Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-02-12
REV. W. A. BROWN OF .INTERNA.
TIoNAL ASSOCIATION De.
LIvERS ADDRESS.
URGES ORGANIZATION
Large Number Representatives From
The Various Churches Of the
. City Participate in Picnic
Supper.

chu rch and met with gratifying Sue
cess. The largest gathering of sun
day school teachers and officers that
have gotten together since the rally
on last July sat down to a picnic
supper at $50. The lecture room was
crowded with we'll filled tables at
which nearly every Sunday school IN
the city was represented with rom
five to forty members.
The special feature Of the session
was the address by DR.. w. A. Brown,
the missionary superintendent of the
International Sunday school associa-
ton. Mr.. Brown talked along the
lines of organization. urging that more
stress be laid upon the mechanics OF
the Sunday school. rather than giving
all attention to dynamics. Mr.. Brown
stated that there we're 10000 of these
associations in the United States ana
Canada. They were known as city,
township county and state assocla-
tons, and they hold twenty thousand
each year. In these or
CARNATIONS 10000 officers are giving
their time for the love of the work.
Urges Organization.
Mr.. Brown continued to say that
some people think there is too much
in the church. To Illus
trate, he recalled an instance when an
old soldier made such a remark at
meeting that Mr.. Brown was
holding. On being questioned as 10
what the difference was between his
regiment and thousand men walking
aimlessly on the streets, confessed mat
it was chiefly organization and that
the regiment was so thoroughly organ
lied that there were altogether over
$50 officers in the regiment
The church is incompletely organ
led" said the speaker, "as long as
there is one single member unrelated
to any definite work. Organization or
any department Of the school or church
should be so perfect that it will run
smoothly and effectively so that when
the head officer is taken away there
will he some one trained to take up
the work.
cone often hears it said that what
the church needs is more dynam1cs
and less mechanics-more power ana
less machinery. This is partially true,
but truer statement Is that the
church needs more of both.
Wesley An Organizer.
1.-TWO of the greatest preachers OF all
time lived in England little over a
hundred years ago. They each spoke
10 audiences of ten thousand to nifty
thousand people. and sometimes before
six o'clock in the morning. One paid
no attention to organization, the other
was one of the best organizers that
aver lived. The former was probably
The more brilliant of the two. but al
most no one now knows anything
about him or is affected in any way
by what he said, while as the direct
result of the patient planning and or
sanitation of John Wesley there are
today in all the world over twenty
million people who recognize MIN as
heir spiritual father. -.
Steam has been known through all
he centuries ever since the man or
stone age poured water on hot rocks,
out il became effective as power or
work only when applied through the
mechanics of the engine. Likewise
he Holy Spirit is dependent upon man
'or demonstrating his power.
"Probably the best organized church
n the world today is the Mormon
,hurch and it is gaining more converts
rom the evangelical churches than
hey are from it, The religious census
# Chicago demonstrated that there
we're $4,000 church letters slowed
,wav in trunks that had not been hand
I'd into the churches largely because
If lack of organization
Mr.. Brown showed what an lmpor-
ant factor organization is in business.
10 stated that the Pennsylvania rail-
Dad system spends more money IN
,ear for reports than it does for rails.
"Many Sunday schools do poor work,
20 continued, "because they are
Measuring themselves by themselves.
" their past efforts. instead or by
he best. They are like the children
With the old style copy book with the
perfect copy at the top. The first line
written was copied after the model,
int in writing the next line it was
easier to look at the line just above,
md the third after the second. and so
IN until the last line at the bottom was
;ery poorly done because a poorer
model was taken each time
Five Standards.
Mr., Brown emphasized five things
IS the standards which each Sunday
school should copy after, as follows:
first, to organize with ten different de-
,artments, each representing special
inc of work for which the superinten-
lent Of that department be held re-
,poE sible:
~ The elementary work with chill
lren UP to twelve years Of age; (2) |
The secondary department work with !
children from - to 90; (3) The adult
(4) The home department
- teacher training: CO. missions; |
~ temperance; (S) home visitation;
81 evangelism: (10) social service;
,eccnd-a teacher training class at the
Sunday school hour; third-at least |
en- people from each school in the
.ity training school, preferably the
;upcrintendents of each of the ten de-
,artments; Fourth-home visitation;
ifth-lay stress on the evangelical op-
,ortunity by planning for decision Gay.
.'Dr. ]. Wilbur Chapman said Mr..
Brown, "was won by teacher placing