The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1919-11-28
Ascension Episcopal Church and the
Nation Wide Campaign.

Inc cnurcn is mere TO WIN the
world for Christ. 1t is an Army 60
ing forth to action. And the Nation
Wide Campaign is to teach men,
women, boys and girls of the church,
how great is the church's business. |
"The Kings business requires haste!"
They are also to see how worthy 1t
is Of the best they have to give.
The church is the great assembly Of
those who dare to believe that all
life is Christ's and should be lived
Christ's way When we give our
selves to launch that sort OF a hope
the bravest and the best will flock TO
follow. The Nation Wide Campaign
is first of all claim on life. It will
ask for great gifts of money to carry
out the things which awakened lives
will plan; but first it calls for the
gift of life, and bids us hold the
mirror up to conscience. Tt is a
good thing some times to see our
selves as others see us. What sort
of church are you helping to make?
Are you helping to make it the most
thrilling and gallant adventure in the
world, splendid with moral herOism?
If our world is to follow christianity,
it must know first Of all what
christianity is. In a recent book
| Saints Progress) George Laird the
agnostic makes this comment on
the church:
"Of course there is something
about church, the drone, the scent
the half darkness; there is beauty in
it, its a pleasant thing. The church
ought to be a forlorn hope; then we
should believe in it. Instead of that
it's a sort of business that no one
can take too seriously, SO in the
main, it's given up to vested interests
and social influences.
The church could ignore mere hate
and bad opinion, but it could not
ignore a bad opinion which was JUS
tilted. The Kaiser called the British
EKpeditionary Force-'That con-
temptible little Army, but Ypres and
Paschandaele and the SOmme and
Cambraii and a hundred other heroic
fields were the triumphant answer to
his contempt, so the church can
smile at evil report if--if what? Ii
it, too, has within it's ranks those
who can shut their teeth with a will
to see a great cause through, who
will serve and endure and sacritice :.
and never stop till they have finished
, what they set out to do. The
church is not here to be tradition
social fashion, an aesthetic luxury
of "drone and scent and half dark
ness; it is the great assembly OF
those who dare to believe that life
; all life-is Christ's and should be
lived in Christ's way. If that be q
"forlorn hope, then God be praised
, for the call of 1T!
Men burn up $90O,000,000 in tobacco
, in the United States and yet We
think that one one-hundredth of tha1
, Il is a large amount to spend on the
: church's work The Nation Wide
: Campaign shows how we can improve
the proposition. In this year 1915
soda fountains will take in NOR;
: money than at the present rate The
: church will spend on Missions, Edu
cation and Social service between
now and the year 2019. The onl!
: way to stop bad habit is to put 6
= good one in it's place. You can no
= escape that The only way to over
: come liquor and drug habits is tt
replace them with wholesome &C
, tivities. And yet in the Nation Wide
: Campaign the Church Temperance
Society is asking for only 100000 tt
build places which shall be substi
tutes for the saloon. Some hotel bal
fixtures used to cost almost thai
much.
| Members of the fellowship ot
1 Jesus, the Nation Wide Campaign
| comes as the trumpet summons Of a
great adventure, shall it find us re-
{ creant and selfish holding the
church "a pleasant drug, a sort oi
business that no one can take toe
| seriously?" or shall it find us ready
to learn to say with David Livings-
tone; "Henceforth l will attach nc
. value to anything I have, or may
, possess, except in relation to the
Kingdom of Christ.
Special services were held at the
, Episcopal church In the interest OF
this campaign this week.