"There was an unusual spirit of homeness about the place, such as I never felt in a church before. I was not alone in feeling it. The moment I stood in the audience room, an agreeable sense of rest and pleasure came over me. Everyone else appeared to feel the same. There was none of the stiff restraint most churches have. All moved about and greeted each other with an ease that was pleasant indeed. I saw some people abusing the liberty of the place by whispering, even during the sermon. They may have been strangers. They evidently belonged to the lower classes. But it was a curiosity to notice the liberty every one took at pauses in the service, and the close attention there was when the reading or speaking began.

"All the people sang. I think the great preacher has a strong liking for the old hymns. Of course I noticed his selection of Wesley's favorite. A little boy in front of me stood upon the pew when the congregation rose. He piped out in song with all his power. It was like a spring canary. It was difficult to tell whether the strong voice of the preacher, or the chorus choir, led most in the singing. A well-dressed lady near me said 'Good evening,' most cheerfully, as a polite usher showed me into the pew. They say that all the members do that. It made me feel welcome. She also gave me a hymn-book. I saw others being greeted the same. How it did help me praise the Lord! At home with the people of God! That is just how I felt. I was greatly disappointed in the preacher. Agreeably so, after all. I expected to see an old man. He did not look over thirty-five. He was awkwardly tall. I had expected some eccentric and sensational affair. I do not know just what, but I had been told of many strange things. I think now it was envious misrepresentation. The whole service was as simple as simple can be. And it was surely as sincere as it was simple. The reading of the hymns was so natural and distinct that they had a now meaning to me. The prayer was very short, and offered in homely language. In it he paused a moment for silent prayer, and every one seemed to hold his breath in the deepest, real reverence. It was so different from my expectations. Then the collection. It was not an asking for money at all. The preacher put his notice of it the other way about He said, 'The people who wish to worship God by giving their offering into the trust of the church could place it in the baskets which would be passed to any who wanted to give.' The basket that went down to the altar by me was full of money and envelopes. Yet no one was asked to give anything. It was all voluntary, and really an offering to the Lord. I had never seen such a way of doing things in church collections. I do not know as the minister or church require it so. The church, was packed in every corner, and people stood in the aisles. The pulpit platform was crowded so that the preacher had nothing more than standing room. Some people sat on the floor, and a crowd of interested boys leaned against the pulpit platform. When the preacher arose to speak, I expected something strange. It did not seem possible that such a crowd could gather year after year to listen to mere plain preaching. For these are degenerate days. The minister began so familiarly and easily in introducing his text that he was half through his sermon before I began to realize that he was actually in his sermon. It was the plainest thing possible. I had often heard of his eloquence and poetic imagination. But there was little of either, if we think of the old ideas. There was close continuous attention. He was surely in earnest, but not a sign of oratorical display. There were exciting gestures at times, and lofty periods. But it was all so natural. At one point the whole audience burst into laughter at a comic turn in an illustration, but the preacher went on unconscious of it. It detracted nothing from the solemn theme. It was what the 'Chautauqua Herald' last year called a 'Conwellian evening.' It was unlike anything I ever saw or heard. Yet it was good to be there. The sermon was crowded with illustrations, and was evidently unstudied. They say he never takes time from his many cares to write a sermon. That one was surely spontaneous. But it inspired the audience to better lives and a higher faith. When he suddenly stopped and quickly seized a hymn-book, the audience drew a long sigh. At once people moved about again and looked at each other and smiled. The whole congregation were at one with the preacher. There was a low hum of whispering voices. But all was attention again when the hymn was read. Then the glorious song. One of the finest organists in the country, a blind gentleman by the name of Wood, was the power behind the throne. The organ did praise God. Every one was carried on in a flood of praise. It was rich. The benediction was a continuation of the sermon and a closing prayer, all in a single sentence. I have never heard one so unique. It fastened the evening's lesson. It was not formal. The benediction was a blessing indeed. It broke every rule of church form. It was a charming close, however. No one else but Conwell could do it. Probably no one will try. Instantly at the close of the service, all the people turned to each other and shook hands. They entered into familiar conversation. Many spoke to me and invited me to come again. There was no restraint. All was homelike and happy. It was blessed to be there."



CHAPTER XVIII

FIRST DAYS AT GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH

Early plans for Church Efficiency. Practical Methods for Church Work. The Growing Membership. Need of a New Building.

The preaching filled the church. Men and women felt that to miss a sermon was to miss inspiration and strength for the coming week's work, a broader outlook on life, a deeper hold on spiritual truths. But it was more than the sermons that carried the church work forward by leaps and bounds, added hundreds to its membership, made it a power for good in the neighborhood that gradually began to be felt all over the city.

The spirit of the sermons took practical form. Mr. Conwell followed no traditions or conventions in his church work. He studied the needs of the neighborhood and the hour. Then he went to work with practical, common sense to meet them. First he determined the church should be a home, a church home, but nevertheless a home in its true sense, overflowing with love, with kindness, with hospitality for the stranger within its gates. Committees were formed to make strangers welcome, to greet them cordially, find them a seat if possible, see that they had hymn books, and invite them heartily to come again. And every member felt he belonged to this committee even if not actually appointed on it, and made the stranger who might sit near him feel that he was a welcome guest. When the church became more crowded, members gave up their seats to strangers and sat on the pulpit, and it was no unusual sight in the church at Berks and Mervine streets to see the pulpit, as well as every other inch of space in the auditorium, crowded. Finally, when even this did not give room enough to accommodate all who thronged its doors, members took turns in staying away from certain services. No one who has not enjoyed the spiritual uplift, the good fellowship of a Grace Church service can appreciate what a genuine personal sacrifice that was.

After the service, Mr. Conwell stationed himself at the door and shook hands with all as they left, adding some little remark to show his personal interest in their welfare if they were members, or a cordial invitation to come again, if a stranger. The remembrance of that hearty handclasp, that frank, friendly interest, lingered and stamped with a personal flavor upon the hearer's heart, the truths of Christianity that had been preached in such simple, clear, yet forcible fashion from the pulpit.

Another of Mr. Conwell's methods for carrying out practical Christianity was to set every body at work. Every single member of the church was given something to do. As soon as a person was received into the membership, he was invited to join some one or other of the church organizations. He was placed on some committee. In such an atmosphere of activity there was no one who did not catch the enthusiasm and feel that being a Christian meant much more than attending church on Sundays, putting contributions in the box, and listening to the minister preach. It was a veritable hive of applied Christianity, and many a man who hitherto thought he had done his full duty by attending church regularly and contributing to its support had these ideas, so comfortable and self-satisfied, completely shattered.

