The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-10-27

For this reason the theories i
+ and the plans brought forth +
+ were not ones of vague dream +
+ ers but of pointed and prac- +
j. tical plans that could, with i
J. the proper stimulus and en- =
i thusiasm, work out def +
j. mite end. All the speakers of /.
+ the evening were ones who +
+ had attended the Men and j.
+ Religion Forward Movement i
+ meeting at Minneapolis few +
+ weeks ago. +
J. J. :. J. j. /. !. J. !. j. :. j. !. i. = j.
Believes in the Movement.
Rev. r. w. Hobbs spoke first. He
spoke generally of the mems religion
movement, emphasizing the impor-
lance of this movement and what it
would mean to the community, the
people who were overlooked as far
as religious service is concerned,
and the definite way in which the
different matters were taken up.
When Rev. Hobbs left Mankato for
ings he went with dOubtfullneSs
and uncertainty that made him be-
come suspicious of a movement
which, he thought, was organized
and engineered as this one was.
But, he said, he had not been there
long before he realized that it was
a big movement, and sound one
in it's logic.
1.-The two things that impressed
me most" said Rev. Hobbs, was,
first, the bigness of the work and
tits plans, and second, the smallness
of those who attended and thought
the work was small-the deter
mined and practical way in which
certain topics were discussed.
Ought to Be Centers of Activity.
Our larger towns ought to be
centers of activity for the surround
ing communities. Then experts who
lived in these towns could go out,
to the smaller towns and preach
the gospel of God. Each center
should take up some definite work,
for only by SO doing can anything
of Importance come of this move
ment. Trying to scatter a PERSONS
attention over too wide range OF
work will be likely to result weakly
and ineffectively, while if each per-
son would take up some definite,
work, which had some limits, some
+b;,n of ip,portapco and dafinjta-
ness can be accomplished.
+ j. J. j. j. ]. j. j. j. + j. + + + i
j "There are many laymen +
+ in each community who can i
!. come out and give a very !
+ creditabe political speech, and y
+ who, if they were approached +
]. with the proper spirit would !
i be willing to speak at reli- !
J. gious meeting.
j. !. !. ]. j. j. i. i. ]. !. !. j. J. + i
Get hold of the definite things;
we have generalized too much, and
therefore ought to make study OF
the definite work in hand-drive at
something definite, and hit at the
proper mark. Then hit hard" he
continued. "This movement has ele
ments that make for clearness OF
work We must push it forward quick
ly and surely for in April the Men and
Religion Forward Movement goes
out of commission as far as an
organization is concerned.
The Bible Study.
w. d. Willard spoke next on
along lines of Bible Study" He
stated that the entire world had
been searched for experts to con.
duct this work, along their respec
tive lines These men then came to
one city and had a conference for
an entire week to talk over matters
in relation to the movement.
He outlined briefly some OF the
work of this organization and said
that these experts would go from
one city to another until seventy
six cities have been covered. II
would then be probable that the re-
suits of their work and some OF
the things they did will be put
into book form SO as to give other
churches a guide 1t was hoped that
these men would also come to Man
kato, and hold conference here
only on a smaller scale. They would
then teach men here how to con
tinue the work, and they in turn
were to go out and preach what
they had learned. These men would
take turns and go to the smaller
communities within fifty miles OF
Mankato to conduct services OF
this kind.
j. j. + + j. j j. !. J. + j i. /. i !. J
+ Mr.. Willard laid especial !
+ stress on the Importance of I
i. work among the boys. "if the !
1. church of the future is going I
+ to amount to anything we !
+ must get hold of the boys. !
+ Organizations is the thing !
1. that makes big Bible classes" !
+ 1. + + 1. I. + 4. + + + I. r + I
| He gave a few experiences of his
own in the benefit of organization