Missouri Country Life Conference. 181 



this, that and the other that pertains to the development of our 

 roads, so that country people can get to places where they want 

 to go. I emphasize this as a splendid factor in the development 

 of country life. 



I realize that the man who comes into our midst and 

 preaches the analyses of soil aind plant cultivation, and demon- 

 strates to us the need and the benefits of such work so that we 

 can make our acres produce much more is doing a great work 

 in the development of country life. There is also the man who 

 comes into our midst and teaches us how we can mate this 

 conformation with that conformation, resulting in animals 

 better fitted for the ends desired. I accord to that man an 

 equally effective place in the building of a better country life. 

 While all this is true, I want to make this emphasis at this time, 

 that the country church occupies just as prominent place in the 

 development of country life as any of these factors, and the 

 country preacher who is on his job should proudly take his 

 place with these other leaders. How did I come to be interested 

 in the country church? Perhaps the fundamental reason is 

 because my natural sympathy is with country people. I was 

 reared on the farm along with the eighty-five out of every one 

 hundred preachers that today are exponents of the Gospel. 

 Naturally, my early training and association taught me to be 

 deeply sympathetic with country people and their institutions. 

 I have served as pastor in two difTerent towns, one a village, 

 another a small city, and among other problems in these places 

 I found that one fundamental difficulty was very much in evi- 

 dence. I refer to the relative overlapping of territory in church 

 economics or the over-churched town. 



The first town referred to was just a small village. There 

 were two churches in that village of one hundred and fifty souls. 

 The next village, or small city rather, was a town of just a little 

 less than a thousand, and there were five churches in that city, 

 all trying to maintain pastors. Now I believe that no pastor 

 can successfully build up his church where such conditions pre- 

 vail and keep his best manhood. I cannot give my services and 

 no other man can give his services under like conditions and 

 retain the high ideals of service that his profession has taught. 

 There were times under such administration as this that I felt 

 in building up my own church that I was the loser in moral life. 

 I felt that I was building at the expense of some one else and that 

 the community was none the better for my service. 



