The Making of a Country Parish: A StoryMills, Harlow S. (Harlow Spencer)
Philosophy
The Making of a Country Parish: A Story
Mills, Harlow S. (Harlow Spencer)
Rural churches; Rural clergy
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
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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