THE CALL 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTRY PARISH 
 
 Kenyon L. Butterfield 
 
THE CALL 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTRY PARISH 
 
 Kenyon L. Butterfield 
 
 President of the Massachusetts Agricultural 
 College , Member of the Commission 
 on Country Life 
 
 lUsigciciatton Ikes# 
 
 New York: 124 East 28th Street 
 London: 47 Paternoster Row, E.C. 
 1914 
 
? Zil 
 -g>3?C» 
 
 -o 
 
 © 
 
 rti 
 
 Oo 
 
 THE CALL OF THE COUNTRY 
 
 PARISH* 
 
 The country-side is calling, calling for 
 men. Vexing problems of labor and of 
 life disturb our minds in country as in 
 city. The workers of the land are striv- 
 ing to make a better use of their re- 
 sources of soil and climate, and are 
 seeking both larger wealth and a higher 
 welfare. But the striving and the seek- 
 ing raise new questions of great public 
 concern. Social institutions have devel- 
 oped to meet these new issues. But the 
 great need of the present is leadership. 
 Only men can vitalize institutions. We 
 need leaders among the farmers them- 
 selves, we need leaders in education, 
 leaders in organization and co-operation. 
 So the country church is calling for men 
 of God to go forth to war against all 
 the powers of evil that prey upon the 
 hearts of the men who live upon the 
 
 * Reprinted, by permission, from “The Country 
 Church and the Rural Problem,” copyright, 1911, by 
 the University of Chicago. 
 
land, as well as upon the people in palace 
 and tenement. 
 
 The country church wants men of 
 vision, who see through the incidental, 
 the small, the transient, to the funda- 
 mental, the large, the abiding issues that 
 the countryman must face and conquer. 
 
 She wants practical men, who seek the 
 mountain top by the obscure and steep 
 paths of daily toil and real living, men 
 who can bring things to pass, secure 
 tangible results. 
 
 She wants original men, who can enter 
 a human field poorly tilled, much grown 
 to brush, some of it of diminished fer- 
 tility, and by new methods can again 
 secure a harvest that will gladden the 
 heart of the great Husbandman. 
 
 She wants aggressive men, who do not 
 hesitate to break with tradition, who fear 
 God more than prejudice, who regard 
 institutions as but a means to an end, 
 who grow frequent crops of new ideas 
 and dare to winnow them with the flails 
 of practical trial. 
 
 She wants trained men, who come to 
 their work with knowledge and with 
 power, who have thought long and 
 
deeply upon the problems of rural life, 
 who have hammered out a plan for an 
 active campaign for the rural church. 
 
 She wants men with enthusiasms, 
 whose energy can withstand the frosts 
 of sloth, of habit, of pettiness, of envy, 
 of back-biting, and whose spirit is not 
 quenched by the waters of adversity, of 
 unrealized hopes, of tottering schemes. 
 
 She wants persistent men, who will 
 stand by their task amid the mysterious 
 calls from undiscovered lands, the siren 
 voices of ambition and ease, the wither- 
 ing storms of winters of discontent. 
 
 She wants constructive men, who can 
 transmute visions into wood and stone, 
 dreams into live institutions, hopes into 
 fruitage. 
 
 She wants heroic men, men who pos- 
 sess a “tart, cathartic virtue/’ men who 
 love adventure and difficulty, men who 
 can work alone with God and suffer no 
 sense of loneliness. 
 
