News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1913-05-07
FOR Church UNITY
Writer in UniverSaIiSt Leader
Puts the Subject Before All
DenominationaliStS.

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! There is a genuine desire, which !
approaching the universal, in Chris
tian churches of every name, for som
form of unity, in which the forces o
the Christian faith held in common
may be made effective. But the de
sire has in a large measure proved
! fruitless, because of the unwillingnesS
on the part Of any to sacrifice theil
cherished inheritance of denomina
tional history, tradition, practices
dogama and autonomy.
This stubbornness of integrity has
successfully withstood every assault
and every appeal; and really, 1t is
to the credit of those having conviC
tions, to hold them sacredly, and yet
! because of this, the movement TO-
wards unity is stayed at this point.
And therefore it appears that goal
so earnestly sought must be ap
preached by another path; a path
through which all may walk without
surrender of self-respect, and yet
with entire abandon to the spirit Of
unity.
1t should be noted that whatever the
detail of practical opposition to unity
really it comes back finally to pride Of
and loyalty to the denomination; that
is, the one word which stands in
the way of church unity today, is
the word denomination; the word, re-
CARELESS of it's genealogical meaning,
which marks the boundaries of in
clusiveness and eXclusiveness, and for
bids any union which is not absorF
ton
And yet no word so entirely mis-.
represents the spirit which dweLS
within the church for it builds the
wall which prevents that federatid
hearts of the great majority. The pre-
vailing spirit recognizes that tie
Christias churches are already one
in purpose and are kept apart by
UNCONVENTIONAL barriers. How to
preserve the good in the denomination
al organization, to maintain church
self-respect, to encourage SPECIFIC
loyalty, to conserve every existing
force, and yet to bring them into a
working whole, is the problem.
And this problem we believe, finds
its solution in single word. Every
sect recognizes that it is but one
member of the Christian church, 1t
strengthens itself that it may contri-
butte larger service to the whole church,
and this recognition needs but to be
made actual and practical and the way
to real unity is open for use, for we
have but to strike out from ecclesiasti-
cal literature the word "denomina
tion," and substitute in it's place the
word department"
How would it look?
The Congregational department
The Episcopalian department.
The Methodist department.
The Baptist department.
The Presbyterian department.
The Unitarian department.
The Universalst department of the |
Christian church, etc, etc.
Straightway all are united in the
Christian church and serving through |
the department which gives to them |
greaest efficiency. The success of one
is the success Of all. Deadly competi-
ton is measurably eliminated, and
even personal relations of members
are affected for the better. for both
belong to the same church and are
simply working in different depart
ments.
Of course all this is true already In
the minds of many; is it true enough
to be proclaimed? And by the chang
ing of a word can we not set forward
the supreme purpose of this
Christian hour?-Universalis Leader.
MISS Anna Richardson of Saxons River
las been appointed superintendent of the
cooking nam hospital at Bellows Falls to
llCGppu Miss II