Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-12-02
BY Peter Radford
Lecturer National Farmers [

Lecturer National Farmers Union.
The church, the press and the school
form a triple alliance of progress that
guides the destiny of every .commun-
ity, state and nation. Without them
civilization would wither and die and
through them life may attain its great
est blessing, power and knowledge
he farmers OF this nation are greatly
indebted to this social triumvirate for
their uplifting influence. and on behalf
of the American plowmen ! want to
thank those engaged in these high
callings for their able and efficient
service, and | shall offer to the press
series of articles on cooperation
between these important influences
and the farmers in the hope of in
creasing the efficiency of all by nu-
tual understanding and organized ef-
| fort. We Will take up first, the rural
| church.
The Farmers Are Great Church Build
The American farmer is the greatest
church builder the world has ever
|
nations morality; upon his shoulders
rests the lark of the covenant" and
he is more responsive to religious in
tluences than any other class of cit
| izenship.
The farmers of this nation havo
built 100000 churches at a cost of
s1o0,0oO,o00 and the annual contribu-
ton Of the nation toward all church
institutions appre,y Rates $500. 600 600
per annum. The farmers of the Uni
| ted States build % churches per day.
There are 20,0o0,000 rural church COM
municants 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 ell
progress and the birthplace of all that
is noble. The Garden OF Eden was
in the country and the man who would
get close to God must first get close
to nature.
The Functions of Rural Church.
If the rural churches today are go
ing to render a service which this age
demands, there must be cooperation
between the religious, social and eco
nomic life of the community.
The church to attain it's fullest meas
ure of success must enrich the lives
of the people in the community 1t
serves; it must build character; devei
op thought and increase the efficiency
of human life. II must serve the so
cial, business and intellectual, as well
as the spiritual and moral side of life
Ii religion does not make a 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 we'll as die by.
Fewer and Better Churches.
Blessed is that rural community
which has but one place of worship
While competition is the life of trade
it is death to the rural church ant
moral starvation to the community
Petty sectarianism is a scourge thai
blights the life, and the church preju
dice saps the vitality, of many com
munities. An over-churched commun
J ity is crime against religion, a seri
GUS handicap to society and useless
tax upon agriculture.
While denominations are essentia
and church pride commendable, tht
i high teaching of universal Christianit,
must prevail if the rural church is t
fulfill it's mission 10 agriculture.
J We frequently have three or fou
churches in community which is no
able to adequately support one Small
congregations attend services once
! month and all fail to perform the re
: ligious functions of the community
The division of religious forces AM
the breaking into fragments of mora
efforts is ofttimes little less than
: calamity and defeats the very purpos
: they seek to promote.
4 The evils of too many churches cal
r be minimized by cooperation. TIL
social and economic life of a rura
community are respective units an
cannot be successfully divided by dc
nominational lines, and the churche
$ can only occupy this important fiel
u by cooperation and coordination.