The Truth
About Church
Membership
1 those w ho a re try in g to change the
system ."
S p iritu al R evival N ecessary
It. of course, is tru e th at our
. churches must eease, being only so­
cial clubs and w e laym en m ust be
know n by a stro n g er ch aracter and
good w orks. Young people and all
o th er people m ust realize, how ever
I th at men cannot be reform ed by
i m ere legislation or even education
T he A m erican M agazine d o ts not
«•veil realize this, as show n by th eir
recent article on th e subject
We m ust be "born again." The
, h earts of |>eople must be changed
in o rd er for any social o r o th er sy s­
tem to succeed This is a sp iritu al
problem . H ere is w here A m erica
again needs th e churches, family
prayers. Sunday observance. Bible
study, and the Ten C om m andm ents
T h erefo re w hen we criticise the
church and n ote how it is declin
ing m b eh av io u r and influence, we
m ust not forget that th e w orld still
needs it T he ch u rch continues to
be the basic agency through w hich
civilization w ill be saved T he w orld
is still ruled by feelings ra th e r than
by figures.
(By Roger W. Hobson)
BABSON PARK M A S S —D uring
recent w eeks I have read several
e d itorials congratulating o u r church-
in on th eir progress d u rin g these
perilous times. I am loath to d is­
courage those w ho have accepted
these P ollv-A nna reports: but I do
believe m any of my reg u lar readers
will be in terested in my conclu­
sions:
1 The so-called "church m em ­
bership" figures published annually
by the C hristian H erald and b ro ad ­
casted by the Press Associations
a re incorrect. They contain not only
th e nam es of m illions w ho haye r e ­
pudiated the church w hich they
joined in th eir yo u th —b u t also m il­
lions w ho are dead and b u ried p h y s­
ically
2: P rotestant church attendance
has been falling off for m any years
T his may not show by recent sta tis­
tics on church atten d an ce at the
Sunday m orning service: but in
m any churches atten d an ce at this
Sunday service has been kept only
by om itting the m id-w eek and ev e­
ning services, and by closing down
in sum m er-tim e. A record of th e
n um ber of P rotestan ts en terin g the
churches during a y ear shows a con­
stant falling off This decline is ta k ­
ing place despite the fact th at o u r
protestant population is increasing
each year.
3: Sunday school attendance is
also falling off. The C ongregational
C hristian churches of w hich I am
m oderator have had a net loss of
over 150.000 Sunday school scholars
since 1925. At first I assum m ed this
to be due to a serious drop in th e
b irth ra te am ong us in d ifferen t :
Protestants; b u t study show s th at
the decline is p rim arily am ong '
those of high school age and adults. :
T he young children are still being
sent to S ondav school to give fath - 1
ers a chance to read th e Sundav 1
paper!
Reasons for the D ecline
I have attem pted to ascertain th e J
reason for th is collapse of p ro test- i
antism . Upon visiting th e n ational
h ead q u arters of differen t denom in­
ations. th e secretaries disp u te m y c
conclusions. W hen in terv iew in g p ar- c
ents. they blam e it onto th e preach- 1
ers. the la tte r in tu rn blam e it onto r
th e young people an d th e schools. v
The only fact all groups seem agreed a
upon is th a t "young people a re m ore
intelligent and enqu irin g today: they ,
do not accept as readily w hat th e ir 11
g ran d p aren ts did." Yet statistics '
show that the liberal churches—such ?
as th e U n itarian —have even g reater 11
tro u b le in holding th e ir young
people than do the F undam entalists, 5
So “creed" is not th e real reason.
l"
D eterm ined to find th e cause. I s,
devoted th e m onth of May, 1937. to e
visiting tw en ty prom inent p ro test- d
ant colleges, m ost of w hich w ere p
started m any y ears ago by m inisters
and earn est church people. To mv ai
g reat surprise, these colleges w ere
h aving th e ir troubles also. A ttend- ai
ance at chapel has fallen off tre - L
m endously and th ere is an indif- J,
ference tow ard religious instruc- m
tion. A lthough th e colleges of th e Si
m iddle-w est have a m ore religious a
atm osphere th a n m ost New E ngland P1
colleges, all educational institu tio n s a ,
a re losing control of th e ir young
People.
n{
U nlike the denom inational secre- tv
taries. and th e preach ers and par- ah
ents, these young people gave m e a wi
definite reason fo r th e ir lack of in- re
te re st in th e ir churches. T hev stat- ac
ed kindly and diplom atically th a t ju
w e church-goers app ear to them to w <
be a group of hypocritsl T hey can- tic
not connect o u r m ode of living and
m ethods of doing business w ith th e Su
teachings of Jesus w hom w e claim str
to follow. T hey do not u n d erstan d w .
how we can attend church, sing 23.
hym ns, and m ake the p ray ers w hich 3,r
w e do on Sundays, and then act as I Wi
w e do th e o th er six days of th e
w eek. As a resu lt of this' inconsis- mi
tency on our part, th ey ask: “W hat en
use is the ch u rch ?”
