
 The country congregation should not try to imitate the city 
 church with its choir. The most ideal worship in the minis- 
 try of song that I know anywhere is in the Steele Creek con- 
 gregation, near Charlotte, N. C. This is the largest church 
 in the open country, probably in America. The pastor of 
 that church told me there were a dozen men in this congrega- 
 tion who could lead the singing. He never knew who was 
 going to do it. The members of the congregation arranged 
 that among themselves. They have a little organ up in front. 
 They have no regular choir. All the people sing, and it has 
 never been my privilege in be in any church where the sing- 
 
 *Roadman, The Country Church and Its Program, pp. 77-78. 
 
74 Tue New Cat 
 
 ing seemed to be more spontaneous nor a greater expression 
 of the outpouring of the soul than in that great congregation 
 which gathers in the Steele Creek church. The spirit of this 
 worship in song probably has had something to do with the 
 growth of that great rural institution. The pastor writes, 
 June 10, 1926, as follows: 
 
 “We have had for a number of years men and women who 
 were specially gifted in music. As a result, some one of 
 these has conducted singing schools quite frequently during 
 the summertime and the congregation has been taught some- 
 thing about the rudiments of music, the time element and the 
 accent, as well as tone value. We are to have a school of 
 music this year in connection with the Daily Vacation Bible 
 School, in which we hope to enroll not a few.” 
 
 A well-trained choir, with musical discrimination, does not 
 usually care to have all the people sing. Some of them have 
 a tendency to become disgusted at sounds which grate on the 
 highly trained, sensitive, musical ear. An old Hollander in 
 a congregation insisted on singing. One of the elders who 
 was in the choir objected and it came to the ears of the old - 
 Hollander. He said, “I hear the colonel don’t like to hear 
 me sing. If he ever get to heaven he hear me sing.” 
 
 The following is a fine sentiment from Frances Ridley 
 Havergal : 
 
 “Sing, when His mighty mercies 
 And mervelous love you feel, 
 And the deep joy of gratitude 
 Springs freshly as you kneel; 
 When words, like morning starlight, 
 Melt powerless,—trise and sing! 
 And bring your sweetest music 
 To Him, your gracious King. 
 Pour out your song before Him, 
 To whom our best is due; 
 Remember, He who hears your prayer 
 Will hear your praises too.” | 
 
THe New Catt 75 
 
 Paul, in Colossians 3:16, gives this advice: “Let the word 
 of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and 
 admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual 
 songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” 
 
 PRAYER AND GIVING 
 
 The second element of worship is prayer. The minister 
 should pray for things in the way in which he thinks the 
 people ought to pray. They, in spirit, are supposed to join 
 with him in the service of public prayer. It is a very sacred 
 and essential part of the worship, and all hearts should be 
 brought very close to the Father. That minister will have a 
 pastorate of power who is able to cultivate in his people a 
 deeply spiritual prayer life—a prayer life that is not only 
 manifest in the worship in the sanctuary, but of the closet 
 and around the family altar. 
 
 Giving is the third phase of worship. In the Scriptures it 
 is made co-ordinate with prayer. We have in Acts 10:31 the 
 co-ordinate conjunction, “Thy prayer is heard, and thine alms 
 are had in remembrance in the sight of God.” Giving is a 
 symbol of personal consecration. I work for a day. My 
 time, my thought, my life’s energies have been transmuted 
 into the money which I receive for the day’s work. It is so 
 much of my life. I bring a portion of that day’s work and 
 give it to the Master. My powers of body and mind under 
 His blessing have been transmuted into so much of the cur- 
 rency of our land. I bring that currency. I present it to 
 God as a symbol of the consecration of my whole life, the 
 consecration of my mind, my body, my life’s energies and, 
 under His blessing, it is transmuted again into forms of living 
 influence to be used for the blessing of mankind, for the 
 glory of God and for the building of His Kingdom. 
 
76 THe New Cari 
 
 2. THE CHurcH FUNCTIONS THROUGH PREACHING 
 
 This includes the reading and exposition of the Scriptures 
 properly illustrated and applied to meet the needs of the peo- 
 ple to whom the message is directed. The country minister 
 should be a pictorial preacher. He can discover no finer 
 example than Jesus. Children in large numbers will attend 
 upon his ministry. While the sermons should be very care- 
 fully prepared, great pains should be taken to make the lan- 
 guage simple. A muddy pool may seem very deep and a 
 clear stream very shallow. The language of the rural minis- 
 ter’s message should not be academic, but should be such as 
 to present the truth in a logical, clear, forceful and simple 
 style. He should remember that the food is for lambs and 
 not for giraffes and should, therefore, be put down where 
 the lambs can reach it. 
 
 In our program for preaching, we ought to strive to pre- 
 sent the whole truth. A farmer, if he is to get results from 
 his dairy herd, must provide a balanced ration. The preacher 
 should give to his people a complete gospel. He should not 
 be a faddist and spend all of his time on one feature of the - 
 truth. He should not confine his preaching to one method of 
 presentation. Huis sermons, with ample preparation, should 
 present the whole scope of the religious messsage. 
 
 God in His wisdom gave to the preaching of the Gospel a 
 very prominent place as He has chosen by the “Foolishness 
 of preaching” to save the world. 
 
 3. TEACHING Is ALSO A FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH 
 
 Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel, 
 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
 manded you.’ For a long time the Church neglected its edu- 
 cational functions. Today we are laying great stress on Sun- 
 day schools, Daily Vacation Bible Schools, Week-day Church 
 
ham Ne we Gai Ti, 
 
 schools and Christian colleges. We are rightly emphasizing 
 the importance of the training of men and women to become 
 leaders in the matters of religious education. The country 
 preacher needs to place special emphasis on the ample prepa- 
 ration and training of teachers for Sunday school work. In 
 the past our rural public schools have not been equal to our 
 urban schools. Even today we are spending about twice as 
 much money per capita on the urban child as we are on the 
 rural child, yet children in the country are now getting much 
 better qualified teachers to train them in mathematics, geog- 
 raphy, history, rhetoric, etc., than formerly, so there is a call 
 today that the country Sunday school teachers and instructors 
 in the Daily Vacation Bible Schools shall do their work just 
 as thoroughly, competently and efficiently as do the teachers 
 in public schools. 
 
 4. Tue FourtH FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH IS SERVICE 
 
 There has been a great deal of heresy in this particular 
 sphere. A great deal of social service teaching is not rightly 
 related with the whole program of the Church. No one can 
 study the life of our Lord or the history of the New Testa- 
 ment Church and not be convinced that service naturally 
 grows out of worship and preaching and religious training. 
 
 James was right when he said, “Faith without works is 
 dead.” The country minister and his church are responsible 
 for everything that pertains to the making of a better com- 
 munity. They are responsible for better schools, and if there 
 are no agencies to perform this function it becomes the busi- 
 ness of the Church to establish and operate schools. It has a 
 responsibility to the whole community. 
 
 Jesus spent a great deal of time healing people and amelio- 
 rating their life conditions. If there are not other agencies 
 functioning, it becomes the business of the Church to estab- 
 
78 TuHeE New CAatyu 
 
 lish and maintain hospitals. It is the businesss of the Church 
 to ameliorate living conditions, and it should set in action 
 movements that will make for better homes and encourage 
 everything that pertains to a better Christian social order. 
 
 Of course, the prime function of the Church is to preach 
 the Gospel. It produces the right kind of men and women 
 and the right kind of men and women will solve all the eco- 
 nomical, political, social and industrial. problems. But the 
 teachings of the Church should be such as to train its mem- 
 bers to carry out intelligently and efficiently the program of 
 an applied Christianity. It is the business of the Church to 
 make the right kind of individuals and to create the right 
 kind of social order in which they are to function. The 
 Church should provide for a wholesome social and recrea- 
 tional life for its young people. 
 
 In making out a program for the individual church, we 
 should keep in mind these four ways in which the Church 
 functions and work out our program to suit the local needs 
 and conditions. 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 Give a definition of the Church and define its functions ? 
 What should be the nature of worship in a country church? 
 
 Construct in your own way a program for a country congregation. 
 
 et ad od Oe ps 
 
 How can worship through singing best be promoted in the country 
 church? 
 
 5. How would you develop prayer life and promote stewardship in 
 the country church? 
 
 6. What should be characteristics of the preaching in the country 
 church? 
 
 7. Why should the country Sunday School have well-trained 
 teachers ? 
 
 8. Is there a need for a program of social service in the country? 
 
CHAD TER AV LLL 
 
 SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP 
 
 ESUS spent three years in organizing a band of men to 
 J carry on the work of the Church after He had finished 
 His earthly task. That minister is most efficient who organ- 
 izes and trains others. The Scriptures, both Old and New 
 Testaments, tell us of the church officers. Their duties and 
 functions are defined. The denominations have in the main 
 adopted the various scriptural names. 
 
 It was wise advice that the father-in-law of Moses gave 
 him when he said, “The thing that thou doest is not good. 
 Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that 
 is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not 
 able to perform it thyself alone. . . . Thou shalt provide out 
 of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, 
 hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers 
 of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and 
 rulers of tens.”* 
 
 The Apostle Paul ordained elders in every city. He trained 
 these men for the task of the development and leadership of 
 the spiritual life of the Church, and when he left the church 
 he committed it. to their charge. When he wrote a letter to 
 the congregation he addressed them through the elders and 
 deacons. They had elders in Jerusalem and in Antioch and 
 the Apostles and elders went up to Jerusalem to decide upon 
 the policies concerning the life and practices of the Churcht 
 
 When Paul and Barnabas preached in Antioch of Pisidia, 
 in Lystra and in Iconium they organized a church in each 
 place and elders were elected. When the Apostle Paul wished 
 
 *Exodus 18:17-18, 21. 
 +See Phil. 1:1. 
 tSee Acts 15. 
 
SO THe Naw CALL 
 
 to consult the church at Ephesus he called the elders down to 
 Miletus and had a conference with them there on the sea- 
 shore. All organizations of the church should begin with its 
 officers. Organization does not necessarily mean the creating 
 of new societies. It sometimes means getting to function 
 those which already exist. 
 
 This treatise does not propose to advocate any particular 
 form of church government, but as the experience of the 
 author has been in dealing with elders and deacons, he asks 
 the permission of his readers to use these names for church 
 officers. “A rose by any other name smells just as sweet.” 
 Ministers whose officers bear a different name may substitute 
 the names with which they are familiar when I use elder and 
 deacon. 
 
 When God ordained His Church He provided for a whole 
 bench of secretaries of spiritual resources. The eldership is 
 the body which is made responsible for the development of 
 the spiritual life of the congregation. Elders are supposed to 
 be the most spiritual men in the community. At any rate, — 
 they are the people’s chosen representatives, the people’s 
 chosen spiritual leaders in the congregation. There is a great 
 temptation, when a minister finds his officers are reactionary 
 and very conservative, to go over their heads and appoint 
 others to function in their place. This sometimes leads to a 
 disruption of the church. 
 
 It is well for the pastor to spend a good deal of time, espe- 
 cially when he first goes to a church, with the officers. His 
 elders may be reactionary, they may be “old fogy,” some of 
 them may need converting, but they are probably the best 
 men in the community. He may have only one elder. His 
 first businesss should be to get this one elder, or two, or 
 whatever number he has, to function. Unless their interest 
 and co-operation are obtained, the pastor will find that his 
 
THe New Cay | 81 
 
 hands are tied in the organization of other societies. It will 
 be impossible, without the co-operation and sympathetic help 
 of his spiritual leaders, to put on any real constructive pro- 
 gram for his congregation. It is necessary for the pastor 
 and the officers to work as a unit. 
 
 CONGREGATION DISTRICTED* 
 
 The first thing for the pastor to do in the organization of 
 spiritual leaders is to district his congregation and make one 
 territory for each elder. The elder is under-shepherd and 
 should be made responsible for the development of the spir- 
 itual life of his particular district. The pastor should visit, 
 in. company with the elder, every family under his charge. 
 They together should endeavor to get the people to take a 
 religious newspaper and see that there is other good literature 
 in the home. They should stimulate Bible reading and make 
 it an aim that every home have a family altar. The elder 
 should be made responsible for seeing that the people com- 
 mitted to his charge attend upon the services of the church— 
 preaching and Sunday school. He should not only report 
 cases of. sickness in his territory, but also visit and pray with 
 his people. When the elder realizes there is a responsibility 
 resting upon him for the development of the spiritual life of 
 the community committed to his charge—just as much as the 
 responsibility upon the pastor for the spiritual life of the 
 whole congregation—the minister has gone very far toward 
 the solution of the problem of church life. 
 
 COMMITTEES 
 
 In the second place, the eldership should be organized by 
 appointing certain committees, one elder for each of the be- 
 nevolent causes of the church. It becomes the duty of this 
 
 *While the treatment is of the large church, each district is conceived of as a 
 
 congregational unit. It is therefore applicable to the small church, which may 
 constitute one or two districts. 
 
82 THe New Catt 
 
 committee to carry on a campaign of education in the congre- 
 gation in the benevolence which he represents. A definite 
 time should be set for these committees to make reports. 
 
 NO VACANT CHURCHES 
 
 The eldership, in the third place, should be trained in doing 
 personal work and in leading in public worship. Every Ses- 
 sion should be a soul-winning society. There is no such thing 
 in the New Testament order as a vacant church. One of the 
 great unused powers of the Presbyterian denomination is its 
 eldership. The Baptists have a great number of farmer 
 preachers, as do the Church of the Brethren. The Method- 
 ists have local preachers. When the minister is absent, or 
 when the church is without a pastor, it is the duty of the 
 elder to keep the church open and to be responsible for some 
 kind of a religious service. One of the strong points of the 
 Christian, or Disciple, Church is that elders are made respon- 
 sible for conducting Communion services every Sunday, and 
 if they do nothing more than administer the Lord’s Supper 
 they bring the people together and keep the church doors 
 open. By thus laying responsibility upon the eldership, the 
 spiritual life of the church will be maintained. While 
 preachers come and preachers go, elders stay on forever. 
 
 The spiritual leaders should be so organized as to secure 
 regular attendance upon the church meetings, such as Confer- 
 ences, Associations, Presbytery, etc. 
 
 A NOVEL METHOD 
 
 In the fourth place, the spiritual leaders should be so or- 
 ganized that each elder will be able to know when any of the 
 people in his district are not attending church or Sunday 
 school. 
 
 Rev. Ray St. Clair, pastor of the Portland Presbyterian 
 Church, Louisville, Ky., has originated a plan for a city 
 
Late? New: GALL 83 
 
 church which might be worked in an admirable way in a 
 country community. A complete roll of the congregation is 
 written out on beaverboard, framed and put up in the back 
 of the church building. A young woman who works as vol- 
 unteer secretary has a complete roll of the church. At each 
 service she marks those who are present in a little book and 
 then transfers her record to the roll on the beaverboard. 
 During the week a committee for each district visits those 
 who have been absent on Sunday. 
 
 The elder for each district should have a committee to 
 assist him in functioning. 
 
 One of the troubles of the age is the tendency to put upon 
 the pastor all the responsibility. There is a notion abroad 
 that he is paid to do the work, and therefore the individual 
 members of the congregation and its officers are released of 
 any responsibility for the life and development of the church. 
 This is not according to the New Testament model. The 
 Church is a brotherhood’ and every member is, in a sense, 
 responsible for the welfare of his fellow-member, but in a 
 special sense the officers are made responsible for the devel- 
 opment of the religious life of the people of the congregation. 
 
 TIME AND SERVICE PLEDGE 
 
 The minister when first taking a pastorate should secure a 
 pledge of time and service from his spiritual leaders. If the 
 officers are not willing to give their time, the minister will be 
 terribly handicapped in carrying on the work. 
 
 There should be a regular constructive program for the 
 work. There should be a set time for each meeting and the 
 minister should make a list of things to be considered. In 
 the New Providence Church the Session spends two whole 
 days, one in the fall and one in the spring; in semi-annual 
 meetings. The minutes for six months are read and ap- 
 
84 THE New Catyi 
 
 proved; all of the committees reports on their work and each 
 elder gives a summary of the spiritual conditions in his dis- 
 trict; the roll of the church is read, and in each case where 
 there is a laxness on the part of any individual with reference 
 to church attendance or the practices of his life he is taken 
 under consideration. At this meeting the roll is purged. If 
 members have moved beyond the bounds of the congregation, 
 some member of the Session is appointed to notify the minis- 
 ter into whose bounds he has moved. Opportunity is taken 
 to discuss all the policies pertaining to the life of the congre- 
 gation. Every matter is thoroughly discussed, and every 
 member of the Session asked for his views. 
 
 Dr. John H. Jowett, in giving advice with reference to the 
 Church, says, “Never move with small majorities.” Usually 
 where there is a frank and free discussion, there will be an 
 unanimous agreement, while if matters are passed hastily 
 divisions may arise because of misapprehensions. It is a 
 good practice when there is objection to a new policy to 
 delay the matter for further consideration. Only in very rare 
 cases has there been a question decided on a divided vote in 
 the Session of twelve elders where I have been pastor. If 
 there is a divided vote, the best thing is to delay action. 
 Things had better not be done than to be done in a way 
 which will cause a divided church. 
 
 ELECTION OF OFFICERS 
 
 There are various ways of electing officers in a church. 
 Sometimes the Session makes nominations; sometimes nomi- 
 nations are made from the floor; sometimes it is done by a 
 nominating committee. In the country church, the best way 
 to proceed is first to preach for two or three Sundays on 
 the scriptural authority, the duties and the functions of the 
 officers to be elected, and upon the reciprocal duties of the 
 
THe New Catt 85 
 
 congregation to their chosen men. The people should be 
 asked to earnestly pray for God’s guidance in the matter of 
 their selection. 
 
 After the governing body has decided how many officers, 
 elders or deacons, the church needs, each member of the 
 church should be asked to write down the names of the per- 
 sons whom they consider, after prayerful thought, best fitted 
 to fulfill the qualifications as set down in the Scriptures. The 
 people should be cautioned against electioneering. I do not 
 believe that a minister or the officers should express their 
 personal preference, If a preacher does, others will do it. 
 Emphasis should be laid upon the fact that officers are 
 selected by the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul said to the 
 Ephesian elders, “Take heed unto the flock over which the 
 Holy Ghost has made you overseers.” 
 
 If six men are to be elected, it should be agreed before- 
 hand that if any one receives the majority of all votes cast 
 he will be declared elected, and that a double number of 
 those still to be elected receiving the highest vote will be 
 declared nominees. The taking of the nominating ballot will 
 require only a few minutes. A committee should be ap- 
 pointed for the election of elders from the eldership and for 
 the deacons from the diaconate. When the nominating ballot 
 is received, the chairman of the committee should take charge 
 of the ballots, put them in a satchel and lock them up. Some 
 time during the week this committee should meet with the 
 pastor and count the ballots. On the next Sunday morning 
 the result of the ballot may be announced, nominees named, 
 and another vote taken. The committee may retire and 
 count the ballots, if it is practically sure there is an election, 
 while the congregation proceeds with the worship. 
 
 In the country congregation everybody knows everybody 
 else. Practically all the people are related. If you appoint a 
 
86 Tue New CAatyi 
 
 nominating committee, it is probable that some near relative 
 of some member of the committee is one who ought to be 
 elected. An embarrassing situation is created whether the 
 committee nominates him or not. 
 
 Election of officers in country churches frequently cause 
 divisions and disruptions. Hard feelings that last for years 
 are aroused. When a member is left to vote his own senti- 
 ments and is requested to seek the guidance of the Spirit in 
 the casting of his ballot without undue influence being exer- 
 cised by any individual, there can be no reason for hard 
 feelings; there can be no excuse for the charge that the 
 preacher, or some other individual, is trying to run the 
 church. 
 
 Other plans may be advisable in city churches, especially 
 in large city congregations where the people are not ac- 
 quainted with each other. 
 
 If it does happen that some man who is unregenerate has 
 been elected and the minister is strongly of the opinion that 
 he is unfit for the office, he has an opportunity to deal with 
 that man individually. If I were pastor, and such a man 
 were elected, I would go to him in person and say, “This 
 congregation believes that you are aman of God; and now, 
 just as man to man, face to:face, is that true? The congre- 
 gation has placed upon you.a responsibility. Are you willing 
 to surrender your life to God? Are you going to assume the 
 responsibilities of the office, recognizing the obligations?” If 
 a man is unregenerate when faced with the great responsi- 
 bilities, and is unwilling to yield his heart to Christ and 
 endeavor to do His will, the probabilities are that he will not 
 accept. In case such a man insisted upon accepting, I would 
 continue to deal with him and put off the ordination. The 
 Scriptures say, “Lay hands suddenly on no man.” An un- 
 
THe New Caty ) 87 
 
 regenerate leadership is sometimes like a millstone about the 
 neck of a country church. 
 
 FELLOW-LABORERS 
 
 I would lay great emphasis upon the importance of the 
 elder being the spiritual leader of his district. When a minis- 
 ter takes an elder with him into the homes of the people and 
 gets him down on his knees in their presence to pray with 
 them, he will begin to realize something of the responsibili- 
 ties which God has placed upon him. The Apostle Paul is 
 continually speaking of those who work with him as his 
 “fellow-laborers.” There is no association that is more 
 sacred. There is no relationship that is more beautiful than 
 that which exists between the minister and the spiritual 
 leaders of his people, as they labor together for the upbuild- 
 ing of their congregation. Witness the conference which 
 Paul had at Miletus with the elders of the church of 
 Ephesus. * 
 
 “Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the 
 flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, 
 to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with 
 His own blood. For I know this, that after my departing 
 shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the 
 flock. Also of your ownselves shall men arise, speaking per- 
 verse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore 
 watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I 
 ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. And 
 now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of 
 His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an 
 inheritance among all them which are sanctified. I have 
 coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye your- 
 selves know, that these hands have ministered unto my neces- 
 sities, and to them that were with me. I have shewed you 
 all things how that so labouring ye ought to support the 
 weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He 
 
 *See Acts 20:28-38. 
 
88 THe New CAatyu 
 
 said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And when 
 he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them 
 all. And they all wept sore and fell on Paul’s neck, and 
 kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he 
 spake, that they should see his face no more. And they 
 accompanied him unto the ship.” 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 1. Where does the Church find the model for its organization? 
 
 2. What policy would you pursue to prevent division in the congre- 
 gation? | 
 3. How would you district your congregation? 
 
 4. Should there ever be a vacant church? 
 
 5. How should a country church elect its officers ? 
 
COA PD i hela 
 LEADERS OF MINSTRATION 
 
 HE special function of the New Testament elders 
 ar seemed to be todevelop the spiritual resources of the 
 congregation. The special function of the deacons seemed to 
 be to develop the life of service in the church. The word 
 “deacon” means “one who is a servant.” The law of service 
 is the law of spiritual growth in the Kingdom of God. When 
 the disciples were talking about position in the church, Jesus 
 told them that recognition in the Kingdom of God depended 
 upon the measure of their service. Matt. 20:25-28. “But 
 Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the 
 princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they 
 that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not 
 be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, 
 let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among 
 you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came 
 not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His 
 life a ransom for many.” 
 