 The Appeals from the Rural Parish 
 
 This call from the country parish is 
 one that may well give pause to men who 
 
 5 
 
 tv 43034 
 
seek to serve their country and mankind. 
 There are numerous and powerful ap- 
 peals coming up from the tillers of the 
 soil, to those still undecided as to the 
 life task. Let us name some of these 
 appeals : 
 
 There is the abiding significance of 
 the great problem of agriculture and 
 country life. The hungry nations are to 
 be fed, the world’s nakedness is to be 
 clothed, God-given fertility is to be con- 
 served. The forces of nature are to be 
 harnessed by science and driven by 
 trained skill. A fundamental human 
 industry is to be fostered, an industry 
 that supports gigantic railways, huge 
 manufactures, immense commercial en- 
 terprises, stupendous financial opera- 
 tions. Scores of millions of American 
 citizens are to be educated for life’s 
 work, their political intelligence and 
 integrity are to be developed, their con- 
 ditions of living are to be improved, 
 their virtue is to be guarded, their ideals 
 are to be enlarged. These people are to 
 be served by state and school, by the 
 power of co-operative enterprise, by 
 church and the ministers of the Christian 
 
 6 
 
faith. They are to continue to send 
 choice youth to the cities for replenish- 
 ment and for leadership. These millions 
 are to retain a place in advancing Ameri- 
 can life consistent with our traditions 
 and our hopes. 
 
 The need of the church in all these 
 great enterprises of rural society con- 
 stitutes an appeal. Useless the wealth 
 wrung from the soil unless the welfare 
 of the soil worker be maintained. 
 Valueless the material elements of hu- 
 man life unless the human spirit be 
 enlarged. But vanity and vexation of 
 heart are our farA labors and plans un- 
 less the spirit of service and of brother- 
 hood is to dominate. And shall we par- 
 take of God's bounty without rendering 
 to him our fealty? Shall the guardians 
 of an ancient faith permit the Saracens 
 of materialism, of worldliness, of love of 
 money, of adoration of power, to cap- 
 ture the citadels of worship, and of 
 praise, and of loving loyalty to all that is 
 divine and eternal ? These issues are 
 real and they are vital. Let no pressure 
 of appeal from city slum, from lumber 
 camp or mining village, from immi- 
 
 7 
 
grants’ need, from bleeding, impover- 
 ished Armenia, from the newly pulsing 
 China, or from the islands of the sea— 
 heart-wringing and burning as these calls 
 may be — let none of these things blind 
 us to the slow-moving but irresistible 
 tides of human life that ebb and flow in 
 the homes and institutions of our Ameri- 
 can farm people. 
 
 The charms of the pastor’s life in the 
 open country constitute a call. For this 
 cause many are called and few are 
 chosen. But for that man who loves the 
 open, whose heart responds to the soft 
 music of meadow and field, whose ear 
 is attuned to the rhythm of the seasons, 
 who feels the romance of intelligent care 
 of soil and plant and animal — to that 
 man the rural parish offers rewards 
 beyond all price. 
 
 Dear uplands, Chester’s favorable fields, 
 
 My large unjealous loves, many yet one — 
 
 A grave good-morrow to your Graces, all, 
 Fair tilth and fruitful seasons! 
 
 Lo, how still ! 
 
 The midmorn empties you of men, save me; 
 Speak to your lover, meadows! None can 
 hear. 
 
I lie as lies yon placid Brandywine, 
 
 Holding the hills and heavens in my heart 
 For contemplation. 
 
 — Sidney Lanier. 
 
 The opportunities offered by the coun- 
 try parish for breadth of culture con- 
 stitute a call not usually put down in the 
 list of reasons for being a country clergy- 
 man. One does not need constant access 
 to great libraries in order to acquire cul- 
 ture. Culture is appreciation of environ- 
 ment. It is a process of soul-ripening. 
 Knowledge is merely the crude material 
 upon which culture works. Reading is 
 only one door by which culture enters. 
 Close observation, meditation, pondering 
 in the heart, much thinking are the fa- 
 vorite tools of culture. Do you desire 
 time to read in peace? Do you wish for 
 a chance to weigh and meditate? Do 
 you like to stand close to men at work? 
 Do you want to know the secret places of 
 the Most High? Do you gain wisdom 
 from the sermons preached by the rocks, 
 joy from the songs of little rivers, peace 
 from the evening hymns that arise from 
 meadow and woodland? Then do not 
 hesitate to seek these things in the coun- 
 
 9 
 
try parish. From your rural watch- 
 tower you, also, may observe the swift 
 march of affairs, keep alive to great 
 movements, see the drift of great human 
 tides. You may in the country, also, 
 learn to appreciate the physical and 
 spiritual environment that makes for the 
 welfare of men and women, secure real 
 personal growth, develop sound culture. 
 
