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Show . ......... ..,:r-x:W""" . ? man farm to forest v . KrSSl rote in the concerted effort to J"'11 Presbyterian church, scenes, taken at the Alpine l--Z?t " acreS" The which operates a forest of 1,500 acres ana ma(Je ln dairy herd (left) in front of the modern b.rn show t better agriculture while the sawmill (right) neips navinir nroposition. SMALL TOWNS, U.S.A. Revitalized Country Church Plays Social, Economic Role J By EARLE HITCH WNTJ Features. . Lone on the road to decline, the country church is being revved as an integral force for re-energizing small rural commit com-mit Acting on the principle that where the community drives thfchurch also thrives, all denominations are back-Inl back-Inl a widespread campaign to revitalize the country church. Without in any sense departing from the Christian aims of saving souls and preaching redemption, the churches simply' are adding an awareness of social and economic responsibility to their mission of salvation. sal-vation. The concerns of the entire community home, family, farming, farm-ing, health become the concerns of the community church. Particularly valuable and instructive instruc-tive as models or demonstrations for study are the I 1 I community plans Rural America being carried out At Stake by missions of the Presbyterian and Methodist No. 4 churches in the In a Series mountains of Ken- tucky and Tennessee. Ten-nessee. The Presbyterian Pres-byterian projects are at Morris Fork and Wooton, Ky., and at Alpine and Big Lick, Tenn. The Methodists have community missions at Frakes, Ky., and Sevierville, Tenn. A larger community project at Blue Springs, Tenn., represents the combined parishes par-ishes of the Methodists, Disciples of Christ and Presbyterians. Diverse Projects. All have much in common, but ln some things each in unique. Blue Springs is the oldest mission, and its area is the largest some 400 miles square. It has seven churches and four preaching points at neighborhood neigh-borhood centers, a cooperative store, an energetic training program pro-gram in public health and a con tinuing series of adult education v who has supplied the leadership which has made Big Lick a better place to live and work. Promote Health. One of Big Lick's finest public services is its community health clinic. There is a building specially constructed for it, in a grove adjoining ad-joining the church yard. A graduate nurse Is stationed there to aid in guarding the health of the people and to assist in emergencies. Big Lick also has a soil conservation conserva-tion program, and is carrying on adult education and demonstrations in fertilizing, crop rotation, better livestock breeding, introduction of new fruits and plants, and good forestry for-estry management. Homemaking and home decoration, health and child care are studied by the women. wom-en. There is also a study of the cooperative co-operative movement, and committees commit-tees are developing plans for future cooperative undertakings, possibly in marketing of home crops, processing proc-essing and a credit union. Big Lick has its own machinery pool, including includ-ing a tractor, a hammer mill and a saw mill. Build Own Church. Wooton community, under the ministry of Benton Deaton, has a fine community church and playground, play-ground, built by the people themselves. them-selves. In the recreation center the children of the neighborhood have a place to enjoy their games and the whole community has its picnics and outdoor religious gatherings. Wooton owns a cooperative truck, which provides transportation transpor-tation for the farmers who want to send things to market, and have things bought for them in town. Very few of the people have cars, and their usual means of travel is by mule back. Wooton also has a circulating library, li-brary, the beginnings of a demonstration demon-stration farm, and a training course in handicrafts and cottage industries, indus-tries, for both men and women. Similar work, especially in health, soil saving and better farming, is going on at Alpine, Morris Fork, Frakes and Sevierville. The programs pro-grams vary according to local needs and the resources that can be put to use. if ' 1 I - COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE . . . One of the leading churches in promoting community development develop-ment is Calvary Presbyterian church (above) at Big Lick, Tenn. The church was built by people of Productive Enterprises. For example, the parish at Alpine is the owner of a forest of 1,500 acres and a farm of 100 acres. A trained forester and an expert farmer make those enterprises produce pro-duce earnings, and furnish examples exam-ples for other farm and , woodlot owners. The Alpine program is in charge of the head of the mission, the Rev. Bernard M. Taylor, and Mr. Taylor has made the mission responsible for developing the community's com-munity's full resources through the activities of the citizens themselves, and their labors are being reflected more and more in better health and living. The same can be said of the communities com-munities at Frakes, Morris Fork and Sevierville, all of which have vastly improved their ways of living because practical economic plans for conserving the land and finding more useful employments for surplus sur-plus labor have been made principal aims in the community plan. The pastors, of course, have not neglected neg-lected their religious duties. They simply have added economic concerns con-cerns to their other responsibilities. The next article will tell of the important im-portant community development plan now being carried on in five counties centenng around Tupelo, Miss. The lupelo plan is one of the most ambitious ambi-tious that has been undertaken anywhere any-where w the unfolding rural life movement. the community, which consists of only about 50 families. Landscaping Landscap-ing was done by the pastor and farmers. classes in current problems, such as farm machinery repair,-soil conservation conser-vation and home decorations. . All this represents the life work of a great country preacher. He was Paul A. Doran, who went to Blue Springs in 1917 as a divinity school graduate, and died there three years ago after 28 years spent entirely in that community's service. One of his many lasting services serv-ices was his homestead plan. He made home buying his personal concern. Through small loans from a nominal sum held in trust by him, the minister made it possible for 20 families in his community to become owners of their own farms. The pastor at Big Lick is both ardent and articulate in behalf of better rural living. He has known country life from childhood and he knows how to farm. He can run a tractor, plow a contour furrow and help in the saw mill. He has organized organ-ized a Big Lick homestead project to aid young men get established on the land, and 27 families have been assisted in buying farms since 1940 j This pastor is Eugene Smathers' ; who has written and preached ably about rural economic problems and |