omplished; but just how the instrument
was to accomplish the work was not so evident. Here was the church, and
here were the people; but how could they be brought together to their
mutual advantage? I had been a very busy man for years. My time had been
fully occupied and I had not supposed it possible to take more work. How
was I to multiply my activities many fold and still be efficient? The
church had been active and aggressive. It had been doing large things. In
the opinion of some it had been straining itself beyond reasonable limits
in carrying on its work. How could it quadruple the size of its parish by
annexing all the territory within a radius of five miles in every
direction, and increase its constituency several times over. Would it not
be swamped by its acquisitions? Would it not be overwhelmed by the number
and greatness of its obligations and responsibilities? It had not
adequately ministered to all the people in its smaller parish. How would
it be when its boundaries were so greatly increased?

These and many other doubtful questions presented themselves, and the
answers were not at hand. But there were the outlying neighborhoods;
without consulting them I had annexed them to my parish. There was the
church; without asking its consent, in my own mind I had multiplied its
work and increased its burdens many fold. I had a task with the people to
make them willing to be annexed; with the church, to lead it to accept
its heavier burdens and its larger responsibilities; and a still greater
task to bring the church and the people into such relations that the work
should be accomplished. How did I go about my task?

1. The first thing to be done was to make a survey of the field. I began
to think of all the twenty-five hundred people in this Larger Parish as
belonging to me. I felt a measure of responsibility for them all. We, as a
church and pastor, must do something for them all, and in order to do it,
we must know them all. So I started out to visit all the families in this
wide territory. Many of them, of course, I knew already. But many that
were more remote I had not touched closely, though in my fifteen years'
pastorate there were few who had not some acquaintance with me. I tramped
around over the whole parish, living with the people, often being absent
from my home for two or three days at a time, until there was scarcely a
home in all that region in which I was a stranger. This was most
delightful and