1 
America}! Agriculturist, March 3,1923 
What Is Wrong With The Country Church ? 
Prize Winning Letters Answer This Vital Question 
HE church is indispensable to the de¬ 
velopment of an adequate rural civili¬ 
zation. It must, however, adapt itself 
to changing conditions. 
The greatest need, perhaps, is that every 
country-side home should have contact with 
a church. Generally this will be through the 
pastor’s personal visitation. 
Then, denominations should have definite 
rural policies. Superfluous churches should 
be abolished; many could be federated; but 
all should cooperate heartily together. The 
function of the country church 
should be clearly defined, and also 
its place among other agencies in 
the rural community. It should 
have a clear cut program of ac¬ 
tivities suitable to its great mis¬ 
sion. 
To-day there is a world signifi¬ 
cance to every church. This 
would be more deeply established 
in the minds of the rural com¬ 
munity, and react to the benefit 
of the church, if the church paper 
were generally read. 
A working alliance should be 
formed with specialized agencies 
of the church, like the Y. M. C. A,. ^ 
and the Young Peoples’ societies, * 
as well as with the so-called se¬ 
cular institutions, on behalf of a 
broad and progressive commun¬ 
ity-building program in rural re¬ 
gions. Home Mission boards 
should plan to provide adequate financial 
support for worthy rural projects.— David 
L. Jones, West Exeter, N. Y. (First prize). 
The Church Has a Vital Task 
A gentleman said to me some time ago, 
‘The day for the country church is 
done..” You would almost think he was 
right in going around the country and find¬ 
ing so many churches closed and falling to 
pieces. Someone else has said: “The coun¬ 
try church will not die, the danger is that 
it will become a chronic invalid and fail in 
its great mission of helping country people 
win their spiritual battles.” The task of 
the country church is the same as it ever 
was, which is to save men’s spirit and make 
them one with God. It has a vital task to 
perform. No other organization can perform 
it. As a representative of a country church 
I am convinced we have not grown with the 
times. Therefore we are not able to meet 
the new spirit of the age. Our program is 
inadequate to the changed conditions of 
rural life. 
The problem is how to grow and formulate 
a suitable working program. 
Shall we grow along the 
lines of 'the Scotchman’s 
prayer “God grant I may 
be right for ye know I never 
change ?” That does not 
spell growth, but stagna¬ 
tion. We must grow strong 
to meet the needs of our 
day and generation. The 
traditions of the past must 
take hold of us, but must 
not overwhelm us. 
Now for the program: 
1. The country church 
must preach and teach a 
sound gospel of salvation. 
2. Our program must be 
progressive and aggresive. 
Big enough and large 
enough to comprehend all 
the essential interests of 
the community. 
3. It must not be afraid 
of The farmer. It must 
strike hard and lead him 
out of his individual isolation to a true sense 
of cooperation. From narrowness of mind 
and heart and false independence to a better 
understanding of his fellowmen. 
4. It must convince him to put the church 
first, not to substitute either Grange, Lodge 
or any other organization in its place.— 
John G. Myers, Ogdensburg, N. Y. 
Awakening Must Come From Within 
I have set forth a few points which' I think 
have greatly influenced the rural church; 
First: Our Public Schools.—Most of the 
settlers of the East came to America for 
religious liberty. Freedom to worship God 
was their noblest heritage. By the side of 
their rude churches stood the school house. 
The teacher, generally the chorister, a Godly 
man. Text books were few, but the Catechism, 
the Testament, the Psalter with a little 
ciphering and penmanship were studied. 
The ten commandments with their applica¬ 
tion to daily life were indelibly impressed 
upon their minds. Their lives were ex¬ 
amples of what they were taught. How 
everything is changed! 
Second: The Press. — Newspapers and 
books have multiplied rapidly. Daily papers 
and magazines cater to the reading public. 
