Wo 
 
 America's 
 
 Supreme and 
 Urgent Need 
 
 By Bishop Joseph F. Berry 
 
 AMERICA has some urgent needs just 
 now. She needs ships, and weapons, 
 and munitions, and a great trained 
 army, and a patriotism which shall burn 
 with intenser devotion as the days pass by. 
 
 But we have other needs. We need a 
 clearer vision of God. We need to grip 
 more firmly the spiritual verities. We 
 need more prayer. We need the higher 
 patriotism which acknowledges allegiance 
 to the kingdom of Christ. We need a 
 faith in God and in the destiny of the 
 nation which shall remain unshaken in the 
 presence of temporary disaster and defeat. 
 We need to feel that underneath are the 
 Everlasting Arms. And I am perfectly 
 clear that nothing will so quickly and 
 efiEectively supply these vital needs as a 
 
2 
 
 Americans Supreme 
 
 revival of religion which shall sweep in 
 conquering power over the land and bring 
 multitudes to a saving knowledge of our 
 risen Lord. 
 
 We do not need a revival of religious 
 "interest." We do not need a revival of 
 church enthusiasm. We do not need a 
 revival of evangelistic mechanics, but we 
 do need spiritual dynamics — a work of 
 grace of which the Holy Spirit is the author 
 and Pentecost the best illustration. 
 
 Do you say that the psychology of the 
 situation scarcely encourages us to expect 
 a widespread revival? Perhaps so, but 
 every one knows that there is an appalling 
 need for it. 
 
 Abnormal Conditions a Chal- 
 lenge to the Church 
 
 TT is true that our people have come to a 
 new and abnormal life. They are ab- 
 sorbed by the strange and tragic events of 
 the world war. They are following with 
 eager interest the fate of armies and em- 
 pires. They have imbibed the spirit of 
 militarism which is in the air. The 
 cruelties of our adversaries have shocked 
 them. Parents are consumed with anxiety 
 for the physical and moral safety of their 
 soldier boys. Homes have been closed. 
 Families are scattered. The dramatic 
 events of each passing day are bewildering. 
 
and Urgent Need 3 
 
 Faith in God is being put to the test. Let 
 us admit that all this has created an 
 atmosphere which may not be altogether 
 favorable to a spiritual propaganda. But 
 do not these conditions challenge the 
 Church to do something startling, and 
 efficient, and tremendous^ 
 
 But you must remember, also, that this 
 very strain and stress really opens the door 
 to spiritual conquest. Human limitations 
 have become so apparent. Human help 
 has so often failed. The need of the divine 
 is so overwhelmingly real. In their dire 
 extremity people are turning to God. 
 Eager petitions fall from lips unaccus- 
 tomed to pray. Thousands upon thous- 
 ands are crying out for the first time, 
 "O, that I knew where I might find Him!" 
 
 Shall the Church of Jesus Christ respond 
 to the call and adjust itself to the greatest 
 spiritual opportunity of the century? The 
 Church is on trial. We are in danger of 
 losing out. We shall lose out unless we 
 move swiftly to provide the human condi^ 
 tions for a widespread, Spirit- wrought re- 
 vival of religion. 
 
 Such a revival must begin in 'prayer. 
 Prayer has always been an essential link in 
 the chain of causes which have produced 
 real revivals. No great spiritual awaken- 
 ing has ever come to the world without it. 
 Said Mr. Finney: "I will say that unless I 
 had the spirit of prayer I could do nothing. 
 If for even one hour I lose the spirit of 
 
A merica ' s Supreme 
 
 supplication I find myself unable to preach 
 with power or win souls by personal con- 
 versation." Mr. Caughey said: "You ask 
 the secret of genuine revivals? It is knee 
 worky knee work, knee workl Revivals with- 
 out prayer are wholly superficial. But 
 when the minister and his more spiritual 
 members begin spending hours in prayer 
 something will happen." And something 
 really vital will not happen without it. I 
 am sure I am not overstating the case when 
 I say that the great, crying, tremendous, 
 overwhelming need of the Church and of 
 our country in this hour of its crisis is the 
 dawning of an era of the hunger and habit 
 of intercessory prayer. We need more 
 prayer in the public congregation. 
 
