The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-04-14
THE CHURCH AND
THE COMMUNITY
Former Serves as The Color
Guard of The Latter, Says
Writer

rr,r Religion in Social Action, by
1raham Taylor.
,n'v 10 our own times have our
,nough u earth to be applicable to
.hs local community. Only just now
arc Va beginning to ask, What Is b
t,xr for?'' And for an answer we
,,e uniting our ideals into town plan
sios and municipal policies.
should not the whole church Of a
,,ur and city think and a some
,binc of the town and city as a whole?
should those who claim to have
a,he o~racles Of Cod" and to inter-
orete the prophecies have nothing to
Saw or suggest as to the Immediate or
rcmoter future of their own town or
city
should they who bear "the burden
of the soul" have no part in deter
mining the conditions and in shaping
the public policies and plans which
will influence the destiny of souls? II
in the life to come HEAVIER is held up
a. "the mansions of our Fathers
house" q place prepared" for each,
surely in the life that nov is some
care should be taken to provide some
place for men, women n children
and the kind of house of soul" cain
live in.
The community cannot fail to profit
by being faced with a religious ideal
Of what it ought to be. And a church
cannot fail to gain by having n pro
claiming an ideal for it's community.
The mere effort to form it's own ideal
Of what its town should aim to be Will
enlarge the church's view of its W
function and field. Its purpose and
policy will be more public and prac-
Ucal and no less personal.
To be looked to for some contribu-
ton toward the community ideals and
progress will lead the church to Loo
beyond itself for its raiSOn d'etre.
To be identified with the life of the
whole community will deliver it from
that institutional Self-cOnSciOuSneSs
which paralyzes spiritual purposes anc
power. For, with strange and fata
facility. men do forget the purpose.
Of established institutions and the rea.
son for their existence. They thus
lose the value and ever the sight O.
the ends for which they exist in for
getting that all institutions are means
This institutionalism which substl
tltes means for ends and subverts tn
ends in slavishly serving the means i
the very insanity Of history-political
Industrial, educational and eccleSiaS
teal.
Thus the state, the municipality IN
the town lose their hold on the lf
aud the loyalty of the people by be
coming partisan Instead Q
public service utilities. Thus com
mercialism oyerreaches itself in sacr1
dcing the many to the few n pre-
vents a gainful cooperation in r d
60 promote a destructively unrestrict
ed competition.
Thus, too, churches lose not onl
their power, but their very soul, j
building themselves up out of the col
munity, instead of the community u
out of themselves.
The consciousness Of being ideI
tined with the greater cause of tf
whole community and with n king
dom of God, of which it is a par
maeniies even the greatest instit,
tions. gives power to every lea
and adds zest to every most rOutiI
service.
Quite as much. then, for tt
ChurCh's own sake as for the con
mgnity's sake should there be a r
hSI0us ideal of the community Ii
and progress. Worship-worth-sh
lis the church's means of expressil
1n' holding high overhead what
"ortnieSt-the divine ideal Of hum;
lie, individual and collective.
tGblic worship is the flag of t
kinSdom. The church which mai
'airS 1t Is the Color-guard of the co,
muaity.
\gvI'y"NDC ONV~l,N~UUOA