'The Bible, the Hymnal, the Sunday School 
lesson is laid aside for cheap fi.ction. The 
mind becomes drunk and no longer craves 
for the good, the pure and holy. 
Third: The Church Itself.—Conditions 
are vastly different in every way. Great 
progress has been made in transportation, 
manufacture, farming and business. Are 
the methods of the church not far behind 
that of the business world? An awakening 
must also come from within. The church 
not only ministers to the spiritual, but to 
the temporal as well. Six days of the week 
most rural churches are cold and locked. On 
Sunday, open for an hour or two. No 
library; no amusements; no social or re¬ 
ligious societies. 
Arouse the spirit of brotherly love, create 
a community center at the church. Let it be 
a place for the living and not only for the 
dead. And, above all, presided over by a 
minister that can preach and 
teach right living, praying and 
consecration. Geo. J. Ross, New 
Tripoli, Pa. 
Times Change But Not the 
Church 
The patient who enters a hos¬ 
pital to-day, does not expect or 
receive the treatment that was 
given for the same disease fifty 
years ago, but the few farm 
families who still attend church 
hear very much the same kind 
of preaching that was heard by 
their parents and grandparents. 
The main difference is that 
there is a lack of the flaming 
zeal that characterized the old- 
time preacher, who believed so 
sincerely in everlasting punish¬ 
ment and the “wrath to come” 
that he literally put the fear of 
the Lord in the hearts of his hearers. Won¬ 
derful as some of those preachers were, 
those of us who remember the long sermons, 
often terrifying to children are glad that 
times and thought have changed. 
The world has outgrown the old orthodox 
theolo^, but it has not and never will out¬ 
grow its need of Jesus Christ and His simple 
doctrine of love and right living. Whether 
acknowledged or not, there is a need in every 
human heart for Christian teaching. When 
the time comes that the clergyman will throw 
away his outworn creed and dogma and 
simply and honestly hold up before his people 
the Son of Man—he will no longer talk to emp¬ 
ty seats. —Carrie L. Knapp, Oneonta, N. Y. 
Why the Church Declined 
The decline of our rural churches can be 
attributed to no single cause. Personali¬ 
ties differ and each type has its own rea¬ 
sons, or at any rate, excuses, for non-sup¬ 
port of the church. In tabulating a list of 
the factors which have led to the decline of 
the church, I divide them into two groups 
(1) the causes within the church and (2) 
conditions outside the 
church leading to the same 
result. 
Of the causes within the 
church, I would name the 
following: 
1. D e n 0 m inationalism. 
Many persons are disgusted 
by the petty rivalries of de¬ 
nominations, while the di¬ 
vision of the communities 
leads to inadequate salaries 
for the minister. 
2. Inadequate salaries re¬ 
sult in lack of able minis¬ 
ters. The best men are 
taken by high-salaried city 
churches. 
3. The tendency to change 
ministers frequently leads 
to inefficiency. 
4. Too much stress is 
generally placed on abstract 
theology rather than on the 
real practical essential of 
(Continued on page 193) 
This is the first church of Plymouth, (it is really the fifth). The famous burial ground 
of the Pilgrims is in the rear of the church 
The Best Church Letters 
J UDGrING the best country church letters was certainly a job. There 
were over 250 of them and they were surprisingly good. Probably 
if you were to read them all you would disagree with us as to 
which were the prize winners. But we have done the best we could and 
are publishing the prize winning letters in their order on this page. 
There were a number which covered more points and were really better 
letters than the ones to whom we gave the prizes, but they did not 
stick to the rules and were too long. 
We are publishing some of those that did not win prizes also and 
hope to print some more in coming issues. All of those published 
will be paid for. 
One of the surprising things about this discussion is the tremendous 
interest in the vital problem of religion. People seem to be groping 
in the dark for some spiritual help and guidance, and unfortunately 
the churches seem to be failing in the spiritual leadership which is 
so badly needed.—The Editors. 