The membership was composed almost entirely of working people, men and women who toiled hard for their daily bread. There were no wealthy people to help the work by contributions of thousands of dollars. The beginnings of all the undertakings were small and unpretentious. But nothing was undertaken until the need of it was felt; then the people as a whole put their shoulders to the wheel and it went with a will. And because it practically filled a need, it was a success.

The pastor was the most untiring worker of all. With ceaseless energy and unfailing tact, he was the head and heart of every undertaking. Day and night he ministered to the needs of his membership and the community. To the bedside of the sick he carried cheer that was better than medicine. In the homes where death had entered, he brought the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Where disgrace had fallen like a pall, he went with words of hope and practical advice. Parents sought him to help lead erring children back from a life of wretchedness and evil. Wherever sorrow and trouble was in the heart or home he went, his heart full of sympathy, his hands eager to help.

Much of his time, too, in those early days of his ministry was devoted to pastoral calls, not the formal ministerial call where the children tiptoe in, awed and silent, because the "minister is there." Children hailed his coming with delight, the family greeted him as an old, old friend before whom all ceremony and convention were swept away. He was genuinely interested in their family affairs. He entered into their plans and ambitions, and he never forgot any of their personal history they might tell him, so that each felt, and truly, that in his pastor he had a warm and interested friend.

His own simple, informal manner made every one feel instantly at home with him. He soon became a familiar figure upon the streets in the neighborhood of his church, for morning, noon and night he was about his work, cherry, earnest, always the light of his high calling shining from his face. The people for squares about knew that here was a man, skilled and practical in the affairs of the world, to whom they could go for advice, for help, for consolation, sure that they would have his ready sympathy and the best his big heart and generous hands could give.

Such faithful work of the pastor, such earnest, active work of the people could not but tell. The family feeling which is the ideal of church fellowship was so strong and warm that it attracted and drew people as with magnetic power. The church became more and more crowded. In less than a year it was impossible to seat those who thronged to the Sunday services, though the auditorium then had a seating capacity of twelve hundred.

"I am glad," the pastor once remarked to a friend, "when I get up Sunday morning and can look out of the window and see it snowing, sleeting, and raining, and hear the wind shriek and howl. 'There,' I say, 'I won't have to preach this morning, looking all the while at people patiently standing through the service, wherever there is a foot of standing room.'"



The membership rose from two hundred to more than five hundred within two years. A question began to shape itself in the minds of pastor and people. "What shall we do?" As a partial solution of it, the proposition was made to divide into three churches. But, as in the old days of enlistment when two companies clamored for him for captain, all three sections wanted him as pastor, and so the idea was abandoned.

Still the membership grew, and the need for larger quarters faced them imperatively and not to be evaded. The house next door was purchased which gave increased space for the work of the Sunday School and the various associations. But it was a mere drop in the bucket. Every room in it was filled to overflowing with eager workers before the ink was fairly dry on the deed of transfer.

Then into this busy crowd wondering what should be done came a little child, and with one simple act cleared the mist from their eyes and pointed the way for them to go.



CHAPTER XIX

HATTIE WIATT'S LEGACY

How a Little Child Started the Building Fund for the Great Baptist Temple.

One Sunday afternoon a little child, Hattie Wiatt, six years old, came to the church building at Berks and Mervine to attend the Sunday School. She was a very little girl and it was a very large Sunday School, but big as it was there was not room to squeeze her in. Other little girls had been turned away that day, and still others, Sundays before. But it was a bitter disappointment to this small child; the little lips trembled, the big tears rolled down her cheeks and the sobs that came were from the heart. The pastor himself told the little one why she could not come in and tried to comfort her. His heart was big enough for her and her trouble if the church was not. He watched the childish figure going so sadly up the street with a heart that was heavy that he must turn away a little child from the house of God, from the house raised in the name of One who said, "Suffer little children to come unto me."

She did not forget her disappointment as many a child would. It had been too grievous. It hurt too deeply to think that she could not go to that Sunday School, and that other little girls who wanted to go must stay away. With quivering lip she told her mother there wasn't room for her. With a sad little heart she spent the afternoon thinking about it, and when bedtime came and she said her prayers, she prayed with a child's beautiful faith that they would find room for her so that she might go and learn more about Jesus. Perhaps she had heard some word dropped about faith and works. Perhaps the childish mind thought it out for herself. But she arose the next morning with a strong purpose in her childish soul, a purpose so big in faith, so firm in determination, it could put many a strong man's efforts to the blush. "I will save my money," she said to herself, "and build a bigger Sunday School. Then we can all go."

From her childish treasures she hunted out a little red pocketbook and in this she put her pennies, one at a time. What temptations that childish soul struggled with no one may know! How she shut her eyes and steeled her heart to playthings her friends bought, to the allurements of the candy shop window! But nothing turned her from her purpose. Penny by penny the little hoard grew. Day after day the dimpled fingers counted it and the bright eyes grew brighter as the sum mounted. That mite cast in by the widow was no purer, greater offering than these pennies so lovingly and heroically saved by this little child.

But there were only a few weeks of this planning, hoping, saving. The little Temple builder fell ill. It was a brief illness and then the grim Reaper knocked at the door of the Wiatt home and the loving, self-sacrificing spirit was born to the Father's House where there are many mansions, where there was no lack of room, for the little heart so eager to learn more of Jesus.

With her dying breath she told her mother of her treasure, told her it was for Grace Baptist Church to build.

In the little red pocketbook was just fifty-seven cents. That was her legacy. With swelling heart, the pastor reverently took it; with misty eyes and broken voice he told his people of the little one's gift.

"And when they heard how God had blessed them with so great an inheritance, there was silence in the room; the silence of tears and earnest consecration. The corner stone of the Temple was laid."



CHAPTER XX

BUILDING THE TEMPLE

How the Money was Raised. Walking Clubs. Jug Breaking. The Purchase of the Lot. Laying the Corner Stone.

Thus was their path pointed out to them and they walked steadily forward in it from that day.

Plans were made for raising money. The work went forward with a vim, for ever before each worker was the thought of that tiny girl, the precious pennies saved one by one by childish self-denial. The child's faith was equaled by theirs. It was a case of "Come unto me on the water." They were poor. Nobody could give much. But nobody hesitated.

