suffer
no sense of loneliness.

"The critical need just now is for a few strong men of large power to get
hold of this country church question in a virile way. It is the time for
leadership. We need a score of Oberlins to point the way by actually
working out the problem on the field. We need a few men to achieve great
results in the rural parish, to reestablish the leadership of the church.
No organization can do it. No layman can do it. No educational institution
can do it. A preacher must do it,--do it in spite of small salary,
isolation, conservatism, restricted field, overchurching, or any other
devil that shows its face. The call is imperative. Shall we be denied the
men?"[40]

[Illustration: Presbyterian Church, Winchester, Ill.]

_Student Recruits for the Home Ministry_

The Student Volunteer Bands in most of our colleges unite in a stimulating
comradeship the young men and women who have pledged their lives to
foreign missionary service. It is well worth while for our college men who
have heard this call of the country church for this specialized service of
Christ and humanity to organize local groups of Student Recruits for the
Home Ministry, as has been done in various centers on the Pacific coast
and at Oberlin College, Grinnell and elsewhere, under various names. At
Oberlin this strong body of choice young men, in the college of arts and
sciences, meets regularly through the year with a vitally helpful program
which stimulates their intelligent interest in and loyalty to the ministry
as the greatest of all professions. At the close of the year the members
of this Theta Club, as it is called, are tendered a banquet by the
students of Oberlin Theological Seminary, with a message from some
successful pastor. It is counted one of the most significant events of the
college year.

_The Call for Christian Physicians_

There have been many followers of the Good Physician who have never been
ordained except by the grace of God, whose consecrated devotion to the
needs of sick humanity has been a genuine ministry. Often the Christian
physician is the best friend of the family. Certainly he has countless
opportunities to serve more than the bodily needs of men; and no man in
the community is rendering more sacrificial service. He is ever at the
call of human need, day or night. He heeds the call of the poorest as
quickly as the wealthiest, and does from 5% to 30% of his work without
remuneration. He is one