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 Ayre MISC, 
 
 
 
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 WILL THE CHURCH 
 MEET THE TEST? 
 
 Mis 
 
 
 
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 F the church ever intends to vindi- 
 
 cate its name among men as the 
 champion of a pure and peaceable 
 religion of heavenly power, now is the 
 time when it must move forward with 
 consecration surpassing all it has 
 shown before. Now is the hour for 
 sacrifice, for devotion that costs, for 
 fidelities unflinching and unlimited. 
 The reason why the knowledge of the 
 Lord must cover the earth as the 
 waters cover the sea is now evident 
 as never before; nothing less than 
 literal saturation with religion will 
 save the world from such foul out- 
 breaks of wicked ambition as now 
 bathe it in blood. Thin-spread, nom- 
 inal Christianity is a demonstrated 
 failure. Nothing, therefore, but the 
 uttermost insistency and persistenc 
 of Christians for the rights and will 
 of their Master can be worthy of their 
 calling and allegiance in this critical 
 juncture of human fate. 
 
 Aa 0 Sf 
 
Will the church meet the test? Its 
 greatest immediate peril is that it will 
 give way and lose ground before it 
 fairly realizes that the test has come. 
 In whatever new crusade the church 
 is called to by this unequalled demand, 
 the first were of its commander will 
 not be a blood-stirring “ Move on!” 
 but a sobering “ Hold fast!” If the 
 earth is to be covered deep with the 
 knowledge of the Lord, the matter to 
 care for first is that the tide shall not 
 be allowed to ebb away from the fields 
 where it now prevails. The gospel 
 flood to be hoped for must not ft 
 before it rises. Recession anywhere 
 now in any religious work would verge 
 on treason. 
 
 Let us put the danger in the plainest 
 of warning. War conditions have dis- 
 turbed business all over the world. 
 Hard times, of nobody knows what 
 severity, are imminent in the United 
 States. Many, possibly most families 
 will likely have less to live on. The 
 habit of Christian givers under the 
 same conditions in other times has 
 been to reduce their giving to the mis- 
 sion enterprises of the church. It has 
 been assumed that a Christian may 
 lawfully abridge his benevolence in 
 the proportion that his income de- 
 
creases. Perhaps that is a fair abstract 
 principle. But let the church take 
 notice that it does not apply now. A 
 new measure is installed. A stress of 
 burden must be shouldered by the 
 church which it has never borne be- 
 fore. The stress begins with this: The 
 church must this time keep up its 
 mission giving unfalteringly, no mat- 
 ter how its temporal prosperity fails. 
 If incomes go down, the utmost cut 
 of economy must be applied to what 
 Christians spend on themselves before 
 they think of abating what they give 
 to the cause of making this world what 
 Christ wants. } 
 
 How can there be hope of the 
 church’s marching forward, if straight- 
 way, when the teeth of hardship champ 
 in its flesh, it slinks back? ‘There is 
 no going forward without hardship. 
 There can be no going forward except 
 there first be a great standing fast. 
 
 Don’t cut down your missionary 
 contribution. Don’t risk it. Be on 
 the safe side of your immortal duty; 
 sacrifice and give a little Rs Ms 
 Continent. 
 
x © A WORD TO THE W 
 CONGREGATIONAL PEOPLE 
 FROM THE AMERICAN BOARD 
 
 <0 
 
 The Officers and Prudential Com- 
 mittee of the American Board have 
 faith that the Congregational people 
 will meet the test. As a proof of that 
 confidence, it has been decided to 
 make no cut in the annual appropri- 
 ations, but to sustain the ek of our 
 missionaries on the same basis as last 
 year. To do otherwise would be 
 to confess the unwillingness of the 
 churches to rise to the great emer- 
 gency which is upon us because of 
 the European War. This is no time 
 for American societies to fall away— 
 certainly not for the parent society of 
 them all. No, we must sustain the 
 work and if possible go forward. Each 
 one must do his part and give to the 
 point of real sacrifice. We must see 
 to it that our churches meet the test 
 when the time comes for gifts to be 
 made to the American Board; that 
 we ourselves meet the test. 
 
 <—- 
 
 
 
 
 
 Send gifts to Frank H. Wicein, Treasurer ; 
 order free leaflets from J. G. Hosmer, 
 Congregational House, Boston, Massachusetts.