Show k CHURCHES ARE SADLY LAGGING Two Types That Represent Old and New Ideas in Re Religious Religious Worship MANY TOO RESPECTABLE LAW OF ORGANIC LIFE IS DE DEFINED DEFINED DEFINED I FINED i JJ J y The Rov Rev Levis J 1 Duncan of Butte ButteS v S Montana spoke to a large audience at atthe atthe atthe the Unitarian church yesterday morning on The Prophetic Church He said that there are two types of o churches churche one the popular conservative priestly type and the tile other the unpopular progressive spiritual and prophetic to the lat latter ter tr of which the Unitarian church be belongs belongs longs He declared that the trouble tro ble with the churches of today is that they the are too ujo respectable and instead of keeping up lip with the times they the are lagging bo be behind hind His remarks In part port were as fol The law of organic life tife simply stated Is s as follows There is first an interior vital ital purpose or force torce which must get itself expressed and executed To this nd it builds Its material form torm It draws material substance by chemical affinity fils fits it and knits it into a firm mechanism of functions sets up he 1 process of growth and advances to get itself it elC executed This end reached do de dea ay a ensues The mechanism is taken to pieces as in life Ufe It has been put together ti relaxed particles particle disintegrate and fall away the organism becomes b comes Two Types s of ol Churches This law applies to everything living nether w mineral mineraI vegetable animal or in institutional Institutional It applies to churches ills r ory lory shows two organic types which em emody emody ody the religious purpose the popular formal and priestly type and arid the unpopular progressive spiritual I and anI prophetic type In material things J I in m numbers in property in richness of tradition and of liturgy the former makes the most attractive showing It s 1 popular respectable and has social standing and influence It represents many nany generations perhaps many man UPS ruts of growth The other is youthful and has none of these accretions but in no noMer bier Mer aims in clarity of vision in iii breadth if t sympathy in sweetness and rationality t ty of ot spirit in the consciousness of vital forces making toward greater spiritual Issues the prophetic type leads Slowly at first the new type grows but with gathering momentum and Increasing generation by generation until fi finally fInall f I nally nall the spirit and the ideas it represents become the regnant and accepted ones and the world is 18 practically converted to its position and Its once rejected doc doe doctrines trines rines It then becomes a church of ot the priestly type An As A prophetic church It 4 has no n more vitality or function in that particular direction It begins to die to stop growing but already the prophetic I spirit has fled to appear In some other place to vitalize some other organism with r the youthful religious life to set sel the standard of the higher truth and to in inspire Inspire inspire spire and develop the nobler and sweeter humanity Churches O Too Respectable The fate late which threatens our churches today is that of becoming too respectable ble bie too conventional too prosperous and aud correct m in a word too orthodox This fate tate comes not or rever reer reversion slon sion on the part of the prophetic type to once disowned and discarded doctrines R Rand and usages It comes by standing still and letting be overtaken by he the world by resting in past achievement by b losing its vitalizing force and not push pushing pushing ing on to new departures new Issues new standards new sanctities in the van an of a moving progressive growing religious world The problems with which vital religion deals have been carried far beyond the individualistic content and import they formerly had and ad have hae attached then them themselves selves seles to the more extensive and exclusive exclusive sive matters of the social organism It Itis ItIs Itis is social faith social salvation social righteousness social truth and justice i social regeneration and redemption social conscience cons and virtue and immortality with which the religion that is Is concerned and it Is with these the church must busy itself with these its doctrines must deal and for these bring its gospel message if it is to be truly the prophetic church |