 It is worth one’s while to be in touch 
 with leaders of thought and action. The 
 stimulus that comes to the pastor of a 
 large city church from such associations 
 is real and vital. But for the man who 
 can detect life’s veneer, who loves to 
 examine the fiber of character, who 
 knows human nature, the country parish 
 offers ample chance for interest and 
 profit. For, commonly, rural people are 
 natural, their native instincts are strong, 
 their tastes are simple, their speech is 
 direct. To him who likes this sort of 
 human contact the country parish calls. 
 
 The very presence of the difficulties 
 in country church work formulates a dis- 
 tinct call to men who like to conquer cir- 
 cumstances. The problem of prosperous 
 church life in rural communities is not 
 
 10 
 
an easy problem. The successful min- 
 ister in those communities cannot enjoy 
 a life of ease. Vexation of spirit may 
 become his portion. But the joy of 
 overcoming an untoward situation may 
 also be his. Some men will be attracted 
 to the country parish just because it is 
 a hard field. 
 
 The dearth of men constitutes a call. 
 The fields are white for the harvest. 
 Many laborers present themselves. But 
 some of them come out merely for a 
 summer's practice. Some have ancient 
 implements. Some do not know wheat 
 from corn. Relatively few deliberately 
 mean to make these open fields their life 
 scene, and fewer still have prepared 
 themselves to harvest the crop by mod- 
 ern methods. Do not some of you see, 
 therefore, a rare chance for distinction? 
 A prayer for well-equipped harvesters 
 is going up from all our country-side, 
 and we wait impatiently for the response, 
 “Here am I, send me.” 
 
 To those men who have the pioneer 
 spirit there comes a strong appeal from 
 the rural church. For here is a chance 
 for unique work, something different, 
 
 11 
 
and yet supremely useful as well as rare. 
 Who will be our explorers, to blaze new 
 trails by which other men may find fresh 
 fields of influence for advancing the king- 
 dom? Nowhere more fully than in the 
 country can a clergyman shepherd his 
 flock by day and by night, know the qual- 
 ity of their meadows, guard their water 
 courses, lead into new and sweet pas- 
 tures. The splendid opportunities for 
 leadership in the country parish ought to 
 ring in the hearts of young men of 
 power. 
 
 The timeliness of a redirected country 
 church work constitutes an appeal. 
 There are large stirrings in all rural 
 affairs. The fields are alive with move- 
 ments for better farming, for more use- 
 ful education, for co-operation. As never 
 before, the country minister has efficient 
 allies. The mechanism of socialization 
 is busy ; the institutions of agricultural 
 education are pulsing with life ; organ- 
 izations are multiplying in number and 
 in power. And the church at large is 
 stirring. She realizes the herculean task 
 before her. She sees the signs of moral 
 unrest. She observes that the notes of 
 
 12 
 
idealism are betimes deadened by the 
 “wearisome sound of the scythe of time 
 and the trowel of trade.” The man who 
 goes to the country parish is captain in 
 the host of a growing army that seeks to 
 command the country-side, as well as to 
 capture cities. 
 
