to tf)c Oli) Church: 
 
 ' Cf)arles ^tel3le. • 
 
fc '2.3. :l 
 
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 The call ox 
 the old church 
 
The Call of the New Day 
 To the Old Church 
 
By CHARLES STELZLE 
 
 The Call of the New Day to the Old Church 
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The Call of the New Day 
 To the Old Church 
 
 CHARLES STELZLE 
 
 Author of**The Gospel of Labor y^^ "American 
 Social and Religious Conditions y'* ** Chris- 
 tianity s Storm Centre t^ etc., etc. 
 
 New York Chicago Toronto 
 
 Fleming H. Revell Company 
 London and Edinburgh 
 
Copyright, 1915, by 
 FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 
 
 New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
 Chicago: 125 North Wabash Ave. 
 Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W. 
 London: 21 Paternoster Square 
 Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street 
 
Author's Preface 
 
 KEEN observers of the trend of things 
 tell us that the signs point towards 
 a " revival of religion." Men are in- 
 terested in religious themes, but it is clearly 
 manifest that the subjects discussed and the 
 books being read regarding religion are very 
 different from the purely devotional subjects 
 which interested them a decade ago. They 
 are just as devoted as were those of an earlier 
 day, but the expression of their devotion has 
 changed. Men in the street, in hotel lobbies, 
 in trains, in the shops and stores are talking 
 about the vital problems of the day in the terms 
 of religion. It would be a mistake for the 
 Church to insist that they shall use the termi- 
 nology which served its purpose for another 
 generation, and that they must have the same 
 kind of spiritual experiences. The men of 
 to-day must be permitted to express their re- 
 ligious aspirations in their own way. They 
 will do so anyway. It is simply a question 
 whether the Church will be broad enough to 
 accept these thoroughly consecrated Chris- 
 
 5 
 
6 Author's Preface 
 
 tian men, or whether they shall feel compelled 
 to seek a home elsewhere. 
 
 While it would be unfortunate for the 
 Church were it to fail at this critical period in 
 its history, it would be equally disastrous for 
 those who are impatient for progress were they 
 to leave the Church at this stage. There is no 
 doubt that those who would accomplish the 
 biggest things in behalf of the people can 
 best do them through the Church, even 
 though they may just now be forced to fight 
 an array of conservatism which at times 
 seems appalling. The same reactionaries 
 are to be found in other organizations and 
 institutions. The democratic form of gov- 
 ernment within the Church makes it easier to 
 fight them here than anywhere else. 
 
 Charles Stelzle. 
 
Contents 
 
 I. The Changing Emphasis of the 
 
 Gospel 9 
 
 II. Elements Affecting the Church's 
 
 Growth i8 
 
 III. Social Problems Confronting the 
 
 Church .... 26 
 
 IV. The Imperative Call to the 
 
 Church 36 
 
THE CHANGING EMPHASIS OF THE 
 GOSPEL 
 
 EACH new situation in the history of 
 the Church demanded a strong em- 
 phasis upon some forgotten or neg- 
 lected truth contained in the old gospel. 
 When the Church hid the doctrine of ** Justi- 
 fication by faith," Martin Luther was raised 
 up to become the prophet of his day, declar- 
 ing with defiance that " the just shall live by 
 faith." Later, John Calvin proclaimed the 
 illuminating truth of **the sovereignty of 
 God." But the pendulum soon swung so far 
 to one side that it required John Wesley to 
 emphasize the doctrine of " the free will of 
 man," in order to balance the movement of 
 the Church. Then, when men seemed again 
 to forget the Almighty, Charles G. Finney 
 thundered out ** The law of God," and they 
 fell upon their faces and, dry-eyed, cried out 
 for mercy. The last great period in the 
 progress of the Church came when D wight 
 L. Moody, with tears streaming down his 
 cheeks, pled "the love of God," lifting 
 
 9 
 
10 The Call of the New Day 
 
 thousands into the Kingdom and setting in 
 motion countless movements for bettering the 
 world. 
 
 It will be noted that in every case when re- 
 form came to the Church, it proceeded from 
 within, not from without. The gospel of 
 Jesus is big enough and broad enough to 
 meet every requirement. When men set 
 themselves in opposition to revealed truth, 
 progress may be retarded, but it is never 
 halted. But the pathetic fact remains that, 
 when men of God appeared in every period 
 of the Church's progress, they met their 
 greatest opposition, not from those outside 
 the Church, but from those within. Jesus 
 accused the Jews of His day of always hav- 
 ing stoned the prophets which were sent unto 
 them. Paul summed up his opinion of the 
 people to whom these messengers of the Al- 
 mighty were sent when he declared that the 
 world was not worthy of them. Luther, 
 WycklifEe, Knox, Savonarola, and a long 
 list of others of more modern times, were 
 compelled to withstand the opposition of 
 those whose comprehension of the signifi- 
 cance of the Kingdom of God was exceed- 
 ingly narrow. Often, as somebody has said, 
 these saints were first ostracized, and then 
 canonized. 
 
To the Old Church 1 1 
 
 God seems to have been compelled at 
 various times to rebuke the dominant Church 
 by organizing another in order to carry out 
 His plan for the redemption of the world. 
 When the Protestant Episcopal Church ap- 
 peared to fail in its great opportunity, He 
 gave the world John Wesley, who organized 
 what afterwards became known as the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church. When the latter 
 Church lost its grip upon the masses, William 
 Booth came out and established the Salvation 
 Army. And, to-day, in spite of the fact that 
 the Salvation Army disregards all of the 
 sacraments and many other things which the 
 Church counts sacred, who will dare say that 
 the Salvation Army is not of God ? 
 
