Chapter XVII: Appendix

ACTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERCHURCH COOPERATION OF THE OHIO RURAL LIFE ASSOCIATION

On June 14 and 15, 1916, a meeting was held of the Committee on Interchurch Cooperation of the Ohio Rural Life Association at Columbus. This Committee is composed largely of superintendents and representatives of several of the leading denominations of the State. They met for the purpose of making a thorough study of country church conditions and were determined, if possible, to devise a remedy. The following were among those present: Bishop Wm. F. Anderson of the Methodist Episcopal Church; the Rt. Rev. Theodore Irving Reese of the Protestant Episcopal Church; Superintendents, I. J. Cahill, W. J. Grimes, A. W. Jamieson, Robert E. Pugh, E. S. Rothrock and Omer S. Thomas of the Disciples of Christ, the United Presbyterian, the Presbyterian, the Congregational and Christian churches; Dr. Washington Gladden, officially representing the Congregational churches; Rev. C. W. Brugh, representing the Reformed Church, and Rev. E. L. Averitt, representing Rev. Tileston F. Chambers, Superintendent of the Baptist churches. Superintendent Rev. C. W. Kurtz of the United Brethren, and Superintendent C. S. Beck of the Methodist Protestant Church have also endorsed the action of the meeting.

After a thorough discussion of rural church conditions, the following measures were agreed upon as remedies:

Interchurch cooperation in every locality to create conditions favorable to the development of Christian character, to build a strong, wholesome, attractive community, to hold community religious services and social gatherings and to render all forms of social service needed in the community but not rendered by other institutions.

Where there is now no resident pastor in a township the combining of all churches so far as possible either in one church or in one circuit or federated church under one pastor who should be held responsible for rendering social and religious service in the township.

To bring this to pass all ministers now visiting and preaching in a community should by their preaching exalt christian unity and the Kingdom of God, and in preaching and personal work try to prepare the people for acceptance of a policy of community service.

To secure cooperation of ministers:

Preparation and sending of bulletins to every pastor, containing program and making clear reasons for adopting it.

Preparation and sending of letters from this Committee to every rural pastor, urging acceptance of higher ideals of service as here set forth.

Preparation and sending to country pastors of frequent bulletins containing information and description of notable examples of good country church work.

Appointment of sub-committees to secure action by denominational bodies approving program of Committee.

The following statements of policy and methods were also adopted:

In a township or community requiring more than one church or pastor there should be a "federation of churches," that is, a joint committee of pastors and delegates officially appointed by the several churches to learn and meet all needs, religious or social, which require cooperation or concerted action.

In communities whose compactness permits and whose population and resources require there should be only one congregation and pastor, but where two or more churches exist, churches should be united organically in a single denominational church, the denomination to be determined on the give and take plan. If organic union in a denominational church is not feasible, a federated church should be formed.

In a township or community where population and resources are inadequate to support more than one pastor, but where the population is so distributed that more than one place of worship and organized church are necessary, a federated circuit should be formed and a common pastor employed. The several churches should be officially represented on a joint committee who shall act for the circuit not only in employing the common pastor, but also in learning and meeting all needs, religious and social, which require cooperation and concerted action.

In the forming or re-forming of circuits it should be brought to pass that the various fields served by one pastor should be as close together as possible. To make the minister's field as compact as possible, interdenominational circuits should be formed.

The rural ministry should, it possible, be so distributed that in each township there shall be a resident pastor.

Measures to prevent the recurrence of over-churched conditions should be taken by every branch of the church. Each should determine not to organize churches where they are not needed or certain to be needed. In a new community needing but one church, an expression of the people should be obtained as to the choice of the church to be established. The desires of the largest number should be followed.

Where several little churches exist in a sparsely settled community and a union or federation is not possible or advisable, consideration should be given to the plan of having all these withdraw, and inviting a branch of the church not represented locally to come in and organize a single church.

In the exchange or withdrawal of churches reciprocity should be at least State-wide in its extent.

Where a denomination is given control or dominance in a community by withdrawal of other denominations, the continuance of that control or dominance should be conditional on the church and minister maintaining in their service a high degree of efficiency--the standard of efficiency to be determined by the denominational leaders who should formulate a few simple principles by which the usefulness of a church can be measured. The denomination holding a field should, for a reasonable length of time, report to those withdrawing as to progress.

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Transcriber's Notes:

Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_.

Many tables have been split and keys have been added to enhance readability in this text version.

In the key to the maps on page 146, each symbol has been replaced with a [description] in brackets.

Punctuation has been corrected without note.

The following misprints have been corrected:
"Surburban" corrected to "Suburban" (Table of Contents)
"opportunites" corrected to "opportunities" (page 75)
"surburban" corrected to "suburban" (page 111)
"representin" corrected to "representing" (page 235)

Other than the corrections listed above, inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been retained from the original.

End of Project Gutenberg's Six Thousand Country Churches, by Charles Otis Gill