The San Francisco call., 1910-05-13
UNITARIANS Stand
FOR CIVIC CHURCH
Moral Development and Social
Betterment Advocated as
CreedS

Practical Church Problems" was the
chief topic at the second session of the
Pacific coast conference of Unitarian
churches in the First church yesterday.
Prior to the opening of the session
the delegates were taken on an auto
mobile ride through the Presidio.
Golden Gate park and the ocean beach.
The devotional exercises at the open
ing were conducted by the Rev Thomas
Clayton of Fresno, after which Rev. John
Howland Lathrop of Berkeley spoke on
The Worship Side OF the Church" W.
H Payson, also of Berkeley, spoke on
The Business Side" after which Prof.
Jefferson Elmore OF Stanford univer-
sity discussed these problems from
The Layman's Point of View"
SECRETARY REPORTS
Mary B. Presson, the secretary of the
conference, made extended report OF the
Unitarian headquarters in this city,
which was a review historical of that
branch of the church. She told of the
many changes that had been made until
desirable location, now in the Gaffney
building in Sutter street. was secured.
The headquarters is now sending out
all tracts published by the American
Unitarian association. this work having
increased from a distribution OF 5000 in
1908 to $4,000 during the year ending
last April.
At the opening OF the afternoon meet
ing Chairman Davis read a long letter
from Missionary McCauley OF the Jap
anese Unitarian mission at Tokyo. This
dwelt on the progress that had been
made in the direction of Christianity in
new Japan and the writer expressed
the opinion that the Unitarian doctrines
had had a wider influence than any
-.
rationalism.
CIVIC CHURCH NEEDED
"The Civic Development of Religion
was paper that was to have been
read by Rev Clarence Reed Of PaIo
Alto, but owing to his inability to be
present it was read by Rev. Bradford
Leavitt. In part he set forth that:
The need Of today is civic church or churches
with more OF the civic spirit There Is undoubt-
edy place in modern life for reverent dig
nifed and devotional religious service and for an
intellectual appeal in religion
The real mission OF the civic church Is 70 In
spire men 10 develop strong moral characters.
also labor for social betterment. There are
scores Of charitable reform and philanthropc
societies that are religious in aim but what they
need is the inspiration that religion nay supply.
INSPIRATION To LEADERS
The church should also furnish inspiration 10
the who are their leaders IN the movement
for the conservation OF our natural resources.
We should teach our people to hate the land
thieves. for they are stealing the peoples land.
which is your land and my land This earth Is
much Gods home any other place. so the
land thief is stealing from God, and we should
have that adherence for the timber. coal and
water power thieves that the Roman Catholic
has for the person who desecrateS the altar OF
of their churches
Rev George W. Fuller of Spokane
spoke on conditions in that city and of
the fight there for righteousness, de-
claring that in standing for that he
must in a measure take part in
politics as citizen He declared that
by voice and pen he had fought cor
ruption for long time, and that he
had not discovered that the stand he
had taken had in any way affected his
standing as minister.
EVENING ADDRESSES
In the evening there was a meeting
at which Rev. z. NJ. S. Hodgrin OF Los
Angeles read a paper on The Liberal
Gospel for America Rev. William u.
Simonds of Oakland spoke on The
World Movement of Liberalism" and
President David Starr Jordan of Stan
ford university spoke on The Religion
Of an Educated Man"
Today the time of the conference will
be devoted to allied interests. and in
the evening there will be a reception
and banquet by the Unitarians at the
Fairmont hotel