 When any church gets to the point where 
 it believes that it has a monopoly of all the 
 truth or all the Christianity in the world, it has 
 reached a perilous period in its history. The 
 Jews were extremely proud of their heritage, 
 but Jesus reminded them that God could "raise 
 up from these stones children unto Abraham." 
 It required a distinct revelation from heaven 
 to convince even large-hearted Peter that 
 " God is no respecter of persons, but he that 
 feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is 
 accepted with Him." 
 
 Let us not forget that even at best the 
 
12 The Call of the New Day 
 
 world makes progress only through vicarious 
 sacrifice. Life is continuous only as it adapts 
 itself to changing environment. To hold 
 steadily and defiantly to the old order as the 
 new surrounds us is fatal in every sphere. 
 The Church is governed by the same prin- 
 ciples of growth which apply everywhere 
 else. 
 
 Some time ago the editorial staff of a well- 
 known magazine seriously discussed the 
 question, " Is there any further need for the 
 Church ? " Practically every man who partic- 
 ipated in this conference was a churchman. 
 Some of them had given a good part of their 
 lives to its work. But they felt that the 
 Church had arrived at a very critical period 
 in its history. It was a question whether the 
 Church was equal to the modern situation. 
 
 While the Church has undoubtedly fur- 
 nished the original inspiration for most of the 
 Christian activities of the present day, these 
 activities are no longer confined to the 
 Church, and the organizations which are 
 carrying them on have needlessly become 
 rivals of the Church. These " rivals " are 
 actually disinherited children of the Church. 
 Or else the Church does not know her own 
 children. The very principles advocated by 
 the Church have been given such wide applica- 
 
To the Old Church 13 
 
 tion that the Church itself has become 
 startled by their significance, and often it has 
 apologized for them, or repudiated them al- 
 together, with the statement that the Church 
 has nothing to do with such matters. 
 
 As Bishop Charles D. Williams says : " The 
 Church does not recognize these movements 
 as essentially religious. They seem to her 
 secular, outside her province. The Church 
 often muzzles the mouths of the prophets lest 
 they offend the sources of munificence and 
 check the streams of bounty upon which it 
 depends. This is an offense not only to the 
 spirit of democracy, but to the new con- 
 science of the age. The Church preaches, 
 for the most part, the minor moralities of 
 purely personal conduct, technical pieties 
 and ecclesiastical proprieties, while the age 
 is seeking the larger righteousness of the 
 Kingdom of God, which is * human society 
 organized according to the Will of God.' 
 God forbid that I should discredit or belittle 
 the work the Church is doing for the relief 
 of the distressed and the enlargement and 
 enrichment of lives that are narrow and 
 meagre in their interests and opportunities. 
 But she deals too exclusively with the symp- 
 toms of our social disease and unrest and 
 does not touch their causes. 
 
14 The Call of the New Day 
 
 " She sends out her corps of Red Cross 
 nurses to minister to the wounded in our un- 
 equal economic and industrial conflict, but 
 she does not address herself to the causes of 
 the strife. She pours oil and wine into the 
 wounds of the half-dead traveler on the Jeri- 
 cho Road, but she does not lend a hand to 
 rid that road of thieves and robbers, or to re- 
 form the system which inevitably produces 
 thieves and robbers. Yet the situation is not 
 wholly discouraging. The Church is bound 
 to become more hospitable to the new spirit 
 of religion. More and more prophets are 
 heard in her pulpits, pleading for and pro- 
 claiming the larger righteousness of economic 
 justice and social equity, as distinguished 
 from the narrower righteousness of merely 
 personal respectability. The great move- 
 ments of reform and reconstruction are seek- 
 ing a home and centre about which they 
 may organize and unify themselves. And 
 there is none other like the Church, if the 
 Church will only take them." 
 
 Throughout the entire Church there is a 
 growing restlessness among its ministers, 
 especially among the younger men who have 
 been brought into touch with present-day 
 problems. This restlessness is due less, to 
 
To the Old Church 15 
 
 theological considerations than it is to socio- 
 logical conditions. Many of these ministers 
 have resigned their charges to become lead- 
 ers in social work, either local or national, 
 while hundreds of strong men who might 
 otherwise have entered the Christian minis- 
 try have become allied with broader socio- 
 logical movements. Some of these men 
 have taken this step after having experienced 
 keen disappointment because they felt that 
 they could not carry on their life's work 
 through the Church. They have not lost 
 faith in the Church as an institution, but they 
 no longer have confidence in certain institu- 
 tions of the Church. 
 
 The reactionary element which is now in 
 control in the Church has sneeringly said 
 that men of this type are ** socialists " or 
 ** anarchists," and that the Church is better 
 off without them. They said the same thing 
 about Jesus two thousand years ago. It has 
 often happened that men have been driven 
 into radical positions because of the intoler- 
 ance of this reactionary group, which, appar- 
 ently, hasn't the remotest idea what socialism 
 or anarchy mean. 
 
 But the real menace to the Church of Jesus 
 Christ to-day is not the radical, whether his 
 radicalism be theological or sociological. 
 
l6 The Call of the New Day 
 
 The real menace is the smug, self-satisfied 
 person who is quite content with things as 
 they are, and who wants no change of any 
 kind which will compel him to readjust him- 
 self to meet the modern need. 
 
 Jesus Christ was a Revolutionist. He dis- 
 regarded altogether the ecclesiastical aris- 
 tocracy of His day and the social aristocracy 
 of His period. Neither had they any use for 
 Him. The latter scorned Him because of 
 His poverty and lowly origin, while the 
 former crucified Him because He dared tell 
 the truth. His message was disturbing. 
 It unsettled things. When His disciples 
 preached it they were brought before the 
 Sanhedrin upon the charge that they were 
 proclaiming a doctrine which was turning 
 the world upside down. These accusers 
 were right. This Gospel which Jesus gave 
 the world will continue to turn the world 
 upside down until it is turned right side up. 
 