 The office of deacon is one of great honor and dignity. 
 Acts 6:3-4, “Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you 
 seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wis- 
 dom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will 
 give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of 
 the word.” The essential qualifications of the first deacons 
 were that they were to be spiritually minded, they were to be 
 honest men and wise men, but above all they were to be spir- 
 itual. Frequently the deacons have been looked upon as only 
 the financiers of the church, the men who know how to col- 
 
90 Te New GALL 
 
 lect and handle money. The functions of the deacon are very 
 much more than this.* 
 
 The Board of Deacons is an important organization of the 
 church. The church authorities may make apportionments. 
 These may be passed down and adopted by the co-operative 
 bodies, accepted by the individual churches, but the Board of 
 Deacons is the organization of last analysis. If the deacon 
 who deals with the individual members fail to perform his 
 duty, to educate his people in stewardship, to secure their 
 pledges, the church will not have funds sufficient to carry on 
 the work of the Kingdom at home and abroad. The deacon 
 is the key man in the local church. If he does not perform 
 his task, the church will not have funds to maintain a minis- 
 ter, and without a resident minister, experience teaches us 
 that a country church declines. Therefore, it is very essen- 
 tial that the deacons be organized, trained and given a vision 
 for their task. The preacher should see that his deacons are 
 trained, properly informed and thoroughly enlisted in an in- 
 telligent way in the great movements of the church. 
 
 ORGANIZATION 
 
 The Board of Deacons should be organized, in the first 
 place, in order that they may learn how to dignify the work 
 in their own-eyes. They should learn something of the real 
 responsibility that God has placed upon them when He, 
 through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has directed the 
 people to choose them for their particular work. 
 
 In the second place, they should be organized for the pur- 
 pose of training them for the duties of their office. The 
 average country deacon has not had the opportunities that 
 one in the city church has. The average city deacon has had 
 business experience as a merchant, railroad man, traveling 
 
 *T Tim. 8-15. 
 
THe NEw Catt 91 
 
 man, office man, etc., and the probabilities are that he has had 
 a course in some business school. The average farmer has 
 not had that kind of training. The country man is just as 
 potential for leadership as his city cousin, but he is not de- 
 veloped and trained, therefore, there is more reason for or- 
 ganizing a Board of Deacons in the country than in the city. 
 They are used to organization there and probably will organ- 
 ize whether the pastor suggests it or not. 
 
 STEWARDSHIP 
 
 In the third place, the deacons should be organized because 
 it is the duty of the deacon to develop the people in the grace 
 of giving. Some churches have a secretary of stewardship. 
 While it is necessary to have some man in the congregation 
 to lead the whole church, every deacon by virtue of his office 
 is a secretary of stewardship. If the congregation is dis- 
 tricted, just as for the elders, the deacon should be the secre- 
 tary of stewardship for his own district. It is his business 
 to distribute stewardship literature and carry on a campaign 
 of education among the people committed to his charge. 
 People will give if they are educated in the needs, privileges, 
 duties and joys of giving. If they are taught that this is a 
 part of their worship of God and is a very sacred thing, they 
 will gladly respond. 
 
 The Apostle Paul just before he set out on this third mis- 
 sionary journey at Antioch organized a campaign of steward- 
 ship. He selected Titus and put him at the head of it. If 
 the deacon wants some real good literature on the subject of 
 stewardship he can find nothing better than II Corinthians 
 the 8th and 9th chapters. 
 
 A great many of our country congregations have not been 
 developed—have not learned to know their privileges with 
 
92 Tae NewsGace 
 
 reference to stewardship. Dr. Melvin, Secretary of the Com- 
 mittee of Stewardship of the Presbyterian Church, U. S., 
 says that 25 per cent of the congregations of the Southern 
 Presbyterian Church do not have an every-member canvasss. 
 Most of these are in the country. 
 
 A city minister when asked what he conceived to be the 
 chief problem of the rural church said, “It is the lack of de- 
 velopment in stewardship. People move from the country 
 to my congregation and, without added ability, increase their 
 gifts four- or fivefold.” 
 
 Back in the country church, some leading man of the con- 
 gregation probably gave ten or fifteen dollars to the church 
 for his yearly subscription. He is known to be a man of 
 considerable property. Other men gauge their gifts by his. 
 It will be necessary for the deacons to teach their people 
 that no one can gauge his obligations to God by what another 
 man does or plans to do. But it is human nature for a man 
 to act in this way. A country man sees his neighbor give 
 ten dollars and he feels that is the measure of his own obli- 
 gation. He moves to the city and finds that his neighbor has 
 been developed in the grace of giving. A man whose ability — 
 is no greater than his own is giving perhaps four hundred or 
 five hundred dollars a year. He finds it is the fashion for 
 people to give and he follows the example of his neighbor. 
 
 Deacons will need to stress tithing and the privileges of 
 the freewill offering. They will need to show the scriptural 
 method and the scriptural standards of giving. They will 
 want to teach their people that all we have comes to us as 
 gifts from God. Our time, our strength of body and mind, 
 our ability, everything which we gather about us and call our 
 own belongs to Him and we are but stewards who are hand- 
 ling His money. Therefore, the measure of our giving 
 
THe New Catt 93 
 
 should be as God has prospered us and as God’s spirit stirs 
 our hearts to give of our substance. 
 
 SOCIAEPSERVICE 
 
 Deacons should also be organized to learn their duties and 
 responsibilities with reference to social service. The deacon 
 is the scripturally appointed officer of ministration. The 
 Levite in Old Testament days was to function in taking care 
 of the poor. It is the business of the deacon to lead the 
 church in relief service and in whatever pertains to com- 
 munity betterment. The duties of the deacon, therefore, are 
 not only to develop the people in stewardship, but also to de- 
 velop the congregation in fulfillment of the obligations and 
 privileges of serving the community. 
 
 His functions in the country are somewhat different from 
 those in the city. In the city it may be the duty of the deacon 
 to find a mana job. In the country it may be to help him do 
 the job he has already. A country man may get sick. He 
 is not able to plow his fields; he is not able to put out his 
 crop; not able to carry on the work of the farm. He is living 
 in the district of a certain deacon. It becomes the business 
 of that deacon to organize the community and to do for that 
 neighbor what he is not able to do for himself. One of the 
 farmers in the community dies and leaves his wife and or- 
 phan children. The easy thing would be to send the children 
 off to an orphanage, but the best thing to do will be for the 
 deacon to organize the community and carry on the farming 
 operations until the children are old enough to take up the 
 task which their father laid down. It is very much better for 
 the children to be kept on the farm under the tutelage of a 
 godly mother, under the guidance and protection of the 
 church, than to be sent to any public institution, it matters 
 not how efficient that institution may be. 
 
94 THe New Catyi 
 
 The support of our orphanges is an exceedingly important 
 part of our benevolences, but the deacon should be a man of 
 vision and see the task within the bounds of his congregation. 
 James 1:27 reads, “Pure religion and undefiled before God 
 and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in 
 their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the 
 world.” He should be the leader to point the way for the 
 congregation to take up the task before it in order to alleviate 
 the sufferings of the poor and solve the problems of those 
 who have been overtaken by misfortune. 
 
 Deacons should function in the whole sphere of social 
 service—in the promotion of better schools, of better sani- 
 tation, of better methods of farming—whatever pertains to 
 the welfare of the community in which the church is located. 
 The Board of Deacons constitute the organization through 
 which the Church articulates itself in performing its task in 
 the promotion of a better social order and community im- 
 provement. | 
 
 Another function of the Board of Deacons is to look after 
 and keep in repair the church property. The deacons should 
 have a committee of local improvements and repairs, and 
 either the whole or a part of the board should constitute the — 
 Board of Trustees, which is usually appointed by the civil 
 court upon recommendation of the congregation. 
 
 THE CEMETERY 
 
 The country church should have beside it a cemetery, and 
 this should be kept beautiful. This becomes a sort of a 
 mecca for the country-side and is a contributing factor in 
 making the church a community center. It is here great con- 
 gregations will gather for the last sad rites. It is here they 
 will come to lay a flower or to drop a tear upon the grave of 
 father, or mother, or husband, or wife, or beloved child, and 
 
bore New CALs 95 
 
 as they visit the graves of these dear ones the bells of yester- 
 day will be set a-ringing. There will be revived many hal- 
 lowed associations and precious memories. After a visit to 
 God’s acre that holds all which is mortal of their beloved, 
 they will pass into the sanctuary in a reverent mood, their 
 hearts tender, and their minds awakened to receive the truth 
 and to be impressed by it. 
 
 The Board of Deacons should have the following commit- 
 tees: Budget, Stewardship, Church Property, Relief, Ceme- 
 tery, and Community Betterment, as well as any others that 
 may be found necessary. 
 
 There should be stated joint meetings with the elders in 
 order to discuss matters that pertain to the church as a whole. 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 1. Why is the office of deacon of so much importance in the country 
 church? 
 2. Why should the Board of Deacons be thoroughly organized in the 
 country church? 
 3. How should relief work be carried on in a country congregation? 
 
 4. Why should every country church maintain a cemetery hard by? 
 

 
PART THREE 
 
 
 
 ELA Leh, 
 
 Hakivi PROS P PR DIY AN DERE 
 COUNTRY CHURCH 
 
 HERE is a vital relationship between the life of a coun- 
 
 try church and the prosperity of the community in 
 which it is located. We are aware of the fact that during 
 times of adversity there is apt to be spiritual growth, and in 
 times of prosperity men are prone to forget God. But no 
 church can exist unless it can support a minister. No church 
 can do an adequate missionary task beyond its borders—can 
 give extensively to benevolences or to the advancement of 
 the Kingdom—unless the people have a certain degree of 
 prosperity. 
 
 In the country when agriculture becomes unprofitable the 
 people are discouraged and disheartened. Farm hands and 
 tenants who are not held by land tenure go to the towns and 
 cities where they may secure employment ; landowners become 
 discontented and lose interest. Young men and young women, 
 children of landowners, leave their old home place to seek 
 their fortunes and are ultimately lost to the community. 
 Unprofitable economic conditions have proved the death of 
 many a country church. Newcomers in the neighborhood 
 may not care for the church or may be of the “Holy Roller” 
 type. What service can the minister and the Church render 
 to prevent this state of afiairs? 
 
 First, they can follow the Master’s example and see that 
 the poor have the Gospel preached unto them.. This is a duty 
 and a privilege. It is also a policy of self-preservation for the 
 
98 Trae New, CALL 
 
 country church. It is the law of life that those who till the 
 soil will some day own it. There is no survival of any family 
 in the country except of those who actually work with their 
 hands. Industry is the law of rural life. The days of the 
 country gentleman are over except as he has an income from 
 some other source than the land. 
 
 Tenants and their families must receive the serious atten- 
 tion of the country church, if the church of that denomina- 
 tion is to continue to live. The sons and daughters, or grand- 
 sons and granddaughters, of these tenants will some day own 
 the land of the community, and the life of the church which 
 neglects them will be doomed. 
 
 UNPROFITABLE AGRICULTURE 
 
 Unprofitable agriculture, which may destroy the country 
 church, is sometimes due to causes that are preventable. It 
 may be due to crop failure. Now and then this may be on 
 account of weather conditions, but that is true only occasion- 
 ally, and such a calamity can be withstood. We have the 
 promises of the Scripture, “While the earth remaineth, seed- 
 time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, 
 and day and night shall not cease.” 
 
 There are many other causes of crop failure, and these 
 become disastrous. Failure may be on account of infected 
 seed, such as root rot in corn, or smut in barley. It may be 
 due to degenerate seed. The laws of degeneracy are stronger 
 than the laws of improvement. Burbank’s experiments have 
 demonstrated that plant life can be improved. Every observer 
 of nature knows how rapidly and inevitably degeneracy takes 
 place in both plant and animal life unless there is intelligent 
 superintendence. 
 
 Crop failure may be due to the use of a seed of a variety 
 unsuited to the soil and climate. Italian clover seed means a 
 
Tue New Catt 99 
 
 failure when sown in the United States north of the 32nd 
 degree of latitude. 
 
 Crop failure may be due to soil robbing. When the crop 
 is raised on the same land year after year it takes the elements 
 of plant food out of the soil and leaves it depleted. This is 
 happening in many sections of our country. Farmers are 
 prone to do things over and over in the same way their 
 fathers did them, and are surprised that they are not able to 
 raise the crops their fathers raised. 
 
 Failure may be due to the wrong kind of fertilizer. Fre- 
 quently high prices are paid for fertilizer when there is al- 
 ready an abundance of that particular kind of food for plants 
 in the soil and the elements which are really needed are not 
 provided. 
 
 Unwise methods of cultivation such as plowing when the 
 soil is not in the proper condition or cultivation by wrong 
 methods and at wrong times are other causes of crop failure. 
 
 Failure is also frequently due to some new pest of fungi 
 or insect life. 
 
 Unprofitable agriculture is sometimes due to the commun- 
 ity continuing to raise crops which are not saleable at a profit 
 any longer because they are produced so much more cheaply 
 in other sections. 
 
 Unprofitableness is sometimes due to unwise and expensive 
 methods of farm operation. The tractor may speed up pro- 
 duction, but it usually very much increases the cost. Speed- 
 ing up production means lower prices for the products and, 
 if it is to be produced at a greater cost, it means a loss in 
 profit. It is unwise for a farmer to go in debt for a tractor 
 unless it be under very unusual circumstances. 
 
 Agriculture may be unprofitable because of the lack of 
 proper methods of distribution. Most farmers are in debt 
 and they are forced to sell on low markets, and the middle- 
 
100 THe New Catt 
 
 men who buy and hold until the markets are more favorable, 
 frequently make more money as their profit than the farmer 
 gets for producing. On everything the farmer buys the price 
 is set by the seller, and on everything the farmer sells the 
 price is set by the buyer. The country man, on account of 
 his individualism, usually is not willing to co-operate in a way 
 that will get him a just return for his labor. 
 
 In a livestock community unprofitable agriculture may be 
 due to the use of scrub sires and unwise methods of feeding 
 and in the keeping of animals that are poor specimens, in- 
 stead of those that are producing at a profit. Experiment 
 stations in Tennessee and Missouri each prove that a pure 
 bred ram produced in a flock of thirty sheep between $125 
 and $130 more than a common ram in one year’s production 
 of lambs. Cow testing associations in dairy districts have 
 revealed that one herd of cows is being kept at a loss while 
 another herd properly bred is producing an ample profit. 
 
 There are hundreds of other causes which may contribute 
 to unprofitable agriculture, but those mentioned above will 
 serve to illustrate. 
 
 WHAT CAN THE PREACHER DO? 
 
 Now, what can the country preacher do in cases like this? 
 It is never wise for him to seem to be officious or to play 
 the role of a reformer in matters of economics. It is not the 
 business of the preacher to teach people how to farm, but he 
 may get in touch with those agencies which can assist them 
 to work out in detail methods which will solve their problems. 
 It is never wise for him to accept an office in any organization 
 for the solution of economic difficulties. 
 
 Isaac Walton gave three rules for catching trout. The 
 first is “keep out of sight,’ the second, “keep out of sight” 
 and the third, “keep out of sight.” These are very good rules 
 
THe New Catt 101 
 
 for the country preacher. He may be the most intelligent 
 man in the community. In fact, he ought to be. He should 
 be well informed with reference to all the problems that 
 confront his people, not only that he may have sympathy and 
 be able to establish a point of contact, but in order that he 
 may be able to make suggestions which will prove helpful. 
 
 He ought to keep his pulpit sacred for preaching the 
 Gospel and expounding the teachings of the Scriptures, but 
 in his daily contact with his people and in the social gather- 
 ings and in co-operating with them in their various organiza- 
 tions, such as the Farmers’ Union, the Farm Bureau, the 
 Grange, the Community League, etc., he should be in a posi- 
 tion to make suggestions which will lead to the solution of 
 their problems. 
 
 Suppose the cause of crop failure is due to infected, de- 
 generate, or improper seed. There is at the disposal of the 
 community, if someone will establish the point of contact, 
 - the Seed Service of the state and a specialist along this line 
 will be glad to talk to the farmers upon invitation to do so. 
 For any of the problems the agricultural demonstration agent 
 will be glad to give assistance and instruction, if he is invited. 
 
 The preacher can keep out of sight and yet can make sug- 
 gestions to wise leaders of his community or congregation 
 which will lead to the solution of their problems and he may 
 not even be known in the matter, though he may be in the 
 economic prosperity of the community an asset of a value 
 far greater than the amount which he receives for his salary. 
 It may mean, if he is wise, the difference between a prosper- 
 ous and a bankrupt community and in saving the community 
 he saves himself and his church. There is also need in many 
 rural communities that principles of honesty and policies of 
 righteousness be inculcated. 
 
102 THe New CAatu 
 
 “Essential economic lessons to be learned today are those 
 of idealism, of integrity, and of justice. The problem of soil 
 robbing is essentially a problem of honesty. We recognize 
 the menace of stealing when a man robs a boy’s pocket; but 
 we fail to recognize that the man who robs the soil is just 
 as certainly robbing the pocket of the boy. We have laws 
 and a police force to protect the former. We have only the 
 Gospel and its eternal application in justice to apply to the 
 latter. 
 
 “Soil fertility and maximum production are community 
 factors of vast significance to the church and every other 
 institution of community life. Late in 1922 an official of one 
 of the leading denominations of the Middle West reported 
 that six members of the official board of one of the churches 
 in the grain belt had taken advantage of bankruptcy laws. 
 Surely no one will deny that the church is highly concerned 
 with economic conditions when such evidence is available. 
 The country church is challenged to assist in the co-operation 
 which may be established between agricultural college, farm 
 bureau, and other agricultural agencies whereby the economic 
 life of the country may be improved. Even the selfish point 
 of view should make the Protestant Church recognize that 
 her very future is threatened by the increase of tenant farm- 
 ing. The service of every agency is needed in the solution 
 of this menacing problem. When it is realized that the 
 element most needed in the solution is brotherliness in eco- 
 nomic affairs, then it is seen that without the church or her 
 message the solution is impossible.’’* 
 
 WOMAN’S RIGHTS 
 
 A great many of our country people have not caught the 
 vision of convenient living. Many farmers spend large sums 
 of money for costly machinery like the tractor, which they 
 may do without, and fail to provide for some very inexpen- 
 sive and simple conveniences for the home that will make 
 living very much easier and more pleasant for the women 
 
 
 
 *Roadman—‘The Country Church and Its Program,” p. 116. 
 
THE Newer Cart 103 
 
 folks. Frequently it is the wife who becomes dissatisfied and 
 induces her husband to move to the city. Some have thought 
 it was Mrs. Lot who persuaded her husband to “pitch his 
 tent toward Sodom,” where they might have some social 
 advantages for the girls. The wife frequently becomes 
 unhappy in the country because her situation is a hard one. 
 
 “A husband and wife in the Middle West recently cele- 
 brated their golden wedding anniversary. The neighbors 
 congratulated them on their fifty happy years together. Yet 
 during that time the man’s wife had walked, while carrying 
 water into the house, as far as to Los Angeles and back. 
 Take a paper and pencil and figure up the distance traveled 
 by a woman carrying water into the house and you will find 
 that not one but many farmers’ wives walk as far as from 
 Saint Louis to Los Angeles and back during their married 
 life, carrying a pail of water. A system of running water in 
 the house would save all of such drudgery. About one out 
 of every ten farmhouses now have running water.” 
 
 “There are always those who object to improvements in 
 
 the home. One man said, ‘My wife should get along with 
 this house if my mother did.’ But they do not argue thus 
 about the farm. One machine after another has been adopted 
 for the purpose of saving labor. The scythe has given place 
 to the mower. The self-binder has taken the place of the 
 reaping hook. The big combination harvester that cuts and 
 threshes the grain is a great contrast to the old cradle. The 
 farmer rides when he plows. He digs potatoes with mach- 
 inery. The wind or perhaps a gasoline engine pumps his 
 water. The cows are sometimes milked by machinery. The 
 horses pull the hay into the mow. A gasoline engine fills 
 the silo. The farm buildings are arranged to save steps. 
 The harness is hung behind the horses that wear it. The 
 hay is stored above the stock that eats it. The silo is built 
 adjoining the stable. The corn crib is next to the pigpen. 
 Water is piped into the dairy barn. With the scarcity of 
 farm help and the gradual shortening of the work day, labor- 
 saving equipment is necessary on the farm. 
 
104 THe New CALL 
 
 “But what about the labor-saving equipment inside the 
 house? Someone says, ‘There aren’t as many labor-saving 
 devices on the market for the house as there are for the 
 farm.’ This would indicate that there hasn’t been a sale for 
 them. Yet when we look around we find many such house- 
 hold devices. There are the motor driven washer and 
 wringer, which save much backbreaking labor. The vacuum 
 cleaner is the housekeeper’s friend. A kitchen cabinet saves 
 innumerable steps. Is running water more necessary in the 
 dairy barn than in the house? A heating plant as well as 
 a lighting system is found in the modern houses. Further- 
 more, much of the labor-saving equipment of the house is 
 inexpensive compared to farm machinery. A family can 
 buy a dust mop, a pressure cooker, an electric iron, and a 
 motor for the sewing machine all for less than half the cost 
 of a mowing machine or a disc harrow. 
 
 “Some one says, “The household equipment isn’t used as 
 much of the year as farm machinery.’ A system of running 
 water in the house would cost less than a tractor. Which is 
 used more days in the year? A kitchen cabinet costs less 
 than a mowing machine. Which is used more often? A 
 house could be thoroughly equipped with every labor-saving 
 device known for what it would cost to build a silo or buy a 
 truck or a tractor. 
 
 “After all, it is not a question of money or usability; it is 
 simply a question of attitude. Are we fair? Are we con- 
 siderate of others? Do we wish to make other lives easy and 
 happy? Religion affects our home life. Here we are our 
 real selves. An attitude of consideration and helpfulness for 
 each member of our family is a better index of our religion 
 than what we say in church. I would rather ask a man’s 
 wife about his religion than his pastor.””* 
 
 But what can a minister do about a situation like this with- 
 out becoming offensive? It will be a good idea to invite the 
 home demonstration agent to come to the community and put 
 on a “Better Home” contest. They are willing to come and 
 
 
 
 *Ralph Felton, ‘“The Christian and the Countryside,” pp. 37 and 41. 
 
THe New Catt 105 
 
 grade the homes of the community this year and point out 
 what can be done in order to make living more convenient 
 in the country and to return the following year and grade 
 the homes on their improvement. 
 
