USA > Pennsylvania > Chester County > London Grove > Two hundredth anniversary of the founding of London Grove Meeting by the Society of Friends at London Grove, Pennsylvania, tenth month third, 1914 > Part 3
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The meeting minutes recite sad defections; there were periods of estrangements and wise counsel was administered, at times unwisely, but the record of London Grove Meeting flows on as a beautiful stream through most of its course during the first century of its history, and beyond that we do not need to lift the veil this morning.
It is no mean inheritance. The little meeting in the log house of John Smith was an outward avowal of the duty those good peo-
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ple owed to their Heavenly Father. In their lives and the lives of their children we find the satisfaction that we expect.
Ministers came and went among them and the records left are voluminous. This is one of many and must suffice as a close to what I have written.
An English minister, in America in 1756, wrote, “On Sev- enth-day I was at the meeting for ministers and elders, held at London Grove for that Quarter and also at their meeting on First- day, which was blessed with the company of Him that dwelt in the bush; for His sacred fire was kindled in our hearts with living desires that the Mount of Esau might be consumed. On Second- day the affairs of the church were carried on and transacted in brotherly love and condescension toward one another. We had also a comfortable and confirming time together on Third- day, at our farewell meeting, which being a fresh seal of the Father's love and continued regard for his church and people in unity and making us to rejoice together in Him, it will remain, I hope, upon many minds with gratitude to the great Giver of every good gift. Whilst I was here I lodged one night at John Smith's, an ancient Friend, who has kept his place well in the truth."
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The Growing Oneness of the Denominations By J. MASON WELLS, Kennett Square
I T IS fitting that this London Grove Meeting, which has wit- nessed and participated in the progress of the Christian Church for two eventful centuries, should invite one to speak on the important movement of the Church toward union. As I look over this great audience, composed of members of both of the large branches of the Society of Friends, I realize that in a spe- cial sense my topic is in harmony with the spirit of this gathering today. It is also most appropriate that this subject should be treated in Chester County where Church Union is rapidly passing from the realm of vision and hope to that of actuality. Not that we have already attained this union, but we are pressing toward it. We have learned to yearn and to pray for the same things. We have stood side by side in the battle against the liquor evil. We have come to understand one another better than we once did and to enjoy spiritual fellowship with each other. We have learned that the walls of separation pass not between the Churches, but through them, and that it is the Spirit that unites rather than denominational forms or customs or shibboleths. John Woolman writes, "There is a principle which is pure placed in the human mind, which in different places and ages hath had different names; it is, however, pure, and proceeds from God. It is deep and inward, confined to no forms of religion, nor excluded from any, when the heart stands in perfect serenity. In whomsoever this takes root and grows, they become brethren." Those with open minds, generous spirits and moral fearlessness are drawn together, while those with closed minds, craven spirits and moral timidity (and there seem to be a few of these in every Church fold) raise their voices in unison. This progress in practical union has made us believers in the possibility of the union for which Jesus prayed : "that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us; that the world may believe that thou didst send me."
The Path Toward Union
As one lets his eye glance over the two thousand years of the Christian Church, he is made to realize that the present degree
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of union has been reached by a circuitous path. In the beginning of the Church, there was spiritual unity. The early followers of Jesus were made one by the spirit of their Master. The opposition that they met and the gigantic task that they undertook, served to make this union all the stronger. Very soon, however, the Jewish- Gentile controversy entered their midst as a separating wedge. The Gentile party became the stronger and at last won the favor of Rome. The Jewish Christians are lost sight of and the Gentile Church becomes the bride of Rome. She accepts as wedding gifts many of the rituals taken from the pagan temples of Greece and Italy. Endowed now with political power and adorned with pagan rites, she marches triumphantly against the old religions. Soon she breaks into two parts, which are called the Greek Catholic Church and the Roman Catholic Church. Each Church took steps to prevent a future division. The Roman section, which is the branch that concerns us today, adopted a ritual, wrote a creed and formulated a plan of government, all of which she declared to be of God. These she was able to enforce for a long time on the Western Church. When, in the sixteenth century, the accumu- lating spirit of revolt in behalf of individual liberty and personal access to God, was able to break the crust that had thus far held it in check, the Church exploded in many directions and into many parts. This breaking up of inforced uniformity was a step neces- sary to the ultimate attainment of spiritual unity. The century when this took place is one of the most heroic in the history of the Church and it is known as the Reformation period.
The following century was one of creed making. Each of the branches must have the principles upon which it revolted formu- lated for the benefits of its adherents
The eighteenth century was given up to the defence of the creeds and doctrines. It also saw the beginning of a great revival.
