This book may be kept out TWO WEEKS only, and is subject to a fine of TWO CENTS a day thereafter. It will be due on the day indicated below. 9 13 M. &4t : ~ - ■■ - B£^4~»tt- FEB 3 1928 APR 2 6 1930 MAY 2 3 1931 APR lM r I^d^, X-c4*exrCt^ r r f. The Country Church and the Making of Manhood By GEORGE FREDERICK WELLS MADISON, N. J. REPRINTED FROM THE HOMILETIC REVIEW August 1907 Copyright 1907, by FUNK & WAQNALLS COMPANY, NEW YORK Before we can answer the question of how the country church can do the work of making manhood, of how the world of the young men and the world of the country church can be united, we must show how the problem has arisen. The problem appears from the following conditions : We live in civilized rather than in barbar- ian or semicivilized society. In nations like India and China boys become men and hence independent to found homes of their own at adolescence; with us, not until maturity. Civilization demands of the parental home, in the problem of which the church shares, the duty and the privilege of moral and economic training and cooperation of adoles- cents, which was never before so great a responsibility as now. We live In a time of Protestant freedom of personal thought and conscience, rather than in a time of ecclesiastical dominance. Every young man to-day can make a creed, a char- acter, and a destiny of his own. We live in a land of republican freedom rather than in a land of monarchical tyranny. The victory of national rights in the American Revolution has been an incentive to an ex- aggerated sense of personal rights. The work of training young America to proper respect for authority was never more important than now. We live in an era of science. The young man gets his essential guiding truth on the evidence of experience, no longer on the dic- tum of priest, prelate, or professor. We live at a time of industry and commerce organized on a world scale, not in the day of homespun. The young man's world was once the parish or neighborhood, now he is a citizen of tha world. THE COUNTRY CHURCH AND THE MAKING OF MANHOOD 103 We are now past the epoch when the con- struction of manhood takes place in the country, while the consumption of it is in the city. Our cities would stagnate to putrid shuns of human existence that would dis- grace heathenism were it not that they were replenished by the dominant manhood from country hillsides. But we are now at a time of unprecedented crisis when all the evil must be eliminated from both urban and rural life and all the good of both be utilized in be- half of a manhood that shall be capable of personal leadership in an entirely new civili- zation. Thus it is that the conditions of modern life demand the greatest possible strength of the fundamental institutions of society, the finest integrity of personal character, and the wisest adjustments of working religious forces. In view of these changes and needs, the lines along which the country church should direct its efforts in behalf of growing manhood are such as the following: The country church should see that every country boy has a normal Christian home. There are things which, if the country church can get the homes to furnish for the boys, manhood is pretty much secure. The first is passion for character, or the burning desire for the boy's spiritual life that he become a conscious child of God. This is preeminently the direct work of the home, and no more than the indirect work of the church. The parental discipline of the boy is ab- solutely necessary as the only possible foundation for a normal religious character or a normal social life. There is no room for tyranny in the home. Successful tyranny by the parent makes the child a machine. But there will be either discipline by the par- ent or tyranny by the boy. There are three kinds of homes. In the first the wife is the social and the moral head. The husband and the children obey the will of the wife and mother. She holds the scepter. The father is head of the second kind of home. The typical Jewish, Greek, Roman, and American family is of this class. The father is not only the social and moral head of the household, but the legal head as well. The third kind of home is that in which the child rules. Even from babyhood his will is law in the home. When the boy is king in the family he is always a tyrant, and the home a moral and religious failure and a disgrace to parenthood. Responsibility is another thing the country home should provide for the boy. There is nothing else that will so well tide the boy over the critical stage of adolescence as work, work wisely allotted and directed, and which carries with it the sense of independent re- sponsibility. Herein is the basis of economic and social cooperation and partnership of father and son. , It is the beginning of true fellowship; it saves discipline and control from tyranny; and it is the source, test, and pledge of true manhood. There should be provision for social inter- ests. The first and greatest responsibility for the social life of developing manhood rests not with the church, nor the school, nor the club, but with the home itself. I do not say that the enjoyable social enterprises of young people should be monopolized by the home. This would be a return to homespun times with its husking bees, quilting parties, and barn raisings, which would not be entirely ideal. But the home should control the so- cialization of the boy. This in the present state of society it can best do by cooperation with the church and the school. But the church should control and not neglect these interests. Moreover, the Christian parent who has not time nor humanity enough to enjoy fellow- ship with his boys is not worthy of them. The ideal relationship between parent and boy in the postadolescent stage, and after majority, is that of mutual interest in all social, intellectual, and economic affairs. This should be without subordination and dis- trust. It is a high ideal, but it is none too high. It is measurably realized in all true homes. I believe, with Dr. Samuel W. Dike, that the fundamental social duty of the Christian church is to maintain the full social and re- ligious integrity of the home. More specific than this, the most important work that the country church can do in behalf of Christian manhood is through the home. And this work is essentially pastoral. Thirteen per cent, of the country ministers I have studied are better pastors than