The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-11-03

At the present time" Dr. MacSpor-
 ran continued, the world has never
 had greater religious opportunity
 than when grim visaged war is sweep
 ing us almost off our feet. Take our
 soldier boys. for instance, their relig-
 lon Is inarticulate, so to speak; the soldier is. a Christian without know
 ing it; his courage, self-sacrifice, and
 loyalty, all make him a Christian. Ills
 religion in the camps ana in the
 trenches is a bit spectacular to be
 sure; unconventional along easy line5
 the best that can be furnished under
 the circumstances, but when these boys
 come home-when peace is declaredL'
 they are, going to demand a church
 which in form and ceremony will reai-
 ize that it is here to serve and that
 nothing that is human can be alien
 to its interests. l believe that the an-
 clent shibboleths and the pragmatio
 tests will be applied to the church and
 that whatever is proved to be good
 will be accepted.
 If the allied armies could be con
 served and applied to church work in
 this community" pr. MacSporran ob.
 serN ed. "as the idea has been applied to the various war measures. there
 would be marvellous result spiritual ly from every angle. I'd suggest an organization of laymen under the di- rection of ministers of the commun- ity who would act in the capacity of prophets inspirers-what you will. But the work itself would have to be done by the army. This would, stand as a unified organization. There have been so many little churches that we have lost sight of the church. This, Of course, could not be accomplished by l the work of isolated units tink erins around with our own little fences ! so to speak; but a great, wonderful vision, a unification of forces, and even l then we would only touch the fringes, 1 as it were, there could not possibly be l an overlapping
 | "By the time our boys come back 1 from over there," pr. MacSporran I said, i've must recover much of the l element of romance and adventure in | the church and in this way appeal to l the imagination of those fighting 1 giants They will never be satisfied with passivity in anything, least of all religion, after their thrilling adven- ! lures during the great battles they've | engaged in and the active, pulsating. l life they have led we must gird up l our loins for a campaign in the church | which will spell fight to our soldier 1 boys; a campaign not to nurse the church l but to fight for the church; the church I must definitely state it's aims and | clearly define it's objective before they will be interested.
 1 "The Master said, He that hath no 1 sword, let him sell his garment and | buy one," Dr. MacSporran quoted. 1 This statement makes the parallel 1 complete; the command is interpreted 1 to my way of thinking as a definite order to fight; to sell our garments of l opportunities, 1uXuries, comforts and l the material things such as these, and ;f h,,y If we do not obey the command, then ws | find ourselves physically unfit as the | soldier who is rejected from the army
 our duty is pointed out very definitely 1 in this commando; We must pass the same rigid examination as the soldiet ] does who is applying for commits ! sion; we must be able to measure up