The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1910-05-19

lead the local churches. to accept If
they are to do effective work in their
respective communities
g. In the second place, our Broth
erhoods must help restore the proper
balance between the men and women
In the church. They must begin at
once to develop to the fullest the
church's greatest undeveloped asset
its own men, and its own boys, let
me hasten to add. Masculine leader
ship is essential, if the church is to
succeed as 1t should. All honor to
the women for the glorious work they
have done. God knows what would
have become of the church witout
them. But the women alone cannot
do the work of the modern church.
Many of the most important prob
lens confronting both church and
community today are peculiarly mems
problems, and the men must help in
of the local brotherhood, in it's efforts
to discharge it's obligations to the
community, to stir the men of the
church into activity. and to make the
men Of the community outside of the
church understand that it is within
the church that the largest opportun-
ity for genius, enduring social service
is to be found. The burdens of church
activity must be re-distributed and the
men must be made to carry their full
share of the load.
"3. In the third place, the local
Brotherhood will do it's duty by the
community only when it, makes the
local church positive, aggressive,
dominant force in the life of the com
munity. The church must be public
force, that is force in all public af
fairs, vitalized into vigorous activity,
in connection with the many social,
industrial, educational and civic prob
lens, which are to be found in every
community in the land. The dreadful
deadly inertia of many local churches
and of many individuals within the
churches, must in some way be over
come. The churches must be made to
feel that this is not the time for
theological distractions, for criticisms
and hair-splitting as to the orthodoxy
of this or that man, or of this or that
opinion. But this is the time for Wig
orous. united progressive action along
practical lines The church, in my
opinion, has never had more splen-
did opportunity to demonstrate what
real Brotherhood means. to prove the
sincerity of it's professions and the
infinite worth of it's faith than it has
at the present moment. God grant
that it may seize that opportunity and
use 1t to the utmost.
There are dozens of ways in which
every Brotherhood in Iowa, as an
agency of the church, can touch the
life of the community and accomplish
things that make for better condi-
tions of living and for higher stand
ards of manhood and womanhood.
Perhaps it is to fight the battle of the
babies for pure milk, as we have been
doing in Grinnell perhaps it is to join
in the war against tuberculosis, and
to protect helpless people against the
ravages of other deadly diseases: per-
haps it is to take up the boy problem
and help save the boys, and thus
conserve this vital resource of the
church; perhaps it is to become an
agency for the enforcement of the law
"a magnificent and sorely needed
work-or to fight for the rights of
helpless women and children who are
forced to toll long, weary hours in
sweatshop and factory. Perhaps it
is in connection with one or more of
many other problems G. Z similar ma
ture that are everywhere to be found,
that your Brotherhood will discover
the work that is to make it, and the