The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-03-14

file of the church Roy CouIsv
1t is much easier
to blame the lethargy of Christians
than it is to face a changed situa-
ton and attempt to build a pro-
gram that will serve our day as
finely as the program once served
its day. A salesman that does not
get results does not always blame
the public, but wonders whether his
publicity or goods is weak. Dare
the church take such an objective
attitude toward its Sunday prob
lens?
Static Church Means Disaster
To all Christian workers there
comes the realization that a static
church in a moving world means
catastrophe for both. The church
then must adapt its approach IN
the generation it seeks to serve
AS it does this it will find itself in
the true apostolic succession. The
early Christian church had at va
rlouS times in various places repre-
Sentatives of all forms of church
government and organization that
we have today. No church can ex-
cluSlvely say that their system is The
only true apostolic type. This was
True because through the leadership
OF the Spirit of God in the church.
they were led to find that type of
organization and program that best
presented Christ to the people
whom they were seeking to reach.
such an attitude on the part of
the primitive church ought to urge
upon the modern church the need of
changing any part of its traditional
program in the interest of needy
souls. To paraphrase the Master.
The program was made for man
and not for the program" We must
nave the courage and the inteli-
gence to experiment in favor of
more effective work. The test of
the church program is not the num-
Der of meetings, nor the type of
time of meeting, but the extent to
which Christ is made real and vi
tai IN the lives of those affected.
1t is only fair to say that the
church probably has never had a
more open-minded ministry than it
has today. The conservatism of the
church that prevents adjustment is
often due to the pew. Of course.
all OF us find it difficult to change
our habits. The Sunday program
is being simplified and unified in
many churches today. Correlation
of various activities is being de-
manded. One of the strongest move
ments in this direction is toward a
unified service of worship and teach
ing or some other type of merger
service.
Loyalties May Conflict
Under the two separate services
of church and Sunday School, there
are often conflicting loyalties and
programs. Sometimes there are
groups that support just one of
these. This means the development
of inadequate religious experience.
The unified service seeks to avoid
repetition and make whatever serv-
ice conducted. beautiful and signi-
ficant. Family worship in a new
way is restored and group worship
is strengthened. This movement is
steadily gaining and is probably
partly due to over emphasis on
experimentation on the part of
some groups.
AS to the Sunday evening pro-
gram OF the church, much over
hauling is being done To be sure.
there are communities where this
service is still vigorous and vital,
but in many more it is a kind of
fifth wheel and largely supported
by the loyalty of those who attended
morning service. Again we need to
remember the test: where it is Of
real service it should be kept, but
where not, it should not be allowed
to gradually die but honestly and
fearlessly dealt with.
Before the radio and the automo-
bile it presented a special appeal
to those not definitely attached to
the church. 1t may still do this in
many communities, but most min
listers would agree that this is not
true in the large. Sunday night is
largely family night at home This
is seen in the fact that the radio
time then is the most expensive Of
the eitire week.
Some Night Services Abandoned
Many pastors have faced the
situation and no longer attempt a
night service but give their main
strength and time to a supervised
young peoples program. They find
that to major on this is better than
to divide time and energy On two
services at night. The veSper sery-
ice is having greater appeal Of
late than in former days.
Sunday problems we have always
had and probably always will have
but they can be sources of new in
sights instead of burdens if faced
with q determination like Paul had
to be all things to all men. The
average man unconnected with the
church rarely comes to church I'M
less already impressed by some
thing that happened outside the
church walls More of our activity
must seek to personally reach him.
Evangelism of the future must
largely be case study through per-
sopal contact