The open door is more than sheltered space,
When no one creed or class is turned away;
It learns the town by meeting every face,
And lets its gathered knowledge shape the day.
Begin not with a scheme imposed above,
But listen where the lived needs still abide;
Let fellowship make useful learning love,
And test each plan by lives where it is tried.
Let craft and song give buried gifts their name,
And make the stranger teacher, not the guest;
Let clubs turn play to civic, common flame,
While facts and public bodies do the rest.
Give not a charity that parts the heart,
But build durable trust, where all take part.