Connecticut western news., 1916-09-07
Letters From the People
A Churchwoman's Idea.

Church, we find much that IS Inter esting Kindly publish a few short extracts in this weeks issue of The News:
 "While missions for women and for the world should and will always ap- peal to women, still," writes one woman, to this clergyman, ''We hunger for something additional, more active and exhilarating, closer to our every day life than sending money to distant fields which we can never hope to see. We find that pie socials and peanut tatfy for money making purposes are wasteful of women's energies, be- littling to their powers and unbusiness- like and discreditable to the church which can and should raise ample funds in more modern and scriptural ways. |" My personal comment on the above is Thank God one church woman dares to speak her mind on these stultifying taxes laid on the community's stomach, by the church with the voteless women members appointed as Stomach Tax collectors for the church. Every person in the community is liable to be cajo.ed or coaxed into paying a stom ach tax to one, two, three or four churches in each town or community, and perhaps several taxes during the year. So the women tax collectors belittle the church and themselves with constant succession, first one church and then another with vittle socials of every conceivable kind and the people good naturedly go to each church feed and pay to the fair collectors their stomach tax. for missions and the church. Un- doubtedly the world of humanity is slowly floating up into heaven on slabs of orange and strawberry shortcake, but it floats terrible slow and that's fact. It is quite possible the worlds stomach is somewhat overloaded, but on with tue hash suppers and ice cream and cake socials and on with the food sales; step up each one, and pay your stomach church tax.
 To quote again: "Women as church officials, both on local and national boards and on committees, are being rapidly multiplied" Then this clergyman goes on to say that "A woman who retains a narrow outlook and self. .centered spirit is apt to per. init her extreme loyalty to tradition or church or family, and so on, to stand in the way of new ideas, new methods and re organizations. But this clergyman admits that "with the steady broadening of their activities in other fields of effort they are better prepared to do good work in the church. Thanks to their other organizations, numbers of American churchwoman now have a breadth of out look, know ledge of parliamentary law. and often a positive genius for new methods and for efficiency which make them most desirable helpless and leaders in their churches and communities. "That many women are today capable of filling any position in the church is abundaDtly proved by their successful management of vast missionary and benevolent enterprises and the vitality of their other organizations and so. cieties as compared with the church work in which they have no share, in dicate the reaons why they may nc longer be satisfied with their ld-time church tasks and opportunities. '" Quite evidently this clergyman has outgrowing their church childhood, when they sat in silence before the elders who of course, were men, and humbly as little children, heard the gospel expounded to them as men saw fit to expound it. Such church work as the deacons and elders thought was fit for women to do they let them do, and gradually the kitchen and the cook stove crept nearer and nearer the church doors until which was which it became hard to tell. The odor of sanct1ty has been lost in the odor of coffee and sandwiches and chicken pie suppers that floats up from the church kitchen or nearby church cafe. Women had to do what they could since they couldn't do what they would. Now great numbers of them have demon. strated that they can do what they would. Church women are getting tired of collecting money for the church out of peoples stomachs. As this clergyman has said and truly, it is belittling to the church and to the grown up church woman's powers. One more quotation from the clergy mans article-published in Septem. +ber's Ladies' Home Journal-read it, good people: Recent figures show that women constitute from over one- half to nearly three quarters of the church membership of this country; they also comprise almost four fifths of the active workers in the Sunday schools" " Goodness! What if there should be church strike of women?
 Woman has developed from meek listener into responsible capable church supporter and the great main. stay of all church except perhaps the Catholic. Why deny them the vote on church matters But I believe churches are recognizing the same as have the great political parties, that women are people, Laws! Wimmin
 will get to be real human beings afteC while! A Churchwoman.