 It is a matter of education. It is not that the country man 
 does not love his wife and is not willing to provide these 
 conveniences, but it is simply because he has never thought 
 of it and has been willing to get along as his father and 
 mother did. If the world is to have the right kind of leaders, 
 the class of people who produce these leaders must not be 
 depleted. If these stalwart country folk are to be kept 
 satisfied in the country sections where they are the stay and 
 support of the country church, their living conditions must 
 be made convenient. 
 
 HOW TO SPEND MONEY 
 
 My grandfather used to say “A dollar saved is a dollar 
 -made.” What country people need to learn in this age of 
 extravagances is how to spend their money. There are too 
 many people trying to get along with a buggy income on an 
 automobile scale of expenditures. The U. S. Government 
 in its Department Bulletin No. 1382, gives the relationship 
 between the ability to pay and the standard of living among 
 farmers. It gives a study of 861 white farm families of 
 Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas. These farmers are selected 
 from some of the very best sections of the South. 
 
 “The localities chosen in Kentucky lay in Shelby, Mercer, 
 Jessamine, Montgomery, Bourbon, Scott, Woodford, and 
 Fayette Counties. Localities in Tennessee were confined to 
 three counties—Madison, Montgomery, Williamson. Local- 
 ities in Texas comprised ten counties in the “Black Prairie’ 
 —Dallas, Bliss, Hill, Johnson, McLennan, Bell, Falls, Lime- 
 
106 Tue New Cau 
 
 stone, Navarro and Williamson. Only a few schedules were 
 obtained in Johnson, Limestone and Navarro Counties. 
 
 “Of the 1,100 schedules obtained from all localities in the 
 three states, only 861 were regarded as being sufficiently 
 typical for use in this study. Approximately 150 schedules 
 representing families of colored farmers are not included. 
 About 75 schedules representing farms operated by single 
 individuals or homes comprising persons of one sex were 
 discarded from this study. A few others incomplete in some 
 respect could not be used. 
 
 “The types of farming represented by the several localities 
 studied vary widely in some respects and are similar in other 
 respects. All the localities from which data were obtained 
 in Kentucky are typical of the famous bluegrass area, and 
 tobacco is the principal money crop with the farmer.” 
 
 The following tables will show not only the income of these 
 farmers but also the average expenditure. 
 
 “Average expenditures per family for the different groups 
 of items for the year ended Dcember 31, 1919, as shown by 
 value of materials furnished by the farm and the materials 
 purchased. 861 farm families of selected localities of Ken- 
 tucky, Tennessee and Texas.” 
 
 
 
 
 
 ALL FAMILIES 861. OWNER FAMILIES 411 
 
 Fur- Pur- Fur- Pur- 
 ITEM nished chased Total nished chase Total 
 
 Food, including groceries....... $383.80 $248.00 $ 631.80 $427.60 $ 224.30 $ 651.90 
 
 Bit Page LE 8 vnc RO te A RR Ri SEI oP SMI 5 254.70 254.70 ............ 283.90 283.90 
 Rent (10% value house)...... 137.90 2.00 139.90 184.90 40 185.30 
 Furniture and furnishings.... ........... 28.50 28.50) Jee 33.40 33.40 
 Operating expense... 14.90 158.00 172.90 18.60 192.30 210.90 
 Maintenance of health... 2.0... 67.00 67.00.2225 75.00 75.00 
 AAVaNnCenmient cee ee eer eee 84.30 S420 hase Sex 130.10 130.10 
 Personal @ iit oceal eee nee eee 20 #8 16.70 16.90 029 16.90 17.10 
 Insurance—life and health... .200000000.. 36.90 36:90 )4% 22-2 44.70 44.70 
 Wnclassified ioe ee eee eae 3.10 OO Kee cues 2.70 2.70 
 
 Fi eg VR Roe ON et 2 $536.80 $899.20 $1,436.00 $631.30 $1,003.70 $1,635.00 
 
Tue New Carr 107 
 
 
 
 
 
 TENANT FamiI.ies 321, ‘Croprer Famixies 129 
 Fur- Pur- Fur- Pur- 
 ITEM nished chased Total nished chased Total 
 
 Food, including groceries....... $387.00 $272.20 $ 659.20 $235.80 $263.80 $499.60 
 
 
 
 MW UGSG ITS er EEE. oe Mek cence carpscke (i cosqnescas pe SO ORO 246.800. eee 181.10 181.19 
 Rent (10% value house)...... 105.40 4.40 109.80 69.30 -80 70.10 
 Furniture and furnishings.... ............ 26.60 26.607 2RoFs 17.70 17.70 
 Operating ,expense.................. 11.20 147.90 159.10 13.00 73.20 86.20 
 Maintenance of health..........0 ............ 66.50 G65 0" = 2 8 42.70 42.70 
 aa a RSs Ue oy TAU A ee lene i lea re ane 3.50 BPS | aoe ae 3.30 3.30 
 Pereomahenin gos 10 §= 18.20 18.30 30 12.50 12.80 
 Insurance—life and health... ............ 36.90 36.9 0m 22.3: 12.20 12.20 
 (CET, 2? eet Ae Ree ea ree 3.50 3.50 Ma eek 3.30 3.30 
 
 OTA Leet te ees eee $503.70 $874.10 $1,377.80 $318.40 $628.50 $946.96 
 
 EXPENDITURES AND GOODS USED 
 
 TotaL EXPENDITURES FOR ALL PURPOSES 
 
 THE AVERAGES OF ALL EXPENDITURES FOR 
 Suva a BAe FAMILIES BY TENURE GROUPS ARE GIVEN 
 ABOVE. The total value of goods used, $1,436, 37.4% or 
 $536.80 were furnished by the farm and 62.6% were pro- 
 vided by direct purchase. 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF THE AVERAGE EXPENDI- 
 TURES AMONG THE VARIOUS GROUPS 
 : OF ARTICLES USED 
 
 The proportion that the average expenditure for each of 
 the several groups of articles is of the total expenditures 
 appears in table given below. These proportions are deter- 
 mined from the average expenditures for the different groups 
 of articles as given in the table above. 
 
108 THe New Catt 
 
 Expenditures for food cover 44% of all expenditures for 
 all purposes. Expenditures for clothing, constituting 17.7% 
 of all expenditures, are about two-fifths as large as expendi- 
 tures for food. Operating costs, comprising 12% of all ex- 
 penditures, are less than one-third of the expenditures for 
 food. About one-third the operating costs, $53.80 is for 
 fuel, over one-fourth of which, $14.90 is furnished by the 
 farm. Rental charge for use of the house is about one-fifth 
 of the expenditures for food. Houses represented by this 
 rental charge average 5.3 rooms in size, bathroom, pantry and 
 closets excluded. Data on the number and percentage of the 
 houses fitted with modern improvements of the various kinds 
 are not available. Expenditure for furniture and furnish- 
 ings purchased during the year of study are only 2% of all 
 expenditures. These expenditures are about 6% of the in- 
 ventory value of furniture and furnishings in the home for 
 the year 1919. Expenditures for the maintenance of health 
 are 4.7% of the total. Money spent for education, recrea- 
 tion, benevolences, etc.—termed “‘advancement’”—amounts to 
 almost 6% of all expenditures. Only 0.2% of all expendi- 
 tures is for goods not readily classified. 
 
 Distribution of average expenditures for classified items, 
 including value of goods furnished by the farm and pur- 
 chased for the year ended December 31, 1919, by 861 families 
 of selected localities in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas. 
 
 
 
 All Owner Tenant Cropper 
 
 ITEM Families Families Families Families 
 Number of Families: 861 411 321 129 
 
 Food, ‘including. groceries ...-..-22..-24:..2 44.0% 39.9% 47.8% 52.8% 
 Clothing arte ce ee eee Ae haces 17.7 17.4 17.9 19.1 
 Rent (10% value of house)................----. 9.7 11.3 8.0 7.4 
 Fernts titi pg eyes ece cceste tenet ce onan, eae eee 2.0 2.0 1.9 1.9 
 Operating costs 22 coco srs cect earls 12.0 12.9 11.6 9.1 
 Midintenance*of health —..<......4-2- 4.7 4.6 4.8 4.5 
 A AVATICOMIOT tater e ntrenceens eearanen terce ee nereemtcaere ca 5.9 6.0 3.7 2.2 
 Personal io eee ce re eee ee eee! 1.2 1.0 1.3 1.4 
 Insurance—life and health....................--+0 2.6 2.7 2.7 1.3 
 
THe New Catu 109 
 
 Averages of some factors or criteria considered as indica- 
 tive of ability of farmers to pay; year ended December 31, 
 1919, 861 farm homes of selected localities of Kentucky, 
 Tennessee and Texas. 
 
 
 
 All 
 Item Farmers Owners Tenants Croppers 
 Number of Farmers: 861 411 321 129 
 Disposable net income -...............00--20ee-e-- $2,178.00 $2,429.00 $2,141.00 $1,422.00 
 fol Ss Ry aos BNE bg ci Pde Rate ace eR NE 108.3 132.0 104.6 42.3 
 Otel patsy Capital Der TAC sccecesece-t-nene 21,509.00 24.734.00 22,716.00 8,026.00 
 Operator’s working capital ...................... 2,950.00 3,716.00 2,836.00 767.00 
 CORT UTIRO POLE CLOO ee es op cncee cose cenkndarcons 2,947.00 3,327.00 3,108.00 1,346.00 
 Index of diversity of farm enterprises... 2.6 2.9 2.4 1.9 
 Net worth of the farmer.............-ssscss0 14,502.00 25,998.00 5,184.00 1,274.00 
 Per centage of net worth obtained as 
 CALI COUSEMEWCAlUL eer tte ce esate creneaee 17.0 22.1 12.0 12.9 
 Percentage net worth obtained through 
 net increase in value of land.............. 15.3 30.5 1.8 Afi 
 Number of years since the farmer be- 
 rn enis earning lif cee ee set ase 23.4 27.1 19.9 20.5 
 Operator’s average annual rate of accu- 
 
 EEL ET ge) 0 oS So, EE i Re es eae TE $673.00 $1,107.00 $357.00 $95.00 
 
 
 
 Note that the figures upon which this data was based were 
 secured at a time when farmers were more prosperous than 
 they are now. Compare the large amounts spent for food 
 and clothing and the small amount for “advancement” which 
 includes all money for recreation, education, schools, 
 churches, etc. If these farmers had been tithers the first ten 
 per cent would have gone to the church for the building of 
 the Kingdom of God. When we consider how much money 
 is spent for soda water, candy, aimless automobile riding, 
 etc., we are led to believe it is the business of the preacher to 
 help educate his people in the right expenditures of money 
 so that they may secure better results for themselves, their 
 families and the community. People should be taught to 
 save in order that they may serve. The man who gives a 
 tithe has to calculate what his income is. He is also led to 
 
110 THe New Catt 
 
 consider how he may distribute his income so as to secure the 
 best results from his expenditures. A correct knowledge of 
 the expenditures of a country community is an important 
 asset for effective lessons on stewardship. The matter of 
 prime consideration is the spiritual welfare of the farmer, 
 but his life cannot be spiritually right while it is economically 
 wrong. There isa necessity, not only for stewardship of life, 
 but also of possession. 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 1. What is the relationship between profitable agriculture and a pros- 
 perous country church? 
 
 2. What are the causes of unprofitable agriculture, and what are the 
 remedies ? 
 
 3. How can the country preacher and the country agent be mutually 
 helpful in serving the community ? 
 
 4. How may country houses be made more convenient ? 
 
 5. How can the farmer get better returns for his money? 
 
 6. What special reasons are there for teaching farmers the principles 
 of stewardship ? 
 
GHAP TiC ha 
 
 COMMUNITY AGENCIES 
 
 HERE are many agencies working in rural districts to 
 
 promote community betterment. It is difficult to know 
 just how the Church should relate itself to them. In the 
 very nature of the divine intention the Church is unique 
 among organizations. Every brotherhood, every organization 
 except the Church is human in its origin and is temporal in 
 its aims except as they have been inspired by the truths which 
 are taught by the Church. The Church is God’s divinely 
 instituted society. If it is to be effective it must be composed 
 of people who are born again—who have had a religious ex- 
 perience. The Church is spiritual in its functions, but it is 
 necessary for the Church to rightly relate itself to every 
 other agency that is working for the betterment of the human 
 life. 
 
 We are living in an age of great rural awakening. During 
 the last forty years a multiplicity of country life agencies 
 have come into being. The first agricultural experiment 
 stations were established in 1887. The Department of Agri- 
 culture in the United States was organized in 1889. In 1908 
 President Roosevelt appointed the Country Life Commission. 
 County Agents and Home Demonstration Agents are now at 
 work in a great many counties all over America.* We 
 have the Farmers’ Union, the Farm Bureau, Co-operative 
 Buying Associations, Co-operative Selling Associations, etc. 
 —all contributing to better rural conditions. What is the 
 relation of the Church to all of these? Each state and almost 
 each county has its sanitary agents. The public school system 
 during the last forty-five years has improved tremendously. 
 
 
 
 *2,100 counties have agricultural agents (men) and 900 have home demon- 
 stration soos (women). ‘This service was established by the Smith-Lewis Act, 
 ay 8, 14. 
 
112 THe New CAtu 
 
 THE PREACHER AND THE PUBLIC SC RigtiG 
 
 It used to be the policy of the country church to organize 
 and conduct a school. When I became pastor of New Provi- 
 dence Church, a parochial school had been conducted beside 
 the church. It had performed a great service. I found in 
 the nearby village a public school. I visited Rev.. A. H. 
 Hamilton, D.D., the wise pastor of Mt. Carmel, and said 
 to him, “What ought I to do? Shall I resurrect the parochial 
 school, or cast my influence with the public school ?” 
 
 He said, “My advice to you is to co-operate with the public 
 school. If you continue the parochial, you will have two 
 weak, struggling institutions and neither one of them very 
 efficient. Only the better-to-do parents will be able to send 
 their children where they will have to pay tuition. If you 
 cast your influence with the public school, all the children of 
 the community will have an equal chance and, if you are 
 wise, you will be able to see that religious instruction is 
 given.” 
 
 God is placing upon the Church in this new age a great 
 responsibility—to give instruction in the Bible and training 
 in moral princples to the students of the schools which are © 
 supported by the state. We recognize how delicate and diff- 
 cult is the situation which arises where there is a constituency 
 in a community which is not Protestant Christian. In the 
 South there is unity and homogeneity of faith. Only two 
 per cent of the entire rural population of the South is other 
 than Protestant and evangelical in its sympathies. All the 
 great denominations are getting closer together and it is 
 very seldom that any antagonism arises between the Meth- 
 odist, Baptist, and Presbyterian in the co-operative effort te 
 give to the young people in the public schools instruction in 
 the Bible and training in moral principles. The public school 
 
Tue New Catt 113 
 
 becomes a great auxiliary to the church and the Church a 
 benediction to the schools. 
 
 THE PREACHER AND THE COUNTY AGENT 
 
 Almost universally the various agencies of the State, such 
 as its Extension Department, working through its county 
 farm and home demonstration agents, will co-operate in a 
 fine spirit of helpfulness with the Church for rural better- 
 ment. These are among the very best allies that the country 
 preacher has. The wise country pastor, who takes an interest 
 in the temporal as well as the spiritual welfare of his people, 
 will find himself thrust into a position of leadership and 
 responsibility. Huis advice will be sought and he will be able 
 to inculcate Christian principles and lofty ideals in the various 
 organizations among the country people. He may be able to 
 prevent them from adopting rash and selfish measures. He 
 may be able to guide them in a way which will be for the 
 intellectual, social, physical and spiritual uplift of the whole 
 community. 
 
 Farmers’ organizations should be not simply for commer- 
 cial and financial advancement and protection, but should 
 have the lofty aim of co-operating with everything that means 
 community consciousness and community improvement. 
 Leaders of the church become leaders in these organizations. 
 There should be no antagonism in the actual working out of 
 plans between the church and any other organization which is 
 wisely guided. The minister, as a citizen, being a man of 
 vision and a man of education, may be worth very much 
 more in advancing the welfare of the community, than he re- 
 ceives as a preacher. Instead of interfering with his efficiency 
 as a preacher and spiritual adviser, it will give to him a cer- 
 tain kind of contact which will greatly add to his influence. 
 
 “In patterning after the Master, the church must seek to 
 lose its life in an endeavor to serve and save the community 
 
114 THe New Cau 
 
 in which it has its life. Whatever is of large significance to 
 the community is of large significance to the church. It is 
 not enough that the church shall diagnose ills and tell what is 
 wrong. It must prescribe remedies and mark pathways 
 toward the right. It must be a unifying agency among the 
 discordant and rivaling interests. It must consider itself a 
 member ex officio of every group and committee which is 
 planning and laboring for community uplift—not to demand 
 rights and consideration, but to assure co-operation. It 
 must, by its assistance, aid in teaching the ignorant, making 
 the unlovely lovable, renewing the broken in spirit, and in 
 establishing justice. This can be done only by participation 
 in concrete daily problems and incidents of community life. 
 
 “The points at which communities break down are the 
 points at which the church should render assistance—lIt is 
 amid the difficulties and discouragements, the enmities and 
 jealousies, the frauds and deceits of administering social rela- 
 tions in these dominant interests that help must be given. 
 Not one of these interests is above or below the dignity of 
 the church; they are each and all of the greatest concern to 
 the church. Her mission is to help people live after the 
 pattern of Christ in every relationship.’”’* 
 
 HEALTH 
 
 A community may not be prosperous because of health 
 conditions. It was a heroic deed of Dr. B. M. Palmer, of 
 New Orleans, when he stayed with his people and nursed 
 them and ministered to them during the yellow fever scourge. 
 He took sick himself and was near to death’s door. But the 
 minister who is able to get his community to adopt methods 
 for prevention of diseases may render a greater service than 
 by nursing the sick. 
 
 A minister visited a home where there were thirteen chil- 
 dren and noticed that they were pale and sickly. He had a 
 talk with his physician and said, “I wish you would go and 
 look those children over. I believe they have the hookworm.”’ 
 
 
 
 *Roadman—‘‘The Country Church and Its Program,” pp. 113-4. 
 
THe New Catt 115 
 
 The physician visited the family and found them infected. 
 He gave the treatment and the children were soon well and 
 strong. They have gone out into life as useful men and 
 women, a blessing to the church and the community in which 
 they live. The minister was never known in the transaction 
 and yet he contributed to the saving of those children to 
 society and the church. Without being known at all in the 
 matter, a minister may encourage some of his people to invite 
 a representative from the State Board of Health or have 
 literature distributed which will teach the people how to pre- 
 vent disease. 
 
 “A pastor in Virginia said that the wealthiest farmer in 
 his community thought that flies were healthful. 
 
 ““We need them,’ said the manager of this five-hundred- 
 acre farm, ‘to eat up the filth.’ 
 
 “This man simply did not know. When his pastor ar- 
 ranged with the county health officer to speak in his church 
 on ‘Flies as Disease Carriers,’ he woke up. The next day 
 he went to town and loaded his car with screens for his house. 
 
 He simply hadn’t understood the problem before. 
 
 — “Health can be made safe even among the most unfavor- 
 able circumstances, and no matter what health costs it is a 
 good investment. The expenses of our annual death rate 
 from preventable diseases in the United States, according to 
 the Massachusetts Board of Health, are enough to build in 
 each state twenty hospitals, eight colleges, one hundred 
 libraries, and, in addition, build two transcontinental high- 
 ways and then have enough left to increase our appropria- 
 tions one hundred million dollars to our public schools. 
 
 “These statements seem exaggerated until we examine a 
 few communities. An experiment was made in Arkansas to 
 rid four towns of malaria. Pools were drained or filled, 
 sluggish streams were ditched. Oul was applied to surface 
 water. The breeding places of the mosquito were done away 
 with; thus one cause of the malaria was eliminated. In 
 1916, before the experiment, the number of calls made by 
 physicians in one of these Arkansas towns—Hamburg—on 
 
116 THe New Catri 
 
 patients suffering from malaria was 2,312. In 1917, the year 
 the experiment was made, the calls dropped to 259, and 1918 
 to 59. 
 
 “What did health cost in this instance? In this town of 
 only a little more than a thousand population the cost of this 
 experiment to each person was in 1917 only $1.45 and it 
 dropped in 1918 to 44 cents. 
 
 “In an Arkansas lumber town in Ashley County the local 
 physicians estimated that sixty per cent of all illness was due 
 to malaria. The mosquito was eliminated by ridding the 
 place of all stagnant water. Within one year the malaria in 
 this town decreased seventy-two per cent. The cost per 
 capita for this work was $1.24, and each person saved more 
 than thirty dollars on doctor bills and the loss of time from 
 work due to sickness. Health is a good investment.”* __ 
 
 It is the business of the church and the minister to look 
 after the sick, but it is a greater business to teach the people 
 how to keep from getting sick and to bring about, through 
 the activity of the people themselves, sanitary conditions 
 which will promote the life and happiness of the community. 
 
 CALTINGST AE DOCTOR 
 
 Statistics show that good country doctors are getting very 
 scarce. In fact, there are a number of counties in the south- 
 ern and western states which have no country doctor. Are 
 days of the old country doctor over? When there is an 
 opening for a physician in the country, frequently a man who 
 has failed in the town or city because of intemperate habits 
 or because he is a drug addict will come and settle down on 
 a country community and it is at his mercy. 
 
 One rural community calls its physician just as it does 
 its minister. When it loses its doctor a committee is ap- 
 pointed and this committee investigates every applicant for 
 the position. If his testimonials are not satisfactory, he is 
 
 *Ralph Felton—‘‘The Christian and the Countryside,” p. 29. 
 
THe New Catt Li 
 
 given to understand that he is not wanted. This community, 
 through the agency of this committee, has secured a com- 
 petent Christian physician whose life and services are not 
 only a great blessing to the whole countryside because of 
 efficient professional services, but because of personal work, 
 leading the people to Christ. A Christian physician is one 
 of the greatest assets that the minister can have in the work 
 of a country church. 
 
 The Board of Deacons, or a committee composed of the 
 representatives of this Board, may be the Social Service 
 Committee of the community. If this Board is properly 
 organized, as has been suggested in a former chapter, it 
 should function in fostering social service. 
 
 WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR? 
 
 “And Jesus answering said, ‘A certain man went down 
 from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which 
 stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, 
 leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a 
 certain priest that way; and when he saw him, he passed by 
 on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at 
 the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other 
 side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where 
 he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 
 And went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil 
 and wine, and set him on his own beast and brought him to 
 an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he 
 departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, 
 and said unto him, “Take care of him; and whatsoever thou 
 spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee’.’’* 
 
 A preacher may feel he is too busy preaching the Gospel 
 and attending to church matters to occupy himself in the 
 matters of social service. Doubtless the priest who went 
 down from Jerusalem to Jericho had an engagement in 
 Jericho and felt he did not have time to look after the man 
 
 *Luke 10:30-35. 
 
