THE ENTERPRISE
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Entered at the post office in Williamston, N.
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gress of March 3. 1879.
Address all communications to The Enter
prise and not individual members of the firm.
Tuesday, April 17, 1947.
The Christian Church: What
Of Its Future?
Speaking a short time ago before the Protest
ant Council of the City of New York, John D.
Rockefeller, Jr., discussed a timely topic as fol
ia ws.
Not many weeks or months had elapsed after
this World War began before there was present
ed to our vision a picture so horrible it hardly
seemed that it could be true.
It appeared that hell had broken loose and
that millions of evil spirits had become incar
nate in human form and were going about the
earth committing atrocities and acts of cruelty
beyond belief.
In the face of this awful picture it is not
strange that we should ask ourselves the ques
tion, Has Christianity failed?
But there is another picture which the war
has painted. In it we see millions of men and
women who are exemplifying in their daily
lives, in the most commonplace fashion, unself
ishness, generosity, loyalty, self-sacrifice, and
other characteristics and qualities which com
mand the admiration of the world. Unconscious
ly these people are reflecting Christ’s spirit.
Whether they know it or not, their inspiration
comes from the God of all good deeds. Yet many
of them have no church affiliations, for too of
ten the church seems to them quite apart from
their lives, an institution which has little con
tact with or understanding of their problems,
since theirs is fundamentally a religion of deeds,
not of creeds; expressed in life, not in words.
We turn from this picture with a glow in our
hearts and say with renewed faith: “Christian
ity has not failed; churches may have failed, but
not Christianity. For never in the history of
the world was Christianity a more vital force
in human life than it is today.”
In the presence of this great host of noble men
and women, who, generally, have not come from
the church .although directly or indirectly all
have been more or less influenced by it; who,
many of them, have faced death, have lived a
life far worse than death, have sacrificed their
all, we ask, “What of the future of the Christian
church?”
Will these people, after the experience
through which they have passed, find in the
church generally as it exists today the recogni
tion, the association, the guidance, and the in
spiration which they need and have a right to
expect? Regretfully we must answer, “No.” For
the church has learned too little to speak their
language, to think in terms of their environ
ment, to meet their needs
If this be true, one of two things is inevitable.
Either this unorganized spiritual force which is
silently dominating millions of lives will not be
conserved, or the church must have a new birth
if it is to meet this marvelous opportunity and
great human need.
Let us picture, for a moment, this reborn
church.
It would be the church of the Living God.
Its terms of admission would be love for God,
as He is revealed in Christ and His living spirit!
and the vital translation of that love into a
Christlike life.
Its atmosphere would be one of warmth, free
dom, and joy, so sympathetically and distinctly
manifest as to attract and win into its fellow
ship all those who are striving to live useful and
worthy lives.
It woulct pronounce ordinance, ritual, creed,
ail nonessential for admission into the Kingdom
of God .or His church A life, not a creed, would
be the test.
Its object would be to promote applied relig
ion, not theoretical religion.
As its first concern it would encourage Christ
ian living 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.
It would be the church of all the people, of
! tablish righteousness; the church of the rich and
| the poor, the wise and the ignorant, the high and
I the low—a true democracy.
xfiwffSters would be trained not only in the
seminaries, but in some form of work-a-day life,
so that they might acquire a personal knowledge
of practical problems. Thus they would live in
closer touch with humanity, would better un
derstand and sympathize with human difficul
ties, and would exert their influence as much
in living as in preaching.
When Christ came into the world, He found
the church loaded down with ritual and formal
ism. Every minuest detail of daily life was regu
lated by religious enactment. In the eyes of the
church the most religious man was not he who
gave to the poor, who helped the unfortunate,
i who was unselfish, meek and lowly, but he who
kept most punctiliously every jot and tittle of
the law. The spirit of religion had been displac
ed by empty form.
To establish spiritual righteousness in the
world, to build up an internal rather than an
external religion, to emphasize the responsibil
ity of the individual to hi~ Maker, was Christ’s
I mission on earth . . .
On the other hand, in the face of the great
problems of sin, of evil, and of spiritual hunger
which confront the world today, can we imagine
that, were Christ to come to earth again, He
would regard the observance or nonobservance
of these and other ordinances and individual be
liefs, or the manner in which they are observ
ed, as of sufficient importance to justify con
troversy among His folllowers, and their sep
aration into rival factions?
Can we fancy Him giving His approval to such
a course .resulting as it does too often in relax
ing tilt' warfare against the common enemy, sin,
and in causing men to forget their common re
sponsibility, the needy brother?
Let ordinance, creed, ritual, form, Biblical in
terpretation, theology, all be used to enrich wor
ship, and to bring the believer into a fuller un
derstanding of Him Whom we worship, as each
individual or separate church may find them
helpful toward that end. But God forbid that
they should ever, any of them, divert the atten
tion from, or be regarded as a substitute for, that
personal, spiritual relation between the soul and
its God which is the essence of true rt'ligion.
God forbid that they should be allowed to
cause divisions among the followers of Christ
or be set up as barriers at the door of any branch
of the church of the Living God.
What the world craves today is a more spir
itual and less formal religion. To the man or wo
man facing death, great conflict, the big prob
lems of human life, the forms of religion are of
minor concern, while the spirit of religion is a
desperately needed source of inspiration, com
fort and strength.
I plead not for a modification of form, but for
its subordination to the spirit; not for the abol
ishing of ordinance and sacrament but for their
voluntary rather than obligatory observance
Slackers And Deserters
News and Observer.
