The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1915-01-14
THE RURAL
CHURCH
THE FARMERS THE cUsTopIANs
OF THE NATIONS MORALITY.
Cooperation of Church, School and
Press Essential to Community
Building.
BY Peter Radford

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.
The farmers Of this nation are greatly
indebted to this social triumvirate for
their uplifting influence, and on behalf
OF the American plowmen l want to
thank those engaged in these high
callings for their able and efficient
service, and l 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 eff
fort. We will take 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. He is the custodian of the
nations morality; upon his shoulders
rests the lark of the covenant" and
he Is more responsive to religious in
fuences than any other class Of cit
izenship.
The farmers of this nation have
built 10000 churches at a cost of
$4,000, 900, and the annual contribu-
ton of the nation toward all church
institutions approximates 5000, 0O0, 900
per annum. The farmers of the Uni
ted States build 20 churches per day.
There are 100000 rural church CON-
municants on the farm, and 81 per
cent of the total membership of all
churches reside in the country.
The farm IL the power-house 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.
If the rural churches today are 60
ing to render service which this age
demands, there must 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; 1t must build character; devel-
op thought and increase the efficiency
of human life. It must serve the So
cial, business and intellectual, as well
as the spiritual and moral side of life.
II religion does not make man more
capable, more useful and more just,
what good is It? We want a 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,
1t Is death to the rural church and
moral starvation to the community.
Petty sectarianism Ia a scourge that |
blights the life, and the church preju-
dice saps the vitality, Of many COM
munities. An over-churched commun-
ity Ia a crime against religion, a seri-
GUS handicap to society and useless
tax upon agriculture.
While denominations are essential |
and church pride commendable, the |
high teaching Of universal Christianity |
must prevail II the rural church Ia to
fulfill its mission to agriculture.
We frequently have three or four
churches in community which Is not
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 and
the breaking into fragments Of moral
efforts is ofttimes little less than
calamity and defeats the very purpose
they seek to promote.
The evils of too many churches can
be minimized by cooperation The
social and economic life Of a rural
community are respective units and
cannot be successfully divided by de-
lines, and the churches
can only occupy this important field
by cooperation and coordination.
The efficient country church will
definitely serve its community by lead
ing in all worthy efforts at community
building. In uniting the people in all
cooperative endeavors for the gen.
eral welfare of the community and in
arousing a real love. for country life
and loyalty to the country home and
these results can only be successfully
accomplished by the united effort Of
the press, the school. the church and
organfznd farnara