It was not only a question of giving, even small sums. What was given must be saved in some way. Few could give outright and not feel it. Incomes for the most part just covered living expenses, and expenses must be cut down, if incomes were to be stretched to build a church. So these practical people put their wits to work to see how money could be saved. Walking clubs were organized, not for vigorous cross country tramps in a search for pleasure and health, but with an earnest determination to save carfare for the building fund. Tired men with muscles aching from a hard day's work, women weary with a long day behind the counter or typewriter, cheerfully trudged home and saved the nickels. Women economized in dress, men who smoked gave it up. Vacations in the summer were dropped. Even the boys and girls saved their pennies as little Hattie Wiatt had done, and the money poured into the treasury in astonishing amounts, considering how small was each individual gift. All these sacrifices helped to endear the place to those who wove their hopes and prayers about it.

A fair was given in a large hall in the centre of the city which brought to the notice of many strangers the vigorous work the church was doing and netted nearly five thousand dollars toward the building fund. It was a fair that went with a vim, planned on business lines, conducted in a practical, sensible fashion.

Another effort that brought splendid results was the giving out of little earthen jugs in the early summer to be brought to the harvest home in September with their garnerings. It was a joyous evening when the jugs were brought in. A supper was given, and while the church members enjoyed themselves at the tables, the committee sat on the platform, broke the jugs, counted the money and announced the amount. The sum total brought joyous smiles to the treasurer's face.

Innumerable entertainments were held in the church and at homes of the church members. Suppers were given in Fairmount Park during the summer. Every worthy plan for raising money that clever brains could devise and willing hands accomplish was used to swell the building fund.

Thus the work went ahead, and in September, 1886, the lot on which The Temple now stands at Broad and Berks was purchased at a cost of twenty-five thousand dollars. Thus encouraged with tangible results, the work for the building fund was pushed, if possible, with even greater vigor. Ground was broken for The Temple March 27, 1889. The corner stone was laid July 13, 1890, and on the first of March, 1891, the house was occupied for worship.

The only large amount received toward the building fund was a gift of ten thousand dollars on condition that the church be not dedicated until it was free of debt. In a legal sense, calling a building by the name of the congregation worshipping in it is a dedication, and so the building, instead of being called The Grace Baptist Church, was called the Baptist Temple, a name which will probably cling to it while one stone stands upon another.

Raising money and erecting a building did not stop the spiritual work of the church. Rather it increased it. People heard of the church through the fairs and various other efforts to raise money, came to the service, perhaps out of curiosity at first, became interested, their hearts were touched and they joined. Never did its spiritual light burn more brightly than in these days of hard work and self-denial. The membership steadily rose, and when Grace Church moved into its new temple of worship, more than twelve hundred members answered the muster roll.



CHAPTER XXI

OCCUPYING THE TEMPLE

The First Sunday. The Building Itself—Its Seating Capacity, Furnishing and Lighting. The Lower Temple and its Various Rooms and Halls. Services Heard by Telephone at the Samaritan Hospital.

That was a great day—the first Sunday in the new Temple. Six years of labor and love had gone to its building and now they possessed the land.

"During the opening exercises over nine thousand people were present at each service," said the "Philadelphia Press" writing of the event. The throng overflowed into the Lower Temple; into the old church building. The whole neighborhood was full of the joyful members of Grace Baptist Church. The very air seemed to thrill with the spirit of thanksgiving abroad that day. All that Sabbath from sunrise until close to midnight members thronged the building with prayers of thankfulness and praise welling up from glad hearts.

Writing from London several years later, Mr. Conwell voiced in words what had been in his mind when the church was planned:

"I heard a sermon which helped me greatly. It was delivered by an old preacher, and the subject was, 'This God is our God,' He described the attributes of God in glory, knowledge, wisdom and love, and compared Him to the gods the heathen do worship. He then pressed upon us the message that this glorious God is the Christian's God, and with Him we cannot want. It did me so much good, and made me long so much for more of God in all my feelings, actions, and influence. The seats were hard, and the tack of the pew hard and high, the church dusty and neglected; yet, in spite of all the discomforts, I was blessed. I was sorry for the preacher who had to preach against all those discomforts, and did not wonder at the thin congregation. Oh! it is all wrong to make it so unnecessarily hard to listen to the gospel. They ought for Jesus' sake tear out the old benches and put in comfortable chairs. There was an air about the service of perfunctoriness and lack of object, which made the service indefinite and aimless. This is a common fault. We lack an object and do not aim at anything special in our services. That, too, is all wrong. Each hymn, each chapter read, each anthem, each prayer, and each sermon should have a special and appropriate purpose. May the Lord help me, after my return, to profit by this day's lesson."

No hard benches, no air of cold dreariness marks The Temple. The exterior is beautiful and graceful in design, the interior cheery and homelike in furnishing.

The building is of hewn stone, with a frontage on Broad Street of one hundred and seven feet, a depth on Berks Street of one hundred and fifty feet, a height of ninety feet. On the front is a beautiful half rose window of rich stained glass, and on the Berks Street side a number of smaller memorial windows, each depicting some beautiful Biblical scene or thought. Above the rose window on the front is a small iron balcony on which on special occasions, and at midnight on Christmas, New Year's Eve and Easter, the church orchestra and choir play sacred melodies and sing hymns, filling the midnight hour with melody and delighting thousands who gather to hear it.

The auditorium of The Temple has the largest seating capacity among Protestant church edifices in the United States. Its original seating capacity according to the architect's plans, was forty-two hundred opera chairs. But to secure greater comfort and safety only thirty-one hundred and thirty-five chairs were used.

Under the auditorium and below the level of the street is the part of the building called the Lower Temple. Here are Sunday School rooms, with a seating capacity of two thousand. The Sunday School room and lecture room of the Lower Temple is forty-eight by one hundred and six feet in dimensions. It also has many beautiful stained-glass windows. On the platform is a cabinet organ and a grand piano. In the rear of the lecture room is a dining-room, forty-five by forty-six feet, with a capacity for seating five hundred people. Folding tables and hundreds of chairs are stowed away in the store rooms when not in use in the great dining-room. Opening out of this room are the rooms of the Board of Trustees, the parlors and reading-rooms of the Young Men's Association and the Young Women's Association, and the kitchen, carving-room and cloak-room. Through the kitchen is a passageway to the engine and boiler rooms. In pantries and cupboards is an outfit of china and table cutlery sufficient to set a table for five hundred persons. The kitchen is fully equipped, with two large ranges, hot-water cylinders, sinks and drainage tanks. In the annex beyond the kitchen, a separate building contains the boilers and engine room and the electric-light plants.