118 THe New CAtLt 
 
 who had fallen among thieves. Sometimes the elders and 
 deacons feel that they have so many pressing duties in carry- 
 ing on the work of the church and other matters that they 
 have no time to do some of the things which seem to them 
 of lesser importance. No doubt this was true of the Levite 
 that day. He probably wanted to help the poor fellow, but 
 he had other pressing duties and did not have time. The 
 Church has frequently passed by on the other side and the 
 need is sometimes not met at all. Some times another agency 
 like the Odd Fellows, the Masons, the Knights of Phythias, 
 or some outside organization has stepped in and accomplished 
 the task that God, in His divine plan meant the Church to 
 perform. I can imagine that priest, after the man who had 
 fallen among thieves had become rather prosperous, ap- 
 proaching him as a preacher with a view of getting him into 
 the church, or I can imagine that Levite, who would cor- 
 respond to our elder or deacon, being interested in him and 
 probably speaking to him about uniting with the church and 
 helping it along. It is probable that if they did the language 
 which he used in response would not be fit to print, or, if he 
 did not say anything, his thoughts would not be of a kindly 
 nature. 
 
 A MODERN PARABLE 
 
 “A tenant farmer was sick and weary. The weeds were 
 taking his crops. The future looked dark for him. 
 
 “A representative of the missionary board of his church 
 came by, made a survey, took some pictures, prepared a re- 
 port, and hastily returned to headquarters. 
 
 “A high official of the church learned with regret of the 
 man’s misfortune and. sent him a copy of his latest book on, 
 “The Common Fellowship of Sorrow!’ 
 
 “The local pastor heard of the tenant’s plight from his 
 landlord, with whom he was spending the day. The landlord 
 was concerned for his neglected fields. The pastor’s heart 
 was touched. He wondered why he hadn’t called on the 
 
THe New CatLyu 119 
 
 sick man long before. The next day he plowed the man’s 
 corn. His wife came too and touched with hope and love 
 the sick household. The next day a nurse was brought. The 
 pastor persuaded the landlord to have the house screened. 
 He kept other members of the family from the fever. The 
 worn and weary wife shed tears of gratitude and joy. But 
 the oldest daughter was unmoved and bitter, saying in her 
 heart with resentment, ‘If thou hadst come earlier, my father 
 would not have taken sick’,’”’* 
 
 The Church of Jesus Christ is a brotherhood if rightly 
 
 constituted. Jesus went about doing good. He came that 
 we might have life and have it more abundantly. He healed 
 the sick; he ministered to man. That minister is greatest, 
 that church officer is greatest, that church most completely 
 fulfills its mission when they all follow in the steps of Him 
 who came “not to be ministered unto but to minister.’ Jesus 
 appeared first to Mary Magdalene. He appeared to her 
 probably because there was no one else in the world who 
 felt the need of Him more than she. He had lifted her up 
 from a life of despair. When she lost Him, she lost her all. 
 So, wherever there is need, the Church, following the ex- 
 ample of her Master, should do what it can to meet that need. 
 
 DISCUSSIONS 
 
 It is a very good idea to have meetings in the community, 
 either at the church or school house, where the people, under 
 the auspices of some organization such as the Community 
 League, Farm Bureau, or Farmers’ Union may have a dis- 
 cussion on some particular subject concerning the community. 
 Always have a specialist on the subject assigned to lead the 
 discussion. For instance, if the subject of sanitation were 
 used, a doctor, or nurse, or representative of the Board of 
 Health should be invited. Another time it might be the 
 subject of law and order. If the prosecuting attorney is a 
 
 *Ralph Felton—‘‘The Christian and the Countryside,” p. 35. 
 
120 THe New CAatLu 
 
 Christian, he could be called upon to lead the discussion, or 
 it might be possible to secure someone else who is specially 
 interested in this field of service. Again it may be the subject 
 of education or recreation. Country people are interested 
 in things of this kind and when their attention is once called 
 to the problems that confront them and their interest is en- 
 listed, the minister can count on their hearty co-operation in 
 solving the problems. 
 
 LAW ENFORCEMENT 
 
 The preacher is not an officer of the law. It is not his 
 business to see that the law is executed but he may so in- 
 fluence the community that it will co-operate with organiza- 
 tions of law and order in such a way that laws will be re- 
 verenced, enforced and obeyed. It may be necessary for the 
 country preacher to be the inspirational agent but it is not 
 best for him to be too prominent. 
 
 The country preacher, because of the smallness of his com- 
 munity and the scattered population, because of the consti- 
 tuency and environment of his congregation, is called upon 
 to form these contacts and associations with other agencies in 
 a way that is not the province of the minister in the town or 
 city church. 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 1. Give a list of agencies which are working for rural betterment in 
 your county. 
 
 2. How should the country preacher co-operate with the county 
 agent? 
 
 3. What are the country preacher’s duties to the public school? 
 
 4. How can the country preacher help maintain health in his com- 
 munity ? 
 
 5. How can the country preacher promote law enforcement? 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 EVANGELISM IN THE COUNTRY 
 
 HILE the Church should promote social life, its 
 
 first business is to lead men to Christ—to know 
 Christ and to make Him known. The obligation is world 
 wide, Acts 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the 
 Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto 
 me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria and 
 unto the uttermost part of the earth.’ The duty of the 
 Church is to the whole world but every congregation has its 
 first obligation to the community in which it is located. If 
 the minister and his officers have properly discovered their 
 field, and have a list of all classes they will know just exactly 
 what their evangelistic opportunities and obligations are with- 
 in the bounds of their own congregation. The Church should 
 assume as a duty the reaching of every man, woman and 
 _ child who is out of Christ. 
 
 The agencies for evangelization are, first, the fathers and 
 mothers. A thorough campaign should be carried on con- 
 tinually with the parents. They should be led to feel that 
 God, when He gave into their keeping their children, placed 
 a responsibility upon them which can not be shifted anywhere 
 else. Parents should be taught to realize that, when they 
 dedicate their children to God, they take upon themselves 
 certain obligations to bring them up as Christians with the 
 expectation that when they come to the years of account- 
 ability, they will confirm by their own personal faith what 
 the parents have assumed for them in their childhood. 
 
 Parents should be impressed with the fact that it is by daily 
 Bible instruction, by setting before their children the right 
 kind of an example, they are so to train them that they will 
 
122 THe New CAa.Lu 
 
 become Christian men and women. We have been stressing 
 the other agencies of the church so much that parents are 
 sometimes inclined to believe that they have been relieved of 
 the obligations which God placed upon them. Children may 
 be under the influence of their Sunday school teacher one 
 or two hours per week, They are under the direction of their 
 parents practically all the time. 
 
 Fathers have just as great a responsibility as the mothers. 
 While the mother’s influence may be more potential during 
 a certain period of the early years of childhood, there comes 
 a time when the father’s influence and the father’s example 
 is even more potent than that of the mother. 
 
 A second great agency for evangelism is the Sunday school. 
 We think of the Sunday school as the agency for religious 
 education but training in religious education and evangelism 
 must go hand in hand. Evangelism which is not preceded 
 and followed by Christian training will not make a strong, 
 virile Christianity. 
 
 If the parents faithfully perform their duties, the work of 
 the Sunday school will not be so essential. But after all is 
 done, many parents fall short in their duties to their children, 
 therefore the church, through the agency of the Sunday ~ 
 school, must take up the task which the parents have failed 
 to perform. The Sunday school becomes a great auxiliary 
 even to the Christian home. Things can be accomplished for 
 children in groups that can not be done for them as indivi- 
 duals. A Sunday school teacher, who is consecrated to the 
 task, who lives before the children a godly life, frequently 
 becomes the most powerful agency for bringing the youth to 
 Christ that the church has at her command. The whole 
 content of the teaching in the Sunday school should be with 
 a view to bringing its members to Christ and instructing 
 them in the duties and privileges of discipleship. 
 
THe New Catu 123 
 
 The church officers constitute another great agency for 
 evangelism. It is the duty of each elder to watch for souls 
 in his district. No elder should be content to have any man, 
 woman, or child living in any of the families under his special 
 charge who has not been led to Jesus Christ, whom to know 
 aright is life eternal. 
 
 The Christian Endeavor, or Young People’s Organization, 
 the Woman’s Society, the Men of the Church, should all be 
 organized and trained in the work of evangelism. 
 
 A preacher whose people are to be personal workers must 
 emulate the Master and set the example. 
 
 Every church should have decision days. In the country 
 church the congregation should be taught to look upon Com- 
 munion service as a decision season. If a quarterly Com- 
 munion passes without somebody giving his heart to Christ, 
 the minister and his officers, who are responsible for the 
 development of the spiritual life of the church, should take 
 an inventory of their own lives and the performance of their 
 duties to see if there is not some lack or some failure on their 
 part. 
 
 Some evangelistic meetings do more harm than good. 
 They are accompanied with excitement and people are re- 
 ceived into the church without having any real religious ex- 
 perience and without an understanding of the principles of 
 Christian living. Yet each church ought to have at least one 
 evangelistic meeting each year. Some particular time should 
 be set aside when the farmers are most at leisure, and they 
 should be taught to keep this time sacred and free from all 
 other engagements of business or pleasure. A _ spiritual 
 every-member canvass ought.to be made just before this 
 meeting in order that the information may be in hand show- 
 ing the congregation what its evangelistic task is. Sometimes 
 the pastor may do his own preaching, or he may secure the 
 
124 THe New CAtu 
 
 assistance of a neighboring pastor. Sometimes he should call 
 in a specially trained evangelist. 
 
 The success of the meeting depends largely upon the pre- 
 paration, the spirit of prayer in the congregation, the amount 
 of personal work that is done, and the faithfulness in re- 
 ligious training on the part of the parents and Sunday school 
 teachers. Its final results will depend upon the faithfulness 
 with which the evangelistic meeting is followed up by the 
 minister and the various organized agencies of the church. 
 
 Many country churches depend solely upon the evangelistic 
 meeting. That is about all the life of the church amounts to. 
 Some man from town goes out and holds a meeting. Under 
 the high pressure method a number of people come forward, 
 shake his hand and join the church. That is the sum total 
 of the meeting. It is extremely essential that the country 
 church, because of its lack of organized life, should project 
 an all year round, sane, scriptural, efficient evangelistic pro- 
 gram. Evangelism is more than a revival meeting. 
 
 The most important agency in evangelism is the weekly 
 sermon by the right kind of a preacher. 
 
 “Without an evangelistic pastor in the pulpit, lay evan- . 
 gelism on the part of the pew is an impossibility. The pastor 
 must accept responsibility to light and fan the flame of evan- 
 gelism in the Church,’’* 
 
 very preacher should be evangelistic in his message. He 
 should preach with the expectation of seeing his people saved. 
 It is said that Dr. George W. Truett, of Texas, has converts 
 at every service. This does not mean that a man is to preach 
 all the time what is known as “evangelistic sermons,” but 
 there ought to be an evangelistic note in his preaching and 
 every sermon ought to carry a message of salvation. The 
 
 *Rolvix Harlan—‘‘A New Day for the Country Church,” p. 60. 
 
THE New Catt 125 
 
 whole program of worship should be shot through with the 
 spirit of evangelism. 
 
 In the country congregation a considerable number of un- 
 converted are usually present. The evangelistic note should 
 dominate the message, not only in order that these may be 
 reached, but also that the members may be given the spirit. 
 A real gospel sermon preached by a man who believes his 
 message will keep even the country man awake. The Gospel 
 is good news. It is mentioned one hundred and two times 
 in the New Testament. 
 
 It is the business of the newspapers to publish news. Much 
 of it is news because it is bad. It is interesting because it is 
 shocking. Some news is bad to some people and good to 
 others. When an officer of the law is shot down in the 
 execution of his duties, it is bad news to every right-thinking 
 citizen, but good news to the violators of the law and those 
 who sympathize with them. 
 
 _ It is the business of the Church to publish good news. 
 
 The Gospel is good news to all. The angel proclaimed to the 
 shepherds who watched their flocks in the fields of Beth- 
 lehem, “Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which 
 shall be to all people.” 
 
 The country minister will preach to a larger per cent of 
 the unconverted than the average city man. To the lost sin- 
 ner the Gospel is good news because it tells of One mighty 
 to save. 
 
 He will preach to men who have many problems and per- 
 plexities ; men who are pressed by sore trials. To the tempted 
 and tested the Gospel is good news, for it reveals a great 
 Deliverer. To the discouraged it is good news, for it brings 
 a message of hope and cheer. To the sorrowing it is good 
 news, for it tells of a God of comfort and consolation. 
 
126 Tue New CAaLu 
 
 The country men, with their broad sympathies, are much 
 moved by the death of a neighbor or friend... Witness the. 
 great concourse who attend with real grief the country 
 funeral. The country man thinks much on death and the 
 man on the farm, who does not have the hope of glory as 
 revealed in Christ, is filled with gloomy forebodings. But 
 the Gospel is the glad story of the Saviour who has brought 
 life and immortality to light. It is He, “Who hath saved us 
 and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, 
 but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given 
 us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made 
 manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who 
 hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality 
 to light through the Gospel.”’* 
 
 In the light of this glad news, death is but the bursting of 
 the bud to bloom in a flower of perpetual fragrance. It is 
 but the opening of the door that leads from the vestibule 
 into a cathedral of endless beauty; it is but the brief uncon- 
 scious moment when the faultless surgeon opens blinded eyes 
 and unstops deaf ears; it is but the alchemy of the great 
 Physician by which decrepit age is transformed into immortal 
 youth, and frail, diseased bodies are exchanged for those that — 
 are strong and beautiful, pulsating with perpetual health. 
 
 To the farmer, weary from his week’s toil, troubled, per- 
 plexed by crop failures and financial reverses, many of them 
 burdened with debt; to those men with their temptations and 
 their trials, and their gloomy forebodings about the future, 
 it is the glorious privilege of the country preacher to proclaim 
 this Gospel of salvation and of hope. We can say with Paul, 
 “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye 
 stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the 
 
 AL ime t29*1.0" 
 
THe New Catu 127 
 
 Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain 
 in the Lord.’’* 
 
 There is no satisfactory solution for the problems of the 
 country church other than the Gospel preached by a spirit 
 filled and sacrificial ministry, amply trained and definitely 
 consecrated to the task. It must be the Gospel of the throne 
 and of the altar—the glory of God and His grace through 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 1. Construct in your own way an evangelistic program for the coun- 
 try congregation. 
 2. What are the principal agencies in a program of evangelism? 
 
 3. Tell what you would do to secure the co-operation of the agencies 
 of the congregation in the work of evangelism. 
 4. What is the gospel and why should the country minister preach it? 
 
 eT Conta /-05. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 DIS COVE RX NORCO GIN TRG 
 LEADERSHIP 
 
 N important task that lies within the range of a coun- 
 
 try minister’s duties is the discovery and training of 
 leadership. We constantly hear both preachers and other 
 church leaders saying, “All the best people have moved away 
 from our community. We have no leaders left.” 
 
 Country people are potential in the qualities that make for 
 leadership. From early childhood they are trained in self- 
 reliance, integrity, initiative, industry and resourcefulness ; 
 but, because of the individualistic, deliberate and conservative 
 character of those who dwell in the country, the qualities of 
 leadership often lie dormant and undeveloped. The World 
 War demonstrated what can be done when the people of the 
 rural sections have a real challenge. 
 
 “Tt is not the lack of talent and capacity which threatens 
 the church in any community. The factors which threaten 
 are the lack of vision to see the possible achievements if 
 talent is aroused, and the lack of a plan and program of train- 
 ing whereby this talent can be made effective. : 
 
 The church must learn to trust its own member- 
 ship and constituency in the same way that the government 
 trusted community workers in selling war bonds. One pastor 
 conducted an educational service which is a fine example of 
 using potential leadership in the parish. He was earnestly 
 seeking to increase the number of high-school seniors who 
 would plan for college. He secured two persons who had 
 been out of college about fifteen years to speak on the subject, 
 ‘Why I Am Glad I Went to College.’ Two young people 
 still in college spoke on ‘Why I Am Glad I Am In College.’ 
 Two high school seniors told, ‘Why I Am Planning to Go to 
 College’.”"* 
 
 *Roadman—“‘The Country Church and Its Program,” p. 135-6. 
 
THe New Catt 129 
 
 Few farmers learn to think on their feet. They do not 
 express themselves readily. Though the country church offi- 
 cer may think a great deal, he usually is as mum as an oyster 
 at a meeting. ‘There are few country Presbyterian elders 
 who will lead public worship in their church. 
 
 One of the reasons for the growth of the Methodists in the 
 early days of American history was that the class leaders 
 gathered the people in the community for a religious service 
 every Sunday. It was often of a crude nature but it was of 
 a character that kept the people together in the business of 
 serving the Lord, and it developed real leadership among our 
 pioneer peoples that had much to do with making our nation 
 great. 
 
 The Church of the Brethren seems to have fitted the neces- 
 sities of many rural communities. This church has laid upon 
 its farmer preachers the responsibility of local religious 
 leadership. 
 
 Of all the denominations the Baptists have probably been 
 most successful in country districts in the South, and, as has 
 been mentioned, 8814 % of their churches are in the country. 
 Their democratic form of government with Saturday congre- 
 gational meetings stimulates expression, and the fact that 
 they have a large number of farmer preachers has developed 
 rural leadership. 
 
 The opportunity of the church in the country is to discover 
 and train a leadership among its young people. When the 
 pastor has discovered his field through the survey and follow- 
 up work, and through faithful pastoral visiting as well as 
 individual study of the young life in his parish, he has accom- 
 plished some of the essential things. 
 
130 THe New Carri 
 
 THE EXAMPLE 
 
 Jesus gave three years of His ministry to the training of 
 twelve men. This should be a challenge to every minister in 
 dealing with youth. 
 
 “Jesus’ leadership training work was done within the 
 boundaries of what may be termed His own community. It 
 was from here He chose and sent out the seventy. It was 
 from here he selected and trained the twelve.” 
 
 “A careful study of Jesus’ example and method leads one 
 to believe that He could have selected His apostolic group 
 from any community. Certainly the church can do more than 
 it has done in every local field. Its most important task is 
 the personal calling out of its individual and latent talent, 
 thus setting in motion those forces which above all will pro- 
 duce Christian leadership for the solution of its own problems 
 and also those beyond its confines.’’* 
 
 If young men are given adequate training in a properly 
 organized Sunday school and Christian Endeavor society, the 
 church in the country will not lack material for officers. If 
 they are regenerate and are trained by impression and ex- 
 pression, the country church of tomorrow will have a com- 
 petent leadership. 
 
 THE EAGERNESS OF YOUTH 
 
 “There is no more certain social force than the idealistic 
 hunger of each generation of young men and women. Youth 
 is synonymous with the power of a glowing vision. It has 
 no power not to respond. Here is something to count on, to 
 tie to. ‘Its going forth is sure as the morning.’ Like the 
 widow’s cruse of oil, it does not fail. Nothing which pertains 
 to man is more beautiful or more dramatic than the great 
 procession of young lives, a fair proportion of whom are 
 always eager to devote themselves to altruistic adventure if 
 the call comes timely and clear. There is no more marked 
 
 *Roadman—“The Country Church and Its Program,” pp. 138-9. 
 
Tue New Catt | 131 
 
 nor heartening aspect of American civilization than this. The 
 only question is of the specific direction of these self-devoted 
 lives. Of them the little town furnished a disproportionate 
 share.. They have gone forth mostly to far fields, to the 
 social service of the city, to foreign missions. To such this 
 book would like to believe that it presents a direct challenge 
 and appeal. Home is the nearest spot of missionary ground. 
 The little town is a field for altruistic service of thrilling 
 importance. Here stands greatness humbly clad; here 
 patriotic labor is involved with charm; here deep social pro- 
 cesses are bound up with intimate personal contacts; here 
 especially the high fortunes of the open country are to be 
 centered and inspired; here lies the pleasant middle ground 
 through which, if one will have it so, the Garden of Eden 
 merges into the City of God.”* 
 
 SOMETHING TO DO 
 
 There should, however, always be something doing in the 
 life of the country church to occupy the thoughts and ener- 
 gies of the youth. There should be constantly kept before 
 the young people the fact that they must train for the leader- 
 ship of the church of the future. They are taught in the 
 schools that they are training for life, but the ideals which 
 are sometimes held before them are crass and materialistic. 
 The minister should challenge them with opportunity for 
 leadership in the church. He should guide them in service 
 for God and humanity. 
 
 Some of the agencies which may be used for the training 
 of leadership are the Sunday school with its organized de- 
 partments and classes, the teacher training classes, the Daily 
 Vacation Bible School, the Christian Endeavor societies, or 
 other young people’s organizations, the Boy Scouts, Camp 
 Fire Girls, Summer Bible Conferences, pageants, recreational 
 activities, musical societies, clubs, etc. It is not wise to over- 
 
 *H. P. Douglas—‘‘The Little Town,” pp. 243-44. 
 
132 Tee NEw? CAEL 
 
 organize any church or to have too many services. Wise 
 selections must be made and these worked intensively. Lan- 
 guishing societies are a curse. 
 
 A student writes : 
 
 “All young people want something to do. The wise church 
 recognizes this and will supply this need, giving them a 
 special task. Especially to the college crowd is this necessary. 
 If there is no place or work for them when they return from 
 school, they will stay away from the church. One thing they 
 can do, and will love to do, is to get up pageants and drama- 
 tizations of all kinds. These are not only good for the young 
 people, but also for the older generation, as pageants teach 
 truths in a peculiar way not easily forgotten. Also study 
 classes should be started for the young people.” . 
 
 SUNDAY SCHOOL AND CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR* 
 
 The two most important agencies for the discovery and. 
 training of leadership are the Sunday school and the Chris- 
 tian Endeavor Society. Every country church, unless the 
 Sunday school is organized so as to develop the expressional 
 life of its youth, should have the Christian Endeavor Society. 
 My observation has been that persons who have been trained 
 in Christian Endeavor work are efficient in church leader- 
 ship. The Christian Endeavor has an adequate literature and 
 a perfected organization that has justified itself in the eyes 
 of many whose judgment cannot be ignored. It is of interest 
 to have the young people discuss this question themselves. 
 They have some very decided notions as to the relative value 
 of the Sunday school, the Christian Endeavor and other or- 
 ganizations. The following is a testimonial from one who 
 sees great possibilities in an up-to-date, properly developed 
 Sunday school: 
 
 *The author uses the term ‘‘Christian Endeavor’’ because he is familiar with 
 that organization. There are many other societies of similar nature, such as the 
 
 . Y. P. U., the Epworth League, Lutheran League, etc., which function much as 
 Christian Endeavor. 
 
