that the community church with its broad appeal, its sane program and its diverse activities, comes to his rescue. Conditions in town and country life are rapidly shifting. The community church has arisen to meet this changing need. Broad in its appeal, democratic, responding to obvious local need, such a church may become a uniting rather than a divisive force. It insists that the church shall be central in community life. The fear has often been expressed that the various activities of the community church will take the place of the central message of the pulpit. Those who have been most successful in the conduct of community enterprises express no such fear. They believe that a renewed emphasis upon the spiritual values of life is the only thing that can save the world. They believe also that a broad application and appreciation of the fundamentals in religious education constitute the true basis of character building. They insist that a real appreciation of the particular problems of the community in which the church. is placed will result in a program of activities that will reach old and young. The community church is a get together movement. It is a recognition of the underlying democracy and unity of all of life. Successfully at work upon such a program, how can a man fail! In a sense, the community church resembles what has for a quarter of a century been called the institutional church, but there is an important difference. Too often the institutional church was a field in which a staff of workers did things for the people. The real community church is an organization in which people work with one another. There is a world of difference between the two principles of approach, Responding, therefore, to the chal- Do they drop and end their lesson, "All the past we leave behind. We reach out upon a newer, mightier Fresh and strong the world we sieze, THE CONGREGATIONAL WORLD MOVEMENT T Council in Grand Rapids in voting to raise fifty million dollars for missionary and educational purposes within the next five years laid a heavy responsibility upon the commission appointed to carry out the task. At the meeting of this commission held at Chicago December 10th and 11th, nearly all the members were present and two full days were spent in the consideration of the important questions that came before the commission. There were present pastors of churches east and west, several prominent laymen, college presidents, and secretaries represent It was interesting to notice that there was scarcely a man on the commission who took a prominent part in the naming of the goal of fifty million dollars at the Grand Rapids meeting. The denomination through its representatives laid the burden upon the churches. To this commission has been committed the heavy responsibility of carrying out the will of the Council. They faced their task with resolution and confidence. Not Not a man among them minimized the weightiness of the responsibilities which they are carrying, but not one was ready to shirk the task now it is theirs. The meeting was characterized by a deep sense of the importance of the task and by a great faith that it can be done. Among the important decisions reached was that the subscriptions to be secured in the spring of 1920 in conjunction with the Interchurch World Movement before a one-year budget only. It is expected that adequate surveys can be ready by the latter part of 1920 or early in 1921. The goal set for 1920 is two million dollars from the churches and one million dollars to be secured from individuals for educational institutions, for the rehabilitation of the work of the American Board, for emergency needs in the American Missionary Association, and for the enlargement of the loan fund of the Church Building Society. Inasmuch as the Pilgrim Memorial Fund is under way in various parts of the country, it has been deemed advisable. not to interfere with those special campaigns but to merge the Fund in the larger Movement by April 1st, 1920. emer At the earliest moment, gency needs revealed by the Survey Committee will be printed and distributed as widely as possible, so that the entire denomination may know the urgency of the present crisis. Material already in the hands of the Survey Committee indicates the seriousness of the task which the churches are facing and the timeli ness of this special appeal. A large part of the money to be sought will be absorbed in caring for work already in hand. The salaries of home missionaries must be increased or many of the men will be forced to give up their work. Teachers in mission schools are feeling the pinch of the shrinking dollar until scores of them are in despair. Church building projects are held up because of increase in cost of material. The emergencies which the American Board are now facing are well known to all the world. All feel that these pressing needs simply must be met. Several educational institutions are of In already back in the payment salaries, with no relief in sight. short, every dollar that will be asked for in 1920 is desperately needed. It is well that the Council in Grand Rapids recognized the crisis and launched out into the deep. Among the important questions decided at this meeting was the one relative to the division of the fifty million dollar budget. It was the unanimous opinion that the Pilgrim Memorial Fund should be brought to at least eight million dollars, that twenty million dollars should be secured from individuals for educationa institutions and church building loans, leaving twenty-two million dollars for current missionary budgets to be raised by the churches. The committee charged with the selection of a Secretary to head the Movement, after most careful deliberation, brought in a unanimous recommendation that Rev. Herman F. Swartz, D.D., be apointed to fill this important place. It is doubtful whether a man could be secured in the entire fellowship who would be more acceptable. The following were chosen as members of the Executive Committee to act for the commission: W. E. Bell, New Jersey; G. L. Dunham, Vermont; L. T. Warner, Connecticut; C. S. Ward, New York; William Knowles Cooper, Washington, D. C.; Arthur Perry, Massachusetts; Charles S. Bates, New Hampshire, Pres. Mary E. Woolley, Massachusetts; Mrs. Williston Walker, Connecticut; Mrs. Ernest