 To keep the Church clear-eyed and open- 
 minded is a great necessity. Were the 
 Church to insist that God has ceased to re- 
 veal Himself and His purposes for the world, 
 it would at once mean stagnation. God is 
 revealing Himself anew day by day, in His 
 dealings with men and with nations. There 
 are prophets of God in the twentieth century 
 
To the Old Church 17 
 
 just as surely as there were in the first or the 
 centuries preceding it. It cannot be that the 
 Bible is a closed book, and that God has 
 ceased to speak through men simply because 
 a church council decreed it. God is writing 
 new chapters every day. 
 
 Men are speaking for God in the twentieth 
 century. Their inspiration may not be ac- 
 cepted for a century or two — or longer. But 
 this was also true of some of the men who 
 wrote the Bible which we now accept as in- 
 spired. But here's the point — God is still 
 speaking. And if God is still speaking He 
 is naturally giving us fresh revelations of 
 Himself and His purposes. This must mean 
 a larger life for the Church. God's revela- 
 tion will not be hampered by traditions, no 
 matter how sacred. The Church is capable 
 of infinite expansion — even to the utmost of 
 its opportunities as shown in God's new reve- 
 lations. It behooves us to keep out of the 
 way of the Church's progress — to say the 
 least. Better still, it is a privilege to learn 
 God's will and obey it. To keep in line with 
 God means growth. To oppose His will 
 means annihilation. 
 
II 
 
 ELEMENTS AFFECTING THE CHURCH'S 
 GROWTH 
 
 FOR one hundred years the Protestant 
 Church in the United States had been 
 making steady progress. In 1800 
 seven persons out of every hundred were 
 members of the Church ; in 1900 there were 
 twenty-four. With every decade there has 
 been an increase in membership. But from 
 1900 to 1 9 10 the Church barely kept pace 
 with the population. The growth of popula- 
 tion during this period was twenty-one per 
 cent. The increase in the Protestant Church 
 was also twenty-one per cent. For one hun- 
 dred years the Church had steadily outdis- 
 tanced the population. For ten years it has 
 been a tie. What will the next decade 
 produce ? Some people are getting comfort 
 out of the statement that the Church is 
 ** holding its own." But where in God's word 
 is the Church commanded merely to hold its 
 own ? Isn't it true that we are commanded 
 to conquer the world ? If we are failing in 
 
 18 
 
To the Old Church 19 
 
 this, can it be said that we are true to the 
 commission entrusted to us ? 
 
 In defense of the Church it is often re- 
 marked that the comparative faUing off in its 
 membership is due to the coming in of great 
 masses of immigrants — ** a milHon a year," 
 has been the cry of home missionary agencies. 
 As a matter of fact the percentage of foreign 
 born people in the United States is no greater 
 to-day than it was fifty years ago. The con- 
 stant percentage of foreign born during all of 
 this period has been just about fourteen. 
 But suppose it were true that there are large 
 numbers of immigrants in our country to- 
 day, upon whom the Church is making prac- 
 tically no impression ? We have been say- 
 ing that the Gospel is the power of God unto 
 salvation to every one that believeth. But 
 when the immigrant moves in the Church 
 usually moves out, thereby admitting that its 
 Gospel is effective for the foreigner only whenr 
 it is exported through foreign missionary 
 societies, and that it is non-effective in a 
 highly developed Christian country, where it 
 should be at its very best. Is the Church 
 ready to make this confession ? 
 
 " Men are not preaching the old-time 
 religion ; therefore the Church is losing its 
 grip," we are told. This isn't true. Thou- 
 
20 The Call of the New Day 
 
 sands of ministers are preaching what is 
 known as *'the old gospel," but they aren't 
 making much of an impression on the 
 modern situation. There must be another 
 reason for the failure. Prince of preachers 
 that Dwight L. Moody was, he was com- 
 pletely defeated when he attempted to con- 
 duct an evangelistic campaign on the lower 
 east side of New York twenty years ago. 
 And yet the people in the tenements are 
 hungry for religion. 
 
 Neither is it a question of preaching ** the 
 new gospel " of the liberal theologian. If 
 this were true, then the Unitarian and the 
 Universalist churches would be crowded with 
 workingmen. The old-fashioned gospel is 
 much more appealing to workingmen than 
 the new. There isn't the least doubt of this. 
 But actually, it isn't a question of theology at 
 all. It is a more inclusive proposition. 
 
 For ten years the evangelists have been 
 telling us that we are on the verge of a great 
 spiritual awakening. But it is significant 
 that it was after an unusual propaganda 
 through costly evangelistic commissions that 
 the Church experienced its worst slump in 
 recent years. There are a few evangelists 
 who through their peculiar personalities are 
 making remarkable appeals to the people. 
 
To the Old Church 21 
 
 But the question is often raised whether 
 galvanizing the Church into a semblance of 
 spiritual power can have permanent value. 
 Whatever maybe said regarding the methods 
 of the evangelists in question there is no 
 doubt that frequently great good is accom- 
 plished in individual lives. But the fact that 
 so very many always return to the old life 
 seems to indicate that the message of the 
 evangelist was not comprehensive enough to 
 permanently enlist these earnest men and 
 women who sincerely desired to live the 
 Christian life. 
 
 The appeal of the average evangelist is too 
 narrow. If he were more sympathetic 
 towards a larger, fuller gospel, which might 
 be preached by those who stay after he goes, 
 it would make the task less difficult, but 
 usually the evangelist goes out of his way to 
 ridicule and completely discredit a social 
 message which would really make his own 
 work more effective. He makes it almost 
 impossible for the minister to discuss with 
 the new converts the social aspects of the 
 Gospel, with the result that many of the 
 men and women who were enthusiastic 
 for service when they came into the Church 
 soon drift out, because they cannot all teach 
 Sunday-school classes, or serve as deacons or 
 
22 The Call of the New Day 
 
 elders, or remain inactive in Bible classes. 
 If the evangelist cannot himself preach a full- 
 orbed gospel, he should not object to others 
 preaching the message that he neglects. 
 
