The San Francisco call., 1897-09-24

doubled in earnestness and true religious
spirit?
"There are dozen towns in this valley
where such missions could be esta blished.
1t is useless to wait until people call for
such enterprises, as useless as to expect
Zulu to know what he ought to eat with
a fork. There are towns with thousand
people where there may not be single
soul who knows what the Unitarian
church means, and some quite large COM
munities where no one ever heard of the
Unitarian church. The two or three little
churches already established here are lam
gushing for the want OF workers. Fresno,
the metropolis of the valley, is asking all
the time for the esta blishment OF s church.
and we only await the man. No one i'll
the East can know what it is to stand
alone in this vast, new field and face
Ignorance, calumny and indifference
while slowly building up little church
to place in the respect of the people of
the county. But this has been done. Lots
have been purchased in Hanford, and al
most paid for, and we only wait the COM
ing of the leader and liItle temporary
help 10 become permanent in nstitution.
they alone of all the churches begin their
refining influences in all directions. In
arousing patriotic interest in the town IT.
self. which is sadly lacking, and. after or
through this, desire for clean and orderly
streets and street life, pleasant parks, we'll
kept home premises, clean and artistically
decorated schoolhouses. better amuse-
ments and more moral living all around,
will not New England and other rich Uni
tartan territory hear this cry from the
Sunset State and send us their religious
life and people for our moral betterment2"
Commenting on the communication the
Christian Register gays:
"We have seldom had described so
clearly the conditions of life in communi-
ties like those of which our cores pondent
writes. Forces misdirected and wasted,
only waiting to be turned into the proper
channels TO become helpful men and
women. in antagonism to religion or in
different 10 it, because thus far religion
has come to them as a separate unsympa-
thetic form of life, apart by itself, instead
of an interpreter of life into its strongest
and finest; it Is to help in these commu-
mites that we are called upon and wher-
ever else, IN greater or less degree, the
same or similar conditions hold. Two
suggestions in this San Joaquin letter cali
for special comment.
First, that the men needed for the min
istry in these communities are those who
come prepared to begin their life work.
just as the young lawyer or physician
begins his, determined to succeed and
able to live cheapy at first and will
ing 10 do whatever the hand and the
heart find TO do, which will be much.
Second, that strong churches elsewhere.
especially in the East, should mother a
missionary child, selecting their own
missionary and helping him at the outset
of his work in whatever way should open.
We know the objections to individual
work of this kind, but there are also diff
culties to be met under system of closer
organization and it has often seemed to
us that a combination of the two meth
ods-of individual interest effort and OF
cooperation in general work-might meet
the difficulties which either brings when
followed to the exclu ion of the other"