said it ought to be a fine thing. But he wants us to do it all
ourselves. Just the same, we can take our suggestions to him, and then,
if he believes in them, he can talk to the other preachers about them,
and, of course, about any ideas of his own. Because you know, I'm pretty
sure he has been thinking about all this a good deal longer than we
have."

It was agreed that the list should be started. Marcia was not willing
to keep it to themselves; she wanted to have it talked about in League
and Sunday school and prayer meeting, and then, when everybody had been
given the chance to add to it, and to improve on it--but not to weaken
it--that it be put out for general discussion among all the churches.

"And then," said Joe Carbrook, "we might call it 'The Everyday Doctrines
of Delafield,' If we stick to the things every citizen will admit he
ought to believe and do, the churches will still have all the chance
they have now to preach those things which must be left to the
individual conscience."

That was the beginning of a document with which Delafield was to become
very familiar in the months which followed; never before had the town
been so generally interested in one set of ideas, and to this day you
can always start a conversation there by mentioning the "Everyday
Doctrines of Delafield," The Methodist preacher gave them their final
form, but he took no credit for the substance of them, though, secretly,
he was vastly proud that the young people, and especially J.W., should
have so thoroughly followed up his first suggestion of a civic creed.

THE EVERYDAY DOCTRINES OF DELAFIELD