THe New Caty 133 
 
 “The Sunday school is enlarging its program more and 
 more in order to provide for expression as well as impression. 
 The organized Sunday school class, if it has its work planned 
 on a well-rounded basis, can take the place of the Christian 
 Endeavor Society and do away with many of its defects. 
 
 “The young people’s department of the Sunday school can 
 meet in the morning for worship, instruction, and some ex- 
 pression, and again meet as a department for worship, ex- 
 pression, and some instruction at night. There is not time 
 for every phase of work in one hour in the morning, nor yet 
 in the two hours on Sunday, including night service. There 
 should be through-the-week meetings, weekly, bi-monthly, or 
 monthly, for recreation and sociability among the young peo- 
 ple. The program of all these meetings should be planned 
 not to overlap nor leave gaps. 
 
 “Tf the young people’s organizations are thus brought into 
 one, there will not be that divided loyalty which is the danger 
 in Christian Endeavor societies. A logical and coherent pro- 
 gram will be assured under adult counsel. There can be 
 more denominational education which counts in its develop- 
 ment of the Church for Christ.” 
 
 The following is a discussion by an A. M. graduate of 
 Johns Hopkins University : 
 
 “Christian Endeavor and kindred organizations have cer- 
 tain advantages. Christian Endeavor has a worth-while 
 history of interesting achievements. It has helped develop 
 valuable characters in Christian work. It has a workable 
 program and an adequate organization for putting this pro- 
 gram into effect. It has a valuable scheme of co-operative 
 unions in district, State, nation and the world. It is adapt- 
 able to churches of all sizes and young people of all ages. 
 
 “It is a question whether the same loyalty can be chal- 
 lenged by a denominational as by an interdenominational or- 
 ganization. I believe, however, that with the present system 
 of young people’s activities being worked out and with the 
 program being prepared by Sunday school authorities, there 
 will be a stronger appeal than is made by Christian Endeavor, 
 
134 THe New Cau 
 
 and that it will produce a more intelligent, better grounded 
 and stronger Christian character.” 
 
 Some of the young people do not agree with the sentiments 
 expressed above. One says: 
 
 “T don’t know how others feel, but I felt that the Sunday 
 school class to which I belonged was my teacher’s class, and 
 I did not feel quite free to say what I thought. I was satis- 
 fied to sit still and listen. But in Christian Endeavor meet- 
 ing I felt that it was my meeting, and always felt free to 
 speak and take part whenever asked. For the young people’s 
 standpoint there is necessity for Christian Endeavor. The 
 Sunday school is also necessary.” 
 
 Another thoughtful student says: 
 
 “A Christian Endeavor, or similar organization, is neces- 
 sary to provide expressional activity. The program can be 
 so linked with that of the church as to cause no overlapping, 
 but rather offer a complementary or unified program. The 
 training received here in expressional activity can find no 
 substitute. The service rendered to the church and com- 
 munity is invaluable in itself and in its benefit to those who 
 participate.” 
 
 Every country preacher should make a detailed and per- 
 sonal study of his young people. He should lead them out 
 into new tasks. Many a man has been led into the ministry 
 by being asked to lead a religious meeting. Dr. Theodore 
 Cuyler was a law student. He was sent one night to make 
 a short talk in a prayer meeting. As he passed out of the 
 door some one said to him, “You have helped me tonight.” 
 The thought came to him, “If I have helped one soul by a 
 ten minutes talk, what might I do by a lifetime given to 
 preaching the Gospel?” Few men have given better proof 
 of their ministry. 
 
 We should ask our young people to do things and encour- 
 age our religious leaders to assign them definite tasks. Re- 
 
Tae New: Cary 135 
 
 cently I visited Roberts congregation in South Carolina. I 
 found there a wide-awake, live Sunday school in this half- 
 time country church. I think the secret was that the young 
 people had a leading part. Both the superintendent and 
 secretary were young men. 
 
 ‘When some service is rendered by youth, a judicious word 
 of praise will encourage. They are often timid and under- 
 estimate their ability. 
 
 Every country preacher should see that some of the youth 
 of his church attend Young People’s Conferences each sum- 
 mer. No agency is performing a finer service in the matter 
 of the developing of leadership than these conferences. Not 
 only those who attend are developed, but, on their return to 
 the home churches, they help develop leadership in others. 
 The greatest benefit from these meetings is felt by the young 
 people from country churches. They have not had the oppor- 
 tunities of others. They have not been challenged as have the 
 youth of city churches. 
 
 “Stability and growth have been inaugurated where popu- 
 lations were scattered and resources undeveloped. The coun- 
 try church stands today among the people who still live amid 
 such conditions of stability and growth. Around her are 
 people who are silent but strong, unchallenged but capable, 
 undemonstrative but deeply spiritual. Around her are youth 
 who are backward but clean, uncouth but teachable, un- 
 aroused but ready for greater things. Let the country church 
 arouse, challenge, and direct the unfolding of this life which 
 is about her, and her work shall be done, her task com- 
 pleted.’”* 
 
 AL PASE 
 
 It matters not so much what agency the preacher uses. It 
 matters not so much what be his methods. Common sense 
 sanctified by prayer and guided by the Holy Spirit will dic- 
 
 *Roadman—“The Country Church and Its Program,” p. 142. 
 
136 THe New Cau 
 
 tate the agency and method best suited and most practical 
 for the conditions under which he is working. The impor- 
 tant thing is that he set himself to the task. The object is 
 to develop young people along the same lines that Jesus grew, 
 “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour 
 with God and man.” The preacher should develop his young 
 people physically, intellectually, socially and spiritually. 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 1. Why is it essential that a country preacher discover and develop 
 leadership among his people? 
 
 2. Construct in your own way a program for the development of 
 leadership in the country church. 
 
 3. Construct a program for the activities of the Christian Endeavor 
 Society in the country church. 
 
 4. What is your estimate of the value of young people’s conferences 
 in the development of leadership ? 
 
 5. In what four ways should the country preacher develop the youth 
 of his congregation? 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 RURAL RECREATION 
 
 VERY country church should provide in some way for 
 the social and recreational life of its young people. 
 One of the curses of this modern day is the resorting of the 
 young people to town and city for their amusements and 
 pleasures. City young people of the better class are inclined 
 to consider the country young people as rustics, and there- 
 fore the contacts of the young people of the country with 
 those in the town are usually not helpful or elevating, for it 
 is frequently with the lower class of urban young folks that 
 they fellowship. It is very much better for the young people 
 of the country to find their recreational and social life with 
 the rural school or the country church as the center. If the 
 church does not have an adequate equipment of its own, it 
 should.co-operate with the school. 
 In fifteen years there have been 1,948 rural schools in 
 _ Virginia closed, but that does not mean we have poorer school 
 facilities—rather better, for we now have in community cen- 
 ters all over Virginia and all over the South well-equipped 
 high school buildings. Consolidation has been the process. 
 In the same fifteen years, school buildings have increased in 
 value from $8,000,000 to $50,000,000. These modern, up-to- 
 date school buildings can be used, if the church and school 
 will co-operate, as community centers, and thus adequate 
 recreational life should be provided. 
 
 BOGIAT  LONGINGS 
 
 God created us social beings and young people have social 
 requirements. If the church does not provide the means of 
 securing these necessities of young life, youth will seek them 
 
138 Tue New Catt 
 
 in other places. It is frequently through the social contacts 
 that they come under the power of degrading influences. 
 
 A young minister who has had ‘successful experience in 
 the country church writes: 
 
 “One of the greatest needs of our rural districts today is 
 clean, wholesome recreational life for our young people. The 
 church with her social program should meet these needs. For 
 the junior boys and girls nothing can beat the Boy Scouts and 
 the Girl Scouts. I believe this idea can be worked in the 
 country, if the pastor will pick out of his congregation young 
 men and young women who will be willing to devote their 
 time to the making of men and women. The pastor must 
 lay the making of men and women on the hearts of his peo- 
 ple. As for the older group of young people, the church 
 must also provide and guide their amusements. The Sunday 
 school and the Christian Endeavor, or Young People’s So- 
 ciety, are the most effective organizations to use in this way. 
 We have them, why not use them to develop the social life of 
 the young people as well as their spiritual?” 
 
 “The Methodist Church, through her General Conference 
 of 1920, made the following enlightening and hopeful state- 
 ment: “While we are aware that improper amusements are a 
 fruitful source of spiritual decline, we also believe that the 
 social and recreational instinct is God-given and, if properly 
 guided, will strengthen rather than injure the spiritual life. 
 The church must no longer allow her youth to ‘go into near- 
 by villages and buy themselves the victuals of social life,’ 
 but, rather, should say, ‘Sit down, and eat of the clean, 
 wholesome things provided by the church, which seeks to 
 build a social and recreational life that is spiritual, and a 
 spiritual life that is social and recreational.’ The General 
 Conference of 1924 strengthened this appeal by directing the 
 Board of Temperance, Prohibition and Public Morals to ig 
 mote a campaign of education in this direction.’’* 
 
 Young people want to do things for themselves, and it is 
 never wise to seem to try to dictate just how they should 
 express themselves in their recreational life. They need 
 
 *Roadman—“The Country Church and Its Program,” p. 104. 
 
THe New Catt 139 
 
 encouragement. They should have wise, tactful guidance and 
 supervision. In these days of automobiles the country church 
 must do all it can to keep its young people from running to 
 town. It will not only be money saved, but it will mean the 
 saving of souls. Urban contacts are bad for rural youth. 
 The young people’s societies should be encouraged to put on 
 socials as frequently as possible and adequate quarters either 
 in the church or schoolhouse should be provided. 
 
 THE NEW FREEDOM 
 
 This is an age of great danger to young people. They have 
 not only torn off the mask, but thrown it away. Convention- 
 alities which were prevalent a generation ago no longer exist. 
 It is therefore very necessary that our young people have 
 social contacts with other young people of the right sort. 
 “Those who worry about the morals of young people should 
 remember that if we take care of their thinking, their morals 
 will take care of themselves.” This means that our holiday 
 celebrations should be managed by some institution like the 
 church or Sunday school, which has certain community ideals. 
 
 GAMES 
 
 Considerable thought and consideration should be given to 
 providing games for the young people in their socials. A 
 variety of inspirational games should be prepared to keep 
 them alert and interested. The denominational publication 
 houses can furnish books which will be useful for recreational 
 activity leaders. 
 
 “Games and events in series are found to be valuable. A 
 country church in Connecticut developed a remarkable pro- 
 gram of ‘Full moon socials.’ On the Tuesday nearest the full 
 noon, the country for miles around came to expect its full- 
 moon social. Often in the summer, when these events were 
 
140 Tue New Cari 
 
 held as lawn fetes, as many as five hundred people would 
 gather. Many communities have planned a year’s play pro- 
 gram with groups competing for honors and score points. 
 The people are divided into three or four groups of twenty 
 each with the entire evening devoted to competitive games, 
 charades, book dramatizations, etc. Records of points made 
 by each group are kept throughout the year. The groups are 
 sometimes named after colleges, or baseball leagues, or ‘ghost- 
 
 goof types,’ and have yells and songs to support enthusi- 
 asm,”’* 
 
 SPORTS 
 
 Country people like sports which are inexpensive. They 
 do not have much ready money, and what they have they do 
 not like to spend for recreation. Quoits appeal to country 
 people. All the equipment needed is some old rusty, dis- 
 carded horse shoes and two wooden pegs. You could never 
 get country men to engage in golf. 
 
 The young people of a country church might have a tennis 
 court at the church or school building, provided they can 
 make a frolic and prepare the ground without the expendi- 
 ture of money. Those who have been away to college will 
 have rackets, balls, etc. 
 
 Basketball, volley-ball and baseball are valuable sports for 
 young people because they cultivate co-operation. We have 
 seen that one of the weaknesses of the people in the country 
 is individualism. Anything that will teach them to work 
 together in sport will also cultivate that which is essential for 
 the success of a rural community. 
 
 CON TAGES 
 
 It is often through these sports that a minister is able to 
 establish contacts which prove of great value in reaching 
 
 *Roadman—“The Country Church and Its Program,” p. 106. 
 
Toe New! Carty 141 
 
 youth for Christ and the church. Before Jesus undertook to 
 teach the woman about the Water of Life, and to lead her 
 into living relationship with God, he established a point of 
 contact by asking her for a drink. He talked to her about 
 water, the thing in which she was interested. A minister 
 frequently fails in dealing with his people by not recognizing 
 the necessity of the proper contact. 
 
 “A young minister who went to a new congregation and 
 played baseball with the boys was not understood by some of 
 the older people. 
 
 “ “Tt isn’t that we care,’ said members of the committee who 
 came to call on this new pastor, ‘but the other folks are talk- 
 ing about you. They say you don’t look nor act anything like 
 a preacher. You go out on that baseball diamond without a 
 coat, hat, or necktie, and you run around those bases. It isn’t 
 that we care, but people of other denominations are talking. 
 When a preacher plays baseball he’s gettin’ on cramped quar- 
 tersY 
 
 “The ‘baseball minister’ explained to the two faithful offi- 
 cials that Jesus won His disciples while they were busy at 
 their tasks, fishing or collecting taxes, and that he hoped to 
 win these boys for Christ on the baseball field. So one day, 
 sitting on a log in Mr. Graham’s pasture, after a successful 
 game against a difficult team, the pastor, who pitched that 
 day, and the captain of the team, who caught for him, had a 
 long talk about winning life’s battles, with the Master of men 
 as their Captain. That evening, as the shadows lengthened 
 through the clump of woods west of the church, this young 
 man selected his Captain for life. He also undertook the 
 task of signing up the other players under his new Leader. 
 When the season was ended, nine baseball men were ready 
 for any assignment in the task of building the Kingdom of 
 our Lord in this community.’’* 
 
 
 
 *Ralph Felton—‘A Christian in the Countryside,” p. 22. 
 
142. Ture New Catt 
 
 INTELLECTUAL STIMULATION 
 
 Community gatherings should have an educational as well 
 as a social value. This leads us to consider another charac- 
 teristic of the recreational life that appeals to country young 
 folks. They have physical exercise on the farm. They like 
 something that will act as a mental stimulus, such as conun- 
 drums, charades, pageants, high school plays, spelling 
 matches, etc. Good, wholesome books will do much to safe- 
 guard the youth of the country and provide for them a 
 recreation that will meet the necessity of mental stimulation 
 and at the same time inspire them with lofty ideals. Every 
 country congregation ought to have an up-to-date, attractive 
 library for its young people. 
 
 MOVING PICTURES 
 
 There are many clean moving picture exhibitions now that 
 may be secured. These are entertaining, educational and in- 
 spirational. Every country community that can possibly 
 afford it should provide a moving picture outfit. It might 
 be handled by the church or school, or church and school 
 jointly. If the church does not have a suitable place, they 
 can be put on in the school building. Of course, these pic- 
 tures should be under the supervision of a safe and sane com- 
 mittee. There may now be obtained some excellent historical 
 pictures such as that of Martin Luther, the Pilgrim Fathers, 
 etc., also pictures that are educational along agricultural and 
 sanitary lines and those exhibiting the development of plant 
 and animal life. 
 
 THE POUR SE. CULO BS 
 The church should also enter into sympathetic co-operation 
 ‘with the county agents in the development of the Four H 
 Clubs. There are certain states of youth when some one thing 
 
THe New CaA.Lu 143 
 
 becomes of tremendous interest. If it is not something harm- 
 less and wholesome, it will probably be something hurtful 
 and degrading. The Four H Clubs stand for the develop- 
 ment of the head, heart, hand and health. If a boy becomes 
 interested in a pig, or a calf, or a patch of corn, and a girl 
 grows skillful in canning, sewing and homemaking under the 
 guidance of a wise county agent and has the sympathy of 
 parents and pastor, there is not much probability of their 
 going wrong. 
 
 MUSIC 
 
 Church music has already been mentioned, and we have 
 made the point that music in the country churches should be 
 simple and spiritual. It should come from the heart. In 
 music there is great opportunity for wholesome recreation. 
 Orchestras may be formed. Duets, trios, quartets and group 
 choruses will give an opportunity for fun as well as culture. 
 Community singing can be made a factor of great social and 
 recreational value ard at the same time young people will be 
 trained in music which can be capitalized to help the public 
 service. Rev. John Mettam, of Money Creek, Minnesota, 
 tells the following: 
 
 “For three summers we have held outdoor Sunday evening 
 services, during the months of July and August, on the lawns 
 of various farm homes, scattered all over the circuit. 
 
 “For the past two summers we have done some pageantry 
 work in connection. The pageants used were “The Triumph 
 of Peace,’ ‘The Challenge of the Cross,’ “The Good Samari- 
 tan,’ and ‘The Ten Virgins.’ Ours is only a small com- 
 munity, but when the young people put on their pageants and 
 musicals over five hundred people will be out to the service. 
 
 “It must not be thought that this is just a religious show. 
 The devotional and worship side is always put first. It is a 
 good thing for the young people taking part too. They find 
 a real place of usefulness on this occasion. The lessons are 
 
144 Tue New Car 
 
 driven home to the hearts of the people in so vivid a way that 
 they cannot be easily forgotten. 
 
 “Our opening service last summer was largely musical. 
 The McKinley choir from Winona (twenty miles distant) 
 came out and sang with the local chorus. A pasture with two 
 small hills was selected, one choir being placed on each hill. 
 They sang a number of pieces antiphonally. Afterward they 
 were brought together and finished the service with the “Hal- 
 lelujah Chorus.’ 
 
 “When we compare the numbers who attend our lawn serv- 
 ices with the few who would ordinarily attend our little 
 church on Sunday evenings in summer, and also the good in-- 
 fluences of the meetings on the community, it seems to us 
 very much worth while.’’* 
 
 NEVER COMMERCIALIZE 
 
 Young people’s socials should never be commercialized. 
 Money for benevolences and other religious projects should 
 be raised by gifts of stewardship rather than by exploiting 
 the spirit of play. It cheapens the sacredness of giving and 
 at the same time robs the gathering of its social benefits and 
 
 blessings. 
 RECREATION ROR GALE 
 
 Recreational life should be not only for the young people, 
 but for all members of the community. Rural psychology is 
 different from urban. Many recreational leaders make the 
 mistake of trying to urbanize the country social life. There 
 has been a tendency to ape the city. Country people do not 
 like to throw their time away. They like recreation that is 
 useful, inexpensive and stimulative of thought. Country 
 people, both men and women, will find it helpful to gather 
 for an evening of study of the community in which they live. 
 They might put on the blackboard three lists. The first list 
 is of the things their community sells; the second of things 
 
 *Roadman—‘‘The Country Church and Its Program,” pp. 80-81. 
 
Tue New Catt 145 
 
 the community buys, and the third the things which the com- 
 munity may produce which could be substituted for articles 
 they now purchase. This will serve to help the economical 
 situation and will create a good deal of interest. 
 
 Even in play country people like to feel that they are 
 engaged in something useful. The psychology of country 
 people is expressed in the old-time house-raisings, log-rolling, 
 corn-husking and quilting parties. They had lots of fun and 
 still were engaged in something useful. This characteristic 
 can be capitalized for the church. 
 
 Rev. George W. Gilmer, D. D., of Draper, Va., has used 
 it in the building of mission chapels. He gets the community 
 together for a frolic. They procure the materials; the women 
 provide the dinner and the men perform the work in the 
 erection of the building. He has been able to erect a church 
 in one day, laying the foundation in the morning and com- 
 pleting the building at sunset. 
 
 Rev. J. M. Millard, pastor of the Alamance Presbyterian 
 Church, near Greensboro, N. C., in the erection of the splen- 
 did Sunday school building saved about $4,000 by getting 
 his people together for social days to do the work. This 
 congregation has sent forty-two men into the ministry. 
 
 Some congregations have provided money for benevolent 
 causes by setting aside a definite piece of land. Members of 
 the congregation gather for a social day now and then. The 
 women serve dinner and the men do the work necessary for 
 the production of a crop, the entire proceeds of which, when 
 sold, are used for some benevolent cause. 
 
 Fairs and festivals, such as chrysanthemum shows, dahlia 
 shows, etc., which bring the people together once a year, but 
 engage their attention and thought for the entire twelve 
 months, have proved of great social value in many country 
 
146 THe New CAaLu 
 
 congregations. Both men and women, old and young, be- 
 come immensely interested in an enterprise of this kind. 
 
 The Church of the Brethren, sometimes called the “Dunk- 
 ard,” has had a very commendable record in certain country 
 districts. In the past they have been able to hold their young 
 people, but in recent years the automobile and the picture 
 shows in nearby towns have made it an increasingly difficult 
 problem for them as well as for other denominations. A — 
 minister of this Church, Rev. W. A. Kinzie, of Kansas, was 
 so successful in dealing with the situation that I wrote and 
 asked him to tell me about his methods. The following is 
 copied from his letter: 
 
 “The work referred to was in a rural district just five 
 miles from a town of 1,500 on one side, one of 2,000 on 
 another side, and another good-sized town, the county-seat, 
 of 25,000, sixteen miles away. This all made it a hard 
 place to work, as what few people were going to church were 
 going to one of the towns, excepting the few who were try- 
 ing to hold down the place where I was called. I will try to 
 be brief in my answers. 
 
 “Obstacles to Overcome. A weak, discouraged member- 
 ship caused by a gradual losing out over a period of many 
 years. Every effort had failed. Each pastor before me had 
 spent his efforts trying to follow the program of our fathers, 
 which was outgrown. The church had lost the confidence of 
 the people as far as serving their needs was concerned. The. 
 equipment consisted of a one-room, barn-like church building 
 without a basement, no classrooms, no conveniences of any 
 kind with which to work. The field seemed small and very 
 unpromising. Aside from the faithful few who gathered at 
 the church on good Sundays to worship, there was nothing 
 doing. 
 
 “Some Methods Used. I began with what I had, strength- 
 ened the spirits of the members. I called upon every home 
 and served every family as far as possible regardless of rank 
 or creed. Made a careful survey of the field and adjoining 
 territory. Emphasized the place and need of Christianity, 
 
THE’ New: Gacy 147 
 
 fostered healthful entertainments. Secured the best talent in 
 the country and, getting my folks to believe that there was 
 nothing too good nor out of reach of the country people, we 
 sought only the best. I counseled freely with both old and 
 young, appreciating every effort no matter how crude. I 
 advocated one church in one community, it serving every 
 need of every individual and every individual supporting that 
 church. 
 
 “Some of the needs attracting the attention of the church 
 were better farming, better roads, better schools, better social 
 conditions, more home owners, modern conveniences, more 
 money earned and a consecrated life with all of its wealth. 
 
