The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1918-01-02


sIot Feopls q Eslil
gaIIlly lltftdee have
VIII n e list fcEtri come Co
~ = eomu1ons hoctY llEl1l have SEN
70 His c6lhtly sVlo o9 their- cha ans
g Z nrssen3S Ives or 1he entire body
II feneh ChrIstianS. A massage
cor from :. fspre entatfHe group 70
flie NetheffSnds. aSing that q dele
irs1fftn Be sent 70 them 20 render such
Eeanias Il may "a bei1ginS thar Chris
tian forces together. A cable from
Australia announces the organization
Of = FEDERAL council IN that land Whine
this story IS being written, there Is
beside the writer delegates trom the
the Belgian missions upon errands OF
mutual fellowship and practical ser
wee.
The first religious body to meet. at
ter the declaration Of war, to issue
a message 70 the churches. was not a
denominationaI assembly,: It was a
council at Washington constituted
| by thirty religious denominations 10
| speak for them all The Young
| Mems Christian Association, on
twenty-four hours notice, was ready
| to take care OF the soldiers, in behalf
OF all the churches. who created IL.
! Under the General Wartime Commits
sion Of the Churches the work of the
! denominational bodies, the camp pas
| tors outside the camps and the chap
lains and 7. NJ. c. A. secretaries with
| IN the camps, are brought into COOP
Grafton, innpeded, to be sure, by the
! limitations Of our persistent human
] indiyidualism, and yet in an earnest
! spiritual unity. City after city which
! had never given the matter serious
| thought before Is forming IS fedora
| ton Of churches with a common head
quarters and common adminfstra'
tive representative. The movement
for Christian cooperation. not without
some caution It IS true Is moving IN
a larger circle upon matters Of com
mon interest TO the nation and the
world. Consultation Is daily held be
tween representative Protestant. Ro-
man Catholic and Jew. and the dele
cation Of fifty religious leaders in con-
ference with the President o. the
United States is equally divided be
tween Catholic and Protestant
out in the field. so the French
tchaplains tell us, Protestant and Cath
ole chapIains, in the hour Of neces'
sity, forget all except that they are the
ministers Of the same God to the same
suffering humanity, and our chaplains,
as they are all clothed in the same
khaki. viii be clothed with the same
! indistingushable religious spirit. For
three years a constant stream of con-
trfbutions has gone across the seas,
| not from Presbyterian here to Pres
! byterian there. but from the Chris
| tians Of America to the Husuenot
| Christians of France. 1t has not been,
! to be sure, conference on Christian
! unity in faith and polity. It has been
| simply mutual service with the sense
of a spiritual oneness. Indeed. it may
! be that a larger resultant service has
been given because diversity has
been permitted in unity
During the past quarter OF cen
| tury this process has been going on,
| Christian unity being approached
/ through common participation in con-
l crete and common tasks. Its depend
| ins has now come through the mutu-
! atty Of common suffering.
| The clearest sign OF the Son OF 4ian
| coming in power is this manifest spirit
! of the unity in service. Of unity in
| spirit, which Is laying hold OF our
| churches In this hour Of their extrem-
| ity, and which, when they come to
reach OliYet together. VIII lead them
| to share and rejoice In the victory OF
Gethsamane and, when the time IS ful-
flied, with their united power, to roll
! the stone away.
--H-S