The steam-heating of the building is supplied by four one hundred horse-power boilers. In the engine room are two one hundred and thirty-five horse-power engines, directly connected with dynamos having a capacity of twenty-five hundred lights, which are controlled by a switchboard in this room. The electrician is on duty every day, giving his entire time to the management of this plant. The building is also supplied with gas. Directly behind the pulpit is a small closet containing a friction wheel, by means of which, should the electric light fail for any reason, every gas jet in The Temple can be lighted from dome to basement.

For cleaning the church, a vacuum plant has been installed, which sucks out every particle of dust and dirt. It does the work quickly and thoroughly, in fact, so thoroughly it is impossible even with the hardest beating to raise any dust on the covered chairs after they have been cleaned by this process. Such crowds throng The Temple that some quick, thorough method of cleaning it became imperative.

Back of the auditorium on the street floor are the business offices of the church, Mr. Conwell's study, the office of his secretary and of the associate pastor. All are practically and cheerfully furnished, fitted with desks, filing cabinets, telephones, speaking tubes, everything to carry forward the business of the church in a time-saving, businesslike way.

The acoustics of the great auditorium are perfect. There is no building on this continent with an equal capacity which enables the preacher to speak and the hearers to listen with such perfect comfort. The weakest voice is carried to the farthest auditor. Lecturers who have tested the acoustic properties of halls in every state in the Union speak with praise and pleasure of The Temple, which makes the delivery of an oration to three thousand people as easy, so far as vocal effort is concerned, as a parlor conversation.

Telephonic communication has recently been installed between the auditorium and the Samaritan Hospital. Patients in their beds can hear the sermons preached from The Temple pulpit and the music of the Sunday services.

Compared with other assembly rooms in this country, the auditorium of The Temple is a model. It seats thirty-one hundred and thirty-five persons. The American Academy of Music, Philadelphia, seats twenty-nine hundred; the Academy of Music, Brooklyn, twenty-four hundred and thirty-three; Academy in New York, twenty-four hundred and thirty-three; the Grand Opera House, Cincinnati, twenty-two hundred and fifty; and the Music Hall, Boston, twenty-five hundred and eighty-five.

But greater than the building is the spirit that pervades it. The moment one enters the vast auditorium with its crimson chairs, its cheery carpet, its softly tinted walls, one feels at home. Light filters in through rich windows, in memory of some member gone before, some class or organization. Back of the pulpit stands the organ, its rich pipes rising almost to the roof. Everywhere is rich, subdued coloring, not ostentatious, but cheery, homelike.

Large as is the seating capacity of The Temple, when it was opened it could not accommodate the crowds that thronged to it. Almost from the first, overflow meetings were held in the Lower Temple, that none need be turned away from the House of God. From five hundred to two thousand people crowded these Sunday evenings in addition to the large audience in the main auditorium above.

The Temple workers had come to busy days and large opportunities. But they took them humbly with a full sense of their responsibility, with prayer in their hearts that they might meet them worthily. Their leader knew the perils of success and with wise counsel guided them against its insidious dangers.

"Ah, that is a dangerous hour in the history of men and institutions," he said, in a sermon on the "Danger of Success," "when they become too popular; when a good cause becomes too much admired or adored, so that the man, or the institution, or the building, or the organization, receives an idolatrous worship from the community. That is always a dangerous time. Small men always go down, wrecked by such dizzy elevation. Whenever a small man is praised, he immediately loses his balance of mind and ascribes to himself the things which others foolishly express in flattery. He esteems himself more than he is; thinking himself to be something, he is consequently nothing. How dangerous is that point when a man, or a woman, or an enterprise has become accepted and popular! Then, of all times, should the man or the society be humble. Then, of all times, should they beware. Then, of all times, the hosts of Satan are marshaled that by every possible insidious wile and open warfare they may overcome. The weakest hour in the history of great enterprises is apt to be when they seem to be, and their projectors think they are, strongest. Take heed lest ye fall in the hour of your strength. The most powerful mill stream drives the wheel most vigorously at the moment before the flood sweeps the mill to wildest destruction."

Just as plainly and unequivocally did he hold up before them the purpose of their high calling:

"The mission of the church is to save the souls of men. That is its true mission. It is the only mission of the church. That should be its only thought. The moment any church admits a singer that does not sing to save souls; the moment a church calls a pastor who does not preach to save souls; the moment a church elects a deacon who does not work to save souls; the moment a church gives a supper or an entertainment of any kind not for the purpose of saving souls—it ceases in so much to be a church and to fulfil the magnificent mission God gave it. Every concert, every choir service, every preaching service, every Lord's supper, every agency that is used in the church must have the great mission plainly before its eye. We are here to save the souls of dying sinners; we are here for no other purpose; and the mission of the church being so clear, that is the only test of a real church."

The thousands of men and women Grace Church has saved and placed in paths of righteousness and happiness, show that it has nobly stood the test, that it has proved itself a church in the true sense of the word.



CHAPTER XXII

HOW THE CHURCH WORKS

The Ladies' Aid Society. The Young Women's Association. The Young Men's Association. The Ushers' Association. The Christian Endeavor Societies. The Many Other Organizations. What They Do, and How They Do It.

Now that the church was built, now that such power was in its hands, how should it work?

"The church of Christ should be so conducted always as to save the largest number of souls, and in the saving of souls the Institutional church may be of great assistance," said Russell Conwell in an address on "The Institutional Church." "It is of little matter what your theories are or what mine are; God, in His providence, is moving His church onward and moving it upward at the same time, adjusting it to new situations, fitting it to new conditions and to advancing civilization, requiring us to use the new instrumentalities he has placed in our hands for the purpose of saving the greatest number of human souls."

The conditions confronting him, the leader of this church studied. He turned his eyes backward over the years. He thought of his own boyhood when church was so distasteful. He thought of those ten busy years in Boston when he had worked among all classes of humanity, with churches on all sides, yet few reaching down into the lives of the people in any vital way. He knew of the silent, agonizing cry for help, for comfort, for light, that went up without ceasing day and night from humanity in sorrow, in suffering, in affliction, went up as it were to skies of brass, yet he knew a loving Savior stood ready to pour forth his healing love, a Divine Spirit waited only the means, to lay a healing touch on sore hearts. What was needed was a simple, practical, real way to make it understandable to men, to bring them into the right environment, to make their hearts and minds receptive, to point the way to peace, joy and eternal life. He brought to bear on this problem all the practical, trained skill of the lawyer, the keen insight and common sense, the knowledge of the world, of the traveler and writer. Every experience of his own life he probed for help and light on this great work Nothing was done haphazard. He studied the wants of men. He clearly saw the need. He calmly surveyed the field, then he went to work with practical common sense to fill it, filling his people with the enthusiasm and the faith that led him, doing with a will all there was to do, and then leaving the rest with God. Never did he think of himself, of how he might lighten his tasks, give himself a little more leisure or rest. The work needing to be done and how to do it was his study day and night.



