Part 4

The three pastors usually get together on Mondays, talk over the work, compare sermons and discuss them, and spend part of the day in the most delightful fellowship. They make frequent exchanges, taking each other's work for a Sunday, thus giving the people a change, and themselves some variety of experience, and promoting acquaintance and fellowship throughout the whole parish. This is a most profitable combination. The older pastor helps the younger men with his wider experience, and "the boys" put new life and fresh spirits into the heart of the "older man." Two men, if they are congenial and can work harmoniously together, are worth more than double the value of one man. And three men, joining their forces, increase their efficiency in geometrical ratio. Many a minister who works away in isolation and discouragement would have new heart and courage for his difficult task, if he might be closely associated with one or two congenial and kindred spirits. That is one of the advantages of the Larger Parish Plan--it makes such association and combination possible.

In the autumn of 1912 the pastor was impressed with the thought that the special emphasis for that year should be placed on the evangelistic phase of the work. Thirteen weeks in all were spent in holding special services at six different points. Two ministers from neighboring parishes assisted. Much use was made of the stereopticon. In the out-stations the preaching was done by the pastors in turn, and there was thorough personal work. Good results came from these meetings. A large number decided to begin the Christian life. About sixty new members were received into the Benzonia church, and as many more into the other churches in the parish. Not all of those received were converted in the special meetings. Thirty of those who came into the Eden church were dismissed from the Benzonia church, and some others came by letter. One of the results of these special meetings was the organization of the Eden church. The hearts of the people were drawn together, the religious interest was quickened throughout the whole territory, and the idea of the Larger Parish came to be more generally accepted.

Eden is a country neighborhood three miles north of Benzonia. The people are thrifty farmers and fruit raisers, and about a dozen families living there had for many years been connected with the Benzonia church, and were among its most faithful supporters. For twenty-five or thirty years a Sunday-school had been maintained in that community--one of the best country schools in the state. A young people's society and a weekly prayer-meeting had also been kept up for a long time. The special meetings were held in the schoolhouse in the month of February, amid the stormiest weather of the winter. But nothing could keep the people away. There was a deep interest, and a number of positive conversions. It was thought best to organize a church. Thirty members were dismissed from the Benzonia church to enter into the new organization and it started with fifty charter members. Practically all the religious elements of the community came together in the new church and it was launched with much rejoicing and enthusiasm. Under the efficient leadership of the assistant pastor, it has gone steadily forward, and though the meetings held are in a schoolhouse that is most inconvenient and inadequate for their needs, they are as dignified and churchly as many that are conducted in more appropriate surroundings. There is a full service of readings, responses, well-prepared music by a faithful choir, and the presence and power of God's Spirit is often strikingly manifest in the services. The recognition services of the Eden church were most impressive. The schoolhouse was crowded to its utmost capacity. Nearly fifty stood up together and entered into covenant relations, a large number receiving the rite of baptism. The communion service conducted by the pastor was especially solemn and tender, and those present will long remember the influences of that hour.

In a number of cases the services have been held in schoolhouses that are inconvenient and inadequate, and in one instance the only place where the meetings could be held was a private home. A movement is on foot to supply these places with chapels that will meet the needs of the community. Last summer a neat chapel was built at Platt Lake. There is no schoolhouse in that community. The children are taken in a bus to the Honor school, and there was no settled meeting-place for more than two years, the services being held in turn from house to house. Platt Lake is somewhat of a summer resort, and the visiting people gave substantial help in the construction of the chapel. It is a convenient little building, well furnished, with organ and stove contributed by the Benzonia church. There being no ecclesiastical organization in the place, the title of the building is vested in the Michigan State Conference, with the understanding that when a church is formed it shall be deeded back. Since the erection of the chapel a fresh impetus has been given to the work in Platt Lake. At this point no regular religious services had ever been held until the movement of the Larger Parish began.

The Eden church planned to erect a new building in the summer of 1914, in the form of a comfortable chapel with basement rooms for social purposes. Early in the spring of 1913 the farmers set apart a certain portion of their land, the products of which should be given for a chapel fund. About fifteen farmers entered into this arrangement, the children also setting hens and cultivating garden patches for the same purpose. On Thanksgiving night of that year they had a special service at the schoolhouse to bring in the returns. A neat model of a church was made for the occasion and placed on the desk, and after an interesting program the people filed past the desk and dropped into the model church the proceeds of their summer's toil. It was found to contain more than two hundred and fifty dollars--a good starter for the new building. Though the resources of the community are limited, they are all working together with such industry and enthusiasm that it is probable that they will soon have a pleasant and convenient church home.

