p. 18 | Urges Union of Churches

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 28, 1909

Urges Union of Churches

UPHOLDING the statement of Bishop McFaul [Roman Catholic], “that Catholics and Protestants alike should sink their petty differences and unite,” the Rev. A. H. Thompson, pastor of Waugh Methodist Episcopal church [Washington, D. C.], delivered a sermon on “A Plea for a Holy Confederacy” yesterday [Sunday, October 10]. Dr. Thompson said:—

“We live in an age of trusts and corporations, which are but expressions of man’s sense of insufficiency in the presence of stupendous problems. With the commercial wants of millions to be supplied, men discovered that it was important that they get together. Hence, interests were pooled, vast enterprises projected, and the world’s needs met.

“A greater need confronts the church. It is moral. How shall the evil forces of society be checked, subdued, and finally overcome, and the highest interests of the race be subserved? This is the problem. And the answer is not a matter of form but of spirit. Men may be ‘separate as the waves,’ but ‘one as the sea.’ Such a spirit exists to-day in larger measure than ever before. In the settlement of great moral questions, in healing the breach between labor and capital, in attempting to relieve the victims of poverty and misfortune, and in the effort to preserve the home and the fundamentals of faith, we are closer together than we have ever been in the world’s history. More and more are we coming to realize that only in a closer union is it possible to combat the forces which threaten the very existence of society. In this connection we hail with delight the suggestion of Bishop McFaul that Protestants and Catholics alike should sink their petty differences, and unite in opposing the influences which threaten to profanize modern life.

“Should that great communion lead the way, it would not be very long before Christians of all shades of belief would be united as an alliance so powerful that no person on earth could resist it. Religious sentiments abound. All that is needed is organization. Therefore it is incumbent upon every man who believes in God and who prizes the common moralities, to unite with some religious organization. And it behooves the religious organizations to compete less and co-operate more.

“We have made mistakes in the past, but we need not repeat or perpetuate them. A comic paper offered advice which the church might well follow: ‘Competitors for goodness, who, at each other thrust, should imitate the plutocrats and organize a trust.’”—Washington Post, *Oct. 11, 1909.