 The Church is being severely tested in 
 the cities. From 1900 to 19 10 the cities of 
 25,000 and over increased fifty-five per cent. 
 Can it be said that church membership in 
 these cities also increased fifty-five per cent ? 
 By no juggling of figures can this increase 
 be established. The tendency of the popula- 
 tion to move towards the city is one of the 
 marvels of modern times. One-tenth of the 
 population in the United States lives in the 
 three cities of New York, Philadelphia, and 
 Chicago. One-half the population of New 
 York state lives in New York City. One- 
 fourth the population of this country lives 
 upon one four-hundredth of the total land 
 area. The cities of agricultural Canada are 
 growing even more rapidly than those in the 
 United States. The cities of Europe and 
 Asia are also swelling their population 
 figures in phenomenal fashion. 
 
 But as populations and problems in the 
 city increase, the churches move steadily out. 
 We contend that the Church has the only 
 solvent of the social problem, but in a situa- 
 tion which demands its direct and immediate 
 
To the Old Church 23 
 
 application, we seem to grow suddenly pes- 
 simistic regarding its actual effectiveness, or 
 we quickly deny that our Gospel was in- 
 tended to be used to cure modern social ills, 
 except by indirection. 
 
 Without the slightest compunction we sell 
 down-town church property, made valuable 
 by reason of what the neighbors did through 
 the payment of taxes and the general im- 
 provement of property, and appropriate it 
 for the building of fine churches in other 
 parts of the city. We seem to forget that 
 the community has a stake in the church 
 which never paid taxes and scarcely made 
 an attempt to benefit the people in the 
 neighborhood in any practical way. We 
 fail to recall that a church is relieved from 
 paying taxes on the principle that it is per- 
 forming services to the state which is at least 
 equivalent to the amount of the taxes it 
 should pay. We talk about the problem of 
 "the down-town church," whereas the em- 
 phasis should be placed upon the down-town 
 problem of the Church. For the problems 
 that face us here must not become the con- 
 cern of a single church, nor of the churches 
 which happen to be situated in the down- 
 town district. They must be attacked by the 
 entire Church. 
 
24 The Call of the New Day 
 
 We become enthusiastic about solving the 
 city's problems by shifting the tenement 
 poor onto the farm. But every such attempt 
 will result in failure. It is flying into the 
 face of inexorable law. If it were possible 
 to start towards the farm a thousand thin 
 blooded tenement house men, they would 
 meet on the way an equal number of husky 
 farmers' boys who had failed to make good. 
 If these do not succeed, or if they are dis- 
 satisfied with the farm, how can it be ex- 
 pected that the men of the tenement will 
 succeed ? The city must solve its own prob- 
 lems. The country has troubles enough of 
 its own. 
 
 It is said that there are in some middle 
 Western states nearly one thousand aban- 
 doned churches. This is due, in a large 
 measure, to the loss of population, but there 
 is a steady decline of interest in religious 
 matters in the country. The social and 
 economic problems of the city are being 
 forced upon country people. These prob- 
 lems are seriously affecting the life of the 
 Church. The country church must become 
 the centre of the lives of the people. Either 
 the country minister will become the leader 
 of the people, or the people will have an in- 
 creasing disregard for the Church. This does 
 
To the Old Church 25 
 
 not mean that the minister needs to know 
 more about farming than the farmer. But 
 there are ways in which the minister may 
 direct his people so that they will become 
 better farmers. Poor farmers will always be 
 poor supporters of the Church. The pros- 
 perity and continuance of the country church 
 depends upon the prosperity of the farmer 
 and his fidelity to the soil. 
 
Ill 
 
 SOCIAL PROBLEMS CONFRONTING 
 THE CHURCH 
 
 THE per capita consumption of in- 
 toxicatingjiquor in this country has 
 increased from five gallons in 1850 
 to twenty-three gallons in 191 2, in spite of 
 the activities of temperance and prohibition 
 societies. This increase has been a steady 
 one, and is not due to any abnormal cause, 
 as, for example, the sudden release of a large 
 quantity of liquor from the bonded ware- 
 houses. What is it that makes the saloon 
 attractive? It cannot be attributed to the 
 "low-browed brutes" who run saloons. 
 Low-browed brutes are not very attractive 
 to anybody. One reason why saloons are 
 attractive is because they are democratic 
 institutions. Also, they are very human 
 affairs. The bartender and the saloon-keeper 
 find jobs for their patrons. They give sound 
 advice concerning a great many every-day 
 affairs. They are the centres of political in- 
 fluence. They provide various kinds of rec- 
 reational features. 
 
 26 
 
To the Old Church 27 
 
 The saloons are social centres, in a very 
 important sense. There are many evils con- 
 nected with them, and these must not be 
 overlooked, but an utter disregard of the 
 elements that are good will weaken the at- 
 tack upon an institution which has a tremen- 
 dous grip on the average man. The Church 
 needs to recognize the distinct social and 
 economic value of the saloon, and it must ad- 
 dress itself specifically to meet the influence 
 which the saloon has created for itself. A 
 negative program with reference to the saloon 
 will never permanendy close it up. The 
 Church must be more than ** Anti " — it must 
 be positive and constructive. We are always 
 tremendously concerned about shutting up 
 things. Isn't it about time that we gave 
 some thought to opening up something that 
 will help solve the recreation problem ? 
 
