Evening star., 1914-02-11
The Country Church
W.-Church Federation.
BY Frederic ]. Haskin.

that one OF the chief reasons for the loss
OF power In the country church is the
sectarianism which seemed to reach its
zenith during the last generation. The
pendulum is swinging backward now, and
i'll seeking to promote general faith in
Christ, denominations lines are being
gradually laid aside.
Sectarianism Is responsible for the over
churched condition Of many rural com
munities. A village which might sup
port one church and make 1t a power Of
good to every one within its reach has
its resources overtaxed by the fruitlesS
efforts to support two or more. The COM
petition between them leads TO friction
and neighborhood strife tending to de-
Stroy the spirit of love and charity which
should characterize all church work. The
uniting of two or more of these struG-
Cling little churches into single well
equipped organization, capable of meet
ing all the spiritual neeus of the COM
munity. insures great advance of re-
| ligiouS influence.
Such union requires a certain amount
of sacrifice upon tho part of each indi-
viduaL It can only
Means Sacrifice be brought about
by individuals. cat,a, ~ a,onr rsu
oiSoo 'iiiCos III d Silldll Town IN inc norm
three denominations had been fighting
losing battle for years while the religious
life of the community decreased and it's
standards of morality steadily lowered
Three years ago young theological stu
dent came TO spend his summer vacation
with his uncle, who was the leading man
| in the United Brethren Church The
building of this denomination was in
good repair, while the Methodist Church
had a leaky roof which had made it prac-
tically unfit for use for months past The
Bapt1sts had no meeting place except the
Schoolhouse, in which they held services
once a month, with the grudging consent
| OF the directors. Even this had been re-
| fused several times upon the ground that
| the congregation brought mud and dirt
| into the building. The use of school coal
for heating was forbidden. so that during
the winter the members took turns in
contributing bucket or two of coal to
| build the fire.
The student was a Presbyterian, but his
religion was broader than his sectarian-
ism. He saw the possibilities of federat-
| ing the three bodies into one commu-
nifty church. After he had discussed the
matter with his uncle and several other
men, he was invited to speak to the
weekly meeting of the Grange. He ad-
vocated using tho United Brethren
| Church by all three denominations and
/ both the United Brethren and the Meth
/ odists had services only upon alternate
| Sunday mornings. the plan was easily ar
| ranged. At first the MethodiSts predomi-
mated when their own minister preached.
and the United Brethren turned out best
| for their pastor. but within few months
| the congregations were practically the
\ same each Sunday, being almost double
| those before the union. The organization
| of a union choir composed of young peo-
Ir1fn of all
1 added advantage.
| This triple union Is still working we'll
| For over a year union Sunday evening
meeting for the
| Triple Union Has young people has
| pror.a rr.x been doing effec-
cottage prayer meetings held in the
homes during the week are another unit
| ing bond. A plan is now under way TO
| sell the old Methodist Church to the
township to be utilized for school. The
money received for it is to be expended in
enlarging the United Brethren Church
and for installing heating plant Three
ministers are holding services in this
| church, but no one of them is a resident.
| A more complete union and still better
results are obtained when one minister is
| In charge OF all the religious work of the
/ community. He should live there and
devote his full time to promoting better
| conditions.
An ideal federated church in New Eng
iand was formed by three local churches
OF dinerent denominations. The new or
| eanlzation includes 265 families. upon
which the pastor makes an average Of a
thousand calls annually One of the
ehurch ,1 buiidings has been turned into a
| religious purposes. Another is used for
| the regular Sunday services At one time
| over 90 people gathered for a special
| rengious occasion. The church cooper
| ated with the grange in the establish
/ Inent and maintenance of a travelling Ii
\ brary supplied by the state and a young
peoples iyceun, which is well attended
| oy Older people as well. Before the fed
| Grafton the three churches had an ac-
| tlve, dependable membership of less than
| 10 per cent of the population of the com
| munfty. Two years later there was not
iamliy mat was not actively connected
| with some branch of the church work
rural community in the south was
induced to unite its religious forces un-
der one pastor after
Lest OF oyStem number of unusual
| ~ 4ba cor+L circumstances. At first
| considerable prejudice
and sectarlan dissension had to be over
come. A good revival cleared the air.
after which community church was es-
tablished upon the following principles: |
FIRST, It was to be a united church with all /
| Sectarianlsm buried. second, it was to |
/ present the gospel of Christ visualized so |
as to help men in building up a real |
brotherhood; third, the church was to |
| serve the entire people i'll progressive
vital community building as one institu- !
ton among others working toward a COM
| mon end.
| Evangelism was accepted as the heart |
| of this task, but the evangelistic pro-
gram had for its paramount object the |
| making of community and world builders |
! and not the mere lengthening of the |
| church membership roll. The community