VOL. XLDL
CHARLOTTE, N. C.
ESSENTIALS OF A STANDARD CHURCH
(A paper read at the Twelfth Annual Presbyterian Workers’ Con
ference, held at Johnson C. Smith University, Jan. 25-28.)
By Rev. O. E. Sanders
This is a most important sub
ject—one that calls for very
careful consideration. What de
termines the standard or model
church in this modern age of
ours is a perplexing question.
Every aige has had its keynote
—a chief characteristic which
may be summed up in a word
or phrase. The watchword of
the ancient world was conquest.
During the period of Greek do
minion the watchword was cul
ture. The Roman period may
well be characterized by the
word power. The middle ages
were dominated by ecclesiasti
cism. The watchword of the Re
formation and succeeding period
was liberty, succeeded by the
early modern age of industrial
democracy.
When we view in me large
the present age, we shall doubt
less -agree that the one word
which most nearly characterizes
our modern age in all its com
plex relationships is efficiency.
Efficiency means simply the get
of results, and in all walks
of life this is a supreme con
cern. Production, distribution,
transportation, communication,
indeed all factors in the econom
ic life of the world today have
been revolutionized by the sci
entifically applied efforts of men
to secure the greatest possible
results with the least possible
friction, waste or loss. This
practical test of results has been
extended to the realm of educa
tion, the arts and sciences, phil
osophy, sociology and politics.
't * Thft question at once arises:
"V
cy be properly applied in mat
ters of religion?” The answer is,
‘They can.” There is a Scrip
tural doctrine of efficiency.
Jesus Himself makes affirmative
answer in unmistakable lan
guage. “By their fruits ye shall
know them” was His test of men
and institutions, precisely the
test of the modern efficiency ex
pert.
Jesus recognized as all suc
cessful leaders of men have
done, that efficiency is primarily
a matter of men, not of method,
when He said to His disciples:
“Ye did not choose me, but I
chose you, and appointed you
that ye should go and bear fruit,
and that your fruit should
abide.” His ministry, His train
ing of the twelve, His plan v f
organization for His churches j
His program for world-conquest,
all exhibit the perfection of ef
nciency.
The Acts of the Apostles is a
manual of church efficiency.
Never did men achieve such re
sults as these early Christians
in the face of tremendous obsta
cles. The Apostle Paul stands
out. as the world’s greatest effi
ciency expert in religion, and in
chapter after chapter of his in
spired writings he deals with
this practical and vital subject.
Much emphasis is being placed
today upon standard institutions
of learning. For instance, there
is the standard or “A” class
college, with a certain amount
of endowment, splendid and
well-equipped buildings, and a
number of well-qualified and
full-time professors and in
structors, all of which mean an
efficient institution of learning.
Following up this same anal
ogy, the standard church is sim
ply an efficient church. tThe gi
gantic task which Christ has
given us of bringing in His
Kingdom on earth demands the
utmost efficiency of which hu
man brain and skill are capable.
So if the term efficient is used
from time to time in endeavor
ing to set forth the essentials of
the standard church you will un
derstand why. _
1. The standard cnnrch will
be true to the original New Tes
tament model.
The nlen upon whom Jesus
left the indelible impress of His
purpose and mission began un
der the guidance of the Holy
Spirit to carry out their Master’s
commission. These men knew
well the mind of Christ, and
were given infallible inspiration
and divine guidance for what
they said and did. They
preached a gospel which can
never be improved upon. They
bore a witness which can never
be surpassed. They organized
churches whose principles and
workings form our authoritative
and final guide.
The original New Testament
model was a soul-saving church.
Christ’s supreme mission was
the saving of souls. “The Son
of man is come to seek and save
that which was lost.” He came
not “to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance.” The
church of today must save souls;
that is her great mission. Spir
itual births are necessary to
keep the church alive and grow
ing as well as physical births
are necessary to keep the race
alive and increasing.
The early church believed in
social purity. If there was more
chastity today there would be
more peaceful and happy homes,
and divorces would be reduced
to a minimum. The church has
a wonderful challenge to preach
pure living both by example
and precept.
Then, too, this New Testa
ment Church believed in prayer.
It came into existence through
prayer. Prayer was its vital
breath, its native air. It wrought
wonders through prayer. It
was~vieteorious--fchre«gh -prayer:
And the church that is success
ful and efficient today is one
that lives close to the throne of
God.
2. A standard church will
be loyal to the truth revealed
in the Scriptures.
It will test its doctrines and
practices by the New Testa
ment as sufficient, authorita
tive and final. It will accept the
New Testament conception
that the churches which Jesus
authorized His disciples to or
ganize are God’s agency for the
spread of His Kingdom unto the
uttermost parts of the earth. To
them are committed both the
responsibility and privilege of
carrying out the fourfold pur
pose of the great commission.
