Gunnison news-champion., 1921-12-23
STATEMENT CONCERNING RES
IGNATION OF DIR DAVIES, AS
PASTOR COMMUNITY CHURCH
fContinued from First Pace,


of community church is a sinecure,
he has another think coming. Still |
tried to measure up to the bigness re-
Job, | say / tried. Then there were
difficulties in the administration Of
the church. 1t seemed well nigh inn
possible to successfully promote the
Community Church with the machin-
cry given thru the articles and bylaws
of the organization. Much of it is in
adequate and unworkable. For in
stance-the executive committee has
largely taken from the pastor the
leadership of the church. Matters are
definitely settled in committee of
which the pastor is not an ex-officio
member which should be largely left
to the discretion of q pastor who is a
trained man in these specific things.
Then the executive committee is so
large-15 members, and sometimes 16
members-that it is all but impossible
for the chairman to secure anything
like unanimity and synchronized ac-
ton without much debate. some Of it
far into the night till all the members
were tired out and wretched.
Then the UNCONVENTIONAL affiliations
have been too much emphasized by
all. You must either have a commun-
ity church, with all denominational
lines completely obliterated, or you
have got to have several religious
bodies tied up together, each empha-
sizing in an unhealthy. competitive
way the particularizations of their
own particular households Of faith.
You can tie dog and a cat together
by the tail and have union but abso-
lutely no unity. 1t seems that the
only way to successfully have Com
munity Church is to purchase the pro-
perty owned by the Presbyterian and
Methodist bodies and let it be owned
locally by, say, three or five trustees,
50 that much suspicion and hindrance
to progress in that direction may be
eliminated. There is no parsonage.
not because of the lack of money for
one especially, but because none know
who would own the parsonage when il
| is built.
Another difficulty in the way Of
Community Church success is the
llargeness and unwieldiness Of the ex.
ecutive committee. In the place Of
this committee there should be an Ad-
visory Board Of Ave members with the
| pastor as ex-offici0 member. One Of
the Ave should be selected from the
faculty of the school, one to represent
the students, one to represent the
county and the cattlemen, and also
one to represent the town and one tf
represent the Sunday School. Each
should be member Of the church
Their duties should be carefully de.
fined. General matters Of spiritual
activity and finance should come undei
their Jurisdiction, but the weighties
matters, such as calling pastor Of
ldiscipling . pastor or hiring or frinl
. pastor should be strictly the bust
Iness Of the entire congregation.
Another difficulty, namely. the in
Justice all around to the pastor, who
lever he may be. He must, in 1
measure, more or less, cut himself
adrift from his church. He mus
sacrifice many privileges that an
I'm enthusiastically. II he stays in hi
regular church he will be practically
IR6aranteed an appointment and tenur'
Iof Office. Coming to the Community
Church under the present regime n
has no guarantee whatsoever. Ihl
lexecutive committee has no ccntrac
with the pastor h any way whatso
lever. They may, u kley choose. ~
him Il his best and then throw hin
laway IKE IN orange peel and secur
anpfher pastor and east that pastu
ladrift at IN unpEupitious time. -
Ipaxtor must be I man Of extracrdtn
lazy ability 20 promote the cohesion g
~ sanv 1f0srnt seets. IL pastcr !