The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-08-26

while engaged in the ministry. have left records of which the church may well be proud.
 The b, inning of the twentieth cen- tury sees women recognized officially in nearly every Christian denomination. In many of them women are ordained, though in some cases rather grudging- ly. In the more liberal denominations --notably among the unitarians, uni-l versalists and united brethren---they have been recognized In the ministerial office from the beginning, resulting In stronger corps of women ministers among these than in any other denomi- nation.
 The prejudice of the past and the conservatism of the present prevent them from extending to women the same open, generous welcome which they extended to men. This reacts. upon the women themselves. and those instincts toward self -annulment which are the result of centuries of restraint and false ideas in women's education, make them ever conscious of antago-t nism. even though unexpressed and un-. acknowledged. The restraints the free dom of their thoughts and action, nec- essarily crippling their powers and preventing them from giving the best
  til women are received into all posi- tions of the church with the same corA dial welcome that Is accorded men, are granted the same rights in the minis terial office and are as heartily urged and assisted to enter 1t, there can be no fair estimate of the value of their service.
 The Society of Friends and after them the salvation army and Ameri- no hn fialda for estim g the value of the service of women in the Christian ministry. Their immense influence lies unques- tionably in the fact that from the in- ception of these organizations women were received on equal terms with men. It is generally conceded that women make quite as efficient officers and in many instances more desirable soldiers than men. Their ability to govern and lead their forces is freely recognized. In the realm of the spir- itual the governing forces are not brute strength, but love and justice.
 The need of women in the service of humanity was never so great as 1t Is today and they will not hesitate to enter it by the established and of- ficially recognized channels of the church if they may, but by new and untried ones if they must.
 There are scores of organized bod ies of women doing the real work of the church, who, because they were restrained from performing service within, have been compelled to organ ize outside of the church.
 The ministry of women in the fu- ture development of religion Is an established fact. The value of her ministry will be gauged not so much by its official recognition as by the motive and manner of her service to humanity.
 Let her go back to the simplicity of Jesus teaching; let her set up no sex which must be deified, no dogma which must be delivered. Let her teach no ecclesiastical system which must be rigid and thus from It's very nature re- trograde. Let her go forth in the ser vice of humanity and not to perpet- uate a ponderous institution. Let her teach that the kingdom of heaven Is set up here and now in the hearts of men. Let her show by example that service is the sum of human excellence. Let her declare that love Is the fulfill ment of the perfect law, that 1t alone is the dynamic force in human lives which is to redeem the world from its greed, its injustice and its barbarism. Let love be the keynote of all her thinking and acting, for out of 1t alone can come the great social, moral and religious harmony, which shall usher in the new heaven and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness"
 Anna H. Shaw.