By the Nineteenth century the Churches had learned that their strength lay not in creeds, however beautifully written, and not in oratorical defence of their doctrines, however impressive this might be to those that listened, but rather in the service they could perform for humanity. It is the age of missions and Church expansion. Its great personalities and its wonderful achieve- ments stir us with admiration. It tells us of Carey, who brought the Gospel of faith, hope and love to India; of Morrison, who car-
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ried to China the torch of Christianity, which was the beginning of a light that has spread to nearly every part of that great Empire; of Livingstone, who went with the healing touch and kindly word of his Master to Africa; of Paton, Judson and a host of others.
All these nineteen centuries have prepared the way for the one in which we live. They have layed the foundations, both by success and failure, for the temple of God which it is our privilege to build. We occupy a strategic position and before us stands an unprecedented opportunity. God is now waiting to see if we have enough Christianity, manhood, courage, faith and love to use it. It is the privilege of the Christian Churches to make this the century of Church union. This is the era of union in business, of union in labor and of union in social endeavors. Men are putting together their funds for the accomplishment of industrial feats, others are putting together their intellectual powers in order to perform great educational tasks, and laborers are banding them- selves together to better their economic and social conditions. In harmony with this foresighted spirit of the times, will the Churches lay aside distrust and jealousies and unite in the work God has given them to do?
The Character of the Coming Union
The best methods of union can be learned by the experience of the past. We are able to see what has fostered separation and what has tended toward spiritual union. This union will not be uniformity in thought and action. This method had a long trial and it failed. A wise pastor does not try to have this in a local church. The Church had the strongest organic and spiritual unity in the morning of its existence when it was simple, and democratic and when it seriously faced the gigantic task of converting the world. Will not its noon-day be as bright as its morning light? If it profits by its experience, it will be brighter.
This I believe it will do and therefore I think the united Church of the future will bear the three characteristics that history shows have made for unity in the past. Its theology will be as sim- ple as that of Jesus. Its government will be as democratic as that of the early Church. The whole trend of civilization is in this direction. And its aim and purpose will be as wide and intensive
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as that of the Apostle Paul. To some this means a group of people with no more adhesion than the sands upon the sea-shore. To others it is seen to be a spiritual and organic unit, like the human body, an organism made up of many parts and each part working for the whole and the whole being guided by the spirit of Christ.
One of the most helpful and stimulating interpretations of Christianity is that which was given to the public by Prof. Josiah Royce in 1913 in his two volumes entitled, "The Problem of Christianity." He takes Paul's idea of the Church and revitalizes it for us. He says that as a social being man lives in communities and upon this community he depends for all that makes civilization articulate. His communities have a sort of organic life which can be compared to the soul of man. It grows or decays, it is strong or weak, it is good or bad. Like an individual it has a mind of its own and this is expressed in its customs, its language and its religion. There are many motives why an individual should behave toward this community as if it were not only a unit, but a very precious and worthy being. He may love it, he may be devoted to it, he may serve it, he may live or die for it. History gives many illustrations of such attitudes of love and devotion. Such is the relation that a true man holds to his family, to his village and to his country. He regards its type of life as worth essentially more than his own. In fact in his devotion to this community, he finds the fulfilment of his own moral destiny.
Thus does Paul view the Church. It is a corporate entity. It is the new body of Christ. He who had died on the cross and was buried in Joseph's tomb has risen and his new body is the Church. The spirit that had previously manifested himself in the person of Jesus now expresses himself in the Church. The Church is the earthly continuation of the life of Jesus Christ. It is his new body, one body made up of many members. There is then a diversity of gifts, but one spirit. To each is given his own peculiar manifestation of the spirit. To one is given the word of wisdom and to another the word of knowledge. One has faith, another the gift of healing, another the ability to prophesy and others gifts according to their individualities. "All these worketh the one and the same spirit." In this one body which is made up of many members, and all bound together by the same spirit, Paul finds the solution of the mystery of life. Here is found the
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way of salvation and the secret of the triumph of the Kingdom. The Church becomes the social unit for which one lives. He loses hi- life for it and by so doing multiplies his usefulness. He saves his personality by binding it together with others in the spiritual unity of the Church.
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In some such way as this do I conceive the unity of the coming Church. It is a democracy and at the same time it is a unity in which each one is bound to the whole. This cord of union is not by pressure from without, but by the spirit from within. It is not by uniformity, but by the spirit of the ever living Christ that we are held together.