preachers. I wish the per cent, of pastors were larger. The very glory of the Christian pastorate is its ministry to the Christian home for the home's sake, for there is manhood made. The greatest possible harm that a country church can do is to allow itself to become a substitute with the young man for what the 104 THE COUNTRY CHURCH AND THE MAKING OF MANHOOD home can be made, to do and to become for him. If the country church fails to do its primary duty through the home, whatever else it may do for manhood, whether it be by evangelism or institutionalism, this secondary work can only be superficial and secondary. The place and the power of the country home with young manhood will become more evident by contrasting the home life of the country with the lack of it in tenement dis- tricts in large cities. In the country the Christianity of the normal home should al- most dispense with the religious functions of the church, while among filthy and poverty- stricken tenements the church is compelled to be a substitute for the social life of the home, at least while true homes are in the forming. The church is an outgrowth of the home. The church exists for the home, as it exists for man, and its offices and organiza- tions should disappear when their work is done. The country church must vindicate itself in the making of manhood by the power of personal influence. One of the reasons why the work of the church for manhood through the home is so important is that thereby the church multiplies its area of applied per- sonal influence. It may sometimes seem that the country chiirch can do its full work for manhood through the home. But this is not so now. We five in an age of institutions. The grow- ing boy must relate himself to institutions. He must become institutionalized in order to become a man. The church must express itself to him as an institution of which he is potentially and really a part. And it is be- cause the boy first learns of the church as an institution through the persons who repre- sent it as such that the church must vindi- cate itself through personal influence. In making a first-hand investigation I asked of forty-one churches (twenty-seven rural and fourteen town) the following ques- tion: "By what influence does the church draw and hold its constituency?" The an- swers from pastors and other judicious persons yielded ninety-four points of drawing and holding power. Of these ninety-four points, twenty-two, or nearly one-fourth of the whole, indicate that the minister by his personality is the greatest drawing and molding force available to the country church. The one who has the primary and the principal responsi- bility in imparting the institutional value of the church through personality is the minister. But the minister has not the whole nor a half of this duty to fulfil. For instance, what can a minister do, tho he be an angel, for the young men of a community if a group of pessimistic, disagreeable, antiquated lay peo- ple make the young men hate all that the church should stand for ? On the other hand, some country churches have done great work in building manhood by the personal influence of talented lay workers, even tho the pastors have been inferior men or absent from parish work most of the time. The country church has a special duty to perform toward the making of manhood by strengthening the personnel of its ministry. The following facts are about thirty-seven ministers of nine denominations in twenty average towns scattered throughout one New- England State. All of the ministers of these communities were studied, as far as possible, personally, and in connection with their work. Twenty of them are in distinctly rural par- ishes. Only fifty-four per cent, of the total number are college graduates, forty per cent. of the rural preachers. Forty-three per cent, of the whole are theological-seminary gradu- ates, only twenty-five per cent, of the rural preachers. Ninety per cent, of the rural preachers showed that their usefulness was crippled by too small salaries. Fifty-one per cent, of the whole number are thus hindered. Forty-three per cent, only have definite specialties in study or work. Forty-six per cent, only have any special social aptitude. Twenty-seven per cent, were all I could find with marked business aptitude. Forty-three per cent, of the total number, or seventy-five per cent, of the rural preachers, seemed to be lacking in efficiency from inadequate ed- ucational equipment. Sixteen of the total thirty-seven ministers (forty-three per cent.) or thirteen of the twenty rural preachers seemed to be suffering from laziness or some- thing akin to it. How can a minister who has never been to college himself help in any adequate way to solve a young man's college problem ? How can a minister who has never traveled beyond his own State nor seen a great city help to form his young men into citizens of the world ? It is only fair to say, however, that twenty- five per cent, of the above ministers have had educative travel in Europe. How can the THE COUNTRY CHURCH AND THE MAKING OF MANHOOD 105 country ministry as a class, when less than half of them have been to theological st*n- inaries, hope adequately to help young men with their theological instruction ? How can ministers who do not exert themselves to do progressive and productive work, but are willing that their reputation should rest in their being ministers, expect to command the leadership of young men who have to per- form productive labor ? Too many country preachers are content to stagnate with their more or less isolated parishes and thus they fall into ruts and fail in personal mastery. Men who do not know how to do the work of ministers productively and efficiently have something akin to laziness if they have not the enterprise to get the special training which they require. There is a large place for op- timism, however, that at least thirty per cent, of the rural preachers I have studied may be counted as strong, active men and min- isters, not failing in personal leadership. These words about ministers are not said in the spirit of criticism, but of sympathetic earnestness. I am not making a plea for education for education's sake, nor that the ministers come to any merely external standard. What the country church most needs from its ministers in the making of manhood is more genuine Christian character, made available by consecration to God and to the direct ends