The Holly chieftain., 1914-10-16
The RURAL
CHURCH
THE FARMERS The CUSTODlANS
OF THE NATIONS MORALITY.
Cooperation of Church, School and
Press Essential to Community
Building.
BY Peter Radford.
Lecturer National Farmers Union

Lecturer National Farmers Union
The church, the press and the school
'orm a triple alliance Of progress that
guides the destiny Of every commun-
ty. state and nation. Without them
civilization would wither and die and
through them life may attain its great
est blessing, power and knowledge.
The farmers of this nation are greatly
indebted to this social triumvirate for
heir uplifting influence, and on behalf
Of the American plOWmen / want to
thank those engaged in these high
,allings for their able and efficient
service, and l shall offer to the press
4 series of articles on cooperation
between these important influences
and the farmers in the hope of in
,reasng the efficiency of all by mu-
ual understanding and organized eff
,ort. We will take up first the rural
church.
The Farmers Are Great Church Build
ers.
The American farmer is the greatest
known. He is the custodian of the
lations morality; upon his shoulders
rests the lark of the covenant" and
he is more responsive to religious in
iuences than any other class of cit
Zenship.
The farmers of this nation have
ouilt 100000 churches at cost OF
s7500O0, 900, and the annual contribu.
len of the nation toward all church
Institutions approximates $2O0,0OO,OoO
ger annum. The farmers of the Unit
ed States build % churches per day
There are 2O,O00,000 rural church com
nunicants on the farm, and "a per
cent of the total membership of all
churches reside in the country.
The farm is the pOwer-house of all
progress and the birthplace of all that
S noble The Garden of Eden was
N the country and the man who would
get close to God must first get close
20 nature.
The Functions of Rural Church.
If the rural churches today are 60
ng to render a service which this age
demands, there must be cooperation
between the religious, social and eco
lomic life of the community.
The church to attain its fullest mea-
sure of success must enrich the lives
1f the people in the community 1t
serves; it must build character; devel-
ID thought and increase the efficiency
)f human life 1t must serve the So
,ial, business and intellectual, as well
as the spiritual and moral side of life.
# religion does not make man more
capable, more useful and more just,
what good is it? We want practical
religion, one we can live by and farm
by, as well as die by.
Fewer and Better Churches.
Blessed is that rural community
which has Sut ,ne place Of worship.
While competition is the life of trade,
It is death to the rural church and
moral starvation to the community
Petty sectarianism is scourge that
Dlights the life and church preju-
lice saps the vitality Of many COM
nunities An ver-churched commun-
ity is crime against religion, a seri-
ous handicap to society and useless
AK upon agriculture.
While denominations are essential
and church pride commendable, the
nigh teaching OF universal christianity
must prevail if the rural church is to
fulfill its mission to agriculture.
We frequently have three or four
churches in a community which is not
able to adequately support one. Small
congregations attend services once a
month and all fail 10 perform the re-
Iigious functions of the community.
The division of religious forces and
the breaking into fragments of moral
effort is ofttimes little less than a
calamity and defeats the very purpose
they seek to promote.
The evils of too many churches can
be minimized by cooperation. The
social and economic life of a rural