Po
W hat Young People Say
T he troubles from w hich o u r
churches are suffering a re due to
the fact th a t p ro testan t young
people a re beginning to th in k for as
them selves. F urtherm o re, th e dav enf
is coming w hen C atholic young
<
people w ill reach th e sam e stage. -Fc
In fact, th e Catholic church prob- on
ably has its troubles ahead so th a t t01
th ey need do no b ragging now. dri
Young people insist th at fo r th e ing
church to interest them , w e laym en wei
m ust be b e tte r men, b e tte r em ploy-
E
ers and w orkm en, b etter p aren ts For
and neighbors than those w ho do wa;
Hot go to church. In short, w e lay- hig)
m en m ust tak e our religion serious- of
ly and pay the price if th e church No
is to continue to grow.
drii
My answ er to these criticism s is r e P
th a t w e laym en a re living and do- sen
ing business in a com petitive w orld. b ru
We can be a little more generous
R
th an th e non-churchm an; b u t if w e sed;
really follow Jesu s we w ould be Por
lik e th e poor and helpless disciples com
of His day. To th is these students up i
alm ost unanim ously retorted: "Then Sati
w hy not try to change th e prevail- plat
ing econom ic system? If you can- witl
not w orship both God and Mammon
u n d er the p resent system of indus-
H,
trialism . capitalism , and n ational- earl
ism. you can at least take sides w ith dav
Spurlhiuaulikc P in in g —Avoid Skidding
s sh o u ld b e nt p la c e by S u n d a y . D e c e m b e r 19. fo r the
J u d g in g w ill ta k e p lac e on M onday e v e n in g . D eeem -
S c n d o r b rn g th is b la n k to th e
C H R IS T M A S L IG H T IN G C O M M IT T E E
C a re of th e H illsb o ro A rg u s
Chamber S eek s Jobs
Dozens of reeq u ests a re coming
in every w eek to th e H illsboro
ch am b er o f com m erce
seeking
w ork, according to Leon S Davis,
secretary of th e organ izatio n . A n y ­
one need in g help o r h aving jobs
of any sort open is req u ested to
contact D avis at the ch am b er of
com m erce.
D ivorce S uits Filed
A ngie vs R D B utler
S ubscribe now to th e Argus.
R ubber stam ps and office sup
ies H illsboro A rgus.
tl
Penney’s
19 inch D oll
tee th
- c h e d u lc d for C h ris tm a s n ig h t W en
u rg e d c o -o p e ra tio n of legionn u n .
am i th e ir frie n d s in m a k in g 't h e
a f fa irs su c c essfu l. M cD onald of the
Nav y a m i ills M usical M a n n e rs a rc
1 furnishing th e m u sic W ilbur Dil
’ Ion is c o m m itte e c h a irm a n
A n n u a l d is tr ic t No. 2 legion c o n ­
fe re n c e w ill be held at M c M in n ­
v ille F riday a lte i noon a n d e v e n in g
A big b a n q u e t w ill b e at ti 30 p
in. w ith p le n ty o f e n te r ta in m e n t
a n d a p u b lic m ass m e e tin g w ill be
h e ld la te r
C o m m a n d e r W eil a n d A d ju ta n t
A J F o e lk e r r e p o rte d on th e e o u n -
!y ja m b o r e e at S h e rw o o d F rid a s
n ig h t A p lan to b a s e a c o u n ty Ic-
gion A rm istic e o b s e rv a n c e in d i f ­
fe re n t c o m m u n itie s in ro ta tio n w i
c o n sid e re d l.o c al le g io n n a ire s ex
p re sse d th e o p in io n T uesday n ig h t,
h o w e v e r, th u t H illsb o ro post sh o u ld
c o n tin u e th e o b s e rv a n c e of p a trio tic
h o lid a y s h e re a s a
c o m m u n ity
b e n e fit
T hey h e ld th a t ir r e g u la r o b s e rv -I
an ce in th e local c o m m u n ity w o u ld
be a d is tin c t loss in p a trio tic te a c h ­
in g s to th e p e o p le h e re. O th e r le ­
gion p osts a n d a u x ilia rie s , it w as 1
Skidding is dangerous
good brukes and dri\ n
on th e b r a k e s to o q u ic k
manlike Driver uses the
•oine tim e S a tu rd a y e v e n in g , r e ­
p o rts r e v e a le d A b rick w as u se d in
c re a tin g th e d a m a g e A m an w as
•aid to h a v e in te rv ie w e d K re itz Sat
u rd a v a b o u t jo in in g a union W hen
th e p r o p r ie to r re fu sed , th e in le t •
v ie w e r d e p a rte d , su y u ig K i e i t
w o u ld be so rry
C I O la b o r forces d e fe a te d A
1*’ of L b a ck e rs, 37ti to lijit, in th e
« lectio n for In in a iiT 'o u lse ii L u m b e r
com pany w o r k e r , h e ld last lin n
day in P o rtla n d at th e call of G o t
> m o i C h a rle s II Mat tin As a r e ­
sult. C 1 I) w ill be th e b a rg a in in g
agency in all In m an I'u u lsc n labor
d iffic u ltie s
Three Cases N oted
in U nion Conflict
rt)iK>i!i nmsnoro and th e surrounding' com­
munities have t locked to our store. They’ve
found that P e n n e y » H illsb o r o S to r e offers
exceptional values.. They’ve found that here
dollars do double duty, plus a convenient
place to shop. Easy parking facilities. They
have found a well-stocked store with pleasant,
courteous salespeople, to serve them. Pen­
ney s will attractively wrap gift purchases
free. W e w ill r em a in o p en un til 9 p. m . this
S a t u .d a y ami also Thursday and Friday
nights before Christmas.
