The Presbyterian Of The South : [Combining The] Southwestern Presbyterian, Central Presbyterian, Southern Presbyterian

HOME MISSIONS AND NATIONAL SECURITY.

There is danger lest we underestimate the importance of the service that the Church is rendering the nation in this day of world upheaval, and that in the midst of the multiplicity of appeals the needs of the Church and its work be overlooked. The Church blows no trumpet, beats no drum, and waves no flag, yet its service and influence in the life of the nation is more powerful than an army with banners. The missionary activities of the Church cannot be classed with the non-essential industries. Sir Douglas Haig, field marshal of the British armies in France, is reported as saying that this great war will be won by only 25 per cent of military influence, and that it will require 75 per cent of spiritual influence. Is it any wonder that President Wilson has sent out the request that for the sake of the nation the churches be kept at floodtide of spiritual power? A nation must have morale to win as well as an army. When this great war is won, as it will be won, it will not be alone by the glorious feats of our soldiers on the battlefield, but it will also be by the millions of praying men and women at home, who stand behind them and make it possible for them to win. There is no class of Christian workers that has done, or is doing more to create the spirit of service and sacrifice than the Home Mission pastor and the Home Mission teacher. In scores of communities, with large foreign populations, the home missionary (and oftentimes the Presbyterian home missionary), has been the only person capable of stating the moral aims of this war, and of interpreting (in many cases to unfriendly and hostile people), our national aims and ideals. It is not an accident that 75 per cent of the volunteers for this war have come from Christian homes, and that from the Home Mission fields of the Church from the Indians, the mountaineers, the immigrants and the negroes, there has been a stream of those offering their lives in the battle for the freedom and safety of the world. General Foch, commander-in-chief of the Allied armies, says that no battle will ever be won by an army on the defensive; to win, an army must take the offensive. The same is true of the Church. Home Missions represent the Church's offensive action. Through Home Mission effort the gospel message is carried to multitudes of men, women and children who are without religious advantages, new churches are planted, feeble churches are strengthened, entrenched evils are driven out, communities are transformed, and truth and righteousness and the fear of God are being built into the foundation of our country's life. It is doubtful if our Church fully realizes the magnitude and the scope of the Assembly's Home Missions as carried on in the eight departments by 425 workers serving more than 665 stations, among the immigrants, negroes and Indians, the mountaineers and the unchurched multitudes in the sixteen Southern States, from Virginia to Texas and from Missouri to Florida. Last year, under the manifest blessing of God, 5,351 persons were added to our Church upon profession of their faith by the workers aided by the Assembly's Committee. This increase (Continued on page 12)