nt sphere. We think of the church as an
independent thing and therefore feel quite free to discuss its merits or
shortcomings and to criticize it if it fails to meet our standards,
just as we would criticize the baker for soggy or short-weight bread; to
our minds, the church is something set off in society, separate from the
homes, as much so as the schools or the library or a fraternal lodge.

This thought of the church as a separate something, having an existence
independent of ourselves and our families, leads us farther astray and
makes yet more difficult the development of right relations between the
church and the children. If the church is a thing apart we can analyze
its imperfections as we might stand and ridicule a regiment of raw
recruits. It marches by while we stand on the curb. But here, surely, is
one of the simplest and most easily forgotten truisms: the church is no
more than our own selves associated for certain purposes. If the church
fails in an adequate ministry for children, shall we condemn it as we
would a bridge that failed to carry a reasonable load? We do but condemn
ourselves. If my church is not fit to send my children to, then I must
help to make it fit. Before falling back on the lazy man's salve of
caustic ridicule, before taking the seat of the scornful, before setting
in the child's mind an aversion to this institution, based on my
opinion, let me be sure I have done all that lies in my power to better
it. True, I am only one; but surely, where so many family tables are
each Sunday devoted to finding fault with the church and its services,
I can find many others who will aid in at least stimulating a sense of
personal responsibility for any incompleteness in the church.

The family cannot afford to take the attitude of hostile criticism, for
it is thus fighting its first and most natural ally, the one other
institution engaged in its own special work. If the forces for spiritual
character be divided, how easily do the opposing forces enter in and
occupy! The family needs the support of the wider public opinion of the
church, insisting on the supremacy of righteousness. The family needs
the co-operation of the church in its task of developing religious
lives. The family needs the power of this larger social body controlling
social conditions and making them contributory to character purposes.
The family needs the stimulus which a larger group can give to children
and young people.

Thi