There are signs of this coming oneness on every hand. In 1910, at the World's Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, the representatives of the various denominations learned to under- stand and came to respect each other as never before. They also came to realize how much greater good they could do if they were one, instead of many. From that conference Bishop Brent came back to the United States with a new vision before him. Through his influence, a call has been sent out for an all-world conference which will include all Christian Churches. Many of the denom- inations have accepted this call with joy. Delegates have been sent to the Church of England which was favorably inclined and has appointed a commission. At the beginning of this year delegates from the non-Episcopal bodies went to England and conferred with the non-conformist churches with equal success. When this meeting will come we do not know and what it will accomplish we cannot tell but we have a right to pray and believe that the longed for union will be greatly hastened by it. Meanwhile word comes from various parts of the world telling of churches here and churches there that have united in the name of Christ. It has been my privilege to belong to an organization in Philadelphia for the past few years which has as members ministers from the Presby- terian church, the Baptist church, the Jewish Synagog, the Episco- pal church, the society of Friends and other denominations and the man who sat at the head of the table as president was Henry Wil- bur. He saw this great union movement coming and he gave him- self unstintedly to its advancement.
I said in speaking of the Early Church that one of the forces that held it together was the gigantic task that it faced. This is
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one of the greatest forces making for union today. At times the Church has turned its eyes inward and has been concerned almost exclusively with its own spiritual condition. When she thought at all of her relation to the world she conceived it under the figure of the Cities of Refuge or the Ark of Noah. She was a place of refuge for the pursued or an ark of safety for the dying. I do not say that there is no Biblical basis for this conception or that the idea is wholly erroneous, but I am glad to see the modern Church emphasizing another view. The Church today is coming to realize that her mission is to Christianize the world. God has given her a light that she must not hide under the bushel of her own holiness, but rather she must let it so shine that it will illumine every human relation of every nation on earth. Her task is not merely to save here and there an individual from the mire of a Godless world, but it is her business to drain off the mire and make the world beauti- ful in righteousness and holiness.
As Churches and denominations become conscious of this larger work, they come to realize their own inadequacy and weak- ness, they lose their sense of denominational sufficiency, they cease to emphasize their historic, ritualistic and theological superiority and they begin to ask, "Cannot we, who are doing so little by our- selves, unite with others in advancing God's Kingdom?"
Let us speak of this task under the figure of three concentric circles. The smaller circle is the one that concerns us most imme- diately. This smaller circle represents a work so great that no single Church or denomination can deal with it adequately. We call it the Rural Problem.
The Rural Problem
The strength of the nation rests in a large degree in its rural population. So many of the leaders in industry, education and in religion are born in the country that degeneracy here means weak- ness everywhere. It is also true that the strong personalities that remain in the country exert an influence that is widely and intensely felt. The strong and good people in the rural sections leven to some degree, the whole community. For these two reasons, in order to give the nation as a whole well-equipped leaders and in order to keep our rural social life on a high plane, the country
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Church should produce men and women of the highest possible character. To do this she must make an impression on the com- munity. She must spiritualize and vitalize at least some of the homes and a part of the social life, the economic life and the edu- cational life of the people.
In "The Country Church," a book written by Gill and Pin- chot, we are shown the spiritual conditions of two typical rural counties; Windsor County, Vermont, and Tompkins County, New York. They give us a picture of the Churches, that is not very inspiring. During a period of twenty years they have gradually declined. The attendance has grown gradually less, the ministers are more poorly equipped for their work and the Churches are losing their grip upon the people.
There is one Church in Windsor County, however, which is an exception. While others have declined, it has grown strong. While others have depended upon periodic attempts at revivals, it has steadily applied the Gospel to the needs with which it is sur- rounded. It has dared to be unselfish in its work. Its constant question has been, not how can I surpass a rival Church or how can I get the most support from the town, but how can I be of the most service to the people. It has interested itself in civic bet- terment. It has taken an interest in the whole life of the boys and girls. It has helped them in their play and in their work. At Christmas it has a community tree instead of a Church tree. It has led in every good work and has not asked for praise or glory in return. In thus manifesting the spirit of Christ, it has drawn men and women and boys and girls to itself until its audiences are large and its work moves forward with enthusiasm. Such work as this cannot be done by little, struggling, rival Churches. Yet this is the task of the country Church. As our Churches are com- ing to face this task and are turning their faces from self-preserva- tion to the establishment on earth of the Kingdom of God, they are being drawn into fellowship, co-operation and union. The papers have recently reported the union of a Methodist and a Baptist church in Utopia Springs, Massachusetts. Before the union neither Church was self-supporting. The Baptist Church was receiving $400.00 a year from its missionary board and the Metho- dist Church obtained $300.00 a year from its board of home mis- sions. In the union this outside support was not needed and it
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could be used in some other field. One of the Church buildings was changed into a public entertainment hall. The united Church took the Methodist Church building and called the Baptist minister for its pastor and he is to receive a salary of $1400.00 a year and house. They are now able to do the work of God's Kingdom in the spirit of vigor, hope and Christ-like-ness. This is the goal to which the rural problem is driving the numerous denominational Churches of our towns and country-sides. To the open-minded, the generous spirited and the morally fearless and especially to those concerned in the social betterment of our country, this is seen to be the will of God.
