Perth Amboy evening news., 1912-02-03
SOCIAL SERVICE
OF THE CHURCH
Striking Address in Men and
Religion | onward Movement.


The last meetings of the Men and
Religion Forward Movement in this
section with Newark as the centre
are to be held today and tomorrow.
Other meetings in the several local.
titles will be held to conserve the
results. but Sunday night the team
of five experts will say their fare
we'll. On this night they will give
themselves to urging upon each
man loyal support in maintaining
his own local church services.
| While the movement has not reach
ed Perth Amboy to any extent, Rev.
James Fl. Northrup win deliver a
special sermon on the subject in the
Presbyterian church tomorrow
night.
OF the team working in Newark
one man will be well remembered
by the people OF Perth Amboy, Rev.
John H. Elliott. who conducted such
a successful union evangelistic cam-
paign in this city six years ago. He
is the expert" on Evangelism and
Community Extension. Thursday
night he made a profound impress
sion upon a large Elizabeth audi
ence. especially by his account OF
carrying the Gospel to the shops
and factories along the line OF COM
munity extension. This has been
his part of the work during the
present movement.
If one is looking for what Is new
in the movement, he can find what
he is looking for In the program of
social service pressed by the Rev.
Paul Moore Strayer, d. D., of Roch-
ester, N. Y. He was the speaker at
Elizabeth last night.
There Is too much preaching by
the pulpits and too little doing by
the pews. The fault of the church.
es here Ia the same as the fault of
the theatres. The latter only ex-
aggerate the fault of the former.
Both arouse good emotions. Virtue
triumphs in almost every play, hosw-
ever mixed with evil 1t may be. But
these emotions are not put into
practice and therefore become fab
by. The nan forgets or doesn't
know how to translate these good
emotions into deeds.
"a man in my church used to cry
in almost every sermon and yet was
the hardest employer of labor in
the city. He didn't seem to know
how to translate his sentiment into
kindness or justice. The church
must show men how to get the
goodness of their hearts over to
their fellowmen. 1t must find Gods
method Of doing the work he wish
es to be done. We spend too much
time in talking of personal ethics
about which we all agree. We talk
about vice, mostly of the minor
vices. but the old prophets de-
nounced sin, sin OF princes, sin Of
the rich and the poor.
Strange, inconsistent and unfair,
that the men who spend half of
Sunday reading In the Sunday ne~s-
paper about the problems OF ~,
ity and society ~-s-s<s2Gt =, -
these thing a~asspussed at churkoi
they ussimple. old Gospel
onscarT be disturbed, want to
be leu ABIDE. We have come to the
place where the church must do big
business.
yet the church should not con-
meet itself with the definite organ
izations outside its sphere: the
business of the church is to send
men out SO filed that they must
find a way to carry out their pro-
gram and express their good emo
tions.
ITO outline the program Of social
betterment is preaching the Gospel.
1t Is not so simple as it seems. III
don't know what / would do IL III
We're in a great industry, but /
would make 1t my study to trans
late my Gospel into my business. II
don't know what / would do with q
million dollars.
Il never knew a time when men
were SO eager to know and to do
the right thing. They say, Show us |
how, tell us what to do. I am stag
gered by what it means to be a
preacher of Christianity in these
times. The air is charged with good
will. The Kingdom of Heaven is
near. All we want is to precipitate
the elements and resources.
THE Roman Catholic church and
the Protestant church have no pro-
gram for the workingman nor for
the business man, and yet some
don't want the churches to discuss
these things.
Drink is a shortcut to a kind of
excitement gotten In a normal way
by play. You must provide a bet
ter substitute for the saloon. What
are you doing with your big school
buildings to furnish a substitute? |
Why don't some of you men that
have money go into the business of
providing clean amusement? 1t
would be a profitable business.
There is a company in Boston that
has sixty bowling alleys and it is
reaping a harvest of money. No
drinks are permitted. Why don't
You put a gymnasium in your
church basement? Why don't you
put a billiard table in your prayer
meeting room? If 1t kept the boys
out OF the saloon 1t would sanctify
the room.
'sThe church has splendid re-
sources, 1t has numbers, 1t has good
will, it must translate its goodness
into service, 1t must fill men with
the Spirit of God SO that they will
rally to the carrying out of It's high
principles, it must take up these
pressing problems that all men
need light upon. and show them
what to dos T
Boys Sleds Stolen.
Two boys sieds stolen from the |
rear yard OF the home of Joseph q.
4