 “We furnished our own entertainment with the help of 
 outside talent, put on lecture courses, organized Farmers 
 Shipping Association, taught co-operation. Possibly the one 
 thing most outstanding as to putting the community on ‘the 
 map’ was the organization of a Community Festival, the first 
 of its kind in the State as far as we know. It took on the 
 nature of a fair, contests in stock, farm products, chickens, 
 machinery of all kinds by business men from nearby towns. 
 The ladies were interested in their part by contesting in fruit, 
 jellies, pastries, fancywork. Prizes were given for educa- 
 tional work, day school and religious work. There was a 
 ‘Better Babies’ contest and a closing with a big religious pro- 
 ~ gram on Sunday by some of the best talent within a radius 
 of several hundred miles. Generally on Friday night of the 
 festival we put on a home talent play, which gained for itself 
 a wide reputation. Out of this festival has grown several 
 others of its kind within the State. But through it all, our 
 point of emphasis was the Church; everything must have its 
 finale in the Church, and nothing was tolerated which would 
 not build up spiritually. Of course, in the lead of all this 
 was our regular spiritual program, the church worship, the 
 Sunday school, religious education, revivals, etc. 
 
 “Results. The church and the community is united, im- 
 aginary lines and cliques are removed, the membership was 
 doubled within five years. The spiritual growth was in- 
 creased, the community is ready to back every forward move. 
 They have perfect confidence in the church and support it 
 whether members or not. A new $32,000 brick building was 
 
148 THe New CALE 
 
 erected, the old house was rededicated for community work. 
 The church and its work is outstanding in the State. Old 
 and young alike are coming into the ranks of the church and 
 living positive Christian lives. 
 
 “This is only another proof of what people can do when 
 they have a mind to work together. It was our plan, as far 
 as possible, to give every person a job, some responsibility, 
 then to appreciate the efforts and not criticize. It is remark- 
 able what a community can do when they line up together, 
 follow a leader, forget self and think of the good of the 
 group. 
 
 “What I was permitted to do, I think any other ordinary 
 man can do if he is willing to pay the price. It means work, 
 sacrifice and implicit faith in man and in God. I trust you 
 will be able to inspire many to higher living and into that 
 victorious life which comes to all who will try.” 
 
 This all goes to prove that country people are willing to 
 respond to the appeal of an adequate leadership. 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 1. How would you prevent young people from going to town for 
 their social life? 
 
 2. How would you construct a recreational program for a country 
 Church? 
 
 3. How do country people differ from city people in their recrea- 
 tional activity ? 
 
PART FOUR 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 CHRISTIAN TRAINING IN THE 
 COUNTRY 
 
 WO ways in which the Church functions are through 
 Cae and Religious Education. Neither 1s com- 
 plete without the other. Evangelism without religious train- 
 ing sometimes becomes a curse instead of a blessing. One of 
 the great troubles with the church in the country districts 
 through the South today is that the church is filled with peo- 
 ple who are ignorant of the principles of Christian living and 
 many of them have had no vital Christian experience. Next 
 to the Christian home, the Sunday. school becomes the most 
 potent agency in the nurture of Christian culture. 
 
 Dr. W. H. Mills, in the report of the Ad Interim Com- 
 mittee on the Country Church to the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States in 1925, says: 
 
 “In the South the community is generally nominally Chris- 
 tian, but the church takes little part in the every-day life of 
 its people. It is not always easy for the individual among 
 us to live the Christian life, or for the Christian family to 
 maintain itself in the society about it. Just in proportion as 
 the social order lacks elements that make for Christian living 
 in just that proportion it would appear to be the duty of the 
 church to attempt to supply them. This reasoning applies 
 with tremendous force to the present situation of the country 
 churches. 
 
 “Tn all our agricultural population of native white parent- 
 age, where is illiteracy greatest? In the South. Where is 
 the tenancy most numerous and hopeless? In the South. 
 Where is human life the cheapest and most often taken vio- 
 lently away? In the South. Where do women die in the 
 
150 THe New Catu 
 
 largest proportion because having come to motherhood, they 
 are most carelessly attended? In the South. Evidently, 
 then, in the South, church membership is not always synony- 
 mous with Christian living or Christian community condi- 
 tions.” 
 
 The church is not just a fire insurance society. The re- 
 ligion of Christ teaches men how to live as well as how to die. 
 Since so many parents have failed in their God-given duties 
 _to the children in the country, it becomes a task tremendously 
 worth while for the Church to undertake and carry on in an 
 efficient way the work of Religious Education. 
 
 THE CHALLENGE 
 
 There are some difficulties that challenge the Church when 
 we think of the task of Religious Education in the country. 
 
 1. THe: Bieness or Ir 
 
 Children and young people constitute half of the farm 
 population. There are four million more children in thirty- 
 two million people who live on farms in the United States 
 than in thirty-two million of the urban population. There 
 are two million five hundred thousand more children in the 
 country than in the cities of America. Proportionately, there 
 are more children born in the rural sections of the South than 
 in any other part of the United States, and the rural sections 
 contain nearly three-fourths of the entire population. There 
 are millions of children not in any Sunday schools and mil- 
 lions more who attend irregularly Sunday schools with poor 
 equipment and untrained workers. 
 
 Methods of efficiency in the cities are fairly proficient, and 
 every urban child is within close walking distance of a Sun- 
 day school, well equipped, organized and conducted by trained 
 officers and teachers. 
 
THe New Caty tie | 
 
 A good slogan for the country church would be “A Sunday 
 school within walking distance of every child in the country.” 
 
 New Providence Session, soon after I became pastor, 
 passed the resolution, “No child within the bounds of this 
 congregation shall be beyond walking distance of a Sunday 
 school.” The church conducted five outpost Sunday schools. 
 There were about forty young people, some of them college 
 men and women, who gave their Sunday afternoons to this 
 work. 
 
 Home Missions and Sunday school agencies of the great 
 denominations have a field of service that offers a tremen- 
 dous challenge to provide Sunday school opportunities for 
 the children of the great rural districts. 
 
 2. THe SCATTERED CONDITION. 
 
 In the scattered condition of the people there is a challenge. 
 Much of our population lives in coves and in sparsely set- 
 tled communities. The people cannot be gathered together 
 in any great numbers. To many of these isolated groups, no 
 religious teachers of any denomination have ever gone. There 
 may be found whole communities where there is no Sunday 
 school and no member of any church except a few who have 
 joined at some sporadic effort of evangelism. 
 
 Dr. W. E. Hudson, Superintendent of Home Missions of 
 Lexington Presbytery, has found such communities in Vir- 
 ginia. About four years ago he opened up a section like this. 
 There were only one or two people in the community who 
 claimed to be members of any church. Miss Ada Patterson, 
 a member of New Providence Church, became the school 
 teacher. She has organized and conducted Sunday school and 
 has done anything her hands found to do that could be of 
 Christian service to the community. Mrs. Hudson has pro- 
 vided what is called “Chamberlayne Cottage” as a home for 
 
i Me Tan New tCaLe 
 
 the teachers. The following is a recent report from this 
 field: 
 
 “Miss Ada Patterson has been assisted by Miss Thelma 
 Deaton during the summer months, There have been 343 
 visitors in the cottage since January, showing its popularity 
 as a community center. A most interesting picnic was held 
 with an attendance of more than 250 people. A splendid 
 program was rendered by the children of the Sunday school, 
 and a number of attractive hymns were sung. The people 
 entered heartily into the games and sports. A sumptuous 
 dinner was served by the people of the community. Miss 
 Patterson has continued her work of ministering to the peo- 
 ple spiritually and also to their bodily needs. She has dressed 
 seventy-five wounds since January.” 
 
 A Sunday school properly conducted in sections like this 
 becomes an evangelistic agency of the best type. 
 
 3. SUNDAY VISITING 
 
 Another difficulty in the country districts is Sunday visit- 
 ing. Town cousins and friends from another neighborhood 
 come visiting; this interferes very much in the regular at- 
 tendance at both church and Sunday school. People need to 
 be taught that whenever the church is open for preaching or 
 Sunday school, there is a very sacred engagement on their 
 part to be present. When they fail to fill these engagements, 
 two of God’s laws are being violated—the Sabbath is being 
 desecrated, and the people are forsaking the assembling of 
 themselves together. 
 
 The automobile to many people is a new toy. They have 
 not learned how to use it. It will take people away from the 
 church as well as bring them to it. The automobile has 
 greatly increased Sunday visiting. Among a certain class of 
 people, each Sunday is an occasion for a big social gathering, 
 first at one house and then at another. An elaborate dinner 
 
aE Niae GAT L 153 
 
 is served and the day is spent in idle gossip. The appeal 
 should be made to country people that they consecrate the 
 automobile to the Lord on the Sabbath Day to take them- 
 selves and their neighbors to the church and Sunday school. 
 Some country churches are using automobiles and trucks to 
 bring people to the Sunday services. 
 
 There is a challenge also to the Church to put on a worth- 
 while program sufficiently advertised to attract the attend- 
 ance of the people and to maintain their interest when they 
 come. 
 
 4. Lack oF TRAINED LEADERSHIP 
 
 Trained leadership is needed in the country Sunday schools 
 today as never before. There is a movement of the better- 
 educated people to the cities. High school graduates and 
 college men and women enter professions or a business 
 career. Not many country communities have a minister 
 capable of discovering and training leadership. Frequently 
 ministers do not maintain friendly relations with the schools 
 and the teachers. There is need in the country communities 
 for educated, cultured ministers, not only that people may be 
 attracted to the churches, but that leaders may be trained 
 among them. 
 
 Teacher Training Schools can be conducted successfully 
 in country communities. Lexington Presbytery has been put- 
 ting on in the country churches a very fine series of teacher 
 training schools. A group of churches is selected and a 
 week’s school of intensive training is put on under a corps 
 of competent leaders, the same workers going from com- 
 munity to community. 
 
 One of the secrets of the growth of the country churches 
 in this Presbytery is the growing proficiency of the Sunday 
 school teachers. 
 
154 Tue New CAatLyt 
 
 The Daily Vacation Bible School, which has proved a great 
 success in the country districts, has been not only a blessing 
 to the children, but also the means of training Sunday school 
 workers, It is practical to put on in connection with the Daily 
 Vacation Bible School one or more teacher training classes. 
 Some churches make use of the truck, which during the win- 
 ter months is used in taking the children to public school, to 
 convey them to the Daily Vacation Bible School. In some 
 cases parents accompany the children, and when they do they 
 furnish fine material for classes in teacher training. 
 
 5. Lack oF EQuIPpMENT 
 
 Most country Sunday schools are handicapped for lack of 
 equipment. This is more keenly felt since the public schools 
 are getting up-to-date, well-equipped buildings. The four- 
 wall, old-type church is no longer adequate to meet the needs 
 of this modern day. The time has come when the Sunday 
 school must be properly organized and graded. Separate 
 departments with separate rooms must be provided out of 
 sight and out of sound of each other, just as children have 
 throughout the week in day school. The old church building 
 can still be used for preaching and as an assembly room for 
 the Sunday school. 
 
 A great deal of the Lord’s money has been wasted in the 
 erection of churches. Often when the building is complete 
 it is not suited to the needs of the congregation. It is a 
 tragedy when the sacred trust fund has been squandered and 
 generations cheated out of that which was intended for their 
 good. A church should be so constructed that it meet the 
 actual needs of the congregation. It should be more than a 
 preaching house or a music hall. No church building is 
 adequate that does not provide for the necessities of the 
 Bible school. 
 
THe New Cau 155 
 
 In Farmville, Va., there was a very ornate Episcopal 
 church with a steep roof. Dr. R. L. Dabney, Professor, 
 Union Theological Seminary, then at Hampden-Sidney Col- 
 lege, was in Farmville one day. He said to the Episcopal 
 minister, “I would like to have the privilege of naming your 
 church.” 
 
 The clergyman answered, “What do you want to call it?” 
 
 Dr. Dabney said, “St. Rufus.” 
 
 There was at Pamplin, Va., a Presbyterian church with 
 very severe lines which Dr. Dabney had planned. Not long 
 after, the Episcopal minister was at Pamplin and saw this 
 church with its four plain walls and low-pitched roof. At 
 the next meeting of these friends, the Episcopal minister 
 said, “The other day I saw that church you planned, and I 
 would like to have the privilege of naming it.” 
 
 Dr. Dabney said, “What do you wish to call it?” 
 
 The reply was, “St. Barnabas.” 
 
 Almost every person thinks he can run a newspaper or plan 
 a church building. The fact is that there are very few who 
 can do either. It is never wise for a preacher nor a member 
 of the congregation to draw the plans for their own church 
 building, even if they know how. The best thing to do is to 
 secure a special church architect, a man who has made church 
 erection a life study. The next best thing is to adopt the 
 plan of some building that has proved satisfactory. 
 
 Books of church and Sunday school plans may be secured 
 from the Sunday school agency of each denomination. These 
 should be obtained and studied. A committee should also be 
 appointed and sent to visit churches which have recently been 
 built. It will be able to learn from the mistakes, as well as 
 the successes, of other congregations. 
 
 Where it has been imposssible to provide a special Sunday 
 school building, curtains strung on wires may be used to 
 
156 Tre NEW CALE 
 
 make classrooms. At any rate, there should be separate 
 quarters for the little folks and chairs and other equipment 
 suited to the requirements of their age. 
 
 6. SHORTAGE OF PREACHERS 
 
 Because of the shortage of well-qualified country preachers 
 and other rural religious leaders, it is difficult to have preach- 
 ing every Sunday, and for this very reason there is more 
 need that the Sunday school be maintained in an efficient 
 manner. The church building should always be opened for 
 Sunday school if for no other religious service. An appeal 
 for loyalty to the Church should be presented to the Chris- 
 tians among the scattered people something like that which 
 was made by Rev. E. L. Middleton in his book, “Building a 
 Country Sunday School,” pp. 19-20: 
 
 “Once-a-month preaching and non-resident pastors make 
 it most difficult to keep together any congregation. Too many 
 people would rather go to other churches to hear preaching 
 than be useful Sunday school workers in their own churches. 
 To attend preaching at other churches than our own is com- 
 mendable, but not nearly so much so as to be loyal to our own 
 church in trying to save the lost and train the saved to serv- — 
 ice. The very doing of these things will give us training. 
 
 “Perfect loyalty to every interest of one’s own church is 
 the plain, unquestioned duty of every church member, In 
 our church vows we promised to maintain its public worship. 
 People who neglect their own Sunday schools in order to at- 
 tend preaching at other churches are sometimes called religi- 
 ous vagrants. They do no religious work, but enjoy the privi- 
 leges furnished by others.” 
 
 1; 1M cL OO.OLD: 
 
 Many country people feel that the Sunday school is only 
 for children. As other religious services are not so frequent 
 there is greater need that the members of the country con- 
 
Te EN ey A Tes 157 
 
 gregation, old and young, join in the study of the Bible. I 
 like the name “Bible School.” Young people follow the ex- 
 ample of their parents, and the only way to hold them in the 
 Sunday school after they reach the age when they think they 
 are men and women is for the parents to set an example by 
 attending Sunday school themselves. 
 
 It is true that men attend upon preaching services in the 
 country in far greater numbers proportionately than in the 
 city, but during the Sunday school hour they may be seen in 
 groups under the trees, or sitting on the fences whittling and 
 talking of their crops and other things. In the cities men 
 congregate on the street corners, in the drug stores, at the 
 hotels, in the parks and other places on Sunday, and do not 
 even go to church. It is also to be regretted that much busi- 
 ness is transacted in the cities on the Sabbath. Men who 
 attend church in the city usually do so with a good motive, 
 because there are so many counter attractions. In the country 
 ~men are drawn to the church just to meet their neighbors or 
 because there is no other place to go. But, at least, they 
 come, and their presence constitutes a real challenge. 
 
 MEN? 2¢BI BLE GLASS 
 
 The country preacher should make a special effort to or- 
 ganize and interest his men. At any rate, he should have a 
 Men’s Bible Class. 
 
 At New Providence there are still some men who linger 
 under the trees, and quite a number of them come in late to 
 the preaching. The men themselves put on a movement 
 which improved conditions very much. The efforts of this 
 organization have been commendably successful. They pre- 
 pared and read a paper which closed as follows: 
 
158 THe New Car 
 
 “The old year, with its trials, troubles, sorrows, adversi- 
 ties, failures, errors, both omission and commission, its joys, 
 gladness, successes, blessings and opportunities, is as water 
 that has passed the mill, but by the mercy and love of God, 
 we are spared to witness the dawning of another year with 
 its opportunities, its hopes, its possibilities. God grant that 
 we may make the most of them. 
 
 “May your committee suggest that every member of the 
 Men’s Bible Class make a new year resolution to use due 
 diligence in being present at the opening of every church 
 service, and let us hope, that if we set the example, the 
 younger men will strive to emulate it.” 
 
 It was my privilege to teach this class for sixteen years. 
 At intervals we have studied books on Stewardship and Mis- 
 sions, but the men like the study of the Bible better than that 
 of any other book. My belief is that it is well for the pastor 
 to study these books and to teach truths from them, which 
 he wishes to inculcate, in connection with lessons drawn from 
 the Scriptures. | 
 
 MEN OF THE CHURCH 
 
 Another problem in the country is to get the men to read 
 religious newspapers and inform themselves about the work 
 of the Church as a whole. We have found it a good idea at 
 the inspirational and educational meetings of the Men of the 
 Church, which have been operating about a year, to have one 
 man report on what he found interesting and helpful in the 
 religious papers during the month. This not only secured a 
 careful reading of the articles by the man appointed, but it 
 served as an eye-opener to the men who were not accustomed 
 to read these periodicals. I am led to believe that in many 
 cases it stimulated interest that in time will lead to the habit 
 of reading. 
 
 The organization of the men of the church will undoubt- 
 edly prove of great benefit and assistance to the country min- 
 
THe New Catt 159 
 
 ister in his work. It will create group consciousness and an 
 esprit de corps that fosters loyalty and faithfulness in the 
 performance of tasks assigned. It is a great thing for the 
 country man to be linked up in a vital way with the religious 
 movements of the church as a whole. 
 
 It remains to be seen how well the special organization of 
 the Men of the Church will maintain itself in the country 
 districts. If it does not succeed it is because it does not 
 justify itself in the promotion of prayer life, stimulation of 
 Bible study, enlargement of Christian vision, deepening of 
 religious experience and leading of men out into larger 
 spheres of usefulness in personal work and brotherly service. 
 
 To maintain interest in the organization of the men of the 
 country church is to give to them a vision of soul-saving. I 
 know no better method than for the country preacher to pro- 
 claim the real Gospel and to lead them in a systematic study 
 of the Bible. 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 1. How should Evangelism and Religious Education be related in the 
 country church? 
 
 2. Name things in the country Sunday school which constitute a chal- 
 lenge. 
 
 3. What do you think should be done to meet the religious needs in 
 sparsely settled communities ? 
 
 4. How can we train leaders for country Sunday schools? 
 
 5. What steps would you take to secure proper equipment for a coun- 
 try Sunday school? 
 
 6. How would you secure the attendance of adults in the country 
 Sunday school? 
 
 7. How would you maintain a men’s organization in the country 
 Church? 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 WOMEN OF THE COUNTRY 
 CHURCH 
 
 OT only the officers, but all the members of the church 
 N should be put to work. Organization is not just for 
 the creation of ecclesiastical machinery. It is a means to an 
 end. The end is to enlist, develop and train all the members 
 in Christian living and service. It has been proved by ex- 
 periment that this can be accomplished more efficiently in 
 groups. Young people develop more satisfactorily in their 
 own societies without the dictation and domination of out- 
 siders, and this holds true of all other organizations. 
 
 The Woman’s Auxiliary has long since passed the experi- 
 mental stage. Many country churches do not have an Auxil- 
 iary, and some feel that it will not function in the country. 
 It has worked in a wonderful way in some country churches, 
 and there is no reason why it is not adaptable to all.* 
 
 HOW TO SET UP A WOMAN’S AUXILIARY IN A 
 COUNTRY CHURCH . 
 
 1. It is to be supposed that the minister has discovered his 
 field by the survey, and that he has made a study of the con- 
 ditions. He has a complete list of all the women of the 
 congregation. He should then talk over the matter of an 
 organization among the women with some of his wisest and 
 most discreet lady members. They should discuss plans for 
 the Auxiliary, and secure literature from the head of the 
 woman’s work, as, for example, the Southern Presbyterian 
 Church from Mrs. W. C. Winsborough, 273-277 Field Build- 
 
 *Readers of different denominations will please think in terms and names of 
 the women’s organizations in your church, I use Auxiliary because this is the 
 name with which I am familiar. 
 
THe New Catt 161 
 
 ing, St. Louis, Mo. This should be put into the hands of 
 every woman in the congregation. The preacher might men- 
 tion from the pulpit the fact that this literature has been 
 distributed, and also call attention to the articles on the Auxil- 
 iary published in the church papers. It never pays to be in 
 a hurry in dealing with country people. It is well to give 
 them an opportunity to think the matter through and to come 
 to their own conclusions. 
 
 2. After due time a meeting should be called, to which 
 representatives from some Auxiliary of a neighboring church 
 which has a prosperous and successful society are invited. 
 They should be asked to tell just how they have worked the 
 plan of the Auxiliary in their congregation and of the 
 obstacles they have been able to overcome, and the success 
 with which they accomplished the task. 
 
 3. Before the Auxiliary is organized, it is always well to 
 get the consent of the church authorities. The minister may 
 then preach a sermon on the good works of the women of 
 the Bible. | 
 
 4. By this time the leading women of the church will un- 
 doubtedly be enlisted. A circular letter should be prepared 
 and sent to each woman of the congregation explaining in 
 outline the workings of the Auxiliary and the purpose for 
 which it came into existence. This letter should also describe 
 the qualifications and duties of the officers in the local society. 
 
 A blank giving the titles of the officers should be enclosed, 
 with the request that each woman of the congregation, after 
 praying to God for His guidance, vote for that woman for 
 each office which she thinks best suited. There should be no 
 electioneering. A day should be appointed for a meeting, at 
 which time the ballots should be counted and the organization 
 effected. Every woman of the congregation should have an 
 
162 THe New Catu 
 
 urgent invitation to be present. Unless there is an election 
 in the nominating ballot, the two ladies receiving the highest 
 number of votes for each office should be declared nominees. 
 A secret ballot should then be taken for the election. Try to 
 create an esprit de corps so that no one will refuse to perform. 
 the duties of the office for which God’s Spirit has selected 
 her. All subsequent elections should follow the same plan. 
 
 Never have a ‘nominating committee in a country church. 
 First, because people are individualistic and like to vote as 
 they please without suggestions from any one else. Second, 
 in the country every one knows every one else, and if the 
 women will pray over the matter and vote as they are led, 
 they are not liable to make a mistake in their elections. 
 Third, most of the people in the country are kin to each 
 other, and the nominating committee will be put in an em- 
 barrassing position. Fourth, by allowing each one to express 
 her own personal preference, every woman of the congrega- 
 tion is enlisted at the very beginning of the organization. It 
 will prevent hard feeling and will probably secure the best 
 officers. If the Holy Spirit makes the selection, after prayer, 
 the duties of the offices will seem more important and sacred. 
 