which we seek to gain. The country church must adapt its theo- logical teachings to the needs of developing manhood. In doing this the church must vindicate God — make Him in and through Christ real in the lives and experiences of men. The temper of his theological in- struction may be set by Thomas Chalmers's great declaration: "There never will be a general revival of religion until Christians at home go forth among the heathen families around them, with the same enthusiasm that they expect from missionaries who go abroad." Of the ninety-four points of the country church's drawing and holding power twenty- seven contain some element of theological import. Of these twenty-seven points only eight indicate that theological teaching itself is a direct means of making and molding the life of the church. This is a very good posi- tive showing. On the other hand, six out of the forty-eight churches were said to be suf- fering from detrimental or inadequate theo- logical teachings or influences. A country church is not a theological sem- inary. To give theological knowledge is not the object of the church. Nevertheless, knowledge is a means to character. In so far as doctrinal knowledge is a means to man- hood, the church should give it. The only true way of telling what doctrines should be taught, and how, is to learn the personal needs of individuals. Young men care for theology only as it has affected the life of the teacher, and as it has a message to his experience and theirs in relation to God, duty, and destiny. One young man tells me that the Bible and the church influenced him until the question of the miraculous conception of Christ was not answered to his satisfaction, then the church and the Bible lost hold on him. The fol- lowing questions from young men illustrate how theological teaching is to them a matter of experience and character: "Should matters of faith or belief be set- tled before or after conversion ? " " Does Christianity afford the normal chan- nel for the development of our talents ?" "Did Christ show to a sinning world a way to be saved by following His example, or did He wipe away our sins in some super- natural way on condition of true repentance ? " The secret of the successful study and teaching of theology is that it should be consecrated to missionary ends. If faith without works is dead, so is theology without religious experience. The work of the coun- try church is not to make theologians, but men. The man who teaches theology in the churches for the sake of vindicating theolog- ical theories is not only killing his church but harming himself. But the theology of God in the churches is of tremendous power when it is used with the experience of God in making Him real as Father, King, and per- sonal Savior. Still further, the country churches must vindicate themselves as churches before they can do their work in making manhood. A church must be a church before it can bear the fruits of a church. I mean to say that some country churches are such in name only, that they are not Christian churches in real- ity. Some country churches, so-called, are mere social clubs. This is not to say that they are not of some social value to the king- dom of God. Some churches are ethical or educational associations and ought to be so named. This is not to say that they are not of some value in morals for the kingdom of God. Some public libraries do a work that 106 THE COUNTRY CHURCH AND THE MAKING OF MANHOOD represents the ethical and religious aspects of the kingdom of God as truly as do some churches. The sciences of practical Christian ethics and rural economy now being used in study- ing country churches, are to be of great prac- tical service. They will study the genius loci of churches. They will classify the churches according to the particular aspects of the kingdom of God for which they stand. By the use of these sciences some churches al- ready have been found to stand for the special ethical and religious aspects of that kingdom, while others stand solely for intellectuality, astheticism, moral energy, respectability or social selection, sociability or social enjoy- ment, emotionalism or religious enjoyment, traditionalism and other qualities more or less worthy. Scientific sociology says that the church is that p?,rt of the social constitution which seeks to promote the religious and ethical betterment of men. Christian theol- ogy says that that specialized part of the organized expression of the kingdom of God among men which embodies and promul- gates the distinctly ethical and religious aspects of the kingdom is the Christian church. So let us never forget that a social insti- tution must stand for the ethical and religious values of the kingdom of God, always and preeminently, and for other values as it may need to forward these ends, in order to be a Christian church. One set of figures will make the practical bearing of this more clear. In thirteen rural New-England towns the average attendance at all churches is only fourteen per cent, of the town populations. In four semiurban towns the average total church attendance is thirty-three per cent, of the town population. What should give a larger percentage of attendance to the larger towns? Almost every assignable reason would seem to make the per cent of attendance larger for the rural towns. In a good share of the rural com- munities the churches were not only religious centers but the social and educational cen- ters as well. Should not this tend to in- crease church attendance in such places ? On the other hand, in the four urban towns,where the per cent, of church attendance is over twice as great, the churches, instead of having a clear social field, have many rivals, — secret fraternities, social clubs, the theaters, and other social attractions, not to mention the social functions connected with the schools. But there seems to be but one explanation. The town churches are more specialized to the purposes of religious worship than are the rural churches. The social and intellectual functions of life being provided by secular institutions the churches can devote them- selves almost entirely to ethical and religious work. And thus they secure the larger proportionate attendance and are more truly churches. So the principle is that a church must make ethical and religious values pre- eminent in order to be a true Christian church. And the companion precept is, make your church