At North Crystal where there is a flourishing Sunday-school and where the services are held in a private home, the people are working hard to build a little chapel. Here too the resorters, who have their cottages along the shore of Crystal Lake, are very helpful. In the summer the meetings are held under the trees, and large crowds come together to hear the gospel and to join in the songs. The Ladies' Aid Society is working hard and considerable progress has been made in collecting a chapel fund. Poverty of resources can hardly prevent the accomplishment of such an enterprise when all the people unite in the effort so heartily and with such a willingness to make sacrifices for the desired end. The church at Benzonia has also been building an addition to its house of worship, adding one hundred sittings and numerous rooms for the accommodation of the Sunday-school and social work. One would have been considered rash indeed who should have prophesied beforehand that in two years in this community of limited resources so large a sum could be raised for the purpose of providing accommodations for the worship of God and for community and social work.

If the amount of money that people are willing to give for religious purposes is an index of their interest in the Kingdom, one must conclude that there has been a very significant revival in that respect throughout the Larger Parish. More means for carrying on the work are now in sight than any one would have supposed it possible to raise three years ago.

The salaries paid the pastor and his two assistants are two and a half times as much as was paid to the pastor alone before the wider work was undertaken. This, however, is made possible only through the help of the Home Missionary Society. The contributions for home and foreign missions have more than doubled during this period, and the number of contributors has increased more than twofold. If there was any hesitation about undertaking the wider work on account of the increased financial obligation involved, experience has shown that it was unnecessary. More than twice as much money is raised on the whole field now than was the case before the wider work began, and it comes with just as little effort. Nobody now objects to the work on financial grounds. It has paid for itself in every way.

This experience leads me to believe that on almost every field there are resources sufficient for carrying on all the work that needs to be done there, if only they can be reached, and I am also convinced that an active, aggressive program will be much more successful in developing the resources than a timid and conservative effort can ever be.

In order to promote unity and fellowship throughout the whole parish, occasional meetings designed to bring all the people together are held with very good results. Two or three times during the year all the services in the various points are omitted and the people come together on the beautiful campus on the Benzonia hilltop and spend the day in worship and in social intercourse. The services are held in the shade of the great beech and maple trees that crown the summit of the hill. There is a large choir and orchestra to lead the music, some noted speaker from abroad preaches the sermon, and the congregation of four or five hundred is as devout and attentive as can be found in any church building. At the close of the service they assemble in groups to eat the lunch which they have brought, the coffee being furnished by the Benzonia people, and they spend two hours in delightful social intercourse, many old friends and neighbors meeting there who might not otherwise see each other for years. In the afternoon a platform meeting is held with a number of speakers, and as the sun is sinking low in the west the people disperse and go quietly to their homes, with a larger outlook, a quickened community consciousness, and a fuller appreciation of the work of the Larger Parish. Last year we had on one Sabbath "Larger Parish Sunday School Rally." Posters announcing the meeting had been previously circulated. All the ten schools of the parish assembled, holding in the morning such a service as I have described, having dinner together, and in the afternoon occurred the Children's Day services, with exercises by the various schools and an address by John E. Gunckel, the famous Toledo newsboy man. These Larger Parish rallies have proved to be a valuable feature of the work and are anticipated with pleasure by all the people.

I wonder if any pastor ever felt entirely satisfied with the results of his work? I certainly do not. I have fallen far short of my ideal. In looking back I see failures enough to keep me humble and mistake enough to make me cautious. The numbers that have not been reached are so great that the thought of them mingles much of sadness with the gladness for those who have come into the Kingdom. I am thankful for the results that can be reported, and I consider them sufficient to justify the method of the Larger Parish. If the method had been more efficiently worked there would have been more to show. My hope is that some one may make a better use of it and that such results may be evident that the Larger Parish method will come into general operation, and that it may play a large part in the spiritual and social rehabilitation of the rural regions.

