ies. It has been contended that the task of the church has been
completed with reference to a number of these interests when it has
encouraged their organization in a local way and has continued to give
them its moral support so long as they render effectively the service
for which they were intended. Rural interests are so complex that
specialized groups are necessary to insure adequate attention to all
the interests concerned.
It must also be recognized that until the two great branches of the
Christian Church--Catholicism and Protestantism--learn to cooperate in
their service to the community, the religious forces of America cannot
present a united front in rendering the service that belongs
peculiarly to them. It is assumed that the effort will be made by
those responsible for community service in both branches of the church
to work out this problem so that the church can do its part in the
general movement.
The physical basis for organization of all forces for service on a
comprehensive plan is recognized to be the political units, county,
State, and nation. The township is giving way gradually to the
community as the more local unit of organization. In cases where
community boundary lines do not coincide with county lines local
adjustments will be made whereby the integrity of communities may be
maintained within the organization of one or the other of the counties
concerned.
The present movement is toward the appointment of county work
secretaries on a salaried basis to administer the work of the
respective interests concerned. Thus we have now developed wherever
the spirit of the people has made it possible salaried County Y. M. C.
A. officers, Y. W. C. A. officers, International Sunday School
officers, Red Cross Chapters, Boy Scouts, Community Service, Inc., and
so forth. There is no regularity or uniformity in the selection of the
counties by the different agencies with reference to each other, but
it appears that when one of the groups succeeds in getting a county
office established, it is increasingly difficult for other agencies
concerned in rural social service to gain a foothold on a salaried
basis. The agency that succeeds in gaining a foothold originally tends
to incorporate into its activities the full program of social service.
Theoretically all admit their readiness to turn over to other agencies
the functions belonging to other groups as soon as they are ready to
assume their proper duties, b
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