cal option campaign the influence of the Larger Parish made
itself felt in an effective way for the banishment of the saloon. Debates
were arranged on the question in the neighborhood clubs.

The pastors preached on the subject and made addresses at the meetings
held throughout the county. One of the assistant pastors gave valuable
service on the Central Committee. In all such movements that have for
their object the purifying of the community and the establishment of
righteousness the forces that are active in the Larger Parish are lined up
on the right side, ready to cooperate and promptly available for practical
work.

An Every Member Canvass for home and foreign missions is carried on
throughout the whole parish. Each year a letter is prepared, giving
briefly the progress of the work for the year past and setting forth its
present condition. These letters are sent by mail to nearly all the
families in the parish, with small collection envelopes for the different
members of the household, with the request that they bring the offerings
to their accustomed places of worship. The children as well as the older
people are encouraged to bring in their offerings, and we have found this
an effective way of cultivating in them the spirit of benevolence. There
is much gain in leading them to feel that they have a part in the work.

VI

THINGS YET TO BE DONE

Their name is legion. Everything is to be done. Only a beginning has been
made. Nothing is finished. What has been accomplished is only a prophecy
of the larger and completer work that lies before us in the future.
Religious and community work is not mechanical. You cannot finish it up
and store it away as the carpenter finishes a box, or the housewife a
garment. Life is a development, a growth, and those who deal with life
must always be content with beginnings. "Nothing that has life is ever
finished." Life in its larger unfolding and its fuller meaning must always
be in the future. A life that is finished and complete would better end,
and a community that has reached perfection should be translated to
another sphere. We must ever be content to spend our labor upon
beginnings, thankful for such fruitage as may appear from time to time.
The real ingathering must always be in the future. What has been
accomplished in the Larger Parish gives us confidence in the methods
employed, and encourages us to expect larger things from the better and
completer applicati