New Britain herald., 1918-04-19

of church life and work.
AS essential to these ideals we
reVerently recognized the power OF
| God through the Gospel of his Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord, as the fount
! and origin and perpetual remover of
J those mystic yet most real forces
! which express themselves in patriot
: ism and devotion to the Church.
Hence VIC have sought to keep agloW
/ the fires OF sane and effective evan
: go1i~nl.
! FRIENDS. Along with these de-
! e!lrcG ideals there have been certain
! r1aoiteat trends of thought and sen
/ timent.
Not the least important OF these
| trends has been a very appreciable
growth of the spirit of sacrifice. The
worlds language is being rewritten.
Cnaccustomed words in common
| speech are being underscored. The
cross, around whose sacred head
sublime "all the light of sacred
! story" has gathered for centuries, has
! suddenly stood forth alone, the one
! visible object against the skyline Of
| this world tragedy. Men beholding
it in the lurid glare of battle or the
| pale twilight of death find it easier to
| interpret the cross in terms of uni
versal and individual sacrifice.
There is also, I think, a decided
trend toward the application of this
| law of sacrifice to current church
work. The first impulse of many of
| our official boards was toward re-
trenchment, sometimes indiscriminata
and harmful, it was proposed to re-
duce salaries below a decent living
standard and to withdraw support
from the great benevolent and phil
anthropic boards of the church: in q
word, TO sacrifice for the war at the
cost of the church, with the Implied
inference that relatively the work of
the church is of minor importance.
But there are signs of an ABANDON
ment of this mistaken attitude. Men
are coming to see that certain pro-
posed curtaiiments are lmpolltlc, I'M
christian, fatal. The man behind the
gun must be supported by enlight-
ened and cOnsecrated christian Sent1-
ment and the mightiest force in Gre
ating and preserving christian pubic
opinion is the christian church of
which d living preacher is the out
crying spokesman. The prophet, the
man of God, is still the voice Of God
among men.
't urtallnlGn WhCn nave TO 90
with the refinements of worship or
merely conduce to the pride or COM
fort Of the worshipper may rightly be
made: great building projects that
make large drafts upon financial r.
sources and upon a depleted labor
market may wisely be postponed, but
the spiritual values of the church must
be maintained at the highest level
and adequately supported. Such is
the conclusion toward which the min
listers and churches of this district are
moving with accelerating rapidity.
"a third trend is not so pronounced
as | could wish. Perhaps it would
be more correct to speak Of it as an
eddy where two opposing currents
meet
"Methodism has been trained to fire.
Quent and easy changes of pastors.
The general conference has lifted the
time limit but cannot by fiat eXer
else the habit and temper which d
hundred wears of the itinerancY have
engcndered. The passion for novelty
persists The spirit Of adventure con-
tinues even after the country has been
settled and the wild lands all occupied.
The method of extensive cultivation
gives place tardily to the intensive
mands. Churches and preachers con-
fronted by the difficult problems Of
present day church work, still find
the easy solution not of the problems
but Of their own perpleNity, in a
change of pastoral relations: A new
field for the pastor and a new pastor
for the church. Happily many of our
pastors and churches are seeing the
falacy of this procedure and giving
their support to the counter trend
which might take as its slogan. The
privilege Of every pastor is to make
the most of his church and the glory
of every church is to make the most
of its pastor" Here is g. reciprocal
relation Neither the pastor nor the
church can accomplish the hesired
result without the aid of the other.
If the small church Is expected to
deal generously and cooperate 10y
allv with the pastor, then the pastor
must be willing to make plans winch
look toward the future and be willing
TO stay long enough to consurnmate
his plans, else the building of God |
will continue to be. as it Is in too |
many places, an aggregation of frag- |
nents more or less disparate If not |
O. ntagonistic, whose only unity is In |
the name which dimly graces the |
portal. IT, on the other hand, the |
minister is expected to do a worthy |
work in his church, he should be |
permitted to assume that he will have |
time enough, undisturbed by petty |
and narrow Instructions. |
to work out his plans. Nothing Is |
more fatal to many a good mans sue |
cess than the knowledf1e that, no nRt- !
ter how faithful he may have been, !
when the fourth Quarterly conference |
comes he is in jeopardy of some whim ,
or prejudice which, disregarding all |
the amenities Of justice and unmind- |
full of the permanent Well-befng OF |
Gods church, may effect an adverse
or divided vote on the question of |
his return for another year. That I
intin