nineteen hundred and forty-six - Amazon Web Services

422 SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION
Mrs. Elisabeth Allen is the department secretary. She is responsible for
the mail, keeps the files, prepares copy for publication, and handles many
requests for help which come to our department. She is assisted by Mrs. Dorcas
Johnson.
BUILDING CONDITIONS AT THIS TIME
It would seem that all building, except homes for our veterans of World
War II, will be curtailed for yet some time. It is estimated that this curtailment
will continue until the middle or latter part of 1947. All of us have
cheerfully abided by the Government regulation during the war and that will
be our attitude now. Even though a building permit may be obtained, the
material, which is available, is frequently of an inferior grade. The best labor
is hard to obtain at this time. The next several months will not be a good time
to .undertake a building program.
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE NOW
There are some churches which will lose tremendously if they are not able
to provide more space for their growing constituency. It is not necessarily true
that all building should cease just because costs are high. It is always easier
to raise money during such a period and the larger amounts of money will
offset the higher cost.
However, all churches interested in the building program can do at least
two things. It goes without saying that now is the time to raise money. Every
church should put forth an effort to secure the capital funds which are to be
invested in the church property. This is also the time to make a careful survey
and exhaustive study of all that is needed and desirable in the new building
program. Special committees should be appointed, or perhaps one large building
committee divided into sub-committees, to study every angle of the church
program for the next generation or two and make recommendations for the
building which will house this program. The planning period is the most important
period of the entire building program.
THE VALUE OF A CHURCH BUILDING
The church building must provide for the entire church program. If it
does not it is a failure, no matter how well designed, nor how much it costs,
nor how beautiful it is. The functional value is of great importance. The
church building must provide for worship and preaching and it must provide
for the educational program. It should never be necessary to adapt the Sundav
school to the building; on the other hand, the building should be adapted to the
Sunday school and the other agencies in a church program. The building
should also provide for the fellowship of every group. The adults should find
a suitable place in the church building. The children, from the smallest to
the grownups, should find their places and know it is for them.
The church building has a cultural value. There are many people who
never see a more inspiring building than the church building in their community.
Church buildings have been known to change whole districts bv their
silent testimony and challenge to the highest and best in mankind. Church
buildings express a background and at the same time a desire and longing which
can never be reduced to the printed page. The masters and artists through
the ages have made their contributions. The church building will ever express
the highest appreciation of those who build them. The will-designed church
building, will stand for decades, even centuries, to bless mankind. The cultural
of P chur?h 0 Du°ndfn y s COmmUn Hfted &nd develo P ed b y th e highest type
The greatest value of any church building is its spiritual value. It is
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