II. COMMUNITY UPLIFT AND SOCIAL BETTERMENT

One of the convictions out of which the vision came that led to the work of the Larger Parish was that the Church should minister to the _whole man_; that nothing that goes to make a man a full-rounded man, or that has a legitimate place in his life should be ignored by the Church; that it should have something to say and something to do with his social nature as well as his religious nature; that it should concern itself with the affairs of the community and be an element of uplifting power in the community life. Following this conviction, it was quite natural that, when the work of the Larger Parish was undertaken, considerable attention should be paid to that part of the life of the people that is often thought to lie outside of the distinctive realm of religion. The effort has been made to help the people in a social way and to make their recreations healthful and wholesome, to stimulate and guide them in their intellectual life, and by these broader aims to minister to all their needs. It may be profitable to show how the methods used in the work of the Larger Parish have contributed to these ends.

Recognizing the tendency of country life to isolation and extreme individualism and the danger of its becoming barren and monotonous, we have thought it important to provide for social and literary functions, and for wholesome recreation and healthful pleasures. This was thought desirable, not only for the young people, but for all the people, and we have sought to bring together in these activities the old and the young, and the children as well. It has been our effort to make all our out-stations, where services are held, social centers, and to encourage frequent meetings of the people where they might mingle together in a free and friendly manner. The people have responded to these efforts and have appreciated very much the opportunities that have been afforded them in this direction.

1. Neighborhood Clubs have been formed in some of the out-stations whose function it is to provide for these social necessities. The name, "Neighborhood Club" quite well defines their object. They are to serve as social centers. There is a simple constitution and by-laws, and the usual officers. But the work is carried on under the direction of three committees in three departments. First, there is a Social Committee, whose business it is to arrange for picnics, parties, sociables, excursions, etc. Then there is a Literary Committee that provides for literary entertainments, lectures, debates, and the like. After that comes the Team Work Committee, which leads out in any movement in which the people need to coöperate, such as helping an unfortunate neighbor to harvest his crops, planting trees by the roadside, plowing out the roads in winter, or mending a bad place in the highway. Often many kindly deeds are omitted, and many desirable things for a community are left undone, not because the people are selfish, or wanting in public spirit, but for lack of leading. There is no one to lead out in such things, and so they are neglected.

Not long ago one of the neighborhood clubs spent the day in helping to raise a barn, having a dinner together and enjoying a jolly social time. One of the clubs offered a prize for rat-killing, getting out some posters that were a curiosity. From time to time various matters of local interest are taken up and discussed by the club, and considerable talent in debate has been developed in unexpected places. Occasionally the various neighborhood clubs get together for a day of sports and recreation. They have in the forenoon games and contests, then a picnic dinner, followed by a program of music and addresses. These gatherings promote neighborliness and afford the farmers and their wives and children a little break in the monotony of their toilsome lives.

The first winter a lecture course was organized, consisting of five or six numbers, mostly by home talent. All these lectures were given before the various clubs. The pastor gave an account of his travels in the Holy Land. The principal of the Academy talked about "The Farm and the School." A doctor from a neighboring town spoke about "Farm Sanitation," and an expert horticulturist about "Better Orchards." A layman spoke about "Some Legal Principles That Should be Generally Known." Much interest was taken in these lectures, and the people turned out well to hear them. The next winter the clubs arranged their own programs and carried on a lively and interesting campaign. One of the clubs had a series of Special Topic nights. One night was devoted to "The Pilgrims," with a varied and interesting program. Another to "Abraham Lincoln," another to "Michigan," with a program full of information, historical, statistical, and otherwise, about the state of which the community was a part. One of the clubs organized and maintained an Old Fashioned Singing School under an instructor from the village, that was a fair success. These neighborhood clubs have proved to be very popular and very valuable, and it would seem that they are well adapted to almost any country community, taking the place of the old lyceums and literary societies of a former generation that did so much to sharpen the wits, inform the minds, and increase the friendliness of those who went before us.

2. In some of the neighborhoods where it has not yet been thought best to organize clubs, some attention has been paid to this side of life and some provision made for social diversions. During Thanksgiving week, festivals were held in three different places that were very successful and profitable. The description of one of them will be typical. Three communities, East Joyfield, Demerley, and the South Chapel, united in holding a festival in the Joyfield Town Hall on Thanksgiving Day. Thorough preparations had been made. Various committees were appointed, the teachers in the four school districts included in that territory trained the children, a program of games and sports and contests was arranged, and all the people took much interest in getting ready for the event. At three o'clock a religious service was held in the hall and the pastor preached a Thanksgiving sermon to a large and attentive congregation.

