296 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



hitch his horse to a post and go in and help Mr. Jones and show 

 him about these things and encourage him, the cause of religion 

 will be set forward. How do I know this to be true? I have seen 

 it tried and I know it will be a success. 



What I have said is true from the pastoral standpoint, and 

 until we do establish that personal interest from the preacher to 

 the man and from the man to the preacher, our country churches 

 never will be what they ought to be. 



Our country church needs to take hold day by day. It has only 

 been one-seventh of a week. The young people of every community 

 ought to be gathered in that community, and if we do not we admit 

 to ourselves that we haven't talent, and we cannot do that. We 

 cannot admit that we haven't talent in every community throughout 

 the length and breadth of old Missouri and the question of develop- 

 ing leadership is settled when we do that. We ought to bring the 

 young people together in amusement and recreation in the com- 

 munity, and I say when you do this you cannot get too much religion 

 in it. And the opportunities to so do that come throughout the 

 year, the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Washington's Birthday, 

 Christmas and New Years. At every opportunity bring them in 

 and let them have something to do. There is one community in 

 Missouri on Thanksgiving Day where 400 people sat down and 

 ate dinner and had a splendid time. On the Fourth of July last 

 there were two thousand people, under the direction of the church 

 of that community who sat down and had dinner and spent the 

 whole day long, not in shooting fire crackers, but in looking at and 

 listening to a program put on by the young people of that com- 

 munity, and the next Sunday following that — it was a very warm 

 day — the church didn't hold the people who came out to services 

 and there were two meetings held, one in the church and one out- 

 side. Why was it? It was the Fourth of July meeting just a little 

 while before. And so of these things, one leads to another. That 

 is what happened in one community. As a result the people wanted 

 a better road to go to church. In other gatherings held, these little 

 social occasions, they began to talk about such things, about county 

 needs, and began to get at them in that township. The parish I 

 speak of is 12 miles long by 10 miles wide and it has seven churches 

 in it, but this particular one has benefited in thafc way and the 

 others are following it up, and the work is going on now quite 

 rapidly. After the people had discussed better ways of getting to 

 church and better roads, and wanting better roads to get to church 