genuinely spiritual if you would gain for it the widest influence with men. This principle applies to the relation of churches to their sister churches of other de- nominations in the same communities. Un- brotherly strife between churches is their greatest possible betrayal into the ranks of Christian unreality and social loneliness. I believe that the most important single line of work that can be undertaken in the churches and for the churches of rural New England is in the direction of the feder- ation and Christian cooperation of religious forces. This principle also applies to the relation of the country church to its brother soci- eties that are not religious. There need be no clash between the church and the secret orders. There is work enough for both to do. Neither needs to seek to incorporate or to displace the functions of the other. If a per- son can not be a better fraternity man for be- ing at the same time a church member the church needs a thorough revival. If a man can not be a better church member for be- longing to a social order the church has not performed its normal duty to society. The church must be genuine in its spiritual functions and social relationships if it would win men to strong and dominant character. What should be the special social adapta- tions by country churches in the making of Christian manhood ? In the fifty country and town churches which I studied twelve boys' and young men's social clubs were closely observed. Most of them had constitutions, officers, membership dues, and they were superintended by the pastor or officers of the church. While their social aspects were most prominent their primary motive was at least indirectly re- ligious. THE COUNTRY CHURCH AND THE MAKING OF MANHOOD 107 The leading good results from these soci- eties are the following: One club of forty boys and young men was instrumental in bringing about twenty-five of their number into membership in young people's religious societies. In every instance the church at- tendance of all boys was greatly increased. The clubs increased politeness, unselfishness, and true comradeship among the boys. They were a decided help morally. A bad class of reading, direct tendencies toward the social evil, and harmful personal associations were overcome. Several boys had their entire moral life transformed for the better. They were an educational help. At least twelve conversions resulted from the twelve clubs. They seemed to be a positive help in social- izing the church. They helped, the churches to feel that they were doing something worth while. They helped the boys to feel that the churches had real value. They gave the churches strength in their communities. These positive results are enough to show that country churches as well as city churches can do successful institutional work in behalf of young men. That person is entirely mis- taken who thinks that there can not be coun- try institutional churches. The boys of the country as well as those of the city have then- natural cliques or gangs which are in reality boys' clubs. The church does a great service in character formation if it can ethicize and evangelize these natural clubs. And, further- more, many evangelistic enterprises in coun- try churches have entirely failed with the young people because the churches were lacking in distinctly social interest and power. But there are two sides to this question of social clubs for boys and young men in country churches. At best they are never more than the servants of the churches in the making of manhood. One difficulty with social clubs in country churches is that where they are the most wanted they are the least needed. And they can never gain any true Christian end when the boys are permitted to be the passive re- cipients of them as churchly favors. Their watchword should always be that of heroic endeavor and chivalric service by the boys themselves. Let no country pastor try to atone for his lack of personal power in gaining the friend- ship of every boy in his community by or- ganizing a boys' club. The normal functions of home and parenthood should never be shirked in the vain hope that the club can do as good work for the boys. There are several definite plans which country churches should consider before they launch in their churches more or less formidable, formal, and permanent boys' clubs. Sunday-school classes, mission-study and Bible classes may be temporarily in- stitutionalized by organizing them with officers and special social features to meet in the home of the pastor or some competent teacher. Another line of work is to adapt the social enterprises of the Sunday-school, young people's society, or ladies' aid society for monthly, or, better still, weekly socials in the homes or parlors of the church, such socials to be organized with special reference to young men's needs. Where boys' clubs are needed and can be wisely directed from both personal and re- ligious standpoints such standard organiza- tions as the Knights of King Arthur and the Phi Alpha Pi Societies of the County Young Men's Christian Association work are in general an improvement on what country churches can do unassisted. The latter of these seems to have more religious advantage and less social disadvantage than the former. Let the pastors and workers of all our country churches resolve that every last boy and young man in their communities shall have both the opportunity and the incentive to appropriate and to enjoy the social, ethical, and religious values for which the Christian church stands. What the country church wants for its young men is Christian manhood. This is the highest ideal and the hardest task that any church can possibly set for itself. To conciliate the young men and lead them to become friends and helpers of the church is a high standard, but it is not enough. The church should be a spiritual brotherhood, and the young men a part of it. To bring the young men into formal membership in the churches is important and necessary, but it should be an outward expression of a deeper reality. We want the young men to know by conscious experience that they are sons of God. This is the most essential step- ping stone. But vivid devotional experience without discriminating intellect, strong moral fiber, and commanding social power is not what we seek. Christian manhood, which incorporates the good from all these, is our only real standard. ytta* fa Iw /*<**• vv-f c