Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1925-01-20


ablest servants oil God in all of those
denominations. To my astonish-
ment | found that they We're passing
through exactly the same experience
that was. 1t only differed in de-
tails. In every one of these con-
VentlonS, someone, fired with
oratory-please mark that term,
fired with oratory'-would 60 on
the platform, and, with a wonder
ful flow OF rhetoric. plead for a
denomlnauonal consciousness. De-
nominational "cussedness" would be
Il far more exact term. We can no
more build the kingdom of God with
dcnomlnatlonal ''cussedness" than
we can build a real democracy in
America with political party cussed-
ness, or real peace and Brotherhood
among the nations with national
cusseuness. The most Inconsistent
thing that happens in all OF these
| conventions is that after they build
up their denonlinational cussedness
they invariably pass a resolution
| peutonln@ our country to enter the
T, League of Nations or the World
Court, or some other kind of CO.
operative brotherly world movement.
| LAS l have watched them in their
unconsciously hypocritical piety pass
| these resolutions, while at the same
| time they are building the walls be-
| tween themselves and their brothers
nSher and higher, it has often come
to me to cry out, Why cannot the
! churches themselves set the example
| OF brotherhood and cooperation to
! the nationS?"
| We make great imprisoned
pleas to capital and labor to learn
| DrotherlY cooperation so that they
/ n 10
vice to the world. After these vain
repctitions OF the MODEST idealism of
Gods Universe. We proceed to build
UP our own denominational cusSed-
ness and the world is saying to US:
we can not hear what YOU say
because Your actions shout so much
louder than your words May God
have mercy on US.
| AS l sit in these great GATHERINGS
ana watch the greatest souls there
IN ana see them begin to writhe
unuer these conditions, L have gone
! to them and put these questions
! squarely up to them, and in deep
humility OF soul they have all said
4 tand 1t doesn't matter what their
| denomination may be-: We know it,
| but what can we do? What can be
| done"
| 1T has been demonstrated to the
| world that the Kingdom of God can
not lie made a reality through creed
| aliStic, dogmatic seN lrianism. A
! House Divided Against Itself Cannot
+ stand. And know of no picture in
all the history OF humanity so
pathetic as calling the hundreds of
divided denominations in this world
the Church of Christ when it was
the very heart of His message to the
T ~ !:
against itself that house cannot
stand"
/ viii YOU permit me to add here
that | have spoken before audiences
and in the pulpits of practically
every denomination except the
! Catholic ami | have spoken in many
Catholic institutions, but not in their
/ pulpits, and the same response has
come from all of them. l can not de-
tect the least difference when we re-
fer to the shame that we are heap
ing upon our great lealer, the Christ,
by the scctarian walls which we have
set up between His children. | hope
that YOU are able to get the sad part
of this picture. IL all that we are
doing was destroying our own eff
cheney in an attempt to build and
maintain an organiZat ton, If that was
would mean but little. but while we
are engaged in that task humanity
is going on to destruction. writing
in misery, pain and woe. destroying
itself. There never was a time in the
worlds history when mems hearts
were failing them as they are now
''fOr fear of those things that are
coming upon the earth"
Men and brethren, humanity is on
an unchartered sea. There is not a
church or a nation that has definite
program and there is great cosmic
prayer to show us the way and show
us how to walk in it.
+ Il feel that in this meeting. when
we are searching our souls. the time
has come when we should be concrete.
When l say that l know of efforts
that are being made for the building
of the Kingdom of God that are more
potent than anything our own de-
i nomination is doing or can do by it
! self. | feel that | should he definite.
| have only time to point to two or
three. One is the work of the Fed
eral Council of Churches Of Christ in
! America, and do not need to tell
this audience that the Federal Coun-
Gil of Churches in America, does not
include the I'niversalist Church, that
we cannot be members of that or
ganization. Nevertheless that or
ganisa ton, especially through its
Industrial Commission. is getting
nearer to the heart of the problems
that must be solved than we have or
can do through our denomination
/ What are we going to do about it?
Are we going to fold our self-ri"ht-
eous RAGS about us and say: They
do not recognize us, why should we
worry about their problems" Nay,
God forbid, Let us go humbly before
. them and tell them we are recogniz-
ing them and that we are going to
, help in the great work they are do
ing.
II am even going to be more con-
crete than this. IN the work of this
Industrial Commission they are going
out into the various cities of our land
and holding conference meetings
with the ministers, the heads of in
dustries and labor leaders, where
they can get them together. Their
own organization has provided funds
for the expense of these meetings,
but they have neglected what TO my
mind is the most important thing
connected with it-that is. the ad-
vance publicity and setting up of
these meetings"
The program at Providence pro-
vided that this Big Gifts Committee
should attempt to- raise forty thou
sand dollars per year for five years.
or two hundred thousand dollars to
be used in the overhead expenses
of the General Convention and in so
educating the various parishes to
systematic giving that during this
period one million dollars would be
raised through allotments and APP
portionments.
"y1-a arc not asI,iro Won TO