 Our regular meetings for prayer must 
 have unusual emphasis. We must give 
 more time to our private devotions. We 
 must spend less time with the daily paper 
 and more in talking with God. Our 
 prayers must take on an agony of desire. 
 We must wrestle, wrestle, wrestle until we 
 prevail. 
 
 Result of Faithful Preaching 
 
 QUCH a revival will be the product of 
 ^ the faithful preaching of the old- 
 fashioned truths of the Book — sin, retribu- 
 tion, repentance, regeneration, the witness 
 of the Spirit and the limitless conquests of 
 
a7id Urgent Need 6 
 
 an uttermost salvation. This is no time 
 for ethical platitudes . This is no time for 
 the exploitation of sociological panaceas. 
 This is no time for ecclesiastical veneer. 
 This is no time to tone down the un- 
 changeable truth of God to suit the tastes 
 of a worldly minded, compromising Church . 
 Nor is it the time to declare to lost men 
 anything short of the whole counsel of 
 God. A feeble, apologetic, emasculated 
 message could serve no useful purpose at 
 any time, but how utterly inadequate now! 
 
 The people in shadowed homes need 
 spiritual help. The soldiers of an hundred 
 training camps and navy yards need 
 spiritual help. The men at Washington, 
 who are standing under the crushing bur- 
 dens of official responsibility, need spiritual 
 help. The masses of the American people, 
 looking with feverish anxiety into the 
 unlighted and uncertain days ahead, need 
 spiritual help. And they must have that 
 help without delay. Woe unto the mes- 
 senger who dares, in this strategic hour, 
 to trifle with his responsibility — a responsi- 
 bility which relates itself to destiny. 
 
 In these extraordinary times we must 
 not insist upon any conventional methods 
 of evangelism. The authorities in some 
 places advise that churches be closed dur- 
 ing the evenings of the week, in order to 
 conserve fuel and light. The patriotic 
 duties of many of our people will prevent 
 regular attendance upon special meetings, 
 
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 Americans Supreine 
 
 but where it seems unwise to hold revival 
 meetings the community may have a re- 
 vival just the same. There never was a 
 more favorable time for individual effort. 
 People are hospitable to the personal ap- 
 proach. Many are more than usually 
 thoughtful. Some are standing upon the 
 very threshold of the Kingdom, eagerly 
 waiting for an invitation to become subjects 
 of the King. It is a time of perfectly 
 wonderful evangelistic opportunity. 
 
 Moved by a Great Passion 
 
 T) UT neither the work of mass evangelism 
 ^ nor that of personal evangelism can 
 succeed if it shall be a mere perfunctory 
 matter . How skilful we must be ! And how 
 winsome! That winsomeness must have its 
 mainspring in an actual passion for souls. 
 When Jesus beheld the multitude He was 
 moved. That means that His heart was 
 fairly melted into tenderness and sympathy 
 and solicitude. We shall not accomplish 
 much until we, too, are moved, gripped and 
 dominated and swayed by a mighty pas- 
 sion. 
 
 If only a fraction of the great member- 
 ship of our churches were thus moved and 
 would instantly get into this business of 
 winning souls, what would not happen? 
 How quickly the attention of the nation 
 would be turned to religious concerns! 
 
and Urgent Need 7 
 
 How the churches would fill up! How the 
 pulpit would catch fire! How the spiritual 
 thermometer would rise! What a stirring 
 among the dry bones! How the careless 
 and sinful would come crowding in multi- 
 tudes to the centers of evangelistic power! 
 How the light, flashing out from the 
 churches, would radiate into all the 
 avenues of our civilian and military life! 
 And how America would secure the best 
 conceivable preparation for the baptism 
 of fire and blood and death and heart- 
 ache and sorrow that is just ahead! 
 
 We are doing great things for the 
 spiritual interests of our soldiers in France. 
 We are making splendid efforts to reach 
 with the message of life our young men in 
 the training camps here. This is well. 
 But what are we doing in a large and 
 eflScient way to put heart and hope and 
 the inspirations of Christian faith into the 
 lives of our people at home? 
 
 Methodism has been premier among the 
 spiritual and evangelistic forces of this 
 land. What shall we do in this vastly 
 emergent hour? 
 
 Reprinted from CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, January 10, 1918 
 
Joint Centenary Committee 
 
 Methodist Episcopal Church 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, South 
 
 111 Fifth Avenue, New York