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CONSTITUTION BLACK RIVER.
(Continued from page 19)
seek to secure some other one to take
his place. In case of default of a
stockholder, he shall be considered as
having fulfilled his obligation to the
union if he has secured some one to
take his place, and has thus notified
the secretary and returned his certifi
cate.
Article VI ? Officers.
The officers of this union shall be a
president, secretary and treasurer,
whose duties shall bo those usually be
longing to such officers; the treasurer
is to receive the money from each
stockholder and transmit all moneys
to the treasurer of tho Executive Com
mittee of Foreign ? Missions, each
month; he shall inform the treasurer
the name of the church from which
gifts are sent; the last week in March
of each year he is to send a statement
of the total amount received from all
the members of the individual church
es to the clerk of each session.
Article VII ? Committees.
There shall be an Executive Com
mittee, a Stockholders' Committee and
a Picnic Committee.
The Executive Committee shall be
made up of the officers and chairmen
of the other two committees. Its duty
shall be to frame and recommend the
policy of tho union. It shall suggest
all new work, make new plans, recom
mend gifts for special work, etc.
New Stockholders' Committee. It
shall be the aim of this committee to
secure each year new stockholders,
and, if possible, to see that the num
ber of stockholders never fall below
fifty.
Picnic Committee. It shall be the
duty of this committee to plan the an
nual picnics and seek to advance the
interest of missions in the churches.
Temporary Committees. At the an
nual meeting there shall be appointed
the following committees: A Nomi
nating Committee and an Auditing
Committee.
The Nominating Committee shall
nominate the officers and committee
men for the following year.
The Auditing Committee shall audit
the books of the treasurer.
Article VIII ? Voting Power of Stock.
Each share of stock shall carry one
vote regardless of the amount of
money the stockholder has given. Each
fraction of stock shall be given equal
voting power with full share. The
pastors of the churches shall be given
equal power in voting with the stock
holder.
Article IX ? Amending Constitution.
This constitution may be amended
at any regular meeting of stockhold
ers on the vote of two-thirds of the
members present. Two months writ
ten notice shall be given before
amendments are voted upon.
THE CHURCH TAKING COMMAND
Roy B. Guild,
Executive Secretary of the Commis
sion on Inter-Church Federa
tions of the Federal Council.
A group of men in New York City
were planning a nation-wide move
ment. The most strongly emphasized
phase of the work was the creating of
public opinion to support a world
wide undertaking. "How can we get
the churches back of this movement?"
Several religious leaders were called
to the conference to answer this ques
tion.
Thus it has been for many years.
The churches must furnish the money
and the men for all great undertak
ings looking to the welfare of society.
The Church has provided the sinews
of war, but has not directed the use
of the same except where denomina
tional control has been possible.
But today so many of the splendid
things being done for communities are
outside the boundaries of denomina
tions. They fill in all the space be
tween. One nee<te only to refer to
the great charitable institutions of our
cities. A more or less irresponsible
but well intentioned group of individ
uals, recognizing a real need in the
community, forms a committee and
starts forth to secure the money to
meet the need. The money is forth
coming; good is done; the Church
people pay the bills and furnish the
olttcers. Then people criticize the
churches for doing so little while they
praise the organizations thus main
tained.
This method is splendid as far as
it goes, but it does not go far enough.
The Church nhounds in good works,
but too often loses its opportunity to
do the best thing because it has notr
accepted the responsibility and burden
of direction. In many cases it could
not. The undertaking was too great
for any one church.
Fortunately that day is passing in
many of our cities. The churches are
coming into their power. Not only do
they say "Receive thy sight," but they
can also say with more power "Thy
sins be forgiven thee."
The greatest advance made in the
last five years has been in the discov
ery of the fact that community needs
can be cared for by churches recog
nizing their community interests. In
St. Louis, Mo., over one hundred
churches are thus banded together.
When the Associated Bureau of Chari
ties is called upon to render assist
ance to a family, that assistance is
given. Most of the money is provided
by Christians. Then if the family is
not Hebrew or Catholic, Mr. Clair E.
Ames, the secretary of the Federation
of Churches of St. Louis, is notified.
At once he sees to it that this family
is assigned to the church most favor
ably situated to render spiritual help.
Everywhere the social workers say
that food, clothing and shelter will
not re-establish a family. Religion Is
the most vital factor. Let the church
so do their work that they may not
only manifest the spirit of Christ, but
may name his name to those who are
helped.
In the same way the police court is
made the point of contact with the de
linquent boy. It Is not enough to give
money. Constant care must be taken
to relate the offender to the Church
of Jesus Christ. Unitedly the church
es of St. Louis employ a secretary to
make sure that this is done.
Social betterment is a favorite aim
with Christians. "He went about do
ing good." We give millions of money
seeking to bring in the better day,
but turn it over to all kinds of or
ganizations, good, bad and indifferent,
which are outside of the Church. De
nominational rivalry prevents our giv
ing It to any one church and we are
too busy with our own peculiar inter
ests to share the burden. The power
ful influence by which we would at
tain to the spiritual conquests of so
ciety Is lost.
By learning team play the two hun
dred churches of Cleveland, repre
senting twelve denominations, were
able on one hand to persuade the civic
forces to eliminate the red-light dis
trict and on the other hand to conduct
the simultaneous evangelistic cam
paign by which ten thousand and
ninety-eight members were quietly
added to the churches in one year. So
runs the story in the cities which have
strong inter-church organizations and
employ men to give all their time to
co-ordinating their efforts.
A Chamber of Commerce in a great
city is the expression of the desire of
the business men of the city not only
to furnish the capital of great com
mercial ventures, but also to direct
its use for the good of the city. To
insure success, high salaried secreta
ries are engaged. The business men
accept the responsibility for the future
of the city.
