p. 6 | Is the Church Going Backward?

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 10, 1916

“Is the Church Going Backward?”

By Francis McLellan Wilcox

THIS is the question which Rev. Charles Stelzle, of social service fame, raises in the Independent for Jan. 24, 1916. Dr. Stelzle feels that when the Federal Council of Churches, representing thirty Protestant denominations, adopted its social service platform seven years ago, it was regarded as a great step forward; and that the statement of what it proposed to do in behalf of social reform brought joy to the hearts of many social workers and workingmen in general. He feels, however, that from motives of self-preservation the council is receding from its position.

It seems as though the Federal Council were determined to take a backward step in its social program, for the sole purpose of retaining within its organization the denominational groups which for various reasons cannot cooperate in helping to secure social justice through legislation.

He believes that this retrograding influence which is at work in the council will not meet the minds of thousands of men and women in the churches who are looking for reforms through the influence which the federation can bring to bear upon legislators. If the Federal Council declines to speak in the name of the churches in regard to these various questions involved in the social service program, he inquires where the religious body may be found to which the legislators and statesmen may look for guidance in social matters. He feels that it is not a question of the church interfering in politics for its own benefit, but that it is a matter of making a fight in behalf of helpless men and women.

We believe that the church of Christ should stand ready to lend a helping hand to the helpless and downtrodden in every possible way, but the divine Word has left us an example of how this service should be rendered. We find Christ heading no party in order to influence legislation. He stated emphatically that his kingdom was not of this world. On the other hand, he sought by every means in his power to minister comfort to the sorrowing, to relieve the distress of the needy, and to be a strong, uplifting factor in social life as well as in personal experience. This is the model of work for the church of God today.

For some time some of the churches represented in the Federal Council, notably the Southern Presbyterian, have protested against the tendency on the part of the council to mix with politics. If the Federal Council is heeding some of these admonitions, the step is not a backward one, but an advance. We cannot hope, however, that this reaction will prove permanently lasting, for the reason that the whole tendency of the federation is toward political methods and political affiliation. We are heartily in favor of some of the objects for which the federation stands, but the methods by which they are seeking to obtain these objects should meet with the condemnation of every one who clearly recognizes the line of distinction between the province of the church and the province of the state.

F. M. W.