 In forty years the population in this coun- 
 try has increased one hundred per cent. 
 During the same period the number of 
 divorces granted has increased seven hun- 
 dred and fifty per cent. We grant more 
 divorces than any other civilized country on 
 the globe. We grant one divorce to every 
 twelve marriages ; in some states one to 
 every four marriages, as over against one 
 divorce for every twenty-two marriages in 
 
28 The Call of the New Day 
 
 Switzerland, one to every thirty in France, 
 one to every forty-four in Germany, and one 
 to every 400 in England. Is it conceivable 
 that the Church can remain indifferent to a 
 condition that is breaking down our national 
 life as the divorce evil is doing ? It must not 
 be supposed that the evil is altogether due to 
 immorality, for surely Americans are not more 
 immoral than Europeans. There are social 
 and economic reasons for the divorce evil 
 which we cannot ignore. Its solution will 
 depend upon a broad, comprehensive study 
 of the entire situation. The Church must 
 have an important part in this investigation. 
 
 It would be a vain thing to attempt even to 
 approximate the number of prostitutes in the 
 United States. A few cities have succeeded 
 in wiping out their "red-light" districts. 
 This hasn't abolished the social evil, not even 
 in these cities, although it has accomplished 
 a great deal of good. Most of the women 
 simply went to other cities where they con- 
 tinued to carry on their trade, or else they 
 moved into the residential districts. It will 
 not help in the final solution of this problem 
 merely to shift the responsibility onto some 
 other town. When will the churches have 
 the courage to face this situation ? 
 
 Our method of dealing with so-called 
 
To the Old Church 29 
 
 " fallen women " is most unjust, in view of our 
 treatment of the *' fallen men " who in most 
 instances are directly responsible for the con- 
 dition of the women. But aside from this, we 
 regard these women as creatures of an inferior 
 order. We assume that they must always 
 have been different in their very natures from 
 our own daughters and sisters. This does 
 not necessarily follow. Harsh as it may seem, 
 practically none of our children are altogether 
 immune from the horrible influence of the 
 social evil. We sing most tenderly about the 
 ** wandering boy," 
 
 *' Once he was pure as morning light." 
 
 What about the ** wandering girl " ? The 
 chances are that the '* wandering boy " was 
 largely responsible for her present situation. 
 But when she desires to *' come home," we 
 imagine that the only suitable place for her is 
 an institution or a mission. And we wonder 
 why she rebels against going there until she 
 has reached the extreme point in her degrad- 
 ing experience. We do not seem to realize 
 that usually this woman was once open- 
 hearted and generous, full blooded and affec- 
 tionate, and that these very virtues — per- 
 verted — were what drove her into a life of 
 shame. A cold, formal institution, where she 
 
30 The Call of the New Day 
 
 will be stared at by "benefactresses," and 
 patronized, doesn't appeal to a woman of this 
 type, no matter how low she may have fallen. 
 It will be worth while remembering in the 
 genealogy of Jesus given by Matthew, there 
 were some women of rather " shady " reputa- 
 tion. These were signally honored by God 
 in spite of their doubtful careers. While we 
 accept the theory that God will receive any 
 sinner, no matter how he may have fallen, 
 we are not quite ready to be so generous our- 
 selves. 
 
 Some day the Church will revise its atti- 
 tude towards ** fallen women." And this 
 means that individual church members will 
 do so. Not merely by resolution but by con- 
 duct. Furthermore, we will inquire more 
 closely into the causes of the social evil. 
 While the economic situation is not alto- 
 gether to blame for it, we will be prepared to 
 say, frankly, that a girl who earns only six 
 dollars a week will have a tremendous strug- 
 gle to live a virtuous life in a big city, where 
 the temptation to do the other thing is so al- 
 luringly and so persistently presented. We 
 will insist that working women shall receive 
 a fair wage. We will take a greater interest 
 in her home, and the conditions which may 
 drive her into the street or into places of 
 
To the Old Church 31 
 
 questionable amusement. We will think it 
 worth while to remember that she has certain 
 recreational needs which must be satisfied. 
 We will see to it that public recreational 
 centres are freed from every evil influence, no 
 matter who conducts them. The Church 
 will do this through her chivalrous men, who 
 will fight for the girl who needs strong 
 champions and wise friends. 
 
 The industrial situation is becoming in- 
 creasingly complex. The development of 
 Socialism in every part of the world is full 
 of significance. There are to-day about 
 30,000,000 Socialists in Europe and Amer- 
 ica. In 1888 the Socialists in the United 
 States polled 2,000 votes. In 19 14 they 
 polled over a million votes. Socialism can- 
 not be bluffed out or laughed out. The only 
 way to eradicate Socialism is to wipe out the 
 conditions which have given rise to Socialism. 
 To many men and women Socialism has be- 
 come a religion. They are ready to sacrifice 
 as much for " the cause " as is the case with 
 Christian missionaries. 
 
 The conflict in the industrial world has re- 
 cently developed a new aspect which is giv- 
 ing serious concern to some observers. On 
 the one hand we have national employers* 
 associations which will not recognize work- 
 
32 The Call of the New Day 
 
 ingmen through their trade unions. At the 
 other extreme are the Industrial Workers of 
 the World, who will not make bargains with 
 employers because they say they have noth- 
 ing in common with them — their interests are 
 so totally different that they decline to make 
 any kind of a contract with the bosses. 
 Meanwhile, these groups of radical em- 
 ployers and radical workingmen are both 
 playing into the hands of the Socialists. 
 
 The trade unionist knows full well that 
 when he is deprived of membership in the 
 labor union, there is only one alternative for 
 him, namely, Socialism. And thousands of 
 trade unionists are pouring into the ranks 
 of the radicals because of the attitude of 
 some employers of labor towards the trades 
 union. Entire national organizations of labor 
 have openly committed themselves to the 
 philosophy of Karl Marx. There will no 
 doubt be a final terrific conflict between the 
 men and the bosses if present tendencies 
 continue. But it will not be between the 
 Manufacturers' Association and the labor 
 unions. It will be between the Manufac- 
 turers' Association and the Socialists. The 
 writer is neither a Socialist nor a prophet, 
 but he ventures the assertion that in this con- 
 flict the Socialists are sure to win. 
 
