Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-09-06
The GLORIOUS MISSION OF
THE COUNTRY CHURCH

| There has been for many years drift
of people from rural to urban communi-
ties which has been widely discussed and
generally deprecated. But in the South
at least there are beginning to be WISH
BILE some evidence of a turning in the
tide.
Rural free-delivery of mails. better
schools in the country, the increased de-
rnand and the higher prices for farm pro-
ducts which have prevailed for some
time, and other things, have contributed
to this end. These things promise to-
continue and to intensity the incentives
to people to live in the country rather
than in the city. The country church
is and will be affected for good by the
growth of the rural districts in popula-
ton and prosperity, and it is well.
The country church has always been
factor in the religious welfare of the
nation beyond what many have been dis
posed to think. A very large number of
the most godly and Jealous men in the
city churches have come from the coun-
try. Revivals of religion which pre-
vailed in rural churches a generation ago
are blessing our largest churches in the
cities today. Some time ago 1 was
|
of a costly church in one of our South
ern cities. The occasion was one of
| great interest, and there was much en-
thusiasm for the enterprise. Many ex-
pressions were uttered in praise of those
who had made the rising structure posi-
BILE. Credit was given to this person and
to that for the part each had borne in
1 the work. Finally a thoughtful man,
who knew the history of the contributors
| xuhn had Oil
erection of the building, said, The man
who deserves most credit for the erec-
tion OF this church is an old circuit-rider
under whose ministry three of these men
were brought to Christ forty years ago."
He was correct. In so far as we can
judge of human probability the great
house would have been impossible without
the work Of the dear old preacher two
score years before it's erection. The
pious lives which his ministry had quick
ened with the habits of industry, fru-
gality, and honesty to which such piety
gives rise, were the basis of the fortunes
which enabled the chief contributors to
make their generous gifts. The relig-
ious devotion which began in the revi-
val in the rural church inclined these
men to make their contributions. Both
the ability and the disposition to give,
therefore, were the fruit of the country
church.
! Such instances might be PARALLEL in the
history of nearly all the city churches
by, which our urban communities are
blessed. This fact the churches OF the
cities should never forget. For both their
membership and their houses of worship
they owe much to the country church.
es. It would be difficult to overstate
all that our rural churches have done
for the moral and religious life OF our
cities. They have been seed-plats from
which some of the noblest specimens of
christian manhood and womannood have
been drawn.
And now with the tide Of population
beginning to turn back to the farm,
the country church will be more i'm,
portant than ever. 1t must be improved
as schools, roads, mails, and agriculture
improve. Better houses must be pro
vtded for the congregations in the
country, and religious services must
! be more frequent than once a month.
The average sermon heard in the eoun-
try is, perhaps, already better than
that heard in the city; the preachers
are not so easily led into sensatIonalism
and light literature in the pulpit as are
their brethren In the cities. They deal
| less in the cheap science which floods
some city pulpits, and preach weight
Ter gospel. Their congregations, being
less distracted, mediate more pro,
foundry on spiritual truth, and demand
more solid religious teaching than urban
congregations commonly hunger for.
Hence that old saying, IF a preacher
goes to the country to preach let him
take his best sermon, but If he goes
to the city let him take his best
clothes" There is much truth in 1t,
The farmer reads his religious paper.
He has few books, but they are the
| standard authors, and he reads them
over and over until his mind IS satur.
ated with their teaching, This is per-
haps not true of all the members OF
the country church, but it Is true of the
leaders who give ii tone and type. On
the other hand, the man in the city
reads his daily paper, and not always
the best parts of that. His life Is hur-
ried at every point, until his mind can
| not take hold of one OF the great the
| illogical treatises which his country
cousin reads with relish. He has little
time for quiet and protracted medita-
ton. His mind. like an egg which has
been hauled about too much and shaken
I'D too often, becomes somewhat added,
so that the outcome of living thought
from 1t is not large. What he gets
must come largely through the senses
Through seeing and hearing. What he
sees must be in striking colors and
| what he hears must be exciting, or he
must be highly seasoned, or he grows
impatient with ii and will not take it.
He must be sung to by a trained choir,
and his preacher must compete with
| the sensational press for his attention
| On both choir and pulpit he puts pres>
| sure to entertain him. and by eonse-
quence his religion is very prone to de-
generate into sort OF religious diver
sion. What pleases him most and taxes
| him least is what he wants, and, hence,
he desires short sermons and long mu-
steal programs. He becomes a kind OF
dragon of the pews which his poor
preacher must feed with sermons
agreeable to his palate He is a guz-
zler of uIand deeoctions OF religious
instruction more sweetish than invig-
| Grating.
His children grow up in his own i'm
age and likeness, with the additional
disadvantage of never having lived in
the country where more wholesome re-
| ligious conditions prevail. They attend
| the theatre, and If they go to church On
Sunday, they wish the services to be as
nearly like the performances in the
| playhouse to which they have aceus-
/ toned all the week, as deceney will per-
init. They must be made to laugh or
| 20 ha