While the ladies were preparing the supper, the program of sports, a part of which had been previously given in a large barn near by, was finished on the lawn. Various races were run and stunts of different kinds were performed, including a tug of war and wrestling matches, that took up the time till the call to supper came. Two long tables extending the whole length of the hall were filled twice, not less than one hundred and fifty sitting down to a sumptuous feast. When all had satisfied the wants of the "inner man," there were supplies enough left to feed another crowd almost as great, so lavish are the country folk in their hospitality.

As soon as the tables could be cleared away and the people could get seated the evening's entertainment began. The hall was crowded to its utmost capacity, the people were jammed in like sardines in a box, and some could not find entrance, but the utmost good nature prevailed, and they sat, not patiently, but delightedly, through a program of recitations, dialogs, songs, and like exercises given by the children occupying two full hours. Then came the distributing of the prizes to the winners in the games, and the happy crowd dispersed, feeling more kindly toward each other and realizing more fully the joy of neighborliness because they had come together in their Thanksgiving festival. Similar festivals were held at Grace the day before, and at Liberty Union the day after. They were all conceived and carried out by Mr. Huck, the assistant pastor, just from England, thus proving his efficiency and his adaptability.

3. On a snowy Saturday the men of East Joyfield, under the lead of the assistant pastor, arranged "A Community Rabbit Hunt." They met with their guns and went in pairs in different directions, scouring the woods and the fields in search of game. They were measurably successful, and a heap of forty-five "cotton tails" rewarded their efforts. They were distributed among fifteen families, who were to prepare them with other good things for a "Rabbit Social" on the next Tuesday night at the chapel. Though the night was stormy, the chapel was well filled, there was a fine program of music and games, and then a feast of rabbit pie that was appetizing and abundant. So the "cotton tails" served the community better by being eaten themselves than they would if they had been left to eat the bark from the young fruit trees on the surrounding farms.

4. Since the pursuit of athletics has so large a place in the minds of the young people in these days, it has been thought worth while to do something in this field. One of the assistant pastors having had some training when in school organized Athletic Clubs among the boys and young men in six or seven different neighborhoods. These clubs met from time to time for practise. They were combined into an Athletic League for the whole parish and occasionally held Field Days. They would come together on the Academy campus at Benzonia and spend the day in sports and games and contests in which a previously prepared schedule of events was carried on. There were junior contests for the boys and the girls too had a part in the last field-day sports. Occasionally they have a banquet with toasts and an opportunity for social intercourse. These athletic clubs have not only done much to encourage clean and healthful sports, but they have given the assistant pastor large influence over the young people, and most of them are noticeably regular in their attendance on the services he conducts on the Sabbath.

Ladies' Aid Societies are organized in the various neighborhoods and they bring together in a social way, not only the ladies, but also the men in the winter season, who then find time to enjoy the good dinner that the ladies provide and to spend part of the day in social intercourse. These Aid Societies are ready to take hold in a helpful way of any enterprise that is for the good of the community, and any enterprise to which they devote themselves is bound to go.

5. One more way of working has proved to be valuable, and well worth while. Like nearly all small towns, we have a weekly newspaper which finds its way into most of the homes of the parish. The pastor and the editor work together in the effort to make it an organ of helpful power in the community life. For the past three years I have had each week a column--usually a column and a half--in this paper. It is my regular Monday forenoon work to write that column. I put into it whatever I think will be useful to the people, bringing them many a message that would hardly come appropriately into the pulpit, and reaching in that way many whom I would not often come in touch with otherwise. The themes are various, a few may serve as specimens. "How to Keep One's Religion and Make It Pay," "The Back Yard," "The Test of the Summer Time," "The Man You Happen to Meet," "The Utility of the Yell," "The Wedding Bells and Funeral Knells," "Dr. Charles M. Sheldon and His Ideas of an Educated Man," "Be a Columbus," "The Keen Zest of Living." Any local topic of general interest is taken up and discussed, and the activities of the church and the social and literary doings in the various out-stations are brought before the people. So they are kept constantly aware that something is going on that is worth while throughout the parish, and I have an opportunity to keep my ideas before the whole parish. This I consider one of my most valuable ways of working, and I find that the Pastor's Column is eagerly looked for and widely read.

This suggests the question whether in the past the pastors of our churches have sufficiently appreciated the value of printer's ink as an adjunct in carrying on religious and community work. If the pastor can speak through the press as well as the pulpit, he is duplicating his influence.