To the Old Church 33 
 
 What should be the attitude of the Church 
 towards these movements? Let it be said 
 with definiteness — the Church must not be- 
 come the advocate of any particular social 
 system. It is the business of the Church to 
 preach the fundamental principles of Jesus, 
 applying them to present-day problems in a 
 perfectly fair but fearless fashion. But the 
 Church must be broad enough to include 
 all those whose lives are dominated by the 
 Spirit of Jesus, and who are seeking to bring 
 in the Kingdom of God, no matter what their 
 economic beliefs may be. There are many 
 men outside the Church to-day who would be 
 within, had they not been made to feel un- 
 comfortable because of their personal con- 
 victions regarding the economic situation 
 and its permanent betterment. They are 
 Christian men. There is no doubt of this, 
 if one may judge them by their fruits and 
 their spirit. And these must be the final 
 test. 
 
 There is a phase of the industrial situation 
 which suggests grave questions. A recent 
 study of how one thousand workingmen 
 spent their spare time demonstrated the fact 
 that the men who were most indifferent to 
 the Church were not those who worked long 
 hours and thus were too tired to go to 
 
34 The Call of the New Day 
 
 church, but those who worked only eight 
 hours per day, and not at all on Saturday 
 afternoons. In other words, the most in- 
 telligent, highest grade workers were not 
 attracted by the Church. In every com- 
 parison between the Church and all other 
 agencies, the Church always suffered, when 
 these workingmen made their decision. 
 
 The real ** problem of the workingman " 
 for the Church to consider is not so much 
 the low-waged, long-houred worker, but the 
 highly skilled artisan. This is the man who 
 is becoming interested in other movements 
 which are to-day challenging the Church 
 for supremacy in the hearts of the people. 
 He is the man who is tied up to the trades 
 union. It is in the trades union that the 
 battle of the workers must be fought out. 
 And in the trades union, too, will the best 
 of the laboring men make their decision as 
 to what shall be their attitude towards the 
 Church. The Church simply cannot neglect 
 the opportunity to secure a hearing in the 
 labor hall. The powerful organizations of 
 labor, with their frequent, orderly, and busi- 
 nesslike meetings, local, state, and national ; 
 and the nearly three hundred weekly and 
 monthly newspapers which are read dili- 
 gently by the workers and their families, 
 
To the Old Church 35 
 
 present a remarkable avenue of approach 
 to millions of men who are not at all inter- 
 ested in the Church. They are not opposed 
 to the Church — they are simply indifTerent. 
 But this is really worse than if they openly 
 fought the Church. 
 
TV 
 
 THE IMPERATIVE CALL TO THE 
 CHURCH 
 
 WHAT does the Church most need 
 to-day? It isn't more money. The 
 Church is not dependent upon 
 money. It was most powerful, considering 
 its numerical strength, when it had practically 
 no wealth. When Jesus sent out His disci- 
 ples to conquer the world He told them not 
 to bother with money. In those days the 
 Church was a great revolutionary force. Its 
 leader was without headquarters. His disci- 
 ples were wanderers and outcasts from so- 
 ciety. They lived in caves and catacombs. 
 But they were slowly undermining the im- 
 morality and heathenism of the period. 
 
 The Church needs some money to carry 
 on its work under present conditions, but 
 money threatens some day to become the 
 curse of the Church, just as it has proven to 
 be the curse of many another institution. 
 Money may tone down its message. It may 
 tie up its best activities. The kind of money 
 
 36 
 
To the Old Church 37 
 
 that is of greatest value to the Church is 
 that which comes from those who can least 
 afford to give it. This money will be a greater 
 blessing than that which was earned by the 
 sweat of another's brow rather than by the 
 sacrifice of the one who gave it. 
 
 Money has undoubtedly been a blessing to 
 the Church, but it has been the money which 
 it gave away. The increase of its riches has 
 not been the cause of its increasing influence, 
 where that influence has made itself felt for 
 good. Money given to missions and hos- 
 pitals and schools undoubtedly made the 
 service rendered easier to give, but the work- 
 ers who served unquestionably gave more 
 abundantly than those who contributed cash 
 for buildings and equipment. And the best 
 of that service w^ould have been given any- 
 way. 
 
 It isn't more members. The actual power 
 of an organization is never determined by 
 mere numbers. Gideon's band of a few hun- 
 dred w^as far more effective than the army 
 of thousands of half-hearted soldiers. That 
 minister who said that they had been having 
 a greal revival in his church — not because so 
 many had been added to the church, but be- 
 cause a good many had been getting out, 
 spoke a solemn truth. 
 
38 The Call of the New Day 
 
 We have made it too easy to get into the 
 Church. Not that any sincere person should 
 ever be denied admission, but we have urged 
 church membership upon many who might 
 otherwise have taken the whole thing more 
 seriously if they had been made to realize the 
 real significance of church membership. We 
 have made it a thing much too cheap. We 
 have made it appear that to be a church 
 member was all that was required of men, 
 so far as the Christian life is concerned. The 
 result has been that to-day we have millions 
 in the Church who not only add nothing to 
 its power, but whose lives are stunted be- 
 cause they never exercise the virtues which 
 should be peculiar to the men and women 
 who are members of the Church. 
 
 It isn^t more ministers. The theological 
 schools are crying out for students. The 
 Boards of the Church are pleading for re- 
 cruits. But the Church doesn't need more 
 ministers in this country. There are now 
 about 200,000 of them. If it is merely a 
 question of numbers, then the Church and 
 its agencies for enlisting and training minis- 
 ters might better cease their efforts. What 
 is needed is not more ministers but better 
 ministers. 
 