 The final and the supreme call from 
 the country parish comes out of the abid- 
 ing hunger of men and women for reli- 
 gion — religion interpreted in terms of 
 daily toil, common human need, social 
 evolution, justice, and fraternity. In 
 country as well as in city, many men and 
 many women are engaged — often unwit- 
 tingly or even unwillingly engaged — in 
 the sad business of living outside the 
 pale of religious idealism, seeking to ex- 
 plain life on grounds of expediency, try- 
 ing to find easy delight for the senses, 
 expending toil and enduring sweat for 
 that which is not bread. But all of them 
 know, in their best moments, that under- 
 neath are the Everlasting Arms. Can 
 we, then, afford to neglect half of our 
 countrymen in our efforts to reach men 
 effectively with the new evangel? Shall 
 all these rising tides of life in our rural 
 
 13 
 
regions be left to break upon the futile 
 shores of economic gain and personal 
 pleasure? Is it a small and mean task to 
 maintain and enlarge in the country both 
 individual and community ideals, under 
 the inspiration and guidance of the reli- 
 gious motive, and to help forty millions 
 of rural people to incarnate those ideals 
 in personal and family life, in industrial 
 effort and political development, and in 
 all social relationships? 
 
 A Great Country Minister 
 
 In all the days of the church men have 
 been found who illustrated in their own 
 lives the opportunities that lie before the 
 clergyman in the country parish. At 
 this moment there are men, in all parts 
 of our own land, who see this new call of 
 the country parish and are responding 
 intelligently and gallantly. But one name 
 gives us entrance into such a wealth of 
 inspiration and suggestion that we must 
 pause to review the work and method 
 of the man. You doubtless know the 
 story full well, but it may not be omitted 
 here. 
 
 14 
 
About the middle of the eighteenth 
 century, John Frederick Oberlin, Bache- 
 lor of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy of 
 a great university, masterful student and 
 courageous leader, declared that he did 
 “not wish to labor in some comfortable 
 pastoral charge/’ where he could be at 
 ease; but the question is, “Where can I 
 be most useful?” God answered his 
 prayer, and at the age of twenty-seven 
 this man, who might have had a power- 
 ful church in a great center, entered upon 
 his life task, under the most forbidding 
 conditions, in the Ban-de-la-Roche, 
 among the “blue Alsatian mountains.” 
 It was a region with 
 
 six months of winter; at times the cold of the 
 shores of the Baltic; a wind like ice sometimes 
 comes down from the mountain tops . . . . ; 
 the sick and dying are to be visited in remote, 
 wild, solitary places among the forests. 
 
 This little parish, set high in the 
 rugged Vosges, consisted of not over one 
 hundred families at the time Oberlin 
 came to it. The region had for centuries 
 been the football of war, its fields had 
 been harried, its manhood drained for 
 martial conflict. 
 
 15 
 
In all this time it had been a battle for sheer 
 existence. In the short summer season the 
 people gathered barely enough food to sustain 
 their impoverished life through the long win- 
 ter, only to renew the struggle when the snows 
 melted. With no trades and without indus- 
 tries other than the rudest agriculture, and 
 with no intelligent cultivation of the soil for 
 this, their roads mere by-paths, their streams 
 without bridges, their food scanty and coarse, 
 what could be looked for but hopeless and 
 hapless lives?* 
 
 The people were taxed far beyond 
 their power to pay. Their poverty was 
 beyond description. They were prac- 
 tically slaves. They had no schools, and 
 were ignorant to a degree. Physical 
 misery and moral degradation were 
 wedded. 
 
 Note the picture of the same parish a 
 half-century later, near the close of this 
 historic pastorate. The hills and valleys 
 of the Ban-de-la-Roche had become fer- 
 tile and fruitful. Everywhere there 
 were evidences of a prosperous agricul- 
 ture. Every acre was well tilled. Each 
 
 * For the facts of Oberlin’s life and the quotations 
 here given the author is indebted to Professor A. F. 
 Beard of Oberlin College, who in his recent “Story of 
 John Frederick Oberlin” has written a book that should 
 be read and pondered by every country clergyman in 
 America. 
 
