206 / Missions and the New Churches, 1920-1945

go. First of all, there were small and faltering congregations that needed to be revitalized. Accordingly, the small Medway congregation in Clark County was taken under the new board. The Blanchard, Morral, and Ashtabula churches were considered as places for work, and arrangements were made to have ministers serve these congregations in a new and better way.

Rural unchurched fields were also a primary concern. John R. Smucker in his "History of the Ohio Mission Board" points out that "During the first eighteen annual board meetings, topics on the need of rural areas were discussed ten times while the cities received two discussions."'- In 1922 the rural field was especially emphasized in these words from the minutes: Recognizing the importance of the Rural Church and whereas the work has been sadly neglected, and whereas we are a rural people, Be it resolved that we advise a distribution of our ministers and Sunday school workers so that they

may be kept busy in regular service and regular places of worship wherever practiced.

In 1930 Norman Bauman discussed "The Rural Community as a Mission Field" and noted how changes in rural life were a challenge to the church. The little red schoolhouses were closing and consolidation was taking place. "We must meet the needs of today," he insisted, "in the light of the present generation." I. W. Royer spoke on the same occasion and in the same vein. He cited the church's relief work in other lands and then called attention to the tendency for rural communities to become centralized in ways which he felt were demoralizing. Instead of going along with this trend Royer called on his audience to spread into rural districts and build Christian communities there.

The board from its beginning had broad views as to its purposes. The dissemination of missionary information was one of these purposes. Frequently at its meetings statistics were presented that told of a vast unevangelized population in Ohio. In 1924, e.g., the board was informed that in Ohio there were 1,058 abandoned churches, largely in rural areas. Ohio, it was pointed out, was strongly rural, a total of 45 percent of its population being so classified.

Another purpose of the board was to stimulate local congregations to carry on mission work in their own, usually needy, communities. In the same year the board called on every member "to inspire others to earnest and tactful effort to win souls for Christ,