The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1922-12-31
HAS CROWN FROM
SMALL BEGINNING
To Be VITAL F ACTOR.
Offers Opportunity for ReIi-
gious Work and Effort of
+, Members OF All Protes-
tant Denominations
ny REV. THOMAS S. HICKMAN
Pastor Community Presbyterian
Church of Edgevvood


While the idea of tho Community
church comes to many As a startling
innovation, in reality it is not at all
new. In the broader sense of tho
word, the Jewish church of Old
Testament times WAS a community
church. Although in later Judaism
the Jews had their sects such as
the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essences.
they all worshipped ia the same
synagogue, and probably had the
same rabbis or priests to minister
TO their spiritual needs.
New Testament churches, too, seem
To have been community churches.
The church at Corinth was com
munity church. Paul writes his first
epistle unto tho church OF God
which is at CorlDth, to them that are
sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to
be saints, with all that in every
place call upon the name of Jesus
Christ our Lord. both theirs and
ours" In his second epist1e he takes
even wider geographical range,
writing unto the church OF God
which is at Corinth with all the
saints which are in all Achaia." In
like manner the church at Thessa-
loniea, the church at Colosse, the
church at Laodicea, and the church
ut Rome appear to include all the
Christians within these cities.
While the Protestant reformation
brought many blessings and correct
ed many of the abuses which existed
in the Roman church of the sixteenth
century. it also brought about a hope
less division of the Protestant forces
into sects and denominations. The
outstanding leaders of the reforma-
tien., Luther, Zwingli and Calvin,
were unable to agree on minor
points or government and the view
10 be taken OF the ordinances, al
though they were in perfect accord
on the broader fundamentals OF
Christian faith. The religious free
dom and liberty for which Protes-
tantism stood gave rise to hopeless
divisions within the ranks of the re-
formers so that a divided Protestant
church has resulted. Thus most
Christians under tho impulses of de-
nominational nurture and stimulus
look backward, in terms of fellow
ship to John Wesley. or Robert
Brown, or Roger Williams. or Alex
ander Campbell, or John Calvin, or
Martin Luther, or back to the apos-
ties, Peter. pre-eminently, or to them
all. in apostolic succession This
has resulted in rigid, tenacious de-
nominationalism, with the aim OF the
church to serve only the people of Its
own denomination and not those or
its entire community. But the primi-
tive Christian church certainly had
no such restrictions. Its fellowship
extended to all believers, including
all who "bore the Name" or were
FOLLOWERS Of the Way" within any
definite community.
Forms Church Center
The community church is the ef-
fort of a single religious organization
to form a church center for all the
Christian people OF the community In
their service to God. the community
and the world at large. Instead of
permitting a community to have sew
eral small weak, struggling churches.
supplied perhaps once a month by
absentee pastors. it seeks to unto all
TIL Christian people under ono pas
tor for purposes of worship and serv-
ice. Contrary to the belief of some
people, the community church is es-
sentially a Christian church. While
there may be a few freaks" among
( community churches, which insist
upon no definite fundamental beliefs.
this is the exception and not the rule
among community church organiza-
lions.
The community church usually OPP
crates as the only church in tho COM
munity: but the fact that there is
only one church in the community
does not make it a community church.
No matter how large a service 1t may
render to the community. it cannot
truly express the religious life of