COUNTRY CHURCH 139 



educative and complete. There must be a de- 

 sire to develop a permanent environment for 

 the country boy and girl, of which they will be- 

 come passionately fond. As a pure matter of 

 education, the countryman must learn to love 

 the country and to have an intellectual apprecia- 

 tion of it. More than this, the spiritual nature 

 of the individual must be kept thoroughly alive. 

 His personal ideals of conduct and ambition must 

 be cultivated. 



Of course the church has an indispensable 

 function as a conservator of morals. But from 

 the social point of view, it is to hold aloft the 

 torch of personal and community idealism. It 

 must be a leader in the attempt to idealize coun- 

 try life. 



The country church doubtless faces special 

 difficulties. As a rule it is a small field. The 

 country people are conservative. Ordinarily 

 the financial support is inadequate. Often there 

 are too many churches in a given community. 

 Sectarian ideas divide unduly and unfortunately. 

 While there are many rural churches that are 

 effective agents in the social evolution of their 

 communities, it is true that as a whole the coun- 



