UNDER ORDERS: The Churches and Public Affairs

No one is better qualified to write on the church and its role in public affairs than the Rev. Dr. Roswell P. Barnes, at present Executive Secretary in America of the World Council of Churches. Before that for many years he was secretary of the Federal Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches. He has been able therefore to observe at many levels the effectiveness (or lack of it), of the Christian witness of the individual, the local church, the national church, separately and collectively, as there is confrontation with the social, political, economic, national and international problems of our times. That there is an effective way to make Christian influence felt at all levels and in every area is Dr. Barnes' conviction, and he argues his case urgently and persuasively. He tells us why Christian churches are involved in public affairs (they are under Biblical orders), discusses the social problems in the usual functions of the church, relations with other agencies, Christian unity and international conflict, and the major social problem areas of today. This is required reading for Protestant ministers who may be a bit timid and uncertain in their participation in public affairs, and their lay leaders who think they should stay out and ""stick to religion"".