 It isn't more religion. There was a lot of 
 
To the Old Church .39 
 
 " religion " among the Israelites when Jere- 
 miah protested against their iniquity. And 
 when they said to him, in substance : " Did 
 you ever see a more beautiful service, and a 
 greater number of burnt sacrifices being of- 
 fered upon the altar, and a larger number of 
 meetings presided over by cultured priests ? '* 
 Jeremiah denounced them even more vehe- 
 mently. And when he would not cease from 
 his protesting they put him into prison. 
 When Paul visited Athens he told these 
 worshippers of 30,000 gods that they were 
 ** altogether too religious." 
 
 You may pick a man out of the gutter, 
 scrape ofl the mud, and find a Methodist, a 
 Baptist, a Presbyterian or an Episcopalian 
 ready to fight for his '* religion." The ** old 
 time religion " may or may not be a good 
 thing. But the fact that it's old doesn't 
 necessarily make it good. There have been 
 many things done in the name of religion 
 which were actually the work of the devil. 
 Religion — pure and undefiled — is a wonder- 
 ful thing. But to be merely ** religious " 
 doesn't help matters much. Often it has 
 simply a hardening effect. 
 
 It isn't more sociability. To be cordial 
 and free from snobbishness is a most excellent 
 thing, even for the Church. But the Church 
 
40 The Call of the New Day 
 
 isn't suffering to-day because it hasn't enough 
 oyster suppers and ice-cream festivals. It 
 has an abundance of clubs and classes. It 
 often has reception committees and the min- 
 ister and his helpers greet the stranger at the 
 door. The Church furnishes social life for 
 millions, and in this particular it is perform- 
 ing a valuable service. On the whole, the 
 Church isn't failing as a social institution. 
 Sometimes, it is feared, this part of its work 
 is greatly overemphasized. The danger is 
 that its social work may swamp much else 
 that is still more valuable. 
 
 It isn't more philanthropy. The Church 
 has always been the centre and promoter of 
 philanthropic work. It was the organizer of 
 hospitals when others permitted the sick to 
 suffer and die. It cared for little children 
 when the world had not yet learned to ap- 
 preciate the value of " one such little one." 
 In every land and to all the people, wherever 
 suffering was found, there the Church has 
 given freely that burdens might be lightened 
 and care made easier to carry. But what 
 the Church needs most just now is not to 
 increase its philanthropic work, for others 
 have learned from the Church how to min- 
 ister to the needy. 
 
 What does the Church need most? It 
 
To the Old Church 41 
 
 needs money, but it must be clean. It needs 
 members, but they must be true. It needs 
 ministers, but they must be strong. It needs 
 religion, but it must be pure. It needs soci- 
 ability, but it must be sincere. It needs phi- 
 lanthropy, but it must be tempered by justice. 
 But more than all these it needs men a^id 
 women who are ready to pay the price of dis- 
 cipleship. More than all these it needs per- 
 secution because it dares go contrary to the 
 accepted order of things — when these things 
 are wrong. Nothing would make the Church 
 grow in influence quite so much as to be per- 
 secuted for righteousness' sake. 
 
 The Church needs more of the masculine 
 touch. There are millions of men in the 
 Church, but they have been content to allow 
 the women to dominate the Church until it 
 has been almost completely feminized. 
 
 The brotherhoods of the American Prot- 
 estant Churches have literally dug their 
 graves with their teeth. Instead of being 
 inspired by Mazzini's call, ** Come and suf- 
 fer," they were fooled by the swan song, 
 ** Come and eat." 
 
 It was almost pathetic how the Church 
 sighed *' It is done," when these brother- 
 hoods were organized. Now all the problems 
 
42 The Call of the New Day 
 
 of the Church would be solved, it believed, 
 for had not the men of the Church said that 
 the women had been faithful long enough — 
 they themselves would do the work in real 
 man fashion? But even while they yet spoke 
 the women were lined about the walls of the 
 banqueting halls, with trays and towels in 
 hand, feeding these valiant soldiers, who 
 took it all out in songs and speeches and 
 sandwiches. 
 
 Scarcely a single national brotherhood has 
 made good. Here and there a local organi- 
 zation has accomplished a fine piece of work, 
 but even most of the local brotherhoods have 
 flattened ** tires." Some are still being thrilled 
 by inspirational addresses delivered by spell- 
 binders who are great favorites on such oc- 
 casions, but who never get within a thousand 
 miles of the real task. They know the latest 
 jokes and they work out great schemes, 
 which are propelled by hot air ; but nothing 
 happens. 
 
 Meanwhile, the women are still standing 
 round with their trays and their towels, smil- 
 ing good-naturedly at the guests of the 
 evening, and they still look foolish and em- 
 barrassed when the funny man of the crowd 
 offers the usual vote of thanks **to the ladies, 
 what would we do without them?" 
 
To the Old Church 43 
 
 Quite right ; sometimes we men don't 
 know what to do with them when they come 
 to us full of enthusiasm for some new church 
 enterprise; but what would we do without 
 them when we ** fall down " on the whole 
 thing ourselves — what would we do without 
 them? 
 
 But that isn't the real question ; the most 
 important question is this : What is to be- 
 come of us? The women can run the 
 church, and maybe the church will continue 
 to do the kind of work it (or she) has been 
 doing for many a year ; but what will be- 
 come of the men who consider that they 
 have done their full duty when they have 
 permitted the women to wait on them at the 
 brotherhood ** banquet " ? 
 
 The men constitute just one-third of the 
 membership in the churches to-day. The 
 fact of the matter is, however, the men who 
 are in the churches are, for the most part, 
 middle-aged and old men. The young men 
 are not being won or held by the Church. 
 What will happen when the middle-aged 
 men become old men and the old men die 
 off? 
 
