Newspapers / The Franklin Times (Louisburg, … / Aug. 12, 1921, edition 1 / Page 3
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* UTTLK t'Ll.MC 0> THK HTATl't* 01 IHlKCM-UOIMi. Illy Howard A- Bridgman. tn July Outlook.) Why do people go to church? But they don't. Haven't you read Dr Jere mlah Croaker's lamentations In a re cent number ot the ??Transcontinental Magazine" ever the empty pews 111 sanctuaries and the unoceuplea aorso sheds behind the village meeting-hous* thai are no longer tenanted by vehi iles drawn by horses or propelled by gasoline? Don't you realize that all the great preachers are dead and that the theological seminaries are no good and tliat an army of hlgn-salarled ov erhead officials are simply trying to galvanize the churches Into a sem blance of life by Instituting artificial drives raid? canrpaigna, and that no body goes anywhere except to dancer 'and the movies? Yes, we've read that article, and oth its lltu- 11. ? 'i ney are due lu appear about once In five years with almost clocklike regularity and for at least ten days to furnish material for sap i-ut uummeut ua th? part nf the nflf.U' lur and religious press am? for anlma Ted discussions ST the" ecclesiastical gatherings. But while the articles are being written and compliments and maledictions are being showered upon the authors something e;se is happen ing. And what is that? on. filial ? a sieudy ptocesslon oFlnen .women,, and children Sunday after Sunday starting from hundreds of thousands of all kinds of homes 4n-all parts of Amer ? icq und~ondlng ut thg~pmlaia of chur ches of all sixes, shapes, and denomi national affiliations. Let us come at once to particulars Let me take a cross-section ot one of ,,,iT l irgpr rmoa una nnt it under ^.lie magnifylng-glass Tor the purpose of t bbtj i vmlun. ? From uue city ? we can learn, or at least lnfer^what Is hap pening in the matter of church-going from coast to coast. Boston is as good a city as any in the country for our ecclesiastical clinic. Perhaps It is better than some, for Boston, Purl tan city though it be by tradition, is not conspicuously orthodox today or nearly so devoted to cnurcn-gdlng as, say, Toronttnrr Los Angc?es. Boston has always been a seed-oec for relig ious fads. The faithrui? whatever til eir peculiar faith ? tend toward ? ih king by themselves in the glory of ? Sir perfect Independence. This drift ? : tiplles the small groups and makes :. -t unity and large unified demon srfrr ? is of'rtie' churcli-Kulug liaPli. 1 Xt v? rtheless it is In Boston that we I tVixl today certain phenomena that ra- | ther disturb us when we Jauntily de- 1 clare that nobody goes to cnurch; at I least they should lead us to postpone tlie filial obsequies, tn honor u! a* good old custom received from the fathers. mail wo luivo candidly sous!", ln pass a snap judgment based on a few scattered and misleading data, but to i:ei an all-round view of itle situation! I have this current season^ attended ches aliy one of which ;s a sufficient proof of the faEt that people do go to church, notwithstanding the asser 1 1 in lis of'magaafco welter* -Alia ? arm chair critics. What is more to the -point, people have been going to these churches In great numbers year after year, decade after decace, and will di ubtless continue to go long after the ""v^'pinp .lerenmins nave made llieli last contributions to the "Transconti nental Magazine" and the "Monday Af ternoon Gazette." These five church es are Tremont Temple (Baptist), Park Street Church (Congregational). Old couth Church (Congregational)," and the Christian Science church. They rep resent tour different communions, but their denominational differences are less noticeable even than tile' varia tions in type. Tremont Temple Is a good represen tative of the modern religious organi zation which caters to the crowd. A Generation ago that observant evange list Dwlght L. Moody called Tremont Temple, because of Its locaton, the best preaching station in America. Its ministers have usually been popular orators, as nrnch at home on the plat form as In the pulpit. The looks ot the place suggests the concert hall. Indeed, all through the week the peo ple go there to lectures, muBical en tertainments, and even tne movies. The atmosphere on Sunday IB not so very different from that ot Saturday or Monday. To be sdre, on Sunday twenty deacons in trim frock coats flle )fnto the plattorm morning and evening with the pastor, Dr. Cortland Tv ITS. hilt they at?noLao solemnthat they cannot Birille with the big audi ence when the preacher cracks a Joke or even applaud when he Indulges In sensational Invectives against the city government or any offending official or private citizen who may b? at the| 50 good cigarettes for 10c from one sack ot GENUINE BULL'' DURHAM , TOBACCO Motor Efficiency