The Social Task
This inner circle which we have called the Rural Problem is a part of a still larger circle. It is included in a task which is nation-wide. Some of the greatest and most consecrated men of this country have attempted to awaken the church to this larger need. Washington Gladden has turned the eyes of many toward it through his book on "Social Salvation." Francis Greenwood Peabody, in "Jesus Christ and the Social Question" has expounded the gospels from the point of view of our pressing social problems. "Christianity and the Social Crisis" and "Christianizing the Social Order" by Walter Rauschenbusch have produced a social and spiritual revival in many churches. Scott Nearing in "Social Religion" has burned into the hearts of many young people the terrible social facts with which we are confronted.
This social task is one that appeals to vital Christianity. No particular creed or ritual or form of Church government is espe- cially adapted to deal with it. It is no longer a question whether this or that denomination can speak the magic word that will save society from moral ruin, but whether all the churches together have enough vital force, consecrated intelligence and holy love to meet the need. Is there enough of the spirit of God in the churches to make them exchange churchliness for Christianity and to make them turn their backs upon the dividing issues of the past and take up the living need of the present? If the church still has this adaptability and life within her, we may expect to see her welded by this social task into a union stronger than she has known since
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the first century. Fighting in separate detachments the church cannot abolish the saloon, nor cleanse society of its moral evil, nor set free the army of laboring children, nor change industrial bar- barism to Christian co-operation, but fighting these unitedly she can conquer and in the warfare she will be drawn into spiritual unity. "To become fully Christian," says Rauschenbusch, "and to do their duty by society the churches must get together. The disunion of churches wastes the funds intrusted to them, wastes the abilities of its servants, and wastes the power of religious enthusiasm or turns it into antisocial directions."
It is true that the Church has already done much for society, but she has done this not by reason of any rite or credal doctrine by which the denominations are separated, but by virtue of the fundamental Christian principles which all are supposed to teach. By this spiritual message and influence, it has beautified the life of our homes until the words, "father," "mother," "wife," "hus- band," "sister," "brother," "son" and "daughter" express rela- tions of the noblest loyalty and devotion. The Church too has democratized and exalted our institutions of education until their doors are open to nearly all our children and those who enter are made wiser and better. It has touched the laws and courts of the land to such a degree that a poor man believes he will receive justice even though there be against him a rich and powerful corporation. Not any of these institutions are perfect, but they have at least been partially Christianized.
Not so much can be said for business. Here the law of profits is still mightier than the law of righteousness, the spirit of gain more powerful than the spirit of brotherhood and love. The god of mammon rules in peculiar ways. He blesses the intelligent and those who work and render service, but he also blesses the unin- telligent and those who do not work and those who render no serv- ice and often times he blesses this last group more richly than the first. Above all else he wants profits. He makes these profits on the land we occupy, on the houses we build, on the clothes we wear and the food we eat. He allows nothing to stand in the way of profits. To make larger profits on rubber he sacrifices the lives of the natives of the Congo states ; to get profits on patent medicines, he injures the health of the people; to increase his profits on the sea, he sends his ships across the deep without the costly life-pre-
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serving equipments; and in order to gain enormous profits he sends forth the saloon-keeper, the gambler and the promoter of white- slavery to prey upon weak and morally exhausted human beings. At times the god of profits finds himself confronted by the beauties of the world. At such times he angrily roots up his opponent. He lays to the ground the stately forests, he covers the fair hill sides with slag from the coal mines, he drains Niagara of its dancing, laughing waters and he subjects art to the service of materialism. He enters the sacred precinct of the family and by making wages small and the cost of food, clothing and houses large, he delays or prevents marriage, hinders the advent of children and puts his blessing upon the social evil. When some child of the people cries out against him and bids him consider the common good, he answers by making large his advertisements of cigarettes, opiates and narcotics. He expels men from industry and puts in their places women and children, and in times of peace he glorifies war. He draws graft money from the roads over which the people travel and from the buildings in which public justice is meted out. He has been able to enrich himself most rapidly from the kinds of business that produce paupers, insane, imbeciles and criminals. In the path over which this materialistic god has traveled is found the haggard man who works hard and can save nothing, the mother- less girl whose barren room and exhausted body leads her to sell her soul, the factory child whose tattered shawl fails to protect her from the March winds and the idle man whose weak appeal for a job has solicited for the thousandth time a sharp rebuff.
The social need appeals to the strong, the noble and the good. In so far as the churches have these qualities, it appeals to them. This social task is too great for any denomination, but it is not too great for a united Church. The wisdom, patience, sacrifice and love that are needed, are the very virtues upon which the Church is built. As we give these treasures to the suffering world, we will be led to clasp hands and to speak words of encouragement to one another. This organic and spiritual unity may not come in a day, but it will come. As we give together, as we serve together and as we sacrifice together, we will be drawn into a holy oneness.
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