This commission in its command
to go into all the world, provides
for missionary activities; in its
command to make disciples, for
preaching and evangelizing
agencies; in its command to
baptize, for church membership
and fellowship, with all that this
relationship entails; and in its
command to teach, with all that
religious education implies, for
the teaching and training func
tion. To /, /ikewise is commit
ted the //ministration of the
two onf/fnces—baptism and
the Loe^j Supper—which por
tray the very heart of the gos
pei.
Realizing this an efficient or
standard church will strive to
keep alive the consciousness of
God among the people whom it
touches; to maintain intelligent
interest in and an understand
ing and appreciation of the Bi
ble as the Word of God to men;
to create and maintain a higher
type of citizenship and neighbor
liness; to minister to the spirit
ual, mental and physical needs
of men of every class and condi
tion, so far as in it lies; and to
propagate in its purity and full
ness, unto the uttermost parts
of the earth the gospel of Christ,
which is the power of God unto
every one that believeth.
3. The standard church to
day, no less than in the days oi
the Apostles, will place chief
emphasis on spiritual values.
The efficient means-methods
and devices, the plans and
agencies—employed in the
achievement of results will be
kept in their places as means*
and not magnified into ends is
themselves.
We cannot win the lost world,
build up the saved in Christian
character, and project the influ
ence of the church with passion
and power by card indices, intri
cately organized societies and
church clubs, well-equipped
buildings, effective financial sys
tems, attractive advertising, or
any other such agency, apart
from regenerated, spiritually
minded, warm-hearted, passion
ately earnest men and women,
who have had a genuine experi
ence of grace. These agencies
may indeed be made to serve
spiritual ends and the modern
church should use them with in
telligent discrimination, even
enthusiasm; but let us not de
ceive ourselves by thinking
that we can bring in Christ's
Kingdom by management’ and
device!
True efficiency means power,
and through the ages men have;
been seeking to make their re
ligious organizations more pow
erful. What is the source of
power? Our primary, intuitive
conception of God is that He is
all-powerful. But when Jesus
wanted to describe the all-pow
erful One, He said: “God.is
a spirit.” The source of power is
spirit. The most powerful
church is the one made up of the
most genuinely spiritually
minded people.
Saved men and women thus
led by God’s Spirit, walking
worthily of their calling, will
keep the unity of the Spirit in
the bond of peace. In such a
church there will be absence of
division and strife, of selfish
ness and worldliness, of covet
ousness and neglect of fluty,—■
spots and wrinkles upon the
church that weaken and destrojf
Such a c^rgli_rf
consciously and unconsciously
wield a mighty influence for
righteousness at home and
abroad. Possessed of this spir
ituality, the church may then
infuse the breath of life into
modern efficiency methods that
will vastly multiply its power
and influence and usefulness.
4. The standard church will
seek the development of its
every member into the stature
of the fullness of Christ.
Nowhere in the Scripture is
there the slightest warrant for
proxy religion. The religion of
Jesus Christ is spiritual and per
sonal and comes into the soul by
way of voluntary, conscious,
personal faith in Christ as Sav
iour.
,The other side of this familiar
doctrine is that no saved indi
vidual is exempted from the ac
tive, effective service of Him
who has been accepted as Sav
iour and Lord. “Unto each of
us was the grace given accord
ing to the measure of the gift of
Christ.” Not all possess the
same talents and qualifications,
wherefore “He gave some to be
apostles; and some prophets;
and some evangelists; and some
pastors and teachers.” For every
saved individual there is, or
ought to be, a place of usefulness
in the church; and one of the
church’s highest functions is to
discover its members’ highest
capabilities, and then lead each
into “the work of ministering,
unto the building up of the body
oi unrist.
It is worth while to notice that
this Scriptural conception of
seeking first the indoctrination,
enlistment and development of
the church’s membership is the
reverse of much of our latter day
practice. The test of efficiency in
the average church has often
been the number of new mem
bers added to the roll rather
than the nurture and growth of
those already saved. We justly
glory in our evangelistic zeal
and success, but we need no less
to strive for this other ideal of
every member enlistment. To
do so will not diminish but in
crease our evangelistic effective
ness; for instead of a compara
tively small group of preachers
as evangelists we shall develop
soul-winning personal workers
iii the ranks of the laity, who
Will make possible the apostolic
&Jeal of adding unto the churcb
4ay by day those that are saved.