vs. Gasoline Efficiency Why the Standard Oil Company ( New Jersey ) Maintains a Great Experimental Department r | WERR fx a 1 efficiency of a motor czr oi'.lrucU cannot be guaranteed by its manufac turer. Thousand dollar cars have been known lo render longer and ihore" ? satisfactory sorvico than others which were valued a! two or three times as much. Mechanically vuur "jobv -was p<T? feet when ii came to you from the factory. The?hot of mJ^rialiycoia mensurate with the price of the car, were used in iiD construction. The car was as nearly ready for efficient service as the manufacturers could make i? How do you sclect Motor Fuel? From this point -the responsibility for efficient operation of your motor lies largely with you ( who must select and purchase xuqJL and lubricants) and with the refiners. good gasoline, adjust your carburetor to it, and use no other. Our work is to r-co that ?his gasoline is constantly ::p to standard ; to make sure that you can 'ir! it wherever your business or ? oieasure takes you in the field served t5V the Standard "Oil t? i^npro it when possible through the efforts of specialists in our Develop juent DepartmcqjL Follow Expert Guidance Our development men are at work ~6ce-king"stiII further to improve our products. These experts have devoted their lives to study of the refining bus iness and ' the, relation between the properties of the oils and the service which, they render. They deal q>?ly in facts. You can't go wrong in following.* their guidance. STANDARD OIL COMPANY (New Jersey) Refiners of the best gasoline obtainable moment In the public eye. At Park Street Church, only a stones throw away from Tremont Temple, you find a no less evangelistic empha sis than at Tremont Temple but more dignity and no playing to the galler ies. The temper of the service is earnest, sincere, straightforward. Old "Brimstone Corner," as it has been called for half a century, "till stands for the old Gospel* but, as Dr. A. Z. Conrad meditates, expounds! and embod lea it the persuasive note Is louder than the dogmatic. Par* Street, like Tremont Temple, draws Its great au diences to a notable extent from the neighboring hotels and boardlng-hous es, though in the case of both tht> reg ular attendants Include many who swarm from cities and towns all over Greater Boston. Just a few steps farther down Tre mont Street on any Sunday morning or evening you will rind another con gregation in size woll on toward the thousand mark and often passing it. St. Paul's ? the St. Paul's of an earlier day, when rectors like Vinton and Courtney were in their prime ? has bo come during the last ten years the Cathedral church of the diocese, no bly fulfilling even In a structure not built with that In view the functions of a central ecclesiastical establish ment In which the corporate life of the diocese finds ample and beneflclent ex pression. But It Is not chiefly because St. Paul's has a ranking superior to that of other churches that people flock thither SundayR and week-day*, but because Dean E. S. Rousmanlere has made It a religious power house where ! Influence Is not measured by Its contrl I button to the strengthening of the Episcopal Church in Massachusetts, but by Its constant impact upon the life of the city and of the region. Dean Rousmanlere is a Low Churchman and cuts ecclesiastical corners whenever he pleases. He is not afraid to ofTer extemporaneous prayers, or to give out a Gospel sonic, or to condense the Scripture lessons of the morning Into one reading. Nevertheless the service has a distinctively ritualistic quality and conforms In the main to the can ons and rubrics of the cnurch. But forms and ceremonies do not smother i the life of the spirit That is fed al most continuously at St. Paul's through week-day classes in personal re ligion, prayer circles, and noon-day preaching services. St. Pauls Is a pioneer in the use of certain cultural methods; it has a friendly reeling to ward those who believe that Christian Ity can heal diseases. or at least great ly reduce their area and intensity. To put It tersely, St. Paul's specialty Is religion. At (he Old South Churcn, on Copley Squ'*n*e. is to be seen every Sunday a congregation more fully representative of the brains, wealth, ami culture of the city than any other congregation. Trinity and Kmmanitel excepted. Jud ges of the Supreme Court* prominent lawyers, physicians, merchants, a host of teachers. and Just now the Gover nor of the Commonwealth, listen, week by week, to Dr. George A. Gor don. still, aa for many yearn, the lead er of the New England pulpit. Ush ering Is no easy task at the Old South since the spaccs directly beneath the pulpit and the gallery stairs have of ten to be requisitioned in the interests of late comers. The service of wor ship, while by no means