 Doesn't the trouble lie in the fact that our 
 churches do not make a big enough ap- 
 peal to men ? Aren't we too much afraid 
 
44 The Call of the New Day 
 
 of putting up to men a real man's job? 
 Must we forever be silent about the hard 
 things that the Church should be doing ? 
 What if a few men, or even many men, 
 should be driven away, even from the ban- 
 quet? The best and strongest will remain, 
 and it may be a good plan to build upon these 
 the foundation of a great superstructure which 
 will stand the test of time. 
 
 Here is a chance for the poorest of men to 
 have a part in building up the Kingdom of 
 God upon earth, and the rich man need not be 
 left out. If the Church is to win the strong 
 men who are to-day offering themselves for 
 hard tasks in other fields, the Church must 
 appeal to the heroic in men. Real men like 
 to do things that demand sacrifice. And 
 when such men are enlisted in the great cause 
 for which the Church stands, then the suc- 
 cess of the Church is assured, for even the 
 other kind will follow the strong leaders in 
 the Church. 
 
 The Church has been emphasizing the im- 
 portance of individual salvation. It is time 
 that we talked more about social salvation. 
 We have been saying that we must " build 
 up the Church." We ought to be more 
 deeply interested in " building up the peo- 
 
To the Old Church 45 
 
 pie." It is well to declare that the individual 
 must be saved. But the individual can be 
 saved only as he helps save society. 
 
 The time has come for a great new crusade 
 in the name of the Church — a crusade which 
 will have as its slogan these words : " He 
 that saveth his life shall lose it, and he that 
 loseth his life for My sake shall find it." 
 Some of us have been thinking only of what 
 we could get out of our religion. Jesus 
 thought only of what He could put into it. 
 This is the basis of His teaching. This is the 
 philosophy of His religion. He came ** not 
 to be ministered unto, but to minister." He 
 came to give His life a sacrifice for men. 
 ** As the Father hath sent Me, even so send I 
 you," He told the disciples. This commis- 
 sion is also given to twentieth century Chris- 
 tians. The social message of Jesus means 
 sweat and blood and sacrifice and suffering. 
 
 Institutional work is a very small part of the 
 social gospel. Mere sociability is even less 
 typical of what it implies. The social gospel 
 includes economic justice. It means that 
 underfed women and overworked men must 
 get a square deal. It means that there shall 
 be a more equitable distribution of profits in 
 industry. It carries with it the spirit of true 
 brotherhood and democracy. 
 
46 The Call of the New Day 
 
 The Church must not remain in ignorance 
 of vile sanitary conditions and bad economic 
 relationships. It must study these questions 
 with an open mind and then strike at them 
 with a closed fist. The Church must find out 
 why so many people die of contagious but 
 preventable disease. In former days men 
 said that great epidemics were visitations of 
 divine Providence. To-day they charge it up 
 to the Board of Health. The Church cannot 
 remain out of the fight for health and life. 
 It is too late for the Church to say that it has 
 nothing to do with men's bodies — that it is its 
 business simply to save men's souls. If the 
 Church does not care for men's bodies, 
 which it has seen, how can it care for men's 
 souls which it has not seen ? If Jesus thought 
 it worth His time to heal men's diseases, isn't 
 it worth our while to prevent diseases ? And 
 doesn't this mean an interest in sanitation 
 and pure food and good housing? One 
 does not get very far along in the study 
 of social problems before one runs upon a 
 moral principle. Such work is religious. 
 It isn't a thing separate and apart. It 
 is vitally related to the deepest spiritual ex- 
 perience. 
 
 The Church has needlessly alienated 
 sincere social workers because it scorned 
 
To the Old Church 47 
 
 what these men and women were doing in be- 
 half of suffering mankind. The social workers 
 have become impatient with the Church be- 
 cause its leaders have ridiculed their efforts. 
 The average social worker does not insist 
 that he has offered the people a substitute for 
 religion. He is content if he can supplement 
 the efforts of the religious worker. That dis- 
 tinctively spiritual work has not been done in 
 some social settlements is no argument 
 against the settlement or its workers. The 
 settlement is purely a socialized institution, 
 organized primarily for social purposes. Its 
 function is social, just as that of the public 
 school is educational, and that of the Church 
 moral and religious. And yet any one of 
 these may take on the functions of the others, 
 and whether or not it is wise to do so, and to 
 what extent it is to be done, must in all fair- 
 ness be left to the judgment of the director. 
 If the Church insists that the social settle- 
 ment must take on the functions of the 
 Church, then by the same token the settle- 
 ment may insist that the Church must take 
 on its functions. In a peculiar sense the 
 Church may emphasize spiritual, social and 
 educational work. No organization can do 
 this with greater ease or better grace. To 
 the extent that the Church will do this, to 
 
48 The Call of the New Day 
 
 that extent will the Church enlarge its power 
 and influence and service. 
 
 Some there are who seek to justify their 
 indifference to the social situation by the 
 Scripture : " I am determined to know noth- 
 ing among you save Jesus Christ and Him 
 crucified." It is unfortunate that they have 
 narrowed this wonderful text to a mere theo- 
 logical definition. What does Jesus crucified 
 signify, if it does not mean service and sacri- 
 fice and suffering ? The exponents of social 
 service might well take the cross as an emblem 
 of their philosophy, for it is more nearly 
 typical of what they believe than any other 
 symbol. The deepest meaning of the cross 
 finds its expression in unselfish devotion to 
 all the needs of men. This is the creed of the 
 social worker. It must increasingly become 
 that of the Church. 
 
 Printed in the United States of America 
 
Date Due 
 
7.^^ 
 
Princeton Thcolog 
 
 cal Semmary-Speer Lib.ary 
 
 1 1O12^(K.O09 3286