The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-11


 live by that and live generally life that leads to all sorts of shipwreck Whatever our doctrine be, our life is conformed to 1t.
 When I think of the rural church, I wonder how far the rural church is vitalizing the lives of the communities in which it exists. We have had great deal to say recently and it has been very profitably said, about the school as a social center. by which is meant the schoolhouse as a social center; about making the house which in the daytime is used for the children, place which their parents may use in the evenings and the other disengaged times for the meetings of the commun- ity, where they are privileged to come together and talk about anything that is of community interest and talk about it with the utmost freedom. Some peo- pie have been opposed to it because there are some things that they do not want talked about. Some boards of education have been opposed to it be- cause they realized that 1t might not be well for the board of education to be talked about. Talk is very dangerous thing, community comparison of views are a very dangerous thing, to the men who are doing the wrong thing; but l for my part believe in making the school the social center, the place that the community can use for any kind of co-ordinating that it wants to do in it's life But I believe that where the schoolhouse is inadequate, and even where it is adequate, that the most vital social center should be the church itself; and that, not by way of organ izing the church for social service that is not my topic tonight; that is another topic-but of making the com munity realize that the congregation, and particularly the pastor, is interest ed in everything that is important for that community, and that the members of that church are ready to cooperate and the pastor ready to lend his time and his energy to the kind of organ ization which is necessary outside the church as well as in, for the benefit of the community.
 TEACHING MARKETING
 "One of the things that the depart ment of agriculture at Washington is trying to do is to show the farmers of the country the easiest and best methods of cooperation with regard to marketing their crops; learning how to handle their crops in a cooperative fashion, so that they can get the best service from the railroads; learning how to find the prevailing market prices in the accessible market, so as to know where it will be best and most profitable to send their farm pro ducts; and drawing them together into cooperative associations with these objects in view. The church ought to lend it's hand to that. The pastor ought to say. If you want somebody to look after this for you, I will give part of my time and I win find other men in my congregation who will help you in the work and help you without charg- ing you anything for it.
 The church has too much depended upon individual example So let their light before men has been interpreted to mean Put your individual self on a candIestick and shine Now the trou ble is that they are very poor can dlestick and the light is very dim. It does not dispel much of the darkness for me individually to sit on top of candlestick, but if I can lend such lit tie contribution of spiritual force as have to my neighbor and to my com rade and to my friend, and we can draw a circle of friends together and unite our spiritual forces, then we have something more than example; we have cooperation.
 PRINCIPLE OF COOPERATION
 o-operation is the vital principle of social life. Not organization merely. I think I know something about organ ization. I can make an organization, but it is one thing to have an organi- zation and another thing to fill it with life. And then it is a very import ant matter what sort of life you fill it with. If the object of the organiza tion is what the object of some busi- ness organizations is and the object of many political organizations is, to ab sorb the life of the community and run the community for its own bene- fit, then there is nothing profitable in it. But if the object of the organi- zation is to afford a mechanism by which the whole community can CO., operatively use it's life then there is a great deal in it. An organization with out the spirit of cooperation is dead and may be dangerous.
 ''This is a nation which loves to go