severe, shows little In the way of the elaboration wrought out by some other churches of the Congregational persuasion. Ap parently people go to Old South be cause they want to hear Dr. Gordon, to be invigorated by his broad, rugged faith, to be buoyed up by his optimism, to be refreshed by his unfailing good humor, to be enlightened concerning the great mysteries of lire and death. No such motive operates In the case of the thousands who attend the magnificent temple where tne follow ers of Mary Baker Eddy aBsemblo just to hear the Scripture an* the week's readings from the text-book "of our revered leador." To the uninitiated, the casual dropper in at tfte Christian Science Mother Church, the hour ? for that time Limit is never exceeded ? is likely to be a dull and even a dreary one His temptation after gazing Into the Kreat vault and studying the adorn inont of pillars and ceiling and the le gends on the Myalls will be to look around on those present and wonder just what brings them there Sunday after Sunday, Wednesday evening af ter Wednesday evoning. The more one looks at them, the more hey ap pear just like other people, just like the people he has seen at the four oth er crowded auditoriums. They really don't appear to be eitner cranks or dupes. Thus much with regard to the ma terial of our clinic. Now what are the conclusions? Only two at this time. One Inference Is that people go to rhureh in Itoston and elsewhero where other people go in considerable numbers and for a period of conslder uhle length. A crowd draws a crowd. And the moral thereof ts this: I>o r*te your churches where they will be easily accessible. Do not multiply ed ifices beyond a certain point. Locate a few at strategic point# and make them large enough to hold at least a thousand people. Then get your crowd moving toward them. But how? There is the rub. One thing is true of all the five churches whose types of service have been brief ly described. They all provide some thing real and deep-going for those who frequent them. The individual ac cent is different. The theology or the philosophy which reigns In this or that one of the five might be tabooed or at least severely criticised by others in the group. Never^pless the religion which all are trying to defend and propagate is positive and relates it self to that which is deep'rst and best in every worshiper. And the moral of their particular as pect of the whole matter is this. If cm :ire going to open the doors of a * ;% ?i on a Sunday and invite people to enter, you must havo something very definite, positive, and satisfying to offer them. And year in and year cut nothing draws like religion. Not long ago a belated man made the rounds of at least threo of the five J churches just characterized, only to i find every seat taken. Not caring to Ktand for an hour, he started for his home. On the way he noticed several people ascending a stairway. He fol lowed them Into a small upper room, where he found a score of persons sqt ting forth the reasons why people do not go to-churoh. Had he ventured to tell them of his evening's experience they would have still clung to their misconceptions. For some people are never convinced and some discussions Ko on forever. ADMINISTRATORS NOTICE. Heaving qualified as administrator C. T. A. of the estate of Lucy T. Freeman, deceased, late of Franklin County. North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against said es tate to present the same to the under signed on or before the 19th day of July, 1922, or this notice will be plead In bar of their recovery. All persona Indebted to said estate will please nako immediate payment. This July* 19th, 1921. W. P. EDWARDS. Adm'r. C. T A. of Lucy T. Freeman, r. T & Edison T. Hicks. Attys. 8-5-6t 'Why I Put I'p With Rats for Yearn,** Writes N. Windsor, Farmer. "Years ago I bought some rat pois )n. which nearly killed our fine watch log. It so scared us that we suffered l long time with rats until my neigh bor told me about RAT-SNAP. That's he sure rat killer and a safe one.'* rhree sizes 35c, 65c, $1.25. Sold and guaranteed by Allen Bros. Co. . NOTICE TO CREDITORS. Having qualified as admmlstrator of he estate of Littleton Sills, deceased, ate of Franklin County. North Caro ina, this Is to notify all persons hav - ng claims against said estate to pre tent the same to the undersigned on >r before the 22nd day of July, 1922. >r this notice will be plead la bar of heir recovery. All persons Indebted o said estate will please make Imme liate payment. This July 22nd. 1921. 8 B BILLS, J. E. SILLS. Administrators of Llttlstoa 8111s Vm. H * Thos. W. Ruffln, Attorneys. ? _ 7-22-4*.
The Franklin Times (Louisburg, N.C.)
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Aug. 12, 1921, edition 1
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