EDUCATIONAL ENTERPRISES 381 



class have been singled ont and advanced from 

 places of common labor to positions of responsibility 

 and* large trust. 



"It is also noticeable that not a few of those who 

 have returned, ' have been demoralized by their ex- 

 periences in the city. They have formed objection- 

 able habits which they did not have before. Many 

 have lost their former energy and have become in- 

 dolent; they have lost the spirit of thrift and have 

 become spendthrifts; all are dissatisfied with the old 

 surroundings, and they are all anxious to get back 

 to the factories and to the places of pleasure and 

 pastime in the cities. No matter whether these re- 

 main in the country or return to the city, in their 

 present state of mind they are mentally, and there- 

 fore physically, incapacitated for efficient work on 

 the farm ; they are lost to the country." ^ 



The writer is by no means hopeless regarding the 

 rural church. Eural life is favorable to religion. 

 But it is required that the rural church progress 

 with the developing mind of the rural population. 

 "It seems to me an opportune time for the country 

 church to get a new hearing and to demonstrate again 

 as during the war that it can serve the people on 

 week days as truly as on Sunday." Harger points 

 out that the agencies that are serving country life, 

 such as the extension workers of the ^lichigan Agri- 

 cultural College, should not be ignored by the clergy- 



*TTar<jpr: "The Coimtry Church in 'Miehi<fan," Michigan 

 Congregational Conference, pub., I.ansing, 1!>21, 9. See also 

 The Michigan Farmer, July 23, 1921. 