The scheme to let the over-rich and profiteers
escape the share of the cost of the war is the
most unpatriotic appeal for privilege in the his
toiv of our country. Only recently was it known
that the Gannett committee had induced 18
State Legislatures, acting in conformity with
Ai tide V of tire Constitution, requesting Con
giess to call a convention for the purpose of re
pealing the 16th amendment and adopting in
Us place a proposed 22nd amendment, which
would impose a limit of 25 per cent on the
amount of income, estate and gift taxes the gov
ernment could collect.
This war is costing hundreds of billions of
dollars. The big rich who are seeking to limit
their conti ibutions are advertising themselves
as slackers and deserters.
There is no place so high that an ass laden
with gold cannot reach it.—Roias
BUY WAR BONDS!
k
BUY WAR BONDS...HOLD THEM!
-- --1
FOOT MATS
- Three Sizes -
ALL REASONABLY PRICED
B. S. COURTNEY
-— -/
BUY WAR BONDS . . . HOLD THEM!
1
BUY WAR BONDS!
This little Chinese feller has a
friend—his not-much binder sis
ter. Orphaned by war and left
destitute, he and she need other
friends—friends with spare cloth
ing for the girl and something
more suitable than that misfitting
old coat for her brother. Millions
more of innocent men, worn and
children are in tragic need in war
devastated lands abroad. Von ec
ho tlirir friend by contribofin
crviceablc used clothing, s> •'
d bedding to the I'nib d
’ ( lot bin" O'! ■ ■ i(n:
LOSK TWO LIMBS
Reports from the Army state that
only 331 of 6,027 amputees in this
war lost two limbs.
NOTICE'
North Carolina Martin County. In j
The Superior Court.
Mary B. Selleck v. Jack Wilbur Sel
leck.
The defendant, above-named, will
take notice that an action entitled as
above has been commenced in the
Superior Court of Martin County,
North Carolina, to secure an abso
lute divorce based upon two years
continuous separation; and the de
ifendant will further take notice that
he is required to appear before the
Clerk of the Superior Court of Mar
' tin County at Williamston. N. C., on
the 30tn day of April, 1945, and an
I swer or demur to the complaint in
* said action on said date, and unless
|c e defendant answers or demurs to
said complaint on said date or with
■ in twenty days thereafter as provid
i ed by the laws of the State of North
! Carolina, the plaintiff will apply to
1 the Court for the ielie-f demanded in
I the complaint.
This the 30th day of March, 1945.
L. B. WYNNE,
Clerk Superior Court
U-'Mt .-..... .^fertij^ounty, .
ADMINISTRATOR’S NOTICE
Having this day qualified as ad- ■
i ministrator of the estate of J. H. Rev- .
1 els. deceased cf Martin County, this!
is to noiiiy4RPP&:?*fcis 'h-sr jjjg '■'i.-.un;
| against the said estate to present
! them to the undersigned for payment
I before the 19th day of March, 1946,
j or this notice will be pleaded in bar
of their recovery. All persons indebt
ed to the said estate will please make
immediate payment.
This the 19th day of March, 1945.
J. EASON REVELS,
Administrator of the estate
m20-fit of J. H. Revels.
ADMINISTRATRIX' NOTICE
Having qualified as administratrix
I of the estate of H. W. Barber, de
| ceased, late of Martin County, this
I is to notify all persons having claims
I against the said estate to exhibit
them to the undersigned, or her at
torney, for payment before March
I 17, 1946, or this notice will be plead
ed in bar of their recovery. All per
sons indebted to the said estate will
please make immediate payment.
This the 17th day of March 1945.
ANNIE M. BARBER,
Administratrix of the estate
of H. W. Barber.
R. L Coburn, Atty. m20-6t
NOTICE!
North Carolina. Martin County. In
The Superior Court.
Sarah Gray Mills v. James Mills.
The defendant, above-named, will
take notice that an action entitled as
above has been commenced in the
Superior Court of Martin County,
North Carolina, to secure an abso- I
lute divorce based upon two years
continuous separation; and the de
fendant will further take notice that
he is required to appear before the
Clerk of the Superior Court of Mar
tin County at Williamston, N. C., on
the 30th day of April, 1945, and an
swer or demur to the complaint in
said action on said date, and unless
the defendant answers or demurs to
said complaint on said date or with
in twenty days thereafter as provid
ed by the laws of the State of North
Carolina, the plaintiff will apply to
the Court for the relief demanded in
the complaint.
This the 30th day of March, 1945.
L. B. WYNNE,
Clerk Superior Court
a3-4t Manjpn County.
Please Ask Your Local Grocer.
A WAR JOB!
OFFERING FINE OPPORTUNITY
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Receive good pay, even while learning, with
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ive personnel policies.
Enjoy pleasant working conditions among
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Relax at regular intervals in quiet, pleasant
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Feel the importance of rendering real war
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skill throughout the nation.
Ap,,iy Today j»vip:m.
CHIEF OPERATOR
Carolina Tel. & Tel. Co.
WILLIAMSTON, N. C.
FIGHTING NAZIS, NIPS
...and FRICTION
Section of one of the ten modern Sinclair refineries now geared for war.
VVTHEN American flyers in Europe
and in the Pacific take to the skies,'
they are forced to fight not only Nazis and
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To help our boys fight all three of these
enemies, Sinclair produces great quanti
ties of tough, dependable aviation lubri
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out enough aviation oils to lubricate a
flight of 3,500 heavy American bombers.
Today Sinclair is not only one of the
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SINCLAIR DCALKK9 right fic
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cm last longer. Let a Sinclair
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BUY MORS WAR BONDS AND STAMPS
N. C. GREEN, Agent
Williamston, N. C.