Sierra County advocate. [volume] (Kingston, N.M.) 1884-1960, 1915-01-01
THE RURAL.
CHURCH
THE FARMERS THE cUsToDIANs
G THE NATIONS MORALITY.
Cooperation of Church, Sch9ol and
Press Essential to Community
Building.
BY Peter Radford

The church, the press and the school
form 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 / want to
thank those engaged In these high
callings 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 ins
creasing the efficiency OF all by mu,
tual understanding and organized ef-
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 cost of
$750,000,000, and the annual contribu-
ton of the nation toward all church
institutions approximates s200.c0O,000
per annum. The farmers of the Uni
ted States build 22 churches per day,
There are 20.000,000 rural church COM
municants on the farm, and 81 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
in the country and the man who would
get close to God must first get close
to nature.
The Functions Of a Rural Church.
If the rural churches today are 60
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 its fullest meas
ure of success must enrich the lives
of the people in the community Ii
serves; 1t must build character; devel-
op thought and increase the efficiency
of human life. 1t 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 1t? 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.
1t is death to the rural church and
moral starvation to the community.
Petty sectarianism is a scourge that
blights the life, and the church preju-
dice saps the vitality. of many COM
munitles. An over-churched commun-
Ity is crime against religion, seri-
ous handicap to society and useless
tax upon agriculture.
While denominations are essential
and church pride commendable. the
nlgn teaching OF universal Christianity
must prevail If the rural church is to
fulfil its mission TO agriculture.
We frequently have three or four
churches In a community which is not
able to adequately support one. Small
attend services once a
month and all fail to perform the re-
igious functions of the community.
The diviSten of religious foyGss. snd 7
he breaksSSs INTO "ffffagmenfs 81 ns6rai
efforts is ofttimes little less than
and defeats the very purpose
hey seek to promote.
The evils Of too many churches can
be minimized by cooperation. The
social and economic life Of a rural
are respective units and
cannot be successfully divided by de-