 5. In the country, Circles should be assigned with refer-: 
 ence to the convenience of meeting. Quite a number of the 
 women do not have a car, or do not drive one. There are 
 not many driving horses and buggies left. The Circle meet- 
 ings should be held frequently, and when the Society meets 
 as a whole at the church, it should usually be an all-day meet- 
 ing with dinner on the grounds, to which the men are in- 
 vited. The officers of the church or the Men of the Church 
 may hold a meeting at the same time. 
 
 Each circle should have a committee whose business it is 
 to see that conveyances are provided for each member of 
 that Circle. Every member should have an opportunity to 
 
Tue New Cay 163 
 
 attend. A real program should be provided which will hold 
 interest from beginning to end. 
 
 6. The aims of the Auxiliary should be constantly kept 
 before the society, namely: 
 
 (a) The development of spiritual life through prayer and 
 Bible study. 
 
 (b) Missionary education through study classes and circu- 
 lation of church papers and missionary literature. This 
 should include an intelligent understanding of the work of 
 the church as a whole through the agencies of its committees. 
 
 (c) Development of the social life of the members through 
 the meetings of the circles and the Auxiliary meeting. 
 
 (d) Awakening of the community consciousness and the 
 mission of social service through the agency of the church. 
 
 Country women like to be doing things—White Cross work 
 and that which will assist in meeting the needs of the local 
 congregation always appeal strongly to them. ‘They like to 
 work with their hands. 
 
 The preacher should keep in the background and let all 
 suggestions, so far as possible, come from the women. The 
 organization will develop very much more rapidly and eff- 
 ciently if they are permitted to do things in their own way. 
 
 THE PREACHER’S WIFE 
 
 Fortunate is that country minister who has a wife suff- 
 ciently informed about the work of the church and conse- 
 crated definitely to the rural task, and who is to him a true 
 helpmeet. 
 
 - Most preachers have “good marrying sense.’ The fact is 
 that most of them outmarry themselves. A preacher is sup- 
 posed to be a pure and moral man, and women love good 
 
164 THE NEw Canu 
 
 men. Usually they think twice before they will risk them- 
 selves with a man of doubtful morals. 
 
 The ministry of some men is marred by an unfortunate 
 marriage. These cases are much spoken of, like minister’s 
 children when they turn out bad. Statistics show that there 
 is no class of homes which produce a larger percentage of 
 great men and women than those of ministers. Preachers 
 have been pattting themselves on the back on this account. 
 Most of the credit, however, is due to the preachers’ wives. 
 If a nation is to have great men, they must have good 
 mothers. The average preacher is very much absorbed in 
 his work and frequently is absent from home. It is the 
 preacher’s wife who is always on the job in the home with 
 the children. She “tarries by the stuff,” works hard and 
 practices most rigid economy. 
 
 Talk about unrewarded heroism! You will find it in these 
 uncomplaining wives of country preachers who voluntarily 
 give themselves to rural work. Many of them have been 
 delicately reared. They are women of culture and refine- 
 ment. They often come to live in homes with no modern 
 conveniences. They do their own cooking and housework. 
 Frequently when the husband has received a call to town or 
 city church with a larger salary, and a comfortable manse, 
 it is the wife who says, “We have given ourselves to the task 
 out here among God’s scattered people. We did not enter 
 the ministry because we expect it to be an easy task. I think 
 we should decline the call. It is not a question of where we 
 can be the most comfortable, but where we are needed, and 
 where the Master will be most honored by our service.” 
 
 Of course, some country preachers are not so fortunate. 
 Some women did not count the cost when they took a 
 preacher for a husband. The fine romanticism does not last. 
 There are some whose husbands become preachers after they 
 
THE NEW CALL 165 
 
 were married who never fail to speak of it, and often 
 bemoan their fate in public. We do not know what they do 
 in private. It is bad enough for a preacher to be discon- 
 tented and discouraged with his lot. It is sad indeed when 
 his tactless, disconsolate wife is not in sympathy with his 
 work for the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 One thing has filled my heart with joy in dealing with the 
 students in our theological seminaries and training school. 
 It is to find that the spirit of consecration and willingness to 
 sacrifice and to give themselves to the task in God’s open and 
 in home mission fields is just as great among the young 
 women as among the young men. 
 
 In the issue of the “Presbyterian Survey” of June, 1926, is 
 an article by “C. P. W.” which I wish to reproduce here: 
 
 TBEING] AG REMEDY: 
 
 “For the many ills of most country churches a few possi- 
 ble palliatives have been hesitatingly suggested. There is 
 one real remedy,—a pastor and his wife living in the country. 
 If for every country church or group of churches there were 
 a real pastor and the genuine article of a pastor’s wife 
 actually living—not ‘knocking along somehow’ and marking 
 time until he gets a call to a town church—but actually and 
 actively living in the country in or near the center of the 
 congregation, we should soon see these weak churches for- 
 getting their aches and pains and excuses, laying aside their 
 crutches, and joining with a will in the work for the coming 
 of the Kingdom. 
 
 “But how to obtain this remedy for these sick ones? Here 
 is the real difficulty. 
 
 “We see Mary graduating from the Training School and 
 John coming out from the Seminary, their lives happily 
 linked together and the whole wide world before them. But 
 will John choose a country pastorate? He will not—and for 
 reasons which seem to him good. Perhaps no country church 
 will ever have the boldness to think of calling John. He its 
 
166 Ll HEUNEW CALL 
 
 brilliant and scholarly and Mary is urban from hat to shoe 
 heels. 
 
 “But now suppose John really wants to serve in a hard 
 place. He sees how church life in the rural sections is retro- 
 grading and how land owners are moving to town leaving 
 farms to tenants. He knows there is no lack of people. In 
 the South there are just as many people in the country as 
 ever, only they are a different kind of people. The souls, 
 though, are of just the same value. Can he volunteer for a 
 country church? Indeed, yes. 
 
 “Most of the smaller country churches and weaker groups 
 get their supplies and pastors by the help of the Superinten- 
 dent of Home Missions in their Presbytery, and so if our 
 young preacher is dead in earnest about wanting to take the 
 hardest job at the lowest salary he can write to some Superin- 
 tendent of Home Missions and send in his name as a volun- 
 teer for work in a small church in the open country. 
 
 “And do you know what will prevent his doing this? Yes, 
 when you think a moment you do know. The thought of 
 Mary—that is what will stop him short. 
 
 “After all, the whole matter of getting the remedy to the 
 ailing country churches depends on Mary. These trained 
 young folks are the remedy but the decision as to giving that 
 remedy must be made under Mary’s small hat. 
 
 “John says the tiny income and the lonely life will be too 
 hard for Mary and that he can’t ask her to share such hard- 
 ships. It will be hard. Believe me, my dears, I know. But 
 she can do it. I know that too. 
 
 “Will Mary say that it will never do for John to go to the 
 country and that people will say he must have gone there 
 because he couldn’t get a call anywhere else? 
 
 “Now I am going to appeal to Mary herself. 
 
 “Mary, my dear, I’m depending on your bravery and 
 gumption. It takes lots more sense to live successfully in 
 the country than it does in a town.or a city. Just think how 
 wonderful it would be to be a Remedy! I put my arm about 
 you and whisper this word in your ear, ‘Even Christ pleased 
 not Himself.’ Come to the country, Little Sister, and be a 
 Remedy.” 
 
THE NEW CARL 167 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 . Is a Woman’s Auxiliary practical in a country church? Give ex- 
 amples of success. 
 How would you set up and maintain an auxiliary in a country 
 church? 
 How can the pastor’s wife prove a remedy? 
 
 . What can a country congregation do to relieve their pastor’s wife 
 so she can give more time to church work? 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE COO NE BWR Ars 0 OTRO ND 
 HOME LIFE 
 
 HERE are no more sacred friendships than those 
 
 | which exist between the country preacher and the 
 
 families of his congregation. At the foundation hour of the 
 
 home he officiates at the marriage. Memories of him are 
 interlocked with the most hallowed relationships of life. 
 
 If I were beginning a country pastorate again, there are 
 some changes that I would make. I would announce to the 
 congregation that as pastor of this church I expected to re- 
 ceive sufficient for support in the regular way for my min- 
 istrations among them, and that I would not accept marriage 
 fees. If one were presented, it would be given to the bride 
 that she might buy some treasure to keep as a memento of 
 her pastor’s interest in the founding of her home. 
 
 It is a pity the impression has gone abroad that marriage 
 has been commercialized by the ministers of religion. Young 
 people should be given to understand that the privilege of 
 performing the ceremony is one which is craved by the pastor, 
 not for the sake of the fee, but for the sake of the establish- 
 ment of a fellowship tie with the young people at the very 
 founding of their home. The promise of the happiness of a 
 home is not propitious when the young folks slip away to 
 some Gretna Green as if they were ashamed of marriage. 
 
 In entering into that new relationship, it should be hallowed 
 by all that is tenderest and truest in human affection, and it 
 should have upon it the benediction of their spiritual adviser 
 and leader, one who loves them and who will pray daily for 
 the happiness of their lives. It is a source of grief that in 
 this modern age many young people are inclined to look upon 
 
THe New Catu 169 
 
 marriage in a frivolous fashion. All weddings should be 
 celebrated in the home of the parents, or near relatives, or 
 the residence of the minister, or, best of all, in the church. 
 If a minister does not accept wedding fees from his people, 
 he is in a position to give them advice concerning marriage 
 without being misunderstood. 
 
 7 
 
 CHE EO @ 1) 
 
 When the child comes, there is a chance for the minister 
 to give to the parents a vision of the joys, and privileges, of 
 parenthood. There should be something of a sense of the 
 God-given opportunities which were realized by the mother 
 and father of Dr. Moses D. Hoge. The following is the 
 copy of a letter which was written on the day of his son’s 
 birth, September 17, 1818, by the father, Samuel Davies 
 Hoge, to Rev. Dr. J. B. Hoge, Columbus, Ohio. 
 
 “T beg leave to tell you that your nephew is pronounced by 
 his grandfather to be a fine fellow. My dear Elizabeth is a 
 mother, and I have charge of a precious young immortal 
 committed to me. ‘Here,’ said she, ‘is another sinful creature 
 for you to pray for.’ Let me turn the address to Yous (sre 
 You may readily suppose that I am somewhat elated. Per- 
 haps I am; but I pity those who on such an occasion indulge 
 in all the customary follies. I pity those who receive not 
 such a gift as from heaven, and who hear not the divine 
 command, “Take this child and train it for heaven’.” 
 
 It reveals the secrets that may help to explain the factors 
 in the production of one of the most eloquent preachers that 
 
 the South has produced. He was for fifty-three years pastor 
 of the Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Va. 
 
 The country minister has the opportunity to impress the 
 sacredness of childhood, not only in his pastoral work, but in 
 his preaching. The religion of Jesus is the religion of the 
 
170 Tue New Catt 
 
 little child. No other religion so dignifies or honors child- 
 hood. In the story of the babyhood of Moses, Samuel and 
 Jesus the country preacher has abundant authority given for 
 this important message. God has revealed to us that child- 
 hood is sacred and it is recognized as such in all the teachings 
 of the Old and New Testaments. 
 
 The Saviour came, not as a full-grown man, but as a little 
 babe wrapped in swaddling clothes. That pastor will find a 
 place in the hearts of his people who, like the Master, loves 
 little children. It has been said, “He who lays his hand upon 
 the head of a child touches the heart of the mother.” Dr. 
 R. F. Campbell, of Asheville, N. C., keeps a list of the birth- 
 days of all the children in his congregation and never fails 
 to remember them on these occasions. 
 
 Not only childhood, but motherhood is sacred. This 
 thought is beautifully expressed by Tennyson in the words 
 of Jephthah’s daughter, 
 
 “No fair Hebrew boy 
 Shall smile away my maiden blame among 
 The Hebrew mothers.” 
 
 CHILD DEDICATION 
 
 Country preachers should teach their people to follow the 
 example of the parents of Jesus who brought the blessed 
 Child into the temple on the eighth day. All parents should 
 be urged and instructed to bring their children and dedicate 
 them to God. The country minister, who has had a proper 
 survey made of his field, will have a list of all children under 
 eight years of age who have not been dedicated to God. 
 Parents should be induced to understand that it is a privilege 
 and a duty. 
 
 If they are faithful in the performance of their vows, God 
 will not be faithless found. “But the mercy of the Lord is 
 
Tue New Catt 171 
 
 from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, 
 and His righteousness unto children’s children to such as keep 
 His covenant and to those that remember His commandments 
 to do them,” 
 
 We have the scriptural injunction “Train up a child in the 
 way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from 
 it.” The Apostle wrote to Timothy as follows: “When I 
 call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which 
 dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; 
 and I am persuaded that in thee also.”* “But continue thou 
 in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured 
 of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from 
 a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able 
 to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in 
 Christ Jesus.”+ Parents should claim the covenant privileges. 
 
 Jesus took the little children up in His arms and blessed 
 them and said, “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, 
 to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” 
 The severest rebuke Jesus ever gave His disciples was when 
 they wanted to keep children away from Him. 
 
 THE FAMILY ALTAR 
 
 A slogan for the country preacher should be, “A family 
 altar in every home.” If the results of the survey have 
 been properly tabulated, he will have a list of all the people 
 in his congregation who have a family altar and a list of 
 those who neglect it. Many parents may feel that they are 
 too busy to read a portion of God’s word and to call down 
 Heaven’s benedictions upon the home. But there is no legacy 
 quite so rich nor one that will be held in greater reverence 
 by children during the years to come than the memory of the 
 family altar. Henry W. Grady said: 
 
 ANE hrs alg LOY 
 fIL Tim. 3:14-15. 
 
1/2 Tie NEWGATE 
 
 “I went to Washington the other day and I stood on the 
 Capitol hill and my heart beat quick as I looked at the tower- 
 ing marble of my country’s Capitol, and a mist gathered in 
 my eyes as I thought of its tremendous significance, of the 
 armies and the treasury, and the judges and the President, 
 and the Congress and the courts, and all that was gathered 
 there; and I felt that the sun in all its course could not look 
 down on a better sight than that majestic home of a Republic 
 that had taught the world its best lessons of liberty. And 
 I felt that if honor and wisdom and justice abided therein, 
 the world would at last owe that great house in which the 
 ark of the covenant of my country is lodged its final uplifting 
 and its regeneration. 
 
 “But a few days afterwards I went to visit a friend in the 
 country, a modest man, with a quiet country home. It was 
 just a simple, unpretentious house, set about with great 
 trees and encircled in meadow and field rich with the promise 
 of harvest; the fragrance of the pink and the hollyhock in 
 the front yard was mingled with the aroma of the orchard 
 and the garden, and the resonant clucking of poultry and the 
 hum of bees. Inside was quiet, cleanliness, thrift and com- 
 fort. 
 
 “Outside there stood my friend, the master—a simple, in- 
 dependent, upright man, with no mortgage on his roof, no 
 lien on his growing crops, master of his land and master of 
 himself. There was his old father, an aged and trembling 
 man, but happy in the heart and home of his son. And, as © 
 he started to enter his home, the hand of the old man went 
 down on the young man’s shoulder, laying there the unspeak- 
 able blessing of an honored and honorable father, and ennobl- 
 ing it with the knighthood of the fifth commandment. And 
 as we approached the door the mother came, a happy smile 
 lighting up her face, while with the rich music of her heart 
 she bade her husband and her son welcome to their home. 
 Beyond was the housewife, busy with her domestic affairs, 
 the loving helpmate of her husband. Down the lane came 
 the children after the cows, singing sweetly, as like birds 
 they sought the quiet of their nest. 
 
 “So the night came down on that house, falling gently as 
 the wing from an unseen dove. And the old man, while a 
 
ST seis (UNG Fee CSA ToT , 173 
 
 startled bird called from the forest and the trees thrilled 
 with the cricket’s cry, and the stars were falling from the 
 sky, called the family around him and took the Bible from 
 the table and called them to their knees. The little baby hid 
 in the folds of its mother’s dress while he closed the record 
 of that day by calling down God’s blessing on that simple 
 home. While I gazed, the vision of the marble capitol faded; 
 forgotten were its treasuries and its majesty; and I said: 
 ‘Surely here in the homes of the people lodge at last the 
 strength and the responsibility of this government, the hope 
 and the promise of this Republic’.”* 
 
 Children who today play about the hearthstone will, before 
 long, be going out into the world to try their fortunes and 
 their futures. Their lives are now plastic, their characters 
 are now in the forming and what they are to be depends 
 largely upon the faithfulness of their fathers and mothers in 
 fulfilling their privileges of making the proper religious im- 
 pressions ; and the fathers and mothers in these country dis- 
 tricts will be largely what the country preachers influence 
 them to become. If these country homes are ministered to 
 by the right kind of country preachers they will be presided 
 over by praying fathers and mothers. 
 
 In the “American Magazine” of March, 1926, there is 
 given results of an investigation carried on by Mr. Roger 
 Babson. He proves from facts and figures that almost with- 
 out exception, the leading men in the business world have a 
 religious background. He states specifically that every big 
 business man, of his unusually wide acquaintance, has had 
 “a praying father, a praying mother, or both.” 
 
 In order to prove these statements, Mr. Babson picked out 
 fifty representative men—bankers, manufacturers, and other 
 business executives—and sent to them the six questions as 
 follows: 
 
 *Henry W. Grady’s speech before the Bay State Club, 1889. 
 
174 Tue New Caty 
 
 Did you have a praying father, a praying mother, or both? 
 
 Do you believe there is some Power higher than human 
 power? 
 Do you feel that we are responsible to this Higher power? 
 
 Do you feel that we need help from it? 
 Do you ever pray? 
 Has this feeling of responsibility influenced your life? 
 
 ee en ewe ets he ee 
 
 “Of the fifty men on the list, thirty definitely answered 
 ‘yes’ to the questions asked them. One lone individual gave 
 a reply which was more or less in the negative. 
 
 “Of the others, nine asked to be excused from replying on 
 the ground that the subject was so ‘sacred’ and personal a 
 matter that they preferred not to express themselves con- 
 cerning it. From the remaining seven no answers were fre- . 
 ceived. Several were out of the country and the questions, 
 therefore, did not reach them.” 
 
 UNITY OF THE COUNTRY HOME 
 
 While the country man is more individualistic than his city 
 brother, his home is more of an unit. The father, mother 
 and children are all interested in the same vocation. ‘They 
 are all partners in the business. All are interested in the 
 garden, the poultry, the crops, etc. All work together, while - 
 the members of the city family must necessarily be more 
 individualistic in their pursuits. The city wife necessarily 
 knows but little of her husband’s livelihood, the children can 
 not think in terms of their father’s occupation. In the coun- 
 try, if there is a crop failure or other disaster, each member 
 of the family is equally affected and all of these produce a 
 condition of wholesome family life unity. The thinking and 
 acting of every member of the home is bound by the same 
 purpose and the home is undergirded with the ties of common 
 interest. This probably has something to do with the fact 
 that divorces are rare in the country. 
 
Tue New Cari 175 
 
 There are very few divorces in the country, especially 
 where a country church is maintained. In New Providence 
 Church, in Virginia, where there was a membership ranging 
 from 335 to 670 there have been only two divorces in sixteen 
 years. In each case it was due to an alienation which grew 
 up from the husband’s life while engaged in public works 
 away from home. 
 
 This unity of the home in the country also accounts for 
 the development of character, efficiency and other traits of 
 leadership in the boys and girls reared upon the farm. Chil- 
 dren from their infancy have something to do, though the 
 tasks may be simple. They have certain responsibilities 
 which develop a sense of property value and form habits of 
 industry. Dr. Edwin V. O’Hara, Director of Catholic Rural 
 Life Bureau, says: 
 
 “On the farm there are a multiplicity of simple tasks that 
 can be performed by almost the youngest children. Children 
 are not capable of long-sustained effort either mental or 
 physical and are consequently unsuited for the industrial 
 organizations of cities where tasks have become standardized 
 and where no labor is profitable unless it conforms to the 
 monotonous routine that the factory system marks out for 
 Tie 
 
 There are more children born of parentage of good lineage 
 in the country than in the city. The Bulletin on Farm 
 Population sent out April 7th, 1926, shows that births on 
 the farm during 1925 were estimated at 710,000, deaths at 
 288,000, leaving a natural increase of 422,000. Most of the 
 children born in the city are of poor or immigrant parentage. 
 Not many children are born in flats or apartments, or in 
 houses on the beulevards. Many city people feel that they 
 cannot afford to rear children. But in the country, because 
 they are engaged in pursuits with their parents, additional 
 
176 THe New Cau 
 
 children become financial assets instead of liabilities. As Dr. 
 O’Hara says: 
 
 “Even the small children are of service in caring for the 
 poultry and garden, and when they reach the age of ten or 
 twelve years they find scores of activities fitted for their 
 age, and capacity in which they play a productive part and 
 are benefited by the work. Without any prejudice to their 
 own interests, the children are an economic asset on the 
 Paci 
 
 It is in the country that we find large families and it is 
 an old adage that children of a large family turn out well. 
 Large families of children are the heritage of parents un- 
 stained by moral leprosy. John Wesley was the seventeenth 
 child of his father and mother. 
 
 The best dividends of the farm are not obtained in dollars 
 and cents but in the making of men and women. ‘There are 
 two things that the tillers of the soil get—one is a living 
 and the other is life. To those who live in the country come 
 experiences from their daily struggles which constitute ma- 
 terials that are woven into the fabric of character. Not the 
 least of these is the unselfish love developed in their home 
 life. 
 
 Country people are sincere and take a genuine pleasure in 
 having their pastor in the home. They love and honor him 
 and his visits become events to which each member of the 
 family looks with interest. The minister who understands 
 his people can always make his stay with them a real 
 pastoral visit and a blessed benediction. He is more vitally 
 related to the homes of his people than pastors of other 
 churches, and it will be a sad day when this relationship 
 ceases to be of this intimate and beautiful character. 
 
‘Pape New Gavi ahs 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 . Where should weddings take place and who should perform the 
 ceremony ? Y 
 . Should marriage fees be abolished? 
 
 . What are the teachings of the Scriptures about motherhood and 
 children ? 
 . Why should parents dedicate their children to God? 
 
 5. Give reasons for maintaining the family altar. 
 
 Explain the unity of the country home and discuss its influence on 
 
 the children. 
 . Why are there proportionately more children and fewer divorces 
 in the country than in the city? 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 HARDSHIPS AND RECOMPENSES 
 
 HE man who volunteers for country church work 
 should count the cost. It means sacrifices and hard- 
 
 ships. 
 