 16 
 
homestead had its orchards and flower 
 gardens. Splendid mountain roads and 
 substantial bridges gave access to the 
 great world beyond the hills. Schools 
 flourished, schools in which the peda- 
 gogy of Pestalozzi and Froebel was ante- 
 dated ; schools in which were taught 
 nature study, agriculture, civics, aesthet- 
 ics. A local improvement society con- 
 cerned itself with developing the beauty 
 about home and farmstead. An agri- 
 cultural club flourished. A well-ordered 
 system of irrigation had been installed. 
 Peace and plenty reigned supreme. 
 Thrift marked the labors and savings, 
 intelligence directed the industry of all. 
 Simple but charming houses covered a 
 beautiful family life. Religion served to 
 bind men and women to their fellows 
 and to their God. 
 
 The recognized genius in all this trans- 
 formation was Pastor Oberlin. In Ober- 
 lin’s closing years, the king of France 
 conferred upon him the medal of the 
 Legion of Honor, for his many efforts 
 which had resulted in making the district 
 “flourishing and happy.” The National 
 Agricultural Society decreed him a gold 
 
 17 
 
medal for “prodigies accomplished in 
 silence in this almost unknown corner of 
 the Vosges, .... in a district before 
 his arrival almost savage,” and into 
 which he had brought “the best methods 
 of agriculture and the purest lights of 
 civilization.” An English lady, visiting 
 the region in 1820, writes: “The poor 
 charm me. I have never met with any 
 like them ; so much humility, spirituality, 
 and with manners that would do honor 
 to a court. ” It was all Oberlin’s work. 
 
 By what miracle was this transforma- 
 tion wrought? By preaching? Yes; 
 Oberlin never failed to prepare his ser- 
 mons with the greatest care. He was a 
 reader of science, of history, of philo- 
 sophy. Even in his mountain eyrie he 
 kept in touch with the world’s thought. 
 But was it by reading, and study, and 
 faithful preaching alone that the change 
 came ? Listen ! 
 
 Oberlin secured the first schoolhouse 
 by promising that it should cost the peo- 
 ple nothing. As a matter of fact, he paid 
 a substantial share of the cost of two 
 schoolhouses out of the savings of a 
 salary of $200 a year. He shouldered a 
 
 18 
 
pick and led the work of building the 
 first highway and bridging the mountain 
 stream. He proved that horticulture was 
 practicable in the region by himself 
 planting successful orchards. He intro- 
 duced new varieties and new crops. He 
 organized societies and clubs. He taught 
 manners and morals. He planned and 
 directed the school work in every detail. 
 In the beginning all of these efforts were 
 opposed most vigorously. Some even 
 tried to intimidate him. He carried every 
 reform against severe opposition. He 
 helped the people in spite of themselves. 
 But in all his efforts he kept the religious 
 element to the fore. All things were to 
 be done for God as well as for oneself. 
 He himself, while practical in the ex- 
 treme, was also spiritual to the verge of 
 mysticism. 
 
 Rural parishes in America that present 
 the woeful conditions of the Ban-de-la- 
 Roche in 1767 may not be common, 
 though of that let us not be too sure. 
 The same underground work that Ober- 
 lin did may not need doing by every 
 rural clergyman. Schools are busy in 
 every parish. Forces of socialization 
 
 19 
 
and co-operation are at work. The 
 means of agricultural training are at 
 hand. Yet the underlying philosophy of 
 Oberlin’s life work must be the funda- 
 mental principle of the great country 
 parish work of the future. Oberlin be- 
 lieved in the unity of life, the marriage 
 of labor and living. He knew that social 
 justice, intelligent toil, happy environ- 
 ment are bound up with the growth of 
 the spirit. They act and react upon one 
 another. 
 
 More than a century ago, in an ob- 
 scure parish among the mountains of 
 Alsatia a great man labored for a life- 
 time as a country minister. He knew all 
 the souls in his charge to their core. He 
 loved them passionately. He refused to 
 leave them for greater reward and easier 
 work. He loved their fields and their 
 mountains. He studied their problems. 
 He toiled for his people incessantly. He 
 transformed their industry and he regen- 
 erated their lives. He built a new and 
 permanent rural civilization that endures 
 to this day unspoiled. The parishes 
 about the little village of Waldersbach, 
 nestled among the Vosges Mountains, 
 
 20 
 
thus became a laboratory in which the 
 call of the country parish met a deep 
 answer of success and of peace. 
 
