The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1914-12-04
THE RURAL
CHI CHURCH
THE FARMERS THE cusToDIANs
OF THE NATIONS MORALITY.
Cooperation Of Church, School and
Press Essential to Community
Building.
BY Peter Radford
Lecturer Rational 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 It's great.
est blessing. power and knowledge.
The 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
cailings for their able and efficient
service, and shall offer to the press
a series of articles on cooperation
between these important influences
and the farmers in the hope of in.
creasing the efficiency of all by mu-
tual understanding and organized ef
fort. We will talks up, first the rural
church.
The Farmers Are Great Church Build.
ers.
The American farmer is the greatest
church builder the world has ever
known. lie is the custodian of the
nations morality; upon his shoulders
rests the "urk of the covenant" and
he is more responsive to religious in.
fluences than any other class OF cit.
izenship.
The farmers of this nation have
built 100000 churches at cost OF
S7j000O, 600 and the annual contribu.
tion OF the nation toward all church
institutions approximates s2O0,000,000
per annum. The farmers of the Uni
ted States build 90 churches per day
There are 200O0000 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 powerhouse of all
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.
II the rural churches today are go
! ing to render service which this age
| demands, there mus; be cooperation
between the religious, social and eco
/ nomic life of the community,
/ The church to attain its fullest meas.
/ ure Of success must enrich the lives
/ of the people in the community It
/ serves; it must build character; devel-
| op thought and increase the efficiency
] - l,,,y, t,A.
cial, business and intellectual, as well
as the spiritual and moral side of life
II religion does not make Il man more
capable. more useful and more just,
what good is IL? 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 but one 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
blights the life, ana the church preju
dice saps the vitality, of many com
munitics. An over-Churched COmmun
ity Is a crime against religion, a sori
! Gus handicap to society and useless
tax upon agriculture.
While denominations are essential
and church pride commendable thJ
high teaching of universal Christianity
must prevail II the rural church is tJ
20 fulfill its mission to agriculture.
Re- We frequently have three or fou,
n churches In community which is no
e able to adequately support one. Small
congregations attend services once {
. month and all fail to perform the re
iigious functions of the community
The division of religious forces ant
the breaking into fragments of mora
efforts is ofttimes little less than I
calamity and defeats the very purpos
> they seek to promote.
The evils of too many churches cal
S be minimized by cooperation. TIL
social and economic life of rura
] community are respective units an,
0 cannot be successfully divided by dc
9 nominational lines, and the churche
n can only occupy this important ticl
o by cooperation and coordination.
The efficient country church vii
b definitely serve its community by lead
8 ing in all worthy efforts at communit.
5 building in uniting the people in al
| cooperative endeavors for the gen
y eral welfare of the community and II
4 arousing q real love for country lif
o and loyalty to the country home an,
these results can only be successfully
accomplished by the united effort o
= the press, the school. the church an,
organized farmers.