| Show federation OF THE CHURCHES the aln of church federation adopted at lut new vork la a ccle cc fe effort to th c atlan aviu bevc to haeft been created and that should not hare been llowd lo 10 pcr i w far info an age when belier counsel ight have cd the plan doewat any rite i working bials and a point of contact between those taho are already united upon and who are di idad nicholy by ond by non essentials it Is ho very that almost the first act of the federation should have been the exclusion 0 tho r nitai ians and it is hard to suppress the fear that by so doing tha federation may have largely stultified its professions the letter 0 remon from dr edward hale which was read sunday su every unitarian pulpit in boston and doubtless elsewhere is of admirable dignity and it will certainly enlist a sympathy for the unitarian body that might otherwise be ang afao exclusion of these churches was deploy ablo and wanton and eo long us such a spirit it Is not easy to bo very hopeful for the attainment of federation era tion the part of the suggested that will most strongly appeal to the average man and the average man U still in the majority is that which suggests some combined church action in filters affecting the moral and social condition of abs people there is ta anly room here for all tho church combination that can be brought to bear and we should like to sec somo peculiar concentration upon such points as these here at least is a sphere upon which differences do not in the least intrude here at least is an opportunity tor the churches to harmoniously unite in prosecuting a that lies very celoso to the heart of the truest i elision the fields are so obviously ready for the laborers that there is no need to indicate their whereabouts there is tor example the problem of child labor which has been splendidly solved in california but which has been left practically untouched by so baay other state A commma agreement among the churches of america and a tearless expression of that agreement would solve this problem very quickly then again there la the matter of juvenile which la due very largely to the imprudence and the ignorance 0 parents what better work could the churches chur chas undertake than to baing homo to fathers and mothers the immense measure of responsibility that rests upon them for tho training of their children in respect and tho opportunities are indeed too numerous even for mention and when we remember the eEor mou number of churches throughout america and their almost incalculable wo may well become covetous of seeing this vast power directed toward the reform of human conduct rather than to the imposition of human creeds after all it is creed that still stands in the way of thess tho greatest of a possible effort tor the regeneration of the human race creed is the cross upon which humanity has been crud ald it ia the ocean of waste effort that has relentlessly absorbed the activities i that might have been directed toward tho amelioration of conditions and toi ward an increase 0 individual bampi bess uess if the churchea now intend to combine for the production of a better world in duty and honesty shall le increasingly recognized as the laws of life there is practically nothing that they carnot accomplish and the present plan of federation is therefore to be heartily welcomed mid and critically watched |