A reporter of the "Philadelphia Press" once asked Dr. George A. Peltz, the associate pastor of Grace Church, "if you were called upon to express in three words the secret of the mysterious power that has raised Grace Church from almost nothing to a membership of more than three thousand, that has built this Temple, founded a college, opened a hospital, and set every man, woman and child in the congregation to working, what would be your answer?"

"Sanctified common sense," was the Doctor's unhesitating reply.

Rev. F.B. Meyer, in speaking on "Twentieth Century Evangelism," at Bradford, England, in 1902, made a plea for "the institutional church, the wide outlook, more elastic methods, greater eagerness to reach and win outsiders, more varied service on the part of Christian people, that the minister of any place of worship should become the recognized friend of the entire district in which his chapel is placed."

The "elastic method" is characteristic of the work of The Temple. When Dr. Conwell first came to Grace Church, he organized four societies—the Ladies' Aid Society, the Business Men's Union, the Young Women's Association, the Young Men's Association. Into one or another of these, every member of the church fitted, and as the new members came into the fellowship, they found work for their hands in one or the other.

The Ladies' Aid Society is the pastor's right hand. It stands ready to undertake any project, social, religious, financial, to give receptions in honor of noted visitors, to hold a series of special meetings, to plan suppers, festivals, and other affairs—whenever it is necessary to raise money. Its creed, if one might so call it, is:

"Use every opportunity to bring in new members.

"Remember the name of every new church member.

"Visit useless members and encourage them for their own sake to become useful.

"Visit persons when desired by the Pastors.

"Speak cheerfully to each person present on every opportunity.

"Regard every patron of your suppers or entertainments, and every visitor to your religious meetings, as a guest calling on you in your own house.

"Accept contributions and subscriptions for the various Christian enterprises.

"Bring in every suggestion you hear which is valuable, new or effective in Christian work elsewhere.

"Never allow a meeting to pass without your doing some one practical thing for the advancement of Christ's kingdom.

"Make yourself and the Society of some certain use to some person, or some cause, each week."

The Society helps in the church prayer meetings, in refurnishing and improving the church property, in celebrating anniversaries, in missionary enterprises, securing the insertion of tablets in the Temple walls, in clothing the poor, in supporting the local missions connected with the church, in calling socially on church members or members of the congregation, in evangelistic meetings, in household prayer meetings, in supporting reading rooms, in comforting those in special affliction, in visiting the sick, in aiding the needy, in paying the church debt, in maintaining Mother's meetings, in looking after the domestic wants of the Temple, in sewing for the Hospitals, the Missions, the Baptist Home, the Orphanage, church fairs, Missionary workers, the poor, in managing church suppers and receptions connected with Ordinations, Conventions, and other religious gatherings.

It is one of the most important organizations of the church and has its own rooms handsomely furnished and well supplied with reading matter.

The Business Men's Union drew into a close band the business men of the church and used their knowledge of business affairs to plan and carry out various projects for raising money for the building fund. They also took a deep personal interest in each other's welfare as is shown by the following incident, taken from the "Philadelphia Press":

"At one time a member became involved in financial difficulties in a very peculiar way. Previous to connecting himself with the church, he had been engaged in a business which he felt he could not conscientiously continue after his conversion. He sold his interest and entered upon mercantile pursuits with which he was unfamiliar. As a result, he became involved and his establishment was in danger of falling into the sheriff's hands.

"His situation became known to some members of the Business Men's Union, and a committee was appointed to look into his affairs. His books were found to be straight and his stock valuable. The members immediately subscribed the thousands of dollars necessary to relieve him of all embarrassment, and the man was saved."

After the building was completed and the imperative need for such an organization was past, the members joined other organizations needing their help, and it disbanded. It is typical of the elastic methods of Grace Church that no society outlives its usefulness. When the need is past for it as a body, the members look elsewhere for work, and wherever each is needed, there he goes heart and soul to further some other endeavor.

The Young Women's Association is composed of young women of the church. It bubbles over with youthful enthusiasm and energy and is one of the strongest agencies for carrying forward the church work. Its creed is:

"Secure new members.

"Attend the meetings, propose new work, urge on neglected duties.

"Help the prayer meetings.

"Volunteer for social meetings.

"Aid in the entertainments.

"Originate plans for Christian benevolent work.

"Welcome young women to the Church.

"Visit the sick members of the Church.

"Seek after and encourage inquirers.

"Hold household devotional meetings.

"Sustain missionary work for young women.

"Make the Church home cheerful and happy.

"Arrange social home gatherings for various church or charitable enterprises.

"Solicit books or periodicals for the reading room or circulating library.

"Secure employment for the needy.

"Treat all visitors to the rooms as special personal guests in your home.

"Undertake large things for the Church and Christ in many ways, as may be suggested by any new conditions and deeds.

"Instruct in domestic arts, dressmaking, millinery, cooking, decoration, and, through the Samaritan Hospital, in the art of nursing.

"Furnish statedly instructive entertainments for the young.

"Develop the various singing services.

"Specially care for and assist young sisters.

"Cooeperate in sewing enterprises of all sorts.

"Aid the Pastors by systematic visitation.

"Push many branches of City Missions, especially with reference to developing young women as workers.

"Maintain suitable young women as missionaries at home or in foreign fields.

"Carry sunshine to darkened hearts and homes.

"Be noble, influential Christian women."

It has a room of its own in the Lower Temple, with circulating library, piano and all the cheerful furnishings of a parlor in the home. To this bright room comes many a girl from her dreary boarding house to spend the evening in reading and social chat. It has been the cheery starting point in many a girl's life to a career of happy usefulness.

The Young Men's Association follows similar lines and is an equally important factor in the church work. It plans to:

"Help increase the membership and efficiency of the Young Men's Bible Class and other similar organizations.

"Persistently follow the meetings of these associations and keep them in the hands of able, consecrated managers and officers, who will lead in the best enterprises of the church.

"Make the reading-room attractive and helpful.

"Help sustain the great Sunday morning prayer meeting.

"Invite passers-by to enter the church, and welcome strangers who do enter.

"Advise seekers after God.

"Bring back the wandering.

"Organize relief committees to save the lost young men of the city.

"Look after traveling business men at hotels, and bring them to The Temple.

"Promote temperance, purity, fraternity and spiritual life.

