The Hawaiian gazette., 1900-05-15
OUR SATURDAY SERMON

nourishing Christian church IN given
community than nye or six struggling
ones. Owing to the multiplication OF
churches in small towns OF the United
States the cause Of religion is at a
lower ebb than II ought TO be. The
statement may seem paradoxcal but a
few words will serve to make the
meaning clear.
The village of T in the state of New
Jersey has one thousand inhabitants
with tributary population IN the
township of one thousand more. In
other words T is the average country
town in the Eastern States. The pro-
portion OF Protestant church members
or attendants is about thirty per cent
or 600 in all, making few more than
100 heads of families. There is a Con-
gregational church, brick-built and
commodious, and Methodist, Baptist,
Free-Will Baptist and Episcopal
church built of wood but fairly spa
cious and well-furnished. OF course
there is a Catholic church but that is
not to be reckoned as factor in de-
nominational union. Five churches
call for support from 600 people who
are mainly farmers, small tradesmen
and village professional men and me-
chanics. AS living is cheap in New
Jersey and rural incomes small, it is
a prosperous man who has $1,000 to his
credit at the end of the year. The
average cash receipts of the people
men, women and children counted, may
be 5000 per capita.
This little community charges itself
with the support of five ministers as
well as with the incidental expenses OF
the churches where those ministers
preach. A sexton for each church edi-
fee is employed and there are bills for
insurance, repairs, lighting and heat
to be met. Obviously the pay of the
ministers must be much less than
good mechanic can earn al his trade,
yet after paying him and meeting the
other fixed charges, little or nothing is
left for home missions, foreign mis-
sions or for other special work for the
propagation of the gospel.
But this is not all the difficulty.
Ministers who can get nothing better
than hand-to-mouth charges in little
villages are not likely to be efficient in
their work. They may be either
drones, billiards or men of mistaken
vocation. Their sermons do not draw,
their advice Is not respected, their mis-
sionary work is meagre in results.
Most of the time they preach to an ar
ray OF empty benches. Under their lax
oversight the religious feeling in the
community dies away and people at
tend church perfunctorily. In the long
run the younger men do not attend
church at all. The village of T, in the
earlier day when it had one church
and few secular distractions, was very
religious. Now 1t is slowly lapsing in
to kind of stupid materialism. Late
ly we heard that one of the churches
was to close its doors.
Now If these villages had kept united
in one church, and made it like the
one which, for so many years, kept
spiritual things alive and active in
Honolulu, might not the little place
have kept up its interest in evangelical
religion and become power for good |
in all the country around? A church |
with 600 members could employ an ac-
n1p ole |
could support Y. NJ. C. A. activities on
small scale; maintain a circulating
library and keep open place where
young men could go in the evening
and find the warmth and cheer OF the
village tavern without the strong
drink and evil company. 1t is an I'M
answerable proposition that the Chris
tian religion would be better off in T
with the one church managed and
supported in that way than it now is
with five churches hardly supported at
all.
What would be lost? Nothing but
sectarianism-mere bubbles of theo-
logians, most of whom are long dead
ana gone TO place where they hayel
learned, let us hope, how little sec
tarianism amounts to in getting re-
wards for the Christian life.
The Roman Catholic church shows
what union and concerted work will
do. Besides that imperial body with
its members working as one army the
world over there is nothing compare
BILE in the domain OF Professionalism.
The nearest force we have to 1t is the
Salvation Army; the force that is
weakest and farthest from the goal is
that which keeps aloof most jealousy
from other Christian bodies because OF
some petty pickering of creed. And SO
we say in the words of DR.. Hills:
THE time has fully come for union, CO.
operation, cessation OF hostllities and
sympathy. The very words-Comity
and rrnPa-nuuht 10 baun ~, |