The wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-????, 1908-02-14
The Church and Its
Many Shortcomings

At the regular meeting of the Lin
coin Ministerial association on Mon
day. February 8. Rev. H. o. Pritchard.
pastor of the Christian church at
Bethany, the seat of Cotner univer-
sity, read a paper entitled, THE So
cial Problems of the Modern Pulpit"
1t is not surprising that the paper
caused an interesting discussion. 1t
was such radical departure from the
usual self-complacent ministerial pa
per that it ratified some theological
dry bones and stirred up things gen.
orally. 1t needs but a persual of that
part of the address published in this
issue of The Wageworker to demon
strate to the reader that Rev. Mr..
Pritchard is something of a minis
terial iconoclast viewed from the
modern pulpit standpoint. He talks
straight from the shoulder, like
man as we'll as minister, and like
man who believes that the gospel of
Jesus Christ is quite as much a thing
for today as it is for an indefinite
tomorrow.
pened to read the summary of Rev.
Mr.. Pritchard's paper as published in
the daily press were immensely
pleased with it. At the meeting of
the Carpenters Union the following
hight a vote of thanks was rendered
him, together with an invitation to
address the union at some time in
the near future The Central Labor
Union last Tuesday evening followed
the example set by the carpenters.
BY the way, before presenting a
portion Of Rev. Mr.. Pritchard's adj
dress, The Wageworker would like to
terial unions delegates to the Cen
tral Labor Union.
That portion OF Rev. Mr.. Pritchard's
address of particular interest to union
men is as follows:
What should be the attitude of the
church with regard to the social ques-
lions Of our day?
The temperance problem, the di-
vorce problem, the problem of the
children, the problem of the poor and
the still greater problem of capital
and labor While reformers are scat
tering their seed of truth, while the
workers in the slums are trying to
ameiorate the sufferings of the poor,
while the courts are dealing with di-
vorce, while the socialists in their
blind way are trying to work out an
economic system that will be just,
shall Christians still be content to sing
songs and go home to dinner?
Or what is more important? Shall
the man in the pulpit lift his voice
against the sins of an age, against
social injustice and against wicked
ness in high places, or shall he be a
mere figurehead mouthing out glitter
ing generalities concerning literature
and art?
"Of all moral questions today none
are SO pressing as morality. What
right have ministers to back away
from these questions and refuse to
contribute whatever discernment God
has given them?
Il am aware that the position of the
Christian ministry today is an exceed.
ingly delicate one. On the one side
there is wide cleavage between the
church and the masses which has its
ground in class consciousness. We
hear much about the unchurched
masses, and there is no use trying te
deny the charge that in our great
centers of population our churches
only touch the fringes of the great
fabric of cosmopolitan life.
The wage-earning class as a whole
regard the church as an institution al
lied with capitalism and the loca
church as a social club Mr.. Gompers
president of the American Federation
OF Labor, said: My associates have
come to look upon the church and the
ministry as the apologists and de
tenders of wrong committed agains