An inter-church federation, well or
ganized and having a secretary, is to
the religious life of the city what the
Chamber of Commerce is to the busi
ness life. Fifteen cities now employ
such secretaries. The church has be
come the manager as well as the pro
vider of the full equipment.
No! It is not enough for the church
to furnish generously the money and
the men for all good undertakings. It
must not do less but something more.
The "something more" is direct con
trol through organized co-operation.
It must accept tho responsibility of
doing the whole task that in the end
it may say to the one it has helped
in humble service, "Thy sins be for
given thee," or "Follow him." While
much must be done, as at present,
in the efforts to serve humanity, it ia
the plain duty of the Church to be
so related to this work so as to se
cure the greatest spiritual results.
CHURCH UNION IN CANADA.
The Presbyterian; Methodist and
Congregational Churches of Canada
have voted to unite. Plans were being
worked out to accomplish this end,
when the European war began. It was
then agreed that the whole matter
should be held in abeyance until the
close of the war. A considerable mi
nority in the Presbyterian Church is
opposed to the union.
They, and possibly others who are de
sirous of maintaining peace in the
Church, are now proposing that the con
summation of the union shall be indefin
itely postponed.
Here is what the Toronto Presby
terian says on the subject:
In order to avoid a threatened dis
ruption in the Presbyterian Church, the
suggestion has been made that the next
General Assembly, while reaffirming its
decision to unite with the Methodist
and Congregational churches, might re
solve to discontinue for the present all
preparations for union and content it
self with carrying forward a policy of
co-operation. If this suggestion were
followed it would mean that union,
while not abandoned as an ideal, would
be postponed until some indefinite fu
ture time. The idea is not new, but it
has an additional interest and may gain
some additional weight in view of the
activities of the Presbyterian Church
Association.
In our judgment the proposal to
postpono should not be entertained.
The union of the negotiating churches
should be completed, with the least pos
sible delay, for the following among
many reasons:
1. Union is demanded by the condi
tions of our time. It is demanded by
the condition of religious thought. The
theological minutiae which have sep
arated the Reformed churches from one
another, and about which good men
have disputed in days past with so
much bitterness, have lost their Inter
est. The saving truths of Christianity
are held in common by all the evan
gelical bodies and it is for these life
giving verities that men's souls are
hungering. The world needs Jesus
Christ, and all who acknowledge him
as Lord and Saviour should be united
to make him known. Undoubtedly, the
war has made a difference. An hon
ored chaplain, returned from the front
within the last few days, tells how
theological disputations die away when
men stand together continually on tho
brink of eternity, and how the repre
sentatives of all denominations talk of
the new vision which has come to them
of a united church in Canada.
Union is demanded by conditions In
the foreign field. One of the foremost
mi^Jionary leaders in America asks,
"Can a divided Church save the
world?" One of our missionaries in
India, writing in The Presbyterian two
weeks ago, repudiates the idea that
comity of missions does away with the
need for union.
Union is demanded by home mission
conditions. The community idea is
sweeping the West. Unity is being
achieved in educational, commercial and
social life, and the question is asked
why the Church alone should be a me
dium of disunion.
2. Union should be consummated
without delay because we have found a
good basis on which to unite. It is
unlikely that we shall ever have a bet
ter. Experience ?may reveal some
chances for improvement; but how could
any conditions be imagined more ideal
than those in which the present basis
was compiled? Each Church gave its
wisest and its best to the Union Com
mittee. The meetings were held in an
atmosphere of devotion and the testi
mony of all who were present is that
the spirit of Christian fraternity, jf
willingness to yield the non-essential
and to profit by the experience of oth
ers, could not have been surpassed. No
human document was ever framed
which is superior to criticism, and if
a committee were to sit until the end
of time it would not succeed in pro
ducing a basis to which objection would
not be taken, for it is impossible that
we should all think alike. But when
all is said and done, we have here an
honest effort, first, to state the common
essentials of the Christian faith, and.
second, to draw up a working polity
combining the features of the respective
Church systems which experience had
shown to be most satisfactory and ef
fective. It is suggestive to recall at
this time that white the negotiations
which resulted in the Confederation of
Canada were begun in 1864 and consum
mated in 18G7, and while the Constitu
tion of the Dominion was drawn up in
a conference of about three weeks, the
basis of union for the United Church
of Canada is the result of deliberations
by men not less well equipped for their
task extending over a period of more
than five years.
3. Union should be consummated
speedily because the Churches cannot
longer afford to labor in a state of un
certainty. It is proposed that union
should be reaffirmed as a goal but that
preparations for union should for the
present be discontinued. This is an
attempt to Walk on both sides of the
road at once which can only result in
dislocation. "For the present" means
nothing. It is vital that in every de
partment of the Church's work it
should be known whether union is to
be accomplished in five years or In
twenty, in this generation or the next.
To hang Church union up and dangle
it before the eyes of recent disputants
can only result in a continuous debate
that must necessarily divert the mind
of the Church from her all important
tasks.
4. Union should be made effective as
s6on as possible because there is noth
ing to be gained by delay. One must
respect the motives of those who op
THE DAY OP THE COUNTRY
CHURCH.
A Helpful New Book.
Rev. J. D. Aslienhurst believes that
the day is here ? and that a still
greater day is at hand ? for effective
work in this field. Out of a long
experience in a rural pastorate, he
discusses actual conditions |n rural
communities, and the means by which
they should now be met. He ad
vances valuable methods for widening
the Church's influence and making it
a center of wholesome attraction for
old and young.
Cloth, $1 net; postpaid, $1.08.
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THE PRESBYTERIAN OF THE
SOUTH,
? Richmond, Va. ?