The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1921-01-20
oaether for unison of thought and action

along tho paths OF uplift and riahteous.
ness in their many and varied formsa
Who can estimate the good which is ac-
complished thru simply drawing men and
women together under the elevatino
principles of Church associations Ia
the Church then lacking in any of the at :
tributes or attractions which thus hrino
people together Far be it from me to
criticise. No one has the right to criti-
else who has not undertaken bringing
about the realization of his own ideas.
But we are speaking from the other fell
lows point of view.
Is then the Church too solemn, too
cool, too formal, too stiff, too seclusive,
too select, too classified, to attract as
does the magnet to itself the many2 Ia
the ownership of pews selective or DEM
ocratic7 To my mind every Church
should be free seAted. That fear of get
ing into the wrong place should be abol-
ished. The same atmosphere of open
heartedness, freedom from restraint, at
homeness should premeate the Church as
other we'll governed, social gatherings.
People should be attracted to the Church
as they are to County Fair for instance:
because they will meet every one else
there, if for no other reason.
Is there any good reason too why
business principles should not be applied
to the Church as elsewhere7 Is the
Church paying proposition? If SO, and
all agree that it is, no one would want to
live in a town without a Church, it
should be patronized and supported as
such by all instead of by the few. Can
it be brought home to every one that it is
paying proposition?
What matters the other fellows reli-
aious viewpoint if he but helps to fill the
vacant pews on Sunday? Whoever he is,
he will derive good from being there and
every one else will be benefited by his
presence. Then how can you get him7
Time was when it was undignified for a
Bank to advertise. A man on entering
the Banking Institution felt like taking
off his hat and speaking in whisper. 1t
was stiff, cold, unsympathetic atmos-
phere he met. But that is all changed
now. The atmosphere within the banks
the open street. People are made to feel
at home there, enticed to enter, and every
one who enters is regarded as an asset,
whether he transacts business or not.
Would it be undgnified for Church to
advertiser If so, why? The old saying
is, THE end justifies the means" This
may be interpreted in different ways,
good or bad, but as we use it, may it not
be applied TO the Church? That which
at first seems revolutionary, with usage
becomes an accepted custom, if found to
weekly assembling of large congrega-
ton, advertising would be one of the
first things should empl oy.
My second thought toward effecting
broader influence of the church would be
a still further application of business
principles Evolution of business is
toward the larger units. Overhead
charges are thus reduced, economy effec-
ted, and prices stabilized. Twenty five
years ago the City of Boston was dotted
with a large number of comparatively
small banks. A spirit of consolidation
set in and out of many such two or
three large institutions were formed. No
patrons today of the larger institutions
would question the advisability of this
movement Estimate our plight in the
recent war without the u. S. Steel Cor
poration, the Bethlehem Steel Corpora
ton and other large aggregations of or
ganized working forces. Might not then
this evolution of business be applied to the
church with equally beneficial results2
For instance, would not three churches
in Belfast do the work of seven equally
we'll or better2 The greater the force,
the momentum, the greater the influence
and effect. Could not the same pastor
develop greater magnetism, influence,
greater initiative, if facing each Sunday
a congregation of 60C to 800 people in
stead of the smaller number he now has?
Are the differences of religious opinion,
MISUNDERSTANDING, SO to speak, in inter-
pretations of the Bible, so vital as to
preclude this outcome7 Is the evolution
of the church ever destined to accom-
plish this advance, if my reasoning be
correct, and it is an advance? Is there
any sectarian so mistaken as to claim
beyond question that his Interpretation
is the only correct one? imagine there
will be great many surprises in Heaven.
at first thought l saw in the Inter-
church movement of last year evolution
in this direction. But in the final analy-
sis of it did not find such definite ten
denotes. Interests were pooled in the
material and business ends but not in the
spiritual.
To pass beyond the moral or religious
phase of life to the POLITICAL it has been
said and truly too, l think, that we gel
the kind of Government, the kind of men,
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