 A Present Crisis 
 
 There is a new interest in American 
 country life. The love of the out-of- 
 doors is growing. Business men are 
 recognizing afresh the fundamental eco- 
 nomic character of the agricultural 
 industry. The solidarity of city and ^ 
 country is seen concretely. The unity of 
 national life is found to consist in devel- 
 oping both urban and rural civilization. 
 Great movements are under way, de- 
 signed to increase the yield of the soil, 
 to put agriculture on a better business 
 basis, to educate rural youth, to secure 
 co-operative effort among farmers. Is 
 the church also astir in rural places? 
 The country church has been a saving 
 salt in the development of our great 
 farming areas ; is she alive today to these 
 new movements? Is she leading in the 
 campaign for rural progress? 
 
 The most ardent friend of the coun- 
 try church must give a sorrowful “No” 
 
 21 
 
in reply to these questions. While many 
 individual churches are doing splendid 
 work, the country church as an institu- 
 tion is not awake to her task. She has 
 not realized that wonderful changes are 
 taking place. Science applied to farming 
 is working a revolution in rural life as 
 well as in rural industry. We are enter- 
 ing upon a new era in American agricul- 
 tural history. But unless the church 
 arouses herself, her peculiar work among 
 country folk will not be done. 
 
 The present situation then is nothing 
 less than critical. It is vital that the new 
 country life movements be given a reli- 
 gious content. The leadership of the 
 country church is imperative, if the new 
 streams are to flow in the channels of 
 idealism. Let the church assert its lead- 
 ership at once. Let it set the pace for 
 rural progress and determine its great 
 issues. There is no time to be lost. The 
 floods are rising. The day is at hand. 
 
 What Shall Be Done 
 
 What shall we do to arouse the coun- 
 try church, to give it its rightful place 
 
 22 
 
among the forces at work for solving the 
 rural problem? 
 
 We must ask men to consecrate them- 
 selves to life-long service in the country 
 parish. The country church needs men 
 who believe that here is a great task, 
 worthy of high devotion, thorough prep- 
 aration, intelligent study, patient contin- 
 uance in well-doing. 
 
 We must root out the idea that only 
 inferior men can find a permanent work 
 in the country parish. It needs our 
 strongest and best men, particularly in 
 these critical, formative days of a new 
 program for the country church. The 
 issues at stake merit the leadership of 
 great men. Let us do away with even 
 the secret thought that a brilliant theo- 
 logue has “buried himself” in some ob- 
 scure farming community. It is his own 
 fault if he remain buried. The seeds of 
 the nev^ rural religious life may be sown 
 in corruption, in dishonor, in weakness ; 
 but, please God, they shall bear fruit in 
 incorruption, in glory, and in power. We 
 have a right to ask strong men to put 
 their hands to this plow and not to turn 
 back. 
 
 23 
 
We must go out to the men now toil- 
 ing in the rural parishes, with a message 
 of cheer, of co-operation, of encourage- 
 ment. They are a noble band. They 
 need our aid. Let us help them to grip 
 the new sources of power, to assume a 
 new leadership, to work together for 
 larger ends. 
 
 We must appeal to the seminaries, and 
 other training schools for preachers, to 
 send forth men who have formed a well- 
 grounded ambition to explore the re- 
 sources of this great field and who have 
 qualified themselves for the task — who 
 are well armored for the campaign. 
 
 We must go to the colleges, and appeal 
 to strong young men who want hard 
 places, who love to take chances, who 
 have withal the desire to serve their 
 fellows mightily. We must persuade 
 them that here is work that is epoch- 
 making, a man’s work, work* worth 
 while. 
 