r 6. A. standard church is pro
gressive. .'-v
We are living a complex age,
which is destroying long stand
ing traditions and tearing people
away from age-long habits. The
church in many sections e£ the
country has found it^g&ppn
fronted with an open Sal&itth
with all kinds of recreation
places pleading for support. The
^unprecedented wealth of the
Country has made automobiles
common and good roads are
plentiful. The multiplication of
lodges, welfare associations and
similar movements has given
means of altruistic expression
which in the more primitive
days were found in the church
alone. The church has frankly
tealiaed that it must use every
resource to hold its own and to
serve in a strange, yet fascinat
ing age.
tt This age calls for a message
and a method of the day. The
laws of God are immutable. The
principles of right living and
^service do not change. They
:have no geographical barrier,
no chronological limits. But men
change, their methods change,
their opinions change, and the
church must recognize these con
ditions and adapt itself to them.
Departments of knowledge
change. Our world has been
many times re-created, its des
tinies ever and anon entrusted
to new minds and spirits.
Therefore we cannot do our
work by the same methods and
principles of yesterday. The
day calls for rehabilitation, for
an adjustment, that we may find
and appreciate the proper eval
uations which the new day de
fnands. The young people seem
jj£b&&lgpked upon as the gravest
problem with which we are
grappling today. But should we
think of them as a problem?
Whatever else we are called we
do not wish to be called a prob
lem. That implies that others
(Continued on page 2)
RACE CURRENTS IN AFRI
CA.
Today African news finds a
place in those sources of public
information dealing with com
merce, politics, and education,
as well as religion and the mis
sionary enterprises which it
promotes. She is now a part of
the moving order of world
affairs. Her products add an
nually increasing tonnage to the
vessels which sail from her ports
to the markets of the world,
while her people are using an
ever-increasing amount of the
goods produced elsewhere.
As has been and is the case
in America, there is a debit side
to the contact of Europeans with
Africa and Africans. This is
supported by instances of ruth
less military and economic ag
gression; periods of forced la
bor; in parts of Africa, particu
larly in the Eastern and South
ern parts a questionable land
policy; and in some parts of the
Continent a policy of legislation
which almost all native Africans
and many white people denounce
as fundamentally unjust.
On the other hand, there are
undeniable benefits of the pres
ence of European civilization in
Africa: The suppression of slav
ery; the great prayer and effort
of the great Livingstone; the in
troduction and spread of a re
ligion which led and still leads
Africans to a God of love; edu
cation; improved health condi
tions; small but growing Afri
can leadership,—all of these are
unmistakable and fully appre
ciated assets. Besides, it is with
encouragement that one notes
the more liberal policies to which
governments are giving utter
ance, and in some instances
actually putting into practice as
on the West Coast, for instance,
and as has been the case in the
Transkei in South Africa for a
long time.—Max Yergan, in The
Southern Workman
EBENEZER CHURCH, NEW
BERN, N. C.
Death of Two of the Church’s
Most Dependable Members
and Officers.
By Annie Mae Sutton
Twice in the last two weeks
we have been visited by God’s
messenger and have been left
sad by the untimely death of two
of thfc church’s most loyal mem
bers and officers, both of whom
were deacons and trustees of
Ebenezer.
Brother John Cordon departed
this life Mch. 14, some time be
tween night and morning. Mr.
Cordon was for three years a
staunch member of the church,
and his death was so complete
a shock that yet we cannot re
alize it. He was in apparently
good health. He went as usual
to the trustees’ meeting Monday
night and then went home in
good spirits and to sleep, which
proved to be his last sleep.
The funeral was held March
20, at Ebenezer, conducted by
Dr. C. J. Baker, of Atlanta, Ga.,
for whose coming Brother Cor
don was helping to arrange. Dr.
Baker preached a beautiful,
most wonderful and comforting
sermon, reminding the bereaved
wife and three sisters and hosts
of relatives and friends that be
cause their loved one had gone
before them to his mansion pre
pared that they now had a
greater claim on heaven. He
spoke from the 23rd Psalm, tak
ing as his text: “Yea, though I
walk through the valley of the
shadow of death I will fear no
evil; for thou art with me: thy
rod and thy staff they comfort
me.” Brother Cordon will be
missed; is missed already; his
quiet, unassuming manner had
won for him the respect, admira
tion, and love of both his church
and community at large which
was evident by the large crowd
that gathered to pay their last
tribute of respect to the de
ceased and by the floral offer
On Friday night, March 25,
at 12:30 A. M., in St. Luke’s
Hospital, New Bern, God took
the soul of another beloved
brother, Deacon James William
Mills, Sr.
It can be truthfully stated
that Brother Mills was not
only one of the most depend
able and energetic members of
Ebenezer, but the most thor
oughly active. It has been said
and found to be true that
he awoke in the morning
with a plan, idea or imagi
nation of a way or means
to help his church and by night
it had become a reality. Bro.