 1. It often involves isolation from congenial social con- 
 tacts. The minister, who is a college and seminary graduate, 
 may have the society of but a few who have been accustomed 
 to cultural environment. In some country districts schools 
 are still backward and roads unimproved. Servants are no 
 more and modern living conditions have not been extensively 
 adopted in the country. He is cut off from his brother min- 
 isters except on special occasions. Many of the people do 
 not read and the country preacher will find himself growing 
 stale. 
 
 2. There is much to endure. The country minister will 
 have to make long journeys, sometimes on foot or horseback, 
 for he will find at certain seasons the roads are impassable 
 for a car. He will be exposed to the heat and cold, sun and - 
 rain. He may find his work exhausting both physically and 
 mentally. Being a country preacher means hard work! 
 
 3. The salary of a country minister is usually very small. 
 He may be cramped in buying sufficient books, magazines 
 and other things necessary for an efficient ministry. 
 
 “The man who becomes a country preacher from choice 
 deliberately dooms himself to the lowest level in the matter 
 of salary, the back bench in religious conventions, and the 
 humblest seat, if he gets any at all, in denominational coun- 
 cils. If the county-seat preacher gets a salary of from 
 $2,000 to $5,000 a year, his perhaps equally capable country 
 
THe New Catu 179 
 
 neighbor, ten miles away will be lucky if he gets a fourth 
 as much. In my own state and denomination the country 
 preacher is three times as numerous as his town brother, 
 often equals him in ability, and frequently surpasses him in 
 loyalty, but in forty years he has had the privilege of preach- 
 - ing the annual Convention sermon, just one time, and that 
 more than thirty years ago.’’* 
 
 There ought to be some scheme worked out by which coun- 
 try ministers may receive a more adequate support. In one 
 of the denominations the suggestion has been made that each 
 church which pays its pastor more than twenty-five hundred 
 dollars be asked to raise an amount equal to the excess of 
 twenty-five hundred dollars paid the pastor to be applied on 
 a fund to supplement the salaries of country preachers. This 
 is proposed as a token of appreciation and gratitude on the 
 part of the city churches for the annual contribution which 
 the country makes to the membership of the city congrega- 
 tions by certificate. 
 
 If one-tenth of the money contributed by the members who 
 go from the country to the city churches were given to sup- 
 plement the salaries of country preachers, every country field 
 could have a resident pastor for all his time and city churches 
 would receive a large dividend on such an investment. 
 
 4, It is not isolation, nor hard work, nor small salaries 
 that constitute the greatest hardship but the stigma of being 
 “only a country preacher.’ As has been said, it is the 
 common conception that when a man accepts a country church 
 he does so because no other form of work is open to him. 
 He is usually looked upon as a second or third rate man. I 
 have had a good deal of amusement in meeting strangers. I 
 have frequently been asked, “What or where is your work?” 
 I have usually said, “I am a country preacher.” It has been 
 
 *Dr. Jeff D. Ray—‘‘The Country Preacher,” p. 18. 
 
180 THe New Caty 
 
 great fun to see myself shrivel up in the estimation of the 
 questioner. 
 
 Rev. Tertius Van Dyke has recently resigned the pastorate 
 of the Park Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York City, 
 to accept a church in a little Connecticut Village. He ex- 
 pected to be misunderstood. The Literary Digest of June 26, 
 1926, quotes the “Independent” in a cruel statement as 
 follows: 
 
 “But the lame duck who can not lead his people, who can 
 not even amuse them, is obviously unfitted to hold the atten- 
 tion of a large urban congregation. Better for him, as for 
 the Rev. Tertius Van Dyke, to retire to the chaste mediocrity 
 of a traditional New England parish where the remnants of 
 an old tradition expect little and want little but a repetition 
 of the doctrines heard by them in a childhood now, alas, 
 almost infinitely remote.” 
 
 The contempt and pity in which the country preacher is 
 
 held by the world and even by many in the church is the 
 severest of all hardships to endure. 
 
 COMPENSATIONS 
 
 There are, however, compensations. Emerson says, “The 
 farmer imagines power and place are fine things. But the 
 President has paid dear for his White House. It has com- 
 monly cost him all his peace, and the best of his manly at- 
 tributes.” The country preacher may envy his city brother, 
 but all is not gold that glitters. 
 
 1. There are some men who love nature and are happier 
 ministering to the country people than to others. They love 
 the open and read God’s revelation in the Book of Nature as 
 well as in the Book of Books. 
 
 Rev. Tertius Van Dyke is a man of this sort. 
 
Tue New Catt 181 
 
 “His famous father, Dr. Henry Van Dyke, preacher, poet, 
 Princeton professor and former Minister to the Netherlands, 
 approves the step, for, says the elder man, there are ‘thou- 
 sands of song birds in the surrounding valley. My son will 
 
 ol) BR 
 
 enjoy this, for he studied birds as well as people’. 
 
 “His father has won a great following by his faith in the 
 true and the beautiful and simple things of life. The son 
 could do no better than to follow his footsteps. And entirely 
 apart from his own inclination, which seems to have been a 
 controlling factor in the decision, there is just as much chance 
 for useful service in the country as there is in the city, and 
 perhaps a greater need for it.’’* 
 
 The city pastor may get more headlines, but the country 
 preacher has fewer heartaches. ‘The city preacher may get 
 more glory, but the country preacher will pass through ex- 
 periences which will develop grace. The city man may exult 
 in the works of man but the country minister may meditate 
 upon the creations of God. 
 
 2. Country ministry develops the preacher. He will 
 preach to sympathetic, attentive audiences who will appreciate 
 real sermons. There is a subtle but real influence that 
 emanates from the audience to the speaker that may mar or 
 make a man. An atmosphere is deadly where people are 
 unresponsive or antagonistic. A congregation with itching 
 ears which desire sensation and entertainment has a tendency 
 to make of a minister a time-serving, man-pleasing preacher. 
 People who crave instruction and spiritual enlightenment will 
 make of a man an edifying and inspirational preacher. 
 
 Dr. W. S. Plumer said to his grandson, Dr. W. S. P. 
 Bryan, who was for many years pastor of the Church of the 
 Covenant in Chicago, “Go to the country ten years. After 
 that you can go where you please.” I remember that when 
 
 *Literary Digest, June 26, 1926, p. 30. 
 
182 Tue New Catt 
 
 I was a boy great crowds of country people waited with 
 loving adoration on the ministry of Mr. Bryan during those 
 ten years in a country pastorate. 
 
 In the country the message means much to the people. I 
 know some rather unlettered country men who can tell you 
 the content of sermons they heard years ago. The country 
 preacher has the compensation of knowing that his message 
 is appreciated. He has the pronounced reactive influence of 
 sympathetic and appreciative hearers upon his own develop- 
 ment as a preacher. 
 
 3. One of the blessings of a country preacher is that he 
 can command his time. The average city preacher is, by 
 necessity or enticement engaged almost every night of the 
 week. When the noises cease and the multitudinous engage- 
 ments of the day are over, the city preacher is often driven 
 to capitalize the late hours of the night for performing some 
 of his work which has necessarily been neglected during the 
 day. The country preacher has his nights to himself. The 
 city preacher may get more praise but the country preacher 
 gets more peace. 
 
 “None can describe the sweets of country life, 
 But those blest men that do enjoy and taste them. . 
 Plain husbandmen, tho’ far below our pitch 
 Of fortune plac’d, enjoy a wealth above us: 
 To whom the earth with true and bounteous justice, 
 Free from war’s cares returns as easy food. 
 They breathe the fresh and uncorrupted air, 
 And by clear brooks enjoy untroubled sleeps. 
 Their state is fearless and secure, enrich’d 
 With several blessings, such as greatest kings 
 Might in true justice envy, and themselves 
 Would count too happy, if they truly knew them!’”* 
 
 *May’s “‘Agrippina.” 
 
THe New Catt 183 
 
 I think I can understand the motive which moved Dr. Van 
 Dyke to resign the large city church and accept the small 
 country parish. Last spring while in the city I was thinking 
 about the beautiful country and about the need of the country 
 church and there came into my soul a feeling which demanded 
 expression and found it in the following lines: 
 
 THE URGE 
 
 As sheep pent up by winter snows 
 
 Grow hungry for the tender grass 
 That carpets hills and valleys wild, 
 
 As well for vine of mountain pass, 
 So comes to me compelling urge 
 
 To flee the streets and mortared walls 
 And rest my soul in quiet spots, 
 
 There lulled by chant of water-falls. 
 
 As memory brings to sailors old 
 The strong, strange tang of salted scent, 
 The tang of breeze of years of yore 
 That ocean waves have subtly lent, 
 So brings to me the springtime gale 
 From o’er the hills of yesterday 
 On winged winds the thrilling urge 
 To seek the fields without delay. 
 
 As yield the migratory birds 
 To join the northward wing’d race 
 On lifted pinions in the air 
 Back to the mother’s nesting place, 
 So comes to me the pleading urge, 
 When springtime flowers deck the sod, 
 And breathe a breath of fragrance there, 
 To fellowship with nature’s God. 
 
184. THe New CA.Luyu 
 
 The sheep may wist for rugged heights, 
 The sailor hear the call of seas, 
 The bird may pine for nesting place, 
 And some may feel the lure for ease. 
 But others feel the stronger urge 
 Than instinct call can ever be, 
 Or e’en the lure of scented fields, 
 Or e’en the call of spring for me. 
 
 It comes from sight of scattered flocks 
 In open field of country church, 
 No hand to lift the faltering there, 
 No shepherd true the lost to search; 
 No voice to call to pastures green, 
 “The love of Christ constraineth me.” 
 “Attend My lambs” and “Feed My sheep’— 
 The call of Him of Galilee. 
 
 LIGHT AT EVENTIDE 
 
 To the aged minister who has given his life to the scattered 
 people there are many compensatians. First, there is the 
 consciousness that he has not sought place nor profit but 
 has answered the call of God to do the task that was hard. 
 He can say with Paul, “I was not disobedient unto the 
 heavenly vision.” (Acts 26:19). 
 
 He has the consciousness that he has given full proof yr 
 his ministry having “endured afflictions to do the work of an 
 evangelist.”* 
 
 Second, he will have the joy of beholding the fine fruitage 
 of his sowing. Many of the youth to whom he has ministered 
 will be filling positions of great responsibility and usefulness. 
 One of the most pleasant thrills that ever happened to a 
 minister came to a man who had spent a while as a Home 
 Missionary in a coal mining village. One day a six-footer, 
 who has since become a noted preacher, approached him at a 
 
 *TL Tim:i4 35. 
 
THe New Catu 185 
 
 church meeting and, putting his arm about his shoulder said, 
 “You don’t know me but you were my Paul and I am your 
 Timothy. You received me into the church when I was 
 eleven years of age.”’ 
 
 The country preacher usually has the joy of seeing his 
 children becoming useful and honored men and women. New 
 Providence Church was organized in 1746. Seven pastors 
 preceded me. I became its minister in 1909. In the one 
 hundred and sixty-three years up to that time, there had come 
 from its manse two U. S. Senators, one U. S. Minister to 
 France, one distinguished law professor, one judge, two 
 physicians, two Bible teachers, four wives of ministers, nine 
 preachers and four missionaries. 
 
 There are real hardships connected with a ministry in the 
 country, but we believe that the joys far outweigh all the 
 sufferings. The country preacher has learned the secrets of 
 sacrificial living. He has learned how to deny himself and 
 his wants are few. The small pension fund provided by the 
 Church may seem very inadequate to the minister who has 
 been accustomed to a good salary, but quite ample to the 
 aged country. preacher who has long practiced the principles 
 of “The Simple Life.” Old age to him is satisfying. The 
 bells of memory will be ringing. They may recall the years 
 of long ago when he had the privilege of bringing certain 
 youth, now valiantly carrying on, to know Christ and of 
 training them in the principles of Christian leadership. 
 
 There will come to him visions of the days when he visited 
 and brought comfort to lonely homes in times of sorrow. 
 Perhaps it was to a discouraged tenant farmer whose crop 
 had failed, or to a land owner burdened with debt. Perhaps 
 it was in the time of sickness or when the death angel had 
 crossed the threshold of the home. He is rejoicing in the 
 consciousness of the gratitude, loyalty and love of those he 
 
186 THe New Catt 
 
 has tried to serve. The country preacher may be poor in> 
 funds but he is rich in friends. 
 
 The shades are lengthening. Day must draw to a close. 
 To the faithful, sacrificial country preacher, the promises of 
 Holy Writ are his possession, “but it shall come to pass that 
 at evening time it shall be light.’’* | 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 1. Enumerate and describe the hardships of the country preacher? 
 
 2. Should the hardships of a country preacher deter or challenge 
 him? 
 3. What are some of the compensations of being a country preacher? 
 
 4, What do you think ought to be done to give to the country min- 
 ister better support? 
 
 5. How can the country ministry be redeemed from the present 
 repute? 
 
 6. Describe an aged preacher who has spent a life of volunteer, 
 sacrificial, faithful service in the country church? 
 
 
 
 O76 shariah 14:7. 
 
THe New Cay 187 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 N order that the readers of this book may be able to 
 
 pursue in a more extensive way the study of rural prob- 
 lems, I am appending a list of books which I am sure will 
 prove not only interesting but helpful. There is good ma- 
 terial for the study of country church work, not only. in 
 books but in bulletins which have been published by the 
 government, college and church agencies. 
 
 Books dealing with the country church: 
 
 “Tue Country CHurcH AND Its ProGraM,” Earl A. Roadman, Meth- 
 odist Book Concern, New York. 50c (paper cover). 
 
 “A CHRISTIAN IN THE CouNTRYSIDE,” Ralph Felton, Methodist Book 
 Concern, New York. 50c (paper cover). 
 
 “Tue CountRY PREACHER,” Jeff D. Ray, D.D., Baptist Sunday School 
 Board, Nashville, Tenn. $1.25. 
 
 “A New Day For THE Country CuHurcH,” Rolvix Harlan, Ph.D., 
 Cokesbury Press, Nashville, Tenn. $1.25. 
 
 “How SHALL Country YoutH Be Servep?” H. Paul Douglass, 
 George H. Doran Company, New York. $2.50. 
 
 “THE CHALLENGE OF THE CouNTRY CHurRcH,” J. W. Jent, Baptist 
 Sunday School Board, Nashville, Tenn. $1.60. 
 
 “Buitpinc A Country Sunpay ScHoor,” E. L. Middleton, Fleming 
 
 H. Revell, New York. 60c (paper cover). 
 
 “THe Story oF JoHN Frepertc Opertin,’ Augustus Field Beard, 
 Pilgrim Press, Boston. Cloth, $1.25; paper, 75c. 
 
 “RELIGION In Country Lire” (Proceedings of the Seventh National 
 Country Life Conference, Columbus, Ohio, 1924), University of 
 Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. $2.00. 
 
 “THe RuraLt CHurRcH SERVING THE Community,” E. L. Earp, Abing- 
 don Press. $1.00. 
 
 “THE Country CHURCH AND THE Rurav Prosiem,” K. L. Butterfield, 
 University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. Cloth, $1.25. 
 
 “Six THousanp Country CuurcuHes,” Gill and Pinchot, Macmillan 
 Company, New York City. $1.50. 
 
188 THe New CALL 
 
 “THe LittLte Town,” H. P. Douglas, The Macmillan Company, New 
 York ng l7ae 
 
 “EVOLUTION OF THE Country Community,” Warren H. Wilson, 
 The Century Co. $2.25. 
 
 “CHURCH OF THE OpeN Country,” Warren H. Wilson, Pilgrim Press, 
 The Century Co. 75c. 
 
 “THE Farmers’ CuurcuH,” Warren H. Wilson, M. E. M., The Cen- 
 tury Co. $2.00. 
 
 “Empty CuHurcuHes,”’ C. J. Galpin, The Century Co. $1.00. 
 
 “Our SouTHERN HiGHLANnpers,” Horace Kephard, Macmillan. $3.00. 
 
 “HANDBOOK OF RuRAL SoctAL Resources,” by Henry Israel and B. 
 Y. Landis, University of Chicago Press. $2.00. 
 
 SPECIAL NOTE 
 
 The reader is invited to join in the fellowship of service to 
 the Country Church, as suggested below: 
 
 The General Assembly at Lexington, Ky., 1925, approved of 
 “the establishment of an endowment for the support of the 
 Country Church Work.” 
 
 ForM OF BEQUEST 
 To the Country Church Work: I give, bequeath and devise 
 to The Executive Committee of Christian Education and Min- 
 
 isterial Relief of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, 
 incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, 
 having its offices in the City of Louisville, the sum of 
 
 Rasy IM aes: Lah aban ARM had OP APR MECRI YR UME S's We Soh AT. Dollars 
 for the purpose of enlisting and training rural religious leaders. 
 
THe New Cary 189 
 
 BULLETINS AND PAMPHLETS 
 
 (Order these from the addresses given with titles.) 
 
 “Movern MeEtHops IN THE CounTRY CuurcH,” M. B. McNutt, Board 
 of Home Missions of Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A., 156 
 Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y. 
 
 No. 984—“TuHe NationaL INFLUENCE OF A SINGLE Farm Com- 
 MUNITY,’ Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 
 “CoMMUNITY LEAGUE ORGANIZATION,” Bulletin by Co-operative Edu- 
 
 cational Association of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 
 
 “RURAL AND SMALL CoMMUNITY RECREATIONS,’” Community Service, 
 Inc., 1 Madison Ave., New York City. 
 
 Circular No. 255—“Lirtinc THE Country Community By Its Own 
 BooTstraPs,” West Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, 
 Morgantown, W. Va. 
 
 Bulletins Nos. 23 and 27—“Mosirizinc RuraL CoMMUNITIES,” and 
 
 “CoMMUNITY Farrs,” Massachusetts Agricultural College Ex- 
 
 tension Service, Amherst, Mass. 
 Bulletin No. 1842—“Piay anp ReEcREATION,” University of Texas, 
 Austin, Tex. 
 
 Circular No. 117—“Community ORGANIZATION,” Oklahoma A. & M. 
 
 College, Stillwater, Okla. 
 
 Bulletin No. 54—“HistoricaL PAGEANT,” Extension Service, Cornell 
 Agricultural College, Ithaca, N. Y. 
 
 “OUTLINE Stupy IN CHRISTIANITY AND RurRAL Lire Prosiems,” A. 
 E. Holt, Social Service Department of Congregational Churches, 
 14 Beacon St., Boston. 
 
 “THe Country CHurRCH AND Economic AND SociAL Force,” C. J. 
 Galpin, Agricultural Experiment Station, Madison, Wisconsin. 
 
 “A ProGRAM oF CatHoLtic Rurat Action,” E. V. O’Hara, National 
 Catholic Welfare Council, Eugene, Ore. 
 
 “WHat Every CuurcH SHouLp Know Asout Its Communirty,” 
 Federal Council of Churches of Christ, 105 East 22nd St., New 
 York City. 
 
 “THE Country Cuurcu,’ Dr. Henry W. McLaughlin, Presbyterian 
 Committee of Publication, Richmond, Va. 5c. 
 
America the Beautiful 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1. O beau-ti- fal for spa-cious skies, For am-ber waves of _ grain, 
 2. O beau-ti- ful for pil-grim feet, Whose stern, im-pas-sioned stress 
 3. O beau-ti-ful for he-roesprovedIn lib -er - at -ing strife, 
 4. O beau-ti-fal for pa-triotdreamThatsees be-yond the years 
 Maw Ray #. 9. Pe Se ee ee 
 
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 Pore ae : il Maas ERT Re BEES ACTED ES BY 
 _ d __ Beas i Swi SN ere Le < | ; 
 hi VD be a? J {_é Qeu IR PT Jive ? . SFA | PES 
 aS p—_le- 4 y ) TABI BS 
 
 
 
 For pur - ple moun-tain maj -es-ties A - bove the fruit-ed plain! 
 | A thor-ough-fare for free-dom beat A - cross the wil-dor - ness! 
 f Who more than self their coun-try loved, And mer-cy morethan life! 
 Thine al -a-bas-ter cit - ies gleam, Undimmed by hu-man_ tears! 
 
 
 
 A-mer-i-cal A-mer -i- ca! God shed His grace on _ thee, 
 A-mer -i-cal A-mer-i- ca! God mend thine ev-’ry flaw, 
 A-mer -i- cal A-mer-i- ca! May God thy gold re - fino, 
 A-mer -i- cal A-mer-i- ca! God shed His grace on thee, 
 
 aad & A 
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 And crown thy good with broth - er-hood From sea to shin-ing sea! 
 Con- firm thy soul in self - con-trol, Thy lib-er-ty in law! 
 Till all sue-ceS&s be no - ble-ness,And ev-’ry gain di - vine! 
 And crown thy good with broth - er-hood From sea to shin-ing seal 
 
 
 
The Church in the Wildwood 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 ~~” 
 
 1. There’sa churchin the val-ley by the wild-wood, No love - li - er 
 2. Oh, come to the church in the wild- wood, To the trees wherethe 
 3. How sweet on a clear Sab-bathmorn-ing, To list to the 
 4. From the church in the val-ley by the wild-wood, When day fades a- 
 
 a . 4 \ a a -B-» 
 
 oS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ; —— 
 spot in the dale; No place is sodear to my child-hood As the 
 wild flow-ers bloom; Where the part-ing hymn will be chant-ed, We will 
 clear ring-ing bell; ts tones so sweet-dly are call-ing, Oh, 
 way in - to night, I would fain fromthisspot of my child-hood Wing my 
 
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 D.S.—No spot is so dear to my child-hood As the 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Fine CHORUS 
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 lit-tle brownchurchin the vale. | 
 weep by theside of the tomb. Come to the 
 
 come to thechurchin the vale. 
 
 way to the man-sions of light. Oh, come, come, come, come, come, come, 
 en 
 
 
 
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 church inthe wild - wood,Oh, come to thechurchin the vale; 
 come, come, come, come, come, come, come,come, come,come, come, come, come; 
 
 
 
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 1 ee” 5 ‘ 11 OYA ARN DO isk 160 TBM © oe ee ea Oat Ul BoC ss 
 Lal) NSW i AS GN A “a 
 
AMERICA 
 
 ee ee 
 
 My country! ’tis of thee, 
 Sweet land of liberty, 
 Of thee I sing; 
 Land where my fathers died, 
 Land of the pilgrims’ pride, 
 From ev’ry mountain side 
 Let freedom ring! 
 
 My native country, thee, 
 Land of the noble free, 
 Thy name I love; 
 I love thy rocks and rills, 
 Thy woods and templed hills; 
 My heart with rapture thrills 
 Like that above. 
 
 Let music swell the breeze, 
 And ring from all the trees 
 Sweet freedom’s song; 
 Let mortal tongues awake, 
 Let all that breathe partake, 
 Let rocks their silence break, 
 The sound prolong. 
 
 Our fathers’ God to Thee, 
 Author of liberty, 
 To Thee we sing; 
 Long may our land be bright 
 With freedom’s holy light ; 
 Protect us by Thy might, 
 Great God, our King. 
 

 
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