A. Evans, New York; R. H. Potter, Connecticut; Shepherd Knapp, Massasachusetts; H. J. Chidley, Massachusetts; R. E. Brown, Connecticut; L. T. Reed, New York. It was voted also that the ranking secretaries of the mission boards, with Dr. Herring and Dr. Fagley, be asked to sit with the Executive Committee in advisory capacity without vote. The next meeting of the commission will be held in Chicago in connection with the Midwinter Meeting. W FOCUSSING A COMMUNITY HERE do the boys in your This was one among several like problems which faced the quiet Connecticut village of Granby, and to the solution of which the South Congregational Church has set itself. The church was established nearly half a century ago to meet the problem of a village life all too little affected by the influence of the mother church, two miles distant and within the bounds of another community. Its first house of worship, too, was a further step in the endeavor to focus the community vision upon the church and the ideals for which it stands. This edifice was an ungainly, two-story building, originally the village academy, the lower floor of which was devoted to religious purposes, while the upper fioor not only contained a hall for secular entertainments but housed the village library as well, while the basement served for the social rooms and kitchen of the Ladies' Aid Society. The service which this building rendered to the community remains still untold, and can only be guessed from the genuine grief, which in spite of its lack of beauty and its obvious inconveniences, was felt all through the village when it was burned to the ground one windy January afternoon three years ago. Yet, though the blow fell heavily, the embers were scarcely cooled ere church and community both were measuring SOUTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, their ideals and reckoning up their re- The village which nestles beneath the stately elms of Granby Street is not entirely rural in character, for though the principal occupation is agriculture, tobacco being the crop best adapted to the light soil, there is also a suburban element, including several sons of the village who cling to the old home even while profession al interests draw them daily to the city. The community of which the INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH village and the church are the center is not large, embracing in addition only a small neighborhood center a mile to the west, and another near the railroad a like distance eastward, scarcely one hundred and twenty-five houses, all told. Commercially, however, the village is the center of a much larger area, some six to eight miles in radius, and the homes along the elmshaded street have much of comfort; yet there are none really wealthy and class distinctions are of the faintest. The village has all modern improvements, including its own water supply and sewer system, and electric street lighting. There are no manufactories. Under local option prohibition in the town has been enforced for nearly two decades, and though there is a license town but three miles distant, moral conditions in general are excellent. The church is not only the sole religious institution in the community, but also the strongest and most permanent organization, so that upon it largely falls the burden of developing and directing the common life. With such resources, not greater than those of many another village, and with such a responsibility for leadership, the church faced the problem of rebuilding, bearing always upon her heart the vision of a broader community service, yet fearful of her ability to fully supply the growing needs. At this juncture, however, came the gift of a library building to be erected as a memorial to a former resident and life-long friend of the town. This proved to be the decisive factor in shaping the plans, and with some further discussion, it was determined to undertake the establishment of a complete community center, where all the common needs of the village, social, edu THE COMMUNITY GROUP cational and recreational, should find their satisfaction about the focus of the church and under the shadow of her eaves. Additional land was therefore secured, and and the the whole community, churched and unchurched alike, united in subscribing the funds for two additional buildings of the group. The three buildings - library, church and community house, were completed a year and a half ago, and have already justified the hope in which they were designed. church along the village street stands the Community House, a somewhat plainer building, which affords THE COMMUNITY HOUSE AT GRANBY The church, which is placed at the focus of the group, by its Colonial simplicity and beauty serves not alone to express the religious aspiration of the people, but also stands a concrete embodiment of esthetic ideals. It is alike a criterion of good taste in things material and a constant testimony to the beauty of holiness. It It is a building about sixty by thirtyfive feet in size, with a bright, cheery Auditorium seating comfortably some two hundred people, a good pipe organ, and a pleasant anteroom beside the vestibule. The high, well-lighted basement is used for the Sunday INTERIOR OF COMMUNITY HOUSE School sessions, and class-rooms may be arranged by the use of temporary folding partitions. Immediately to the south of the a hall some thirty by forty-five feet in area, with a well-appointed stage and small dressing-rooms at one end. Furnished with chairs this hall will seat over two hundred, or it may be quickly cleared to leave the floor open for other purposes. In the basement below there is a kitchen with all modern appointments and a dining-room at whose tables seventy to eighty people may be seated with comfort. This building is entirely separated from the church, insulated by some sixty feet of open lawn and is largely devoted to secular uses, save for the traditional "love-feast" by which the Ladies' Aid raises funds for the coffers of the church. It was, in fact, erected in some considerable part with funds contributed by the unchurched portion of the community; but the title and control are vested in the church as being at once the most permanent and responsible institution in the town and the inspiration and mainstay of the undertaking. |