Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1936-06-19
TODAY N
TOMORROW
FRANK PARKER STockBRDGE

SotASy VI AoAiiAS, lIO10ll1S
the most extraordinary series of re-
ligious meetings 1 have ever seen OF
heard of. They are members bf the
Oxford Group which is the new
est and, it seems to me, perhaps the
livest religious movement in the
world. Its leaders had just come
from a great gathering in Denmark
and will go from America to hold
another great international meet
ing in England.
l attended some of the public
and semi-public meetings and go,
the distinct feeling hat they have
something on the ball."
One of the things that impressed
me favorably was that there was NO
suggestion of anything approach
ing the cant phrases of the old
fashioned evangelical revivalists.
with which l have been familiar
from childhood.
PRINCIPLES -. broad
I talked with Frank Buchanan,
the Pennsylvania minister who
started this new movement at Ok
ford University, England, in 1921.
1--WE are not starting a new religion,
but striving to show people how to
make the old religion work." DR..
Buchanan told me. Nobody is
asked to join a church or a sect but
is helped to live up to the funda-
mental principles of all sects."
Those principles are honesty, I'M
s~elfishness, love and purity. As
DR.. Buchanan put it:
Everybody believes in those
things for the other fellow, but we
try to follow them ourselves"
He added that one thing the Ok
ford Group did not desire to do was
to induce anybody to leave his own
church. IF you're a Catholic" he
said on Saturday afternoon, Ego to
Mass tomorrow mbrning. If you are
a Protestant, go to your own
church. The only thing we expect
of those whose lives have been
changed is that they follow the
teachings of their churches in their
daily lives"
H :. simple
Members of the Oxford Group
are encouraged to search their own
souls and to discuss their own fail
ings, privately, j to man or wo-
man to woman. The soul-purging
effect of confession is something I
have long believed in.
They are asked to spend a part
of each day in what they call a
"quiet time" 1t is in this quiet
time, those who have had experience
say, they find guidance direct from
God as to whatever problems are
perplexing them. 1t is not a mat
ter of choosing between right and
wrong but seeing Gods guidance
as to which of half a dozen right
courses should be followed.
And in their public meetings.
those who have received and been
helped by this God-guidance are
encouraged to tell their experien-
ces, much as John Wesley's follow
ers used to speak in the Methodist
Experience meetings"
Much about DR.. Buchman's
leadership reminds me Of John Wes-
ley's work, nearly 200 years ago, te
bring church people back to ele-
mental Christian principles.
# ): II
YOUTH -. happiness
I have never seen anywhere such
a gathering of clear-eyed, happy
young people of both sexes. You'll
is taking to this new movement
with enthusiasm and gaiety.
sWe believe in devotion with hi
larity," one young woman, tn
daughter Of an old friend, said tt
me. I saw and heard evidence o.
that through all the crowds tina
thronged the streets and parks o.
the little town of Stockbridge. Th'
youngsters were taking their re
born religious faith seriously bu
not solemnly. There is nothing sac
about religion, as they practice it
l have never been able to under
stand the notion that so many foil
have, that one cannot be a workin,
Christian and at the asme time b
merry. Religion, if it means any
thing, ought to mean happiness.
PEACE -. an objective
1t is the hope Of these younl
members of the Oxford Group tina