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Show The Church and Its Relation to the Social Side of Yoirth By the Rev. Clem Davis, Pastor of Waterloo and Murray M. E. Churches. DO YOU remember the day when somebody played a violin in church for the first time? The brethren said, you'll recollect, that , you might as well have the devil in church as play a fiddle. By and by they had suppers in the church, and, although the motives were sometimes reprehensible to filch a quarter out of a fellow's pocket to pay the preacher's salary yet tho social motive mo-tive was good. -The church must be social so-cial today as well as spiritual. We have allowed Henry J. Beelzebub to provide for our young people's social activities ac-tivities too long. -3 There are people In church life today who look with horror on the church social so-cial room or kitchen in fact, anything that Isn't spiritual is "taboo" and tho difficulty Is. they are very crood peopie. most of thtfin. They say. "Save soul? ' Sure: Rut what are souls? Disembodied Disembod-ied spirits flying aroutfl. having no connect con-nect ion with bodies? Certainly not. The soul is in the body and 'is subject to the body's nmHls and diseases and limitations and expressions. If you want to save souks you've got to save bodies as well. Provide for both that's the church's job. Legitimate Diversions Always Permissible. That doesn't mean that you munt serve hooZ e on a t ra y and have a u do v i ; u in your church pa r 1 ors . There's I'-citimatt: amusement for hea I thy people, and if it s right, why tdioutdn't the church provide it? Solomon said. "A merry heart dncth good like medic-inc." Some religious folks seem to think that religion js a fort of a tombstone, embalming-fluid affair. af-fair. I'm in favor of huildinsr an insliiu-, ttonal room onto every church. I'm jtt l f;i vor of physical cult ur for t try and basketball and bas-hall right in connection con-nection with thf eh urr'n . I'm in fi or of everything that goes to bulid up .socially, .so-cially, morally and physically (lie young: 'iff of ;(!' community. j I'm in favor of ha mg th ehi.T.-li par- I l-.rs opon pvery night of the v.r.-k. to j Iirovid'" f"r the social and ph; steal aius ' o;' the people I recollect one church in a rural district, dis-trict, that bad a church basement where tho young life used to gather. Makes Plea for Broader Vision. One night the young sparks in their games burst one of the boards in the floor. Next day the trustee board met and discovered the breakage. What do you think those nine healthy trustees did? Why. instead of the bone-heads bone-heads going to the lumber yard and buying another board, thev moved and parsed a resolution "that the young people peo-ple shall have no more meetings in this basement." The moral conditions among the youngsters of that community for the next two years were awfulindescribable. awfulindescrib-able. s Wanted Church boards with a vision of the needs of the young life. Wanted Good, religious people, who will cease being so narrow. The looks of some of these old fogies drive the young life away from the church. Church Too Long Has Overlooked Youth. L.et 'em have a good time. One old woman came hurrving to mv parsonage one day, exclaiming, "Some, of your Buys' Brotherhood have broken a window in the church." "All right. mother." I raid. "Id rath'-r have them break a few windows in the church than break vour hearts oiislc it." She Kot fright fully mad and told somebody she'd uit paying to my sal- I She paid $." a year God bless her. The ehur.'ii lias been looked upon (oo ; much as a temple and sanctuary and j too little as a home a gathering piace. I'm 'ii favor of bouncing evcrv old f"gie from the church boards that does no l love young people. The only hope nf the church is to p. t thi- young, and it's the business nf the cic.iroh nr.t only to look after the spir. iiuai iict-ii;, bul l;;c social and l-'Iiyucuj |