Missouri Country Life Conference. 205 



the co-operation of the people in the community. They might 

 have another great big program for co-operating in the develop- 

 ment of musical talent of the community. And one work of 

 the community would be to let the whole community go to work 

 and have some competent person come and plan the music of the 

 community. Still another for the development of the dramatic 

 talent. The church has done a good deal of preaching against 

 the theater, but we still have it, and one of the best ways to 

 counteract the recreation in the community or entertainment 

 that is called "questionable" is to put some substitute there. 

 There is a principle in nature, in physics, that nature abhors a 

 vacuum, and you may just depend upon it that our young people 

 — it is their nature to have entertainment and have social life — - 

 and if the church or good influences in the community do not 

 furnish it, why the commercialized agencies will furnish it. 

 And so have the program arranged along the community basis 

 and then have all the christian people of the different denomi- 

 nations co-operate, including the school and other agencies in 

 the community, and I am sure a great deal more can be accom- 

 plished in that way, emphasizing the community idea, rather 

 than to have a separate program for each church. 



The next point is organization. The organization of the 

 church life must be as simple as possible in the rural community, 

 because of the scattered condition of the homes. It is impos- 

 sible for the people to get together very often for meetings. 

 And so we have to try to do the work as far as possible with the 

 organizations that are at hand. It is a great mistake to multiply 

 the organizations in the country, because every time you intro- 

 duce a new organization you simply do that which must dissipate 

 the strength and energy of the rural people. 



I would recommend the expanding of the Sunday school. 

 The Sunday school is on the job all the time in the country, and 

 there is nothing hardly but what can be done under an organized 

 Sunday school class. 



The next point that I would emphasize in country church 

 administration is adaptation, and I find there is a great deal of 

 energy wasted in the country, and patience, too, by planning 

 entertainments and work of one kind or another at times in the 

 year when it is absolutely impossible for farmers to engage in 

 them. There are a few seasons of the year, for instance during 

 the seeding time, or the harvest or the gathering of corn, when 

 the farmers have to put in very long hours, and they have not 



