Milford chronicle., 1905-06-23
whnt Thnt chnrch Need..

what That Church Needs.
The halfway church" must have tn
best of music, the best Of preaching
the best of church organization. /
also must have money to alleviate sucl
poverty and suffering as may exis
among its worshlpers 1t must b.
bread to the hungry and medicine t.
the Sick fire and clothes to Eae naked
and rent for the homeless as well a.
administer the Bread of Life" for all
1t literally must be all things to al
men. For the Bible commandment
distinctly and emPhatically says that
we should do good unto all men, es
pecially unto the household Of faith. y
And here the ''household Of faith
means the members Of your own
church.
What do you mean by that?" says
some one to me. "Is the halfway
church to become a bureau of char
ities? With it are you going to bribe
men and women to come to church3
If you do, you will only reach mems
stomachs and develop their mercenary
spirit and not their hearts," Oh, no, I
would not bribe men to become Chris
tians. But l would take care Of them
If they are members of the halfway
churches" and have been tripped up by
misfortune. And, furthermore my
brother, if you cannot teach Christian
men that the best friends they have
on earth in time of distress are the
members of their own churches, those
men will after awhile cease to revere
the church, and, perhaps, in time cease !
to love Jesus Christ himself
If the church of the Lord Jesus Christ |
will not look after its members, who |
will? Here, for instance, is that farm |
er's boy about whom we were talking. /
He goes to business one stormy winter
day without his rubbers. He takes
cold; pneumonia sets in. What is TO
become OF him? He has no friends.
He eats in little restaurant five
blocks from his boarding house. Shall
be be hustled off to the county hospital?
Shall he have no one to write to his
mother and father, miles away? Here
is poor widow struggling to be broth
er, father and mother to her three
little girls Sunday comes around, and
there are no decent shoes in the house
and no proper clothing Shall that
mother not have those shoes
provided? Here Is n young husband
aiken sick. You call at the house and
he wife meets you at the door with
oh.
'reezing cold in that room. What is
he matter? Coal is $40 a ton. No
.redit. The salary Of That young man
S stopped Has NOT the halfway
hurch" a mission in every one Of those
omes2 l tell you it has, and, further
lore, tell you that where there IS one
ase of poverty which should be allie I
lated in the boulevard church there {
re fifty-aye, hundred-cases Of dis
ress. under the shadow of the half
ray church" Christ told the Pharf- {
ae to go and be a good Samaritan to J.
le Jew who had fallen, among the d
lieves. Christ also tells the half a
'ay church to be a practical financial v
elper on its Jericho road. 4
Must Always BE open.
The halfway church" must have ;
,nsecrated leaders too. It must have D
Inside financial aid. 1t must also =
ave a church building which is open Il
'ery night of the week-ALonday, Il
uesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Fri- "
~ and Saturday as well as Sunday. u
must appeal to its people through q
cir social as well as their spiritual u
ltures. Two preaching services on a
lnday, a midweek prayer meeting u
Id a short hour for Sunday school CT
i'll not be the work of a halfway !"
urch.7 -Four weekly sessions of Dl
aver and praise service cannot sue W
ssfully cope with saloon and billiard d
i'd dance halls and low variety thea dl
rs which compete with the vim and u
e Yitals Of a halfway church's7 par OF
The way q church should be conduct
for the boarding house element is III
tirely different from how one should q
conducted for a residential district III
a boulevard. Let US compare them. 70
low are you, Mr.. SO-and-so? Where
e you going tonight?" / greet you u
us in the electric car on your way at
me from business. "Oh,7 you say, 81
am going home. 1 am going to Cn
end the happiest part OF my daily u
istence with my family. / am going
spend an evening at home with my Da
fe and children. Come up and take ga
lner with me-" "Yes, WILL" l an ma
er. We alght from the car on a WI
e street You say How are you an
almost every one you meet Here MI
the neighbors know each other. A ms
IT wife greets you at the door, Your tlr
ldren come romping through the hall VIC
the call Of dinner. When the dessert ou
finished we adjourn to the library We
sitting room. The games are brought CO.
or the piano is opened or the in Mi
esting book is read That IS the way Oil
j spepd your evenings. Every infu- ltu
e Of your home is an influence for IN
ID. us
low about the evenings Of that poor WI
mer's son who is boarding under WI
shadow OF the halfway church? No
has one small hall bedroom. If he ,,