Country Church 133 



kinds of extension work. It should express and 

 encourage the natural inspiration that may be 

 made to flow from the common afi^airs and 

 practices of any agricultural community. Are 

 not the plants growing and the animals thriv- 

 ing? Are not the crops going in and the har- 

 vests gathering? Are not the winds blowing 

 and the rain falling ? Are not these real things, 

 that every person understands and that can be 

 made the means of reaching every man who has 

 them? Yet all these things are practically a 

 sealed book to the church. The rural church 

 buildings are essentially what they were fifty 

 years ago, — a preaching room and a vestibule. 

 Why not make a country church a social center, 

 letting it stand for good works in everything 

 that interests the community, and placing it 

 in some direct relation to vocation? 



The church is the oldest and completest of 

 organizations. It is deepest in the affections 

 of the greatest number of persons. We can- 

 not afford the waste of effort that results from 

 the decadence of the rural units. There is 

 urgent need that we utilize this institution for 