 We must appeal to the heroic in young 
 men. Let us not try to show that the 
 country parish is a garden of delight, a 
 place of rest and ease. Rather let its 
 difficulties and puzzling problems con- 
 
 24 
 
stitute a clarion-call to the men of heroic 
 mold. Our fathers met every hard issue 
 in the heroic spirit. They dared the 
 wilds of an unexplored continent to 
 establish a new kingdom of God. They 
 carried the banner of the church across 
 sea and land and planted it among sav- 
 ages. They kept the church in the van 
 of the army of conquest that has sub- 
 dued our western forest and prairie. 
 Have their sons poorer vision, smaller 
 courage, weaker wills? We may not 
 believe it. But we must show them that 
 here is really a man’s work, that some- 
 thing vital is at stake. We must appeal 
 to high motives, expect large sacrifices. 
 
 The critical need just now is for a few 
 strong men of large power to get hold 
 of this country church question in a 
 virile way. It is the time for leadership. 
 We need a score of Oberlins to point the 
 way by actually working out the prob- 
 lem on the field. It is well enough to 
 discuss the problem in its theoretical 
 aspects. It is desirable to organize large 
 movements on behalf of the rural church. 
 But more than all else just now, we need 
 a few men to achieve great results in 
 
 25 
 
the rural parish, to re-establish the lead- 
 ership of the church. No organization 
 can do it. No layman can do it. No 
 educational institution can do it. A 
 preacher must do it — do it in spite of 
 small salary, isolation, conservatism, re- 
 stricted field, overchurching, or any 
 other devil that shows its face. The call 
 is imperative. Shall we be denied the 
 men? 
 
 While we must demand men, single- 
 handed and alone, to meet this call of 
 the country parish, there are two power- 
 ful allies that we may ask to our aid. 
 There is always stimulus in a common 
 purpose. Is not the time ripe for a new 
 “rural band” — a group of half a dozen 
 men from the seminary, who find adja- 
 cent parishes in a rural region, and 
 there, quietly, co-operatively, persistently, 
 grimly, study the situation, take leader- 
 ship in all community life, incite the aid 
 of school and Grange, stir lay support, 
 carry on a great campaign for better 
 individual and community life, and do 
 all under the inspiration and guidance 
 of the religious motive? A plan of this 
 sort, carefully considered, discreetly 
 
 26 
 
managed, patiently developed, would 
 form the nucleus for a new country 
 church. It needs doing. It can be done. 
 Are there men who will do it? 
 
 The time is ripe also for an organized 
 movement on behalf of the country par- 
 ish, that shall give dignity and direction 
 to the efforts of solitary workers. The 
 country parish is a peculiar field. New 
 methods are needed. Men must be 
 aroused from lethargy. A powerful co- 
 operative enterprise must set standards, 
 educate men, co-ordinate effort. 
 
 The country church is indeed calling 
 for men. The prosperous churches in 
 rich farming regions need strong leaders 
 to direct the forces of progress and to 
 lead men to the waters of life. The little 
 white meeting-house on the abandoned 
 New England hillside holds out its arms 
 in mute appeal for men to bring new life. 
 From the cotton fields and mountains of 
 the Southland, from the prairies of the 
 central valleys, from the transformed 
 deserts of the West, comes this call for 
 men to serve the country parish. 
 
 Let not our eyes be blind to these deep 
 needs of our rural life, nor our ears deaf 
 
 27 
 
to the call of the country parish. The 
 time for a great work is at hand. The 
 country church is facing a “present 
 crisis” ; therefore let us remember that 
 
 New occasions teach new duties; Time 
 makes ancient good uncouth; 
 
 They must upward still, and onward, 
 who would keep abreast of Truth; 
 
 Lo, before us gleam her camp-fires! We 
 ourselves must Pilgrims be, 
 
 Launch our Mayflower, and steer boldly 
 through the desperate winter sea, 
 
 Nor attempt the Future's portal with 
 the Past’s blood-rusted key. 
 
 28