"Initiate the most important undertakings of the church.

"Surround themselves with strong young men, and inaugurate vigorous, fresh plans and methods for bringing the gospel to the young men of to-day in store, shop, office, school, college, on the streets, and elsewhere.

"Visit sick members, help into lucrative employment, organize religious meetings, make the church life of the young bright, inspiring and noble, plan for sociables, entertainments for closer acquaintance and for raising money for Christian work and to use their pens for Christ among young men whom they know, and also with strangers."

It has a delightful room in the Lower Temple, carpeted, supplied with books, good light, a piano, comfortable chairs. It is a real home for young men alone in the city or without family or home ties.

During the building of The Temple many associations were formed which, when the need was over, merged into others. As Burdette says:

"Often a working guild of some sort is brought into existence for a specific but transient purpose; the object accomplished, the work completed, the society disbands, or merges into some other organization, or reorganizes under a new name for some new work. The work of Grace Church is like the operations of a great army; recruits are coming to the front constantly; regiments being assigned to this corps, and suddenly withdrawn to reinforce that one; two or three commands consolidated for a sudden emergency; one regiment deployed along a great line of small posts; infantry detailed into the batteries, cavalry dismounted for light infantry service, yet all the time in all this apparent confusion and restless change which bewilders the civilian, everything is clear and plain and perfectly regular and methodical to the commanding general and his subordinates."

Another association of this kind was the "Committee of One Hundred," organized in 1891. The suggestion for its organization came from the Young Women's Association. A number of them went to the Trustees and proposed that the Board should appoint a committee of fifty from among the congregation to devise ways and means to raise money for paying off the floating indebtedness of the church. The suggestion was adopted. The Committee of Fifty was appointed, each organization of the church being represented in it by one or more members. It met for organization in 1892. The Young Women's Association, pledged itself to raise $1,000 during the year. Other societies pledged certain sums. Individuals went to work to swell the amount, and in one year, the Committee reported that the floating debt of the church, which at the time of the Committee's organization was $25,000, was paid. Encouraged by this success the Committee enlarged itself to one hundred and vigorously attacked the work of paying off the mortgage of $15,200 on the ground on which the college was to be built.

Among the minor associations of the church that promoted good fellowship and did a definite good work in their time were the "Tourists' Club," a social development of the Young Women's Association. The members took an ideal European trip while sitting in the pleasant reading room in the Lower Temple. A route of travel was laid out a month in advance. Each member present took some part; to one was assigned the principal buildings; to another, some famous painting; to others, parks, hotels, places of amusement, ruins, etc., until at the close of the evening they almost could hear the tongue of the strange land through which in fancy they had journeyed. Maps and pictures helped to materialize the journey.

The "Girls" Auxiliary was formed to meet the needs of the younger members of the church. Any girl under sixteen could become a member by the payment of monthly dues of five cents. There were classes in embroidery, elocution, sewing, etc.

The "Youth's Culture League" was organized for the work among youth of the slums; an effort to supplement public school education, making it a stepping-stone to higher culture and better living.

Sports of various kinds of course received attention. The Temple Guard, the Temple Cyclers, the Baseball League gave opportunity for all to enjoy some form of healthy outdoor sport. But since the college and its gymnasium have become so prominent, those who now join such organizations usually do it through college instead of church doors.

The following incident from the "Philadelphia Evening Bulletin" is typical of the help these organizations often gave the church in its religious work:



"Eight and a half years ago the Rev. Russell H. Conwell surprised a great many people by organizing a military company among his little boys. The old wiseacres shook their heads, and the elders of the old school wondered at this new departure in church work. Then again he fairly shocked them by making the organization non-sectarian, and securing one of the best tacticians in the city to instruct the boys in military science.... From the first the company has clearly demonstrated that it is the best-drilled military organization in the city, and the number of prizes fairly won demonstrates this. However, the company does not wish to be understood as being merely in existence for prize honors, although it cannot be overlooked that twenty victories over as many companies afford them the best record in Pennsylvania.

"In 1896, the Samaritan Rescue Mission was established by the Grace Baptist Church, and proving a great financial burden, Dr. Conwell offered to give a lecture on Henry Ward Beecher. The Guard took the matter up, brought Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher, despite her threescore years and ten, to Philadelphia for the first time in her life, and so great was the desire of the church-loving public of this city to attend that the mission did not perish."

When the stress of building and paying the church debt was passed, many of these societies went heart and soul into the Christian Endeavor work. Indeed, for awhile it seemed as if the Christian Endeavor would absorb all the church associations. There are at present fifteen Christian Endeavor Societies in the church. In addition to the Christian Endeavor pledge, the following special ways in which they can forward the church work is ever held before each member:

"For the sake of your character and future success, as well as for the supreme cause, keep your pledge unflinchingly.

"Endeavor persistently, but courteously, to seek after those who ask for our prayers and advice at any meeting.

"Never discontinue your endeavors to get new members for the societies. Follow it continually in the name of the Lord.

"Endeavor each day to think, speak, act and pray like the Savior.

"Endeavor and present plans for effective work. Build up a standard of noble living in the Church.

"Send comforting messages to members of the Church in sorrow, send flowers to the sick, or for the funeral, look after the orphans, visit the widows and the fatherless, write letters of advice, invitation, condolence, establish missions for new churches in growing parts of the city, and hold by kindness at least one thousand personal friends at The Baptist Temple.

"Select one leading duty, and follow it without waiting to be asked.

"Make yourself a master of some special line of Christian effort.

"Save some one!"

Five of these societies some years ago started a mission at Logan, a suburb of Philadelphia, and so successful was their work that the mission soon grew into a flourishing church.

The Ushers' Association is one of the strongest and most helpful organizations in furthering the church work. The ushers number twenty-four, and are banded together in a businesslike association for mutual pleasure and good fellowship, and also to better conduct their work and the church interests they have in hand. They are under the leadership of a chief usher who is president of the Association. The spirit of hospitality that pervades The Temple finds its happiest expression in the courteous welcome and ready attention accorded visitors by the ushers.

All members of the church who are willing to give up their seats to strangers on special occasions send their names to the chief usher. And it is no unusual thing to see a member cheerfully relinquish his seat after a whispered consultation with an usher in favor of some stranger who is standing.

In addition to their work in seating the crowd that throng to The Temple either for Sunday services or the many entertainments that fill the church during the week, the Ushers' Association itself during the winter gives a series of fine entertainments. Its object is to offer amusement of the very highest class, so that people will come to the church rather than go elsewhere in their leisure hours and thus be surrounded by influences of the best character and by an atmosphere that is elevating and refining. They have also undertaken to pay off the balance of the church debt.

Missionary interests at Grace Church are well looked after. The church has educated and supported a number of missionaries in home and foreign fields, as well as contributed money and clothing to the cause. The Missionary Circle combines in one organization all those interested in missionary work. One afternoon a month the members meet in the Lower Temple to sew, have supper together, and afterward hold religious services. The members are advised in the church hand-book to—

"Suggest plans for raising money; arrange for a series of addresses; organize children's societies; distribute missionary literature; maintain a circulating library of missionary books; correspond with missionaries; solicit and work for the 'missionary barrels'; send out 'comfort bags'; advocate missions in the prayer meetings and socials; encourage those members who are preparing for or are going into foreign fields, and maintain special missionary prayer meetings."

Members of the church have started several missions, some of which have already grown into flourishing churches. The Logan Baptist Church and the Tioga Baptist Church, are both daughters of The Temple.

The Samaritan Aid Society sews and secures contributions of clothing and such supplies for the Samaritan Hospital. Other charities, however, needing such help, find it ever willing to lend its aid. It is ready for any emergency that may arise. A hurry call was sent once for sheets, pillow cases and garments for the sick at Samaritan Hospital. The President of the Society quickly summoned the members. Merchants were visited and contributions of muslin and thread secured. Sewing machines were sent to the Lower Temple. An all-day sewing bee was held, those who could, came all day, others dropped in as time permitted, and by sunset more than three hundred pieces of work were finished.

Two other organizations very helpful to the members of the church are the Men's Beneficial Association and the Women's Beneficial Association. They are purely for the benefit of church members during sickness or bereavement, and are managed as all such associations are, paying $5.00 a week during sickness and $100 at death.

The books are closed at the end of each year and the fund started afresh.

The Temple Building and Loan Association was organized by the membership of the Business Men's Association, and is officered by prominent members of the church. But it is not in any way a church organization and is not under the management of the church. It is very successful and its stockholders are composed largely of church members.

To keep members and friends in touch with the many lines of activity in which the church works, a magazine, "The Temple Review," is published. It is a private business enterprise, but it chronicles church work and publishes each week Dr. Conwell's sermons. Many living at a distance who cannot come often to The Temple find it most enjoyable and helpful to thus obtain their pastor's sermons, and to look through the printed page into the busy life of the church itself. It helps members in some one branch of the church work to keep in touch with what others are doing. The work of the college and hospital from week to week is also chronicled, so that it is a very good mirror of the many activities of the Grace Church membership.

Thus in good fellowship the church works unitedly to further Christ's kingdom. New organizations are formed as some enthusiastic member discerns a new need or a new field. It is a veritable hive of industry whose doors are never closed day or night.



CHAPTER XXIII

FAIRS AND ENTERTAINMENTS

The Temple Fairs. How They are Planned. Their Religious Aim. Appointment of Committees. How the Committees Work. The Church Entertainments. Their Character.

Not only does the church work in a hundred ways through its regular organizations to advance the spiritual life of its members and the community, but once every year, organization fences are taken down and as a whole and united body, it marches forward to a great fair. The Temple fairs are famous. They form an important feature of church life, and an important date in the church calendar.

"The true object of a church fair should be to strengthen the church, to propagate the Gospel, and to bring the world nearer to its God." That is Dr. Conwell's idea of the purpose of a church fair and the basic principle on which The Temple fairs are built. They always open on Thanksgiving Day, the anniversary of Dr. Conwell's coming to the church and continue for ten days or two weeks thereafter. These fairs are most carefully planned. The membership, of course, know that a fair is to be held; but before any definite information of the special fair coming, is given them, a strong foundation of systematic, careful preparation is laid. In the early summer, before Dr. Conwell leaves for his two months' rest at his old home in the Berkshires, he and the deaconess of the church go over the ground, decide on the executive committee and call it together. Officers are elected, Dr. Conwell always being appointed president and the deaconess, as a rule, secretary. The whole church membership is then carefully studied, and every member put at work upon some committee, a chairman for the committee being appointed at the same time. A notice of their appointment, the list of their fellow workers, and a letter from the pastor relative to the fair are then sent to each. Usually these lists are prepared and forwarded from Dr. Conwell's summer home. The chief purpose of the fair, that of saving souls, is ever kept in view. The pastor in his letter to each member always lays special stress on it. Quoting from one such letter, he says:

"The religious purpose is to consolidate our church by a more extensive and intimate acquaintance with each other, and to enlarge the circle of social influence over those who have not accepted Christ.

"This enterprise being undertaken for the service of Christ, each church member is urged to enter it with earnest prayer, and to use every opportunity to direct the attention of workers and visitors to spiritual things.

"Each committee should have its prayer circle or a special season set apart for devotional services. This carnival being undertaken for the spiritual good of the church, intimate friends and those who have hitherto worked together are especially requested to separate on this occasion and work with new members, forming a new circle of acquaintances.

"Do not seek for a different place unless it is clear that you can do much more in another position, for they honor God most who take up His work right where they are and do faithfully the duty nearest to them.

"Your pastor prays earnestly that this season of work, offering, and pleasure may be used by the Lord to help humanity and add to the glory of His Kingdom on earth."

This is the tenor of the letters sent each year. This is the purpose held ever before the workers.

Each committee is urged to meet as soon as possible, and, as a rule, the chairman calls a meeting within a week after the receipt of the list. Each committee upon meeting elects a president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer, which, together with the original executive committee, form the executive committee of the fair.

During the summer and fall, until the opening of the fair, these various committees work to secure contributions or whatever may be needed for the special work they have been appointed to do. If they need costumes, or expensive decorations for the booths, they give entertainments to raise the money. All this depends upon the character of the fair in general. Sometimes it is a fair in the accepted sense of the word, devoted to the selling of such goods as interested friends and well-wishers have contributed. At other times it takes on special significance. At one fair each committee represented a country, the members dressed in the costume of its people, the booth so far as possible was typical of a home, or some special building. Such products of the country as could be obtained were among the articles sold or exhibited.

Every committee meeting is opened with prayer, and each night during the fair a prayer meeting is held. In addition, a committee is appointed to look after the throng of strangers visiting the fair, and whenever possible, to get them to register in a book kept especially for that purpose at the entrance. To all those who sign the register, a New Year's greeting is sent as a little token of recognition and appreciation of their help.

Much of the great tide of membership that flows into the church comes through the doors of these church fairs. The fairs are really revival seasons. They are practical illustrations of how a working church prays, and a praying church works. Christianity has on its working clothes. But it is Christianity none the less, outspoken in its faith, fearless in its testimony, full of the love that desires to help every man and woman to a higher, happier life.

The church entertainments form another important feature of church life. Indeed, from the first of September until summer is well started, few weekday nights pass but that some religious service or some entertainment is taking place in The Temple. In the height of the season, it is no uncommon thing for two or three to be given in various halls of The Temple on one evening. An out-of-town man attending a lecture at the Lower Temple, and seeing the throngs of people pouring in at various entrances, asked the custodian of the door if there were a rear entrance to the auditorium.

"Here's where you go in for the lecture," was the reply. "There are two other entertainments on hand this evening in the halls of the Lower Temple. That's where those people are going."

In regard to church fairs and entertainments, Dr. Conwell said in a sermon in 1893:

"The Lord pity any church that has not enough of the spirit of Christ in it to stand a church fair, wherein devout offerings are brought to the tithing-house in the spirit of true devotion; the Lord pity any church that has not enough of the spirit of Jesus in it to endure or enjoy a pure entertainment. Indeed, they are subjects for prayer if they cannot, without quarrels, without fightings, without defeat to the cause of Christ, engage in the pure and innocent things God offers to His children."

And in an address on "The Institutional Church," he says:

"The Institutional church of the future will have the best regular lecture courses of the highest order. There will be about them sufficient entertainment to hold the audience, while at the same time they give positive instruction and spiritual elevation. Every church of Christ is so sacred that it ought to have within its walls anything that helps to save souls. If an entertainment is put into a church for any secular purpose—simply to make money—that church will be divided; it will be meshed in quarrels, and souls will not be saved there. There must be a higher end; as between the church and the world we must use everything that will save and reject everything that will injure. This requires careful and close attention. You must keep in mind the question, 'Will Jesus come here and save souls?' Carefully eliminate all that will show irreverence for holy things or disrespect for the church. Carefully introduce wherever you can the direct teachings of the Gospel, and then your entertainments will be the power of God unto salvation. The entertainments of the church need to be carefully guarded, and, if they are, then will the church of the future control the entertainments of the world. The theatre that has its displays of low and vulgar amusement will not pay, because the churches will hold the best classes, and for a divine and humane purpose will conduct the best entertainments. There will be a double inducement that will draw all classes. The Institutional church of the future will be free to use any reasonable means to influence men for good."

The Temple, as can be seen, believes in good, pure, elevating amusements. But every entertainment to be given is carefully considered. In such a vast body of workers, many of them young and inexperienced, this is necessary. By a vote of the church, every programme to be used in any entertainment in The Temple must first be submitted to the Board of Deacons. What they disapprove cannot be presented to the congregation of Grace Church under any circumstance.

The concerts and oratorios of the chorus are of the very highest order and attract music lovers from all parts of the city and nearby towns. The other entertainments in the course of a year cover such a variety of subjects that every one is sure to find something to his liking. Among the lectures given in one year were:

"Changes and Chances," by Dr. George C. Lorimer.

"The Greek Church," by Charles Emory Smith.

"Ancient Greece," by Professor Leotsakos, of the University of Athens.

An illustrated lecture on the Yellowstone Park, by Professor George L. Maris.

"Work or How to Get a Living," by Hon. Roswell G. Horr.

"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," by Rev. Robert Nourse, D.D.

"Backbone," by Rev. Thomas Dixon.

The other entertainments that season included selections from "David Copperfield," by Leland T. Powers; readings by Fred Emerson Brooks, concerts by the Germania Orchestra, the Mendelssohn Quintette Club of Boston and the Ringgold Band of Reading, Pennsylvania; a "Greek Festival," tableaux, by students of Temple College; "Tableaux of East Indian Life," conducted by a returned missionary, Mrs. David Downie; "Art Entertainment," by the Young Women's Association; concert by the New York Philharmonic Club; and many entertainments by societies of the younger people, music, recitations, readings, debates, suppers, excursions, public debates, class socials. The year seems to have been full of entertainments, teas, anniversaries, athletic meetings, "cycle runs," gymnasium exhibitions, "welcomes," "farewells," jubilees, "feasts." But every year is the same.

A single society of the church gave during one winter a series of entertainments which included four lectures by men prominent in special fields of work, four concerts by companies of national reputation, and an intensely interesting evening with moving pictures.

"We are often criticised as a church," said Mr. Conwell, in an address, "by persons who do not understand the purposes or spirit of our work. They say, 'You have a great many entertainments and socials, and the church is in danger of going over to the world.' Ah, yes; the old hermits went away and hid themselves in the rocks and caves and lived on the scantiest food, and 'kept away from the world,' They were separate from the world. They were in no danger of 'going over to the world.' They had hidden themselves far away from man. And so it is in some churches where in coldness and forgetfulness of Christ's purpose, of Christ's sacrifice, and the purpose for which the church was instituted, they withdraw themselves so far from the world that they cannot save a drowning man when he is in sight—they cannot reach down to him, the distance is too great—the life line is too short. Where are the unchurched masses of Philadelphia to-day? Why are they not in the churches at this hour? Because the church is so far away. The difference that is found between the church which saves and that which does not is found in the fact that the latter holds to the Pharisaical profession that the church must keep itself aloof from the people—yes, from the drowning thousands who are going down to everlasting ruin—to be forever lost. The danger is not now so much in going over to the world as in going away from it—away from the world which Jesus died to save—the world which the church should lead to Him."

In all these entertainments, the true mission of the church is never forgotten—that mission which its pastor so earnestly and often says is "not to entertain people. The church's only thought should be to turn the hearts of men to God."



CHAPTER XXIV

THE BUSINESS SIDE

How the Finances are Managed. The Work of the Deacons. The Duties of the Trustees.

"The plain facts of life must be recognized," says Dr. Conwell. The business affairs of Grace Baptist Church are plain facts and big ones. There is no evading them. The membership is more than three thousand. A constant stream of money from the rental of seats, from voluntary offerings, from entertainments, is pouring in, and as quickly going out for expenses and charitable purposes. It must all be looked after. A record of the membership must be kept, changes of address made—and this is no light matter—the members themselves kept in touch with. It all means work of a practical business nature and to get the best results at least expenditure of time and money, it must all be done in skilled, experienced fashion. Dr. Conwell, in speaking of the careful way in which the business affairs of the church are conducted, says:

"What has contributed most as the means used of God to bring Grace Church up to its efficiency? I answer it was the inspired, sanctified, common sense of enterprising, