The New York herald., 1922-12-24

ana must learn TO understand modern lie
or fail of its mission
One of the more interesting attempts
to meet this demand is that represented
by the work of the Committee on Social
and Religious Surveys" organized in 1921,
partly to conserve some of the results Of
the earlier Inter-church World Movement.
This committee (Which includes such
men as John r. Mott, Raymond B. Fos-
dick, w. III. p. Faunce and James L. Bar
toni has carried on field studies" as a
knowledge of facts must precede any
remedial measures. Some of the results
are embodied in the monographs, pub
lished by Doran-"The Country Church in
Colonial Counties" by Marjorie Patten,
dealing with conditions noted in Vermont
and in Tompkins and Warren Counties.
N Y; Rural Church Life in the Middle
West by Benson Y Lands, covering
parts of Iowa and Indiana with supple
mentary data from thirty-five other middle
western counties; 1.-The New and Old
Immigrant on the Land" by C. Luther
Fry. which is a study of so-called "Ameri-
canization' and the rural church: and
'DThe Church on the Changing Frontier
by Helen o. Belknap which treats of the
"homesteader' and the church. Prof.
Warren III. Wilson has said of these
studies, aptly. that they begin where the
Bible does, with economies. agriculture.
tenancy. farm labor
Most forms of the community church
idea also stress the ideal of social service;
indeed, for the most advanced of such
bodies that service is practically the sum
total of their creed. Specific application
of Christian doctrine to particular prob
lens is seen in such books as Christianity
and the Race Problem" by the Rev. Robert
E. Smith, (RevelD, wherein the position
of the negro in the South is considered
by Southern pastor, who sees a way
out of the maze in Christian charity; and
in THE Christian Crusade for a Warless
World. by Sidney L. Gulick, (Macmil-
LAM which starts, however. with the as
sertion that such crusade must be more
than emotonally enthusiastic; it must be
thoroughly intelligent" Mr. Gulick sees
the need of the removal of unjust bar
riers of trade. of color. race and creed and
for the creation of a spirit of Christian
patriotism and international courts. 1t
is a large order But he brings it down
to proposed praticality in the case of the
Mexican problems. of immigration. and Of
keeping faith with China" 1t is a sug-
gestive book. perhaps not wholly Utopian.
But. to illustrate the inherent difficulties.
he sees the successful prosecution Of
(Christian) missionary work in such
countries as China as part of his pro-
gram-whether the Chinese want il or
not-and naively adds: I'VE must deal
with Asiatics on a basis of justice and
goodwill, doing to them as we would have
them do to us" 1t leaves one suspeeting
that ''warless world is little likely to
arise through a proselyting church.
VII
There is another important phase of
the community church" idea besides it's
social ideal. for it aims, largely, at denom-
national unity Mr. Albert Clay Zumbrun-
mems book THE Community Church"
published by the University of Chicago
Press, outlines the steps already taken in
this direction. The movement is young.
and it's success in various localities is no.
table, but the degree of "unification' pos
sble still remains dubious. The basic
trouble is that in so far as the various
sects remain genuinely Protestant-i.e,
devoted to the individualist ideal-they re-
fuse to coalesce.
a possible church unity on a broader
basis is aimed at in such discussions as
L. TNr Ctl,nrln,. Harris nhnrlnir, a., IL,