The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1913-11-20
Church Unity.
aContlilsll1eal

greg"t local church Of this city, last
Sunday morning presented plan for
the uniting of the Protestant bodies
into one III 4. sermon Oh Christian
Unity.
His text was taken from parts of
the Goth and 2lst verses of the 18th
Chap. of st. John. 81 pray Il * that
they may all be one.'' lie said in
part:
One has only to go back to the pages
Of the Old Testament to discover that
among the earliest races there were
religious assumptions. We find that
Aaron induced the people at the time
when Moses was on the Mount re-
ceiving the Commandment to break
away from God and to set up All indie
pendent worship of their own. From
that time OH through the history of
the Israelites it is cogniZant that the
desire for independent Interpretation
and immediate fu]tblment of the law
prompted a religi MS unrest among
the people.
And this unrest did not clIminate
with the old dispensation but was
carried over into the New. So that at
the time when God was about to send
his Son into the world we recognize
a voice in tive wilderness crying ''pre-
pare We the way of the Lord, make
STRAIGHT in the desert a highway for
our God. Aud it came to rass that
the Son Of God came. That man
crew mp amid dissensions and rptig-
ous factions. He knew the natures
| Of men, and thus We find that His
mission was a two-fold one 1t was
obvious to our Lord that the hearts
Of men We're wrong. and that in order
to preach to them the coming of the
Kingdom of God, which was the first
great half Of His mission, and to do
it effectively it was necessary that
the second part should play as prom
inent a part in His teachings as the
first, that is--the true relationship of
man to man, or the every day practise
Of otherly love.
Jesus in His great book of healing
never stopped to ask what church the
subject went to, or how much he or
! she contributed to it's support, but
simply "Dost thou believe on the
Lord Jesus Christi" 1t was that
mans or that woman's faith that
Jesus looked for, and which he found
Here were given may Biblical illus
trations to prove the requi ements Of
Jesus and Ills specific charges at the
time He commissioned the Twelve
and the Seventy. Onthe subject OF
the disruption in the church and the
setting up of independent congrega-
tions, each forming u part Of the great
Protestant body, Mr.. Kelly pointed
out that this was brought about by
the protestatjons of certain theolo,
gians, namely-llenry VIII, Edward
VI, Luther, Calvin, and Wesley
Further it was stated that all were
aiming for the same place and asked
why SO many disagreements about
dogmas and doctrines when the sim
pie theme of Jesus was the preaching
of the Kingdom of God and the con
tinuance of brotherly Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself?'
An interesting statistical report was
read OF a census Of church attendance
that was taken in Albany, N.Y., on
Sunday morning, July 20, 1913 which
will go to prove tha1 something must
be done to vim back tine people to God.
The day was reported fair and the
temperature ranging from 10 to 81
degrees. The canvass covered 30 Pro
testant churches, and showed out Of Il
membership of 15, 1873, All actual con-
gregation that morning of s73 men,
l,s46 women, and 2ss children-a total
of 3,o25. Less than 20 per cent.
81 believe,' said the pastor, "that
if people would throw away the tradi-
tjons of their forefathers, forget the
hard, concrete dogmas and doctrines
which are non essential in the life of
one who desires to follow Jesus, that
a service could be arranged that
would be agreeable to all, and that
finally wonderful temple could be
erected and dedicated to God which
would be the religious home OF all,
and, moreover, we would not read
from time to time of such mortifyine
and grevions condition Of affairs us |
have just read"
est. Matthew says this in the 18th
Chapter of hls gospel:
"Ye have made void the word Of
God because of your traditions.
Ye hypocrtes, well did Isaiah pro-
phesy Of you, saying,
This people honoreth me with
their lips:
1,1O O.,A