Catoctin clarion., 1908-08-20
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. S. n. COX.
Subject: Church of the Future.

Brooklyn, N. Y.-The Rev. Sydney
Ierbert Cox, in an address to the
,eople of the Congregational Church
" the Evangel, of which he Is pastor,
poke of "The Church of the Future,
Mch church as he would like to see
QUILT and sustained. Among other
things he said:
The Church of the Evangel-Con-
| gregational-is free in its offer Of
church membership to any persons
who. without accepting its creed as a
test. will make a single and simple
confession, that they believe Jesus to
be the supreme expression to men, in
human form, of what God is like, and
what He would have us become. This
| is what we mean by modernism. That
the life of church depends not
! upon its creed, but upon its spirit.
Therefore we do not insist that any
one else shall accept our creed in the
exact terms in which we interpret
1t. 1t is impossible for thinking
man not to have a creed of some
, sort But as Congregationalists we
! agree to differ upon all matters that
we deem unessential. We believe
that the example of the life of Jesus
as we have it in the four gospels is
sufficient to make any man who will
try 1t such a man as God would ac-
cept as His eternal friend. and help
toward perfection Of character.
Therefore we ask of a man who
does he think concerning the lead
ing religious doctrines of his day, but
does he believe In following Jesus as
hn rk1 80 l. I,1
ly trying to do SO? His creed only
interests us as the intellectual ey-
bressions Of his moral and religious
character. He depends for his au-
thority in religion exactly as we do,
upon direct communication with
Gods spirit. So, in this intellectual
attitude toward religion, we do not
decry Or unkindly criticise those
other religious bodies whose adher.
ents differ very widely from our
view. We believe firmly and crate.
fully that Greek and Roman Catholi.
cism, all forms of Professionalism,
Unitarian and Trinitarian. as well
as Judaism, have each contrib.
uted much to the worlds religious
life. and that even the faiths of the
Orient. both ancient and modern,
have been part Of Gods growing
revelation to the world.
The social message of Christianity
has long been misunderstood or ne.
elected. Now it is being proclaimed
everywhere, and no live church can
escape Its appeal In the church we
are to build, and the work we seek
to do, we must recognize its place.
l have spent ten years amid social
problems, six years in the Hells
Kitchen section of Manhattan Island
/ believe that my experience has
equipped me in some humble way to
preach the gospel of Jesus, and build
up a church that shall represent the
life Of God in the souls of men.
do not need to proclaim myself
a Socialist of any brand. nor to join
some new ism,' in order to love my
fellow men and serve them. To me
the biggest opportunity in life is
TO be Christian-a Christ's man, tc
serve men. What kind of church.
then. do hope to see built and for
what work?
Christianity and Socialism alik:
seek the development Of an efficient
society, social order of stable
equilibrium. But Christianity in.
sists that there can be no perfected
society, except by the regeneration
of each individual. 1t Is not enough
to provide a perfect environment of
justice and live by the most beauti.
full socialistic legislation; there must
be a moral power in each person
causing him to fit in to such per.
feet society! Such a moral power
can never be produced by perfect
economic and social legislation, but
by the making of new moral man
In each individual by some Divine
power outside himself Such a
power has not been found outside
Jesus Christ, however Ho is to be
interpreted
II the Christian religion Is to
make each individual an efficient
member of society, 1t can only do so
as 1t perfects each function of that
individual man. The Christian re.
ligion must improve his body as well
as his mind and soul. 1t cannot
achieve one and neglect either or
both OF the others.
Our supreme work, however, is
the culture of the soul. Few of US
can define what we mean by the soul.
But all of us understand what is
meant by the culture of the soul.
The phrase appeals to me more and
more powerfully as l grow older.
The development and enrichment of
the highest powers within us so that
We feel our personality ennobled by
the kindling Of sacred fires and the
consciousness of divine passions over
which We know this transitory world
has no ultimate dominion. The cul-
ture Of the soul involves for me three
elements: worship. education and
work.
What is worchip? 1t Is devotion,
instruction, evangelism. In devo-
tion mans soul expresses his graft
tude to God for life and its hopes,
his contrition for conscious sin, and
his prayer for strength to endure the
discipline OF his spiritual education,
and to achieve his final spiritual VIC
tory over the lower and sinful self.
BY instruction man seeks to acquire
In orderly possession by sure knowl-
edge those doctrines of faith which
describe in his own language the ex-
periences through which he has
passed, or those which he hopes to
possess and believes to be part of
his eternal inheritance from his
Father. God.
Next to the Importance of the
auditorium for worship, which is our
most important room, we must build
a church equipped for religious edu-
cation. The preachers sermons
should do this in part, and do 1t
Systematically, else he is a poorly
trained preacher, though sometimes
he may be great preacher in spite
of his poor training and not because
of 1t. But the church Is more than
a pulpit for preaching. 1t is and
always ought to be great school
for religious education. And this