ny a
rural church is languishing because of bad economics in the community. Let
it face the problem man-fashion and do something besides pray about it.
Let it prove the sincerity of its prayers by earnest plans and deeds to
make its community prosperous.

This is exactly what was done in a certain Wisconsin village. By the fiat
of the railroad, which suddenly changed its plans, half the people moved
away in a day, leaving community institutions maimed and everybody
discouraged. It was the wise minister who saved the day by organizing the
farmers and planning with them a new local industry. He induced a pickle
factory to build in the community provided the farmers would raise
cucumbers on a large scale. He was even able to turn the village store
into a cooperative enterprise which succeeded in running at a profit. This
minister saved his church by saving the community.

That prince of country ministers, Johann Friedrich Oberlin, laid the
foundation of his sixty years of pastoral success in the Vosges Mountains
in the new local prosperity which was developed under his leadership. He
was utterly unable to succeed until he had taught his people how to become
better farmers, and thus to rise above the low level of incompetence and
ignorance which had kept them almost immune to religious appeals and had
kept their churches pitiable failures. His astonishing success won for him
the official recognition of the Legion of Honor from the King of France.
What he was able to do under great difficulties could be done to-day by
thousands of rural churches and ministers, if they determined to do it.
Let them first make their community prosperous; then their church will
share the prosperity.

3. _Community Socialization_

Prosperous and happy rural communities have outgrown the selfish
independence of the pioneer past and have learned how to live together
effectively in a socially cooperative way. But a great many rural places
are still scourged by grudges and feuds and other evidences of
individualism gone to seed. This accounts also for many small churches,
the result of church quarrels. Country churches cannot succeed until the
people learn how to live together peaceably and effectively, to cooperate
in many details of the community life, to utilize the various social means
for community welfare. To be sure the church can greatly help in this
socializing process. It can lead in making the local life cooperative,
educationally,