Evening star., 1939-04-28
Religion 5 Struggle
To Hold Place
Is Considered
Episcopal Congress
Told Church Must
Perfect Itself
By JAMES WALDO FAWCETT

Perfect Itself
BY JAMES WALDO FAWCETT.
, The struggle of religion to main-
tain itself in the modern world was
= the principal theme of yesterday S
meetings of the First Triennial
Church Congress at Washington
Cathedral.
During the morning session DR..
Theodore NJ Greene. professor OF
philosophy, Princeton University,
presented a paper on THE Gospel
! and Modern Man. which brought a
, thunder of applause from clerical
and lay members who filled st. AL
bans Guild Hall to capacity.
TT would be idle" DR.. Green de-
clared, Ito search for radically
new solution to the predicament OF
society today. This predicament Is
1.-The age-old problem of human frallty
and sin. Ours is no more than an
unusually dramatic and tragic chap
ter in the chronicle of human frus-
tration. We, as Christians. are per-
suaded that mans salvation must
depend, now as ever, upon factors,
divine and human, of which the
church has been cogniZant for nearly
1000 years -.
THE process which we are con-
cerned to analyze and promote IN
: this congress is the regenerating I'M
pact of the gospel upon the modern
man living in a society which is rap
IDLY drifting into state OF economic
and political, cultural and spiritual
chaos. We believe that there is still
inherent in the Christian church the
power to redeem society-and that
1t is nowhere else"
Urges Discipline of Church.
DR.. Greene then discussed the
problem of making religion work.
IF the church is to redeem the
world" he said, "it must make IT.
self a far more effective vehicle Tor
the gospel than it Is at present; 1t
must purify itself, discipline itself,
End dedicate itself much more
whole -heartedly to its high calling.
And this involves, as I believe, a
clear recognition that the act OF re-
ligious worship in the fullest Chris
tan sense is of supreme importance
to the corporate life of the church
and to the lives of its individual
members"
Man cannot save himself by his
own unaided efforts, DR.. Greene IN
rsisted. "High-minded men, he
conceded, "are making valiant ef-
- of
Of these humanistic efforts have re-
suited in minor alleviations and the
postponement of still greater dis
aster. Yet we are drifting from bad
to worse; however dark the present,
the future looks even darker. . .
Mans greatest deficiency is his in
sensitivity to his social duties and
70 the rights of his fellow-men. What
Is needed above all else is clearer
>envisagement of social ends. a
deeper understanding of human per-
sonality and mans profoundest
spiritual needs. and more selfless
and more passionate commitment to
ultimate moral and spiritual values.
What is needed, in short, is Chris
tian motivation-that love for our
fellow men which we entitle Chris
tian love-"
Church "Must Save Self"
Commenting on DR.. Greene's pa
per, DR.. Hoxie N. Fairchild of Co.
. Iumbia University, New York, agreed
that: The visible church must save
herself. If she is to save the modern
man. There is need for new recog-
hilton for the fact that all the power
Of Christianity flows from the in
carnation. But the historical event
upon which we depend happened a
long time ago. Modern man is a
long way from seeing and hearing
Christ. The gospel story still is
-n1arvelously potent, but we must
confess that it is losing it's grip upon
the modern mind. We can tell the
story again and again, but how can
We make 1t real to our contemporaries
who cannot behold the lamb of God?
MY answer Is: Through the euchar-
ist! believe that new longing for
contact with supernatural realities
Is discernible in the world
Others joining in the discussion
included: the Rev. DR.. Warren AL
binson, Elkton, Md; the Rev. Dr.
Remsen B. Ogilby, president of Trim
=, ity College, Hartford, Conn; the
Rev. Joseph NJ Waterman, Parkers-
burg, w. Va: the Rev. Father Gran
vile M. Williams, New York; the
Rev. James McElroy, Southeast
Harbor, Me-, and the Rev. j. G.. Arm
strong, Sd, Georgetown.
The afternoon meetings were ad-
dressed by the Rev. Dr. T. o. Wedel
College Of Preachers; the Rev
Thomas N. Carruthers, Nashville
Tenn; the Rev. A. J. Music, New
York; Mrs. Henry Hill Pierce, New
York, and DR.. Ogilby.
Delegates Attend Banquet.
A banquet for Congress delegates
and guests, held at the Wardman
Park Hotel last evening, was at
tended by the Most Rev. Henry St
George Tucker, presiding bishop of
the Episcopal Church, who told the
congress: I'VE must have theology
adequate to the world we see around
us and which takes into account the
49,.