Mills was a life-long member of
the church.
Bro. Mills’ death and the way
he went has stunned us. He
met with an accident, a fall that
paralyzed him, and in less than
24 hours he passed away.
He is survived by a widow,
one daughter and three sons.
The funeral was preached by
Dr. C. Dillard, of Goldsboro,
Monday, March 28, at Ebenezer.
Dr. Dillard is an old acquain
tance of the Mills family, hav
ing known the widow before
marriage.
His text, “He that believeth
on me though he were dead yet
shall he live,” were comforting
words to mourning friends and
found harbor in many hearts.
He pointed out to them that
death is the emancipator of life,
that life is in bondage till death
sets it free; that life is a prepa
ration for death and death is
entrance to new, better, higher
and holier life. Truly Brother
Mills’ place can never be filled
in the church nor in the hearts
of his fellow citizens.
A large crowd of admiring
friends of both races followed
him with flowers to his last
resting place in Greenwood
Cemetery.
The arrangements for both
of these funerals were in charge
of H. F. Sutton.
We are glad to announce tc
our friends that the Hon. R. W
Williamson is improving rapid
ly. Mr. Williamson has been on
the sick list for quite some time,
but is able to be back St his of
fice again and in his church. '
We were glad to have' Dr. C.
J. Baker with us last Sunday.
He preached for us at three ser
vices. The collection" for the
morning service was $48.35—
$24.35 having been donated by
the Stitch and Chatter dub
Dr. Baker administered the
Communion at that service. The
weather was ideal and we were
proud of such a large attend
ance. ■' ..
Ebenezer is still trying. The
way seems hard at times, but
she sticks to her task and we1—
though still far behind—hre
nearer the goal.
With the convening 6f Pres
bytery we are hoping for & new
minister. It has been hard at
times without one—hard to
keep our people interested and
together. But all in all, we feel
that we have a right to be
proud.
The Stitch and Chatter club
is alive and wide . awake and
enough cannot be said about the
help it is to Ebenezer.
BETHANY PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH, NORFOLK, VA.
Sunday morning, March 27,
our pastor preached a very ex
cellent sermon from the text,
“If the Son makes you free, you
are free indeed.” John 8:36.
The evening service being the
close of the church year, our
minister chose as his theme, “I
have finished my course.” The
entire congregation was very
much impressed with the di -
course.
Our church is divided into
clubs and each club is working
with a deal of enthusiasm. <
March 14th club No. 2 prer
sented a solo contest at which
the flg&rsulff oT|20ttO
ized. Club No. 1 gave a child’s
diamond ring contest Monday,
March 21, and realized $122. .
Sunday under the, auspices, of
club No. 3 Woman’s Day will be
observed at Bethany. All ser
vices will be conducted by the
women.
Mrs. Nance is rehearsing, the
choir for an Easter ; cantata
which will be rendered April
18. . . V. „
Our Synodical and Presbyteri
al missionaries, Rev. F. C. Shir
ley and Mr. S.. L. Young, visited
us this week and held an insti
tute Wednesday and Thursday
nights. We were very glad tp
have them and feel greatly bene
fited by their coming. We hope
they will come again soon. ,
Mrs. Jessie S. Moone attendr
ed the Librarians’ Conference at
Hampton Institute last week.
The following persons will
leave for the Presbytery of
Southern Virginia, Randolph,
Va,. Tuesday, April 5: Dr. S.'I.
Moone, Rev. M. G. Hoskins, Mrs.
Lomax and Rev. and Mrs, F. D.
Nance. 1
SPECIAL TRAIN TO THE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Through Rev.' Benjamin M.
Gemmell, Ph. D., D. Di, Stated
Clerk of the Synod of Pennsyl
vania, a specially conducted
General Assembly train wjH: be
operated to San Francisea The
special will leave Washington,
D. C., 3:10 P. M., May 18, over
Pennsylvania lines to Chicago,
leaving Chicago for San Fran
cisco May 19, at 10:3b A. M.,
Dr. Gemmell urges < that all
Commissioners from Atlantic
and Catawba Synods and others
go to the Assembly on this spe
cial train. There are special ad
vantages in doing so. : .
I shall be glad to send circu
lars of the proposed trip. TheSfe
circulars will give full informa
tion as to Pullman reservations,
; dining car service, etc. {If any
one wishes to correspond with
Dr. Gemmell his address is
i Hartsville, Pa. .
> We hope that everybody from
this section will go on the> >spe*
i cial to San Francisco.
J. L. HOLLO WELL. .
Statesville, N. C.