present the
woeful conditions of the Ban-de-la-Roche in 1767 may not be common, though
of that let us not be too sure. The same underground work that Oberlin did
may not need doing by every rural clergyman. Schools are busy in every
parish. Forces of socialization and cooperation are at work. The means of
agricultural training are at hand. Yet the underlying philosophy of
Oberlin's life work must be the fundamental principle of the great country
parish work of the future. Oberlin believed in the unity of life, the
marriage of labor and learning. He knew that social justice, intelligent
toil, happy environment are bound up with the growth of the spirit. They
act and react upon one another.

More than a century ago this great man labored for a lifetime as a country
minister. He knew all the souls in his charge to their core. He loved them
passionately. He refused to leave them for greater reward and easier work.
He studied their problems. He toiled for his people incessantly. He
transformed their industry and he regenerated their lives. He built a new
and permanent rural civilization that endures to this day unspoiled. The
parishes about the little village of Waldersbach thus became a laboratory
in which the call of the country parish met a deep answer of success and
peace."[37]

TEST QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER VII

1.--How important do you consider the country church as an agency for
rural betterment?

2.--How important might it become if it lived up to its opportunity?

3.--What four stages do you find in the development of the rural church in
America? Describe this evolution.

4.--Contrast the old and the new ideals in country church work.

5.--What is the main business of a church in the country community and
what do you regard as the real test of its efficiency?

6.--Describe what you think is the broad function of the church in serving
the rural community.

7.--If the church meets its opportunity in this broad way what will it
gain by it?

8.--What do you think about the church's responsibility for spiritual
leadership?

9.--Take some country church of your own acquaintance and tell what you
think it ought to be doing to build up its community.

10.--Name the chief reasons why many rural churches are so weak and
ineffective.

11.--Make a list of factors which would help to make these churches
successful.

12.--If local prosperity is at low ebb or the farmers are unsuccessful,
what can the church peopl