Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1913-11-12

s.,bsssf--The present and tutuFe relation
.s,o between the church aud social service.
rs,.-"And why behoidest thou the mote
,A.tis In tay brothers eye, but eonssdereth
~ tbe beam that is In thine own eyef or
~, espss thou gay 50 thy brother, 'Brotheri
i, me cast out the beam tina, is in thine eye
sssn thou thyseif beholdest not the beam
,h., is In thiae own eyer" Lake 7ssI, AZ.
paring the past few years there has
,ome to be in the minds OF many earnest
v,sn and women, grave questioning as
"a the value and necessity OF the Church.
Tbe last Two or three decades have seen
many OF those activities, which formerly
,x.re the province OF the Church, taken
.w.v from her and carried on by secular
noaies. Once the Church had a hold on
,he PEOPLE, now she seems to have lost
,hat hold. Once she was the centre around
wbieh everything revoived In the COM
muuity, now she Is neglected Tor other
interests. Once she was necessity, now
she IL not.
What are the Obvious answers to these
oues,ioningss First, men are realizing
that the social problem Is not a matter
which must be left 10 the Church and the
chgrch alone, but IL q matter which con-
Germs every member OF the body polite,
for Il rs an economic problem which must
he solved by every right minded person IL
business Ia to prosper and II living and
life are to be comfortable.
Also. II has come to be seen that the
Church cannot effectively DO everything,
.-snsf y. 40 y,r 40 .,.ar., ,.a.,. w..
hear men say often enough, "the Church
failed TO do that work, so we were COM
uelled 10 take IL away from her and do it
ourselves OF course she failed. judged
by present standards OF success, aud she
failed because she was forced TO try to do
xha, no one would help her to do, and
was more than she possibly could do.
OF course this is only one part of the
argument; but II is sufficient, for 1t puts
broadly the economic reason for the
separations OF the purely religious and the
social service functions of the Church.
onco the Church had very strong hold
On the people 49, ''strangle- hold" would
batter describe is-As witness those worthy
Purltaus who came from England TO find
religious freedom, and allowed no free
dom to those around them. Who would
GO back to a time like that9 And who
would 90 back to even ten years ago,
when to think that hell was not sulphur
Ous was to think blasphemys
The Church surely has lost that kind OF
hold on the people, and we can thank God
Tor il. When one loses a hold Il means
that one has 30 rcsdlust the grip, and this
takes time.
Once the Church was the centre OF COM
maniiy life; now she Is not, for she seems
10 he neglected for other interests. 1t is
true enough, bat you will lind that It Is
only men Of lesser minds who will declare
thst the Church Ii not vitality necessary,
and you wiii find that an automobile is
too often thas motive for such state
men,. Glad OF any excuse, they seize the
first questionings OF those who are trying
to work out the problem for themselves in
all garnestncss, and make this their
authority and excuse. Well, they do not
know what they are missing; some day
they will.
The vast output OF inexpensive liters-
ture a hieh has popnlariEed the discussion
q every problem under the sun, especially
those which 1t used 10 be the exclusive
province of the Church to discuss, has
caused the Church to recede into the
background as being no longer the store
house OF revealed truth. would be the
last TO decry the tremendous value OF such
literature, bat II has led to a somewhat
unworthy and tasty Judgment OF the real
function OF the Church, due mainly, re-
greet 20 say, to the emphasis laid by the
Protestant churches, In which | am com
pelled, in all fairness, TO include the Uni
tarlan denomination, In laying too much
emphasis on preaching and not enough on
worship.
Asa result, OF the emphasis placed on
the sermon, the Church has undoubtedly
lost much OF her hold on the attention
and affections OF the people.
Now the Church, in order to try and
recover this lost hold, is coming to be
mere copyist. She is laying much en-
phasis on .'social service" as the one func-
uon OF her existence. Now i believe IN
being progressive, aggressive, up-to-the-
minute, in all that Is going on around US,
but II must not be forgotten that social
conditions are in q tremendous state OF
general upheaval, a turmoil from which it
Is hard TO see the way out. And while
admit that the Church must take tie lead
IN all good works, yet she must be careful
not to commit herself to policy without
having arst given II the most serious con-
sideration. For the present 1t seems to
me'-and / say IL With some reserye--the
church must help and guide and lead in
social service, but / think she makes
great mistake IL she tries to compete. l
VIII explain why presently.
Vow what, to-day. dove understand by
The term ssoeial service? The kinds of
social service which are generally adj
Yocated to-day are avocational; that is,