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
Men’s Leather Slippers
B row n Elk Romeo
I
R e p r ice d to S e ll N o w — H u rry!
wo§,,N
B lan kets
Q MBS ’7 j
K I j
Luxurious
PvUgged
Practical
#
B eau tifu l P astel Colors.
7 2 x 8 4 size.
...................
A n A rm fu l o f W arm th and B eau ty.
Only 15 available at this price
A n d H er e s A n o th e r B a rg a in !
GLAMOUROUSLY SHEER!
Leather Handbags
.Just about a dozen bags
fro m our re g u la r h ig h er
p ric e d lines. S lightly
sc ra tc h e d . A w o n d erfu l
special. N ow at only
H
B
Not H ouse D resses. Not
Print D resses. T h ese are
STREET DRESSES—
HANDKERCHIEFS
P la in w hite, w hite w ith colored em blem s,
a n d p rin te d H a n d k e rch ie fs. H u n d re d s of
for
IOC
‘Popeye” S w eat Shirts
W hite and Colors.
•Some w ith Z ippers.
N ot all
W h ile T hey
G o w n s , P a ja m a s
Last
M o re P r o o f o f P e n n e y ’s S a v in g s!
Y ou C a n n o t A ffo r d to M iss T h is!
LUNCHEON CLOTHS
Mens’ Suits, Overcoats
G ay P laid s, Part Linen,
H em m ed.
Fast Colors.
^B
An o u tsta n d in g g ift item .
W om en ’s siz e s 15, 16, 17
There are just 11 Suits and
5 Overcoats in this group
T hey A re Odd Lot» from
Our R egular Stock.
S ize 5 2 x 5 2 . An id e a l gift
R e d u c e d N o w to
C h ild ren s S w eaters
A ll W ool Coat and Slip -over S tyles.
A ll Colors.
S izes 4, 6 , 8, for B oys and Girls.
j| A
9
P r ic e s S la s h e d
P r ic e s T h a t D e fy C o m p a riso n !
J o in th e C ro w d s! S a v e a t P e n n e y ’s
L o v e ly R a y o n
H illsboroPost, Am erican
F
B B
Silks, R ayons. F a ll and
e a rly w in te r D resses th a t
a re still highly d e sira b le styles and colors
3
A warm Shirt. W ell m ade
Full-cut. Brown or Grey
W HILE TH EY LAST
A B uy for the B oys
P e rfe c t q u ality 3-
th rea d chiffons of
tig h tly tw isted silk.
L u x u ry g ifts —
th e y ’re rich and ex ­
pensive looking, col­
o rs are ex q u isite!
Sizes &y2 to 10%.
w on
A Red H ot V alu e
G aym ode
SILK HOSIERY
Men’s Flannel Shirts
If y o u r size is included,
you can save y ourself
som e real money.
O vercoat S izes R ange from
Suit S izes Range from
E v ery O n e a Ba rgain
RE-PRICED TO
\
Dance to the Music o f
M c D onald
IB S
of the navy
and his
Sm art C om fort fo r Women's Feet!
HOUSE SLIPPERS
“ MUSICAL M ARINERS”
Adm ission, each
35c
Neat!
D ressy!
S p ecia l Exhibition
SATURDAY NIGHT
A nd Every S atu rd ay N igh t U n til Further Notice
SHUTE PARK AUDITORIUM
One of the smartest Christmas
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patent leather vamp boasts a
pert silk bow. Lined with
peach sateen! Leather cushion
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SELL NO W
................
W hile th ey last.
Men's Topflight Shirts
TOYS REDUCED
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Always A ppreciated— Always Needed!
D o lls, T r ic y c le s , B o o k s,
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