RELIGIOUS WORK 371 



reason to wear her pedigree exposed that men may believe in her; 

 she can let her methods almost take care of themselves, so long as 

 she is honest and sincere; but oh, she must make God's world 

 good through the pow r er of Jesus Christ, or she is no church at all! 



IV. Scope of Religious Work 



It is time now that we should go a little more into particulars. 

 What is the scope of religious work? That we are met here by 

 obstacles and a variety of opinions need not oppress us. Humanity 

 is so constituted that she does more talking about ways and means 

 than she ought, but we can gently and respectfully brush all this 

 aside, and come to the point. Every church to-day that has a 

 right to exist is a working church. She must do everything. 

 The parish house, or church house, or whatever it is called, is as 

 important as the sanctuary where prayers are wont to be offered. 

 And the whole world is hers to meet. What an inspiration it is, 

 and how finely this generation is grasping it! Theological educa- 

 tion is becoming a new thing to-day, for ministers are being 

 taught how to practice as well as how to preach, slow though 

 some institutions are in grasping the situation. And laymen 

 and laywomen are being fitted too, that religion may assume 

 its catholic character and engage all its forces. We have 

 then (1) the distinctively church or parish work; (2) the com- 

 munity work, whether in town or country; (3) the general or 

 national work; and (4) the world's work. Let us briefly consider 

 these. 



(1) The church or parish work consists in the putting forth of 

 every effort not merely to train Christians, but to set them at real 

 active service. Sunday-schools, the earliest forms of church work, 

 are now known not as children's churches to gather little people 

 apart from adults and interest them. They are Bible schools 

 rather, to instruct in the great truths of Christianity and to make 

 young people work. Out of them have come many of our largest 

 bodies of trained workers, the Christian Endeavorers, the Brother- 

 hoods of St. Andrew and of Andrew and Philip, the King's Daugh- 

 ters, and kindred societies which are rich in influence and power. 

 No church can exist in healthy fashion without these companies. 

 The minister who is afraid to lose any of his own assumed authority, 

 or the old deacons who are timid of the enthusiasm of the young, 

 can never stand in the press of the pulsing activities of to-day. 

 For our children are smelling the battle, and as their personal 

 religion grows they feel themselves called to help the cause of 

 righteousness. Woe to the church which keeps its youthful forces 

 bound, and presses back the divine enthusiasm of her children! 



