e numbers of dependents. It is a
natural source of relief for those who have sought its ministrations
from religious motives; when these become dependent, it is the church's
privilege to aid them privately, {174} tenderly, and adequately. Even
beyond its own membership, the church can safely undertake the giving
of material relief, when this is incidental to the carrying out of
other plans for the benefit of the poor; incidental, for instance, to
the work of friendly visiting, with a view to furthering a visitor's
plans for improving a family's condition. But the gift must be free
from the suspicion of proselytizing.

Protestants often criticise the Roman Catholic church for expecting the
very poor to pay toward the support of the church. They criticise, in
their ignorance, one of the wisest measures taken by the Church of Rome
for strengthening its hold upon the people. Poor Roman Catholics are
far more likely than poor Protestants to think of the church as
belonging to them, as a power which exists not only for them but
through them. Wherever the Protestant church has gained an equally
strong hold upon the poor, it has made equal demands upon their loyalty
and self-sacrifice.

After all has been said in objection to past {175} and present methods
of church charity, we must realize that, if the poor are to be
effectually helped by charity, the inspiration must come from the
church. The church has always been and will continue to be the chief
source of charitable energy; and I believe that, to an increasing
degree, the church will be the leader in charitable experiment and in
the extension of the scope of charitable endeavor. In the church or
nowhere we must find acceptance for the methods advocated in this book.
In the church or nowhere we must seek the organized devotion that shall
protect the children of the poor from greed and neglect, that shall
advance sanitary and educational reforms, that shall supply purer and
higher amusements for the people, and shall bring to them more and
more, as time goes on, of the advantages of modern life. The church
has already been the pioneer in such work. In cities where
kindergartens are now a part of the public school system, the first
free kindergartens were supported by the churches, and large charities,
now secularized, were supported by {176} churches until they had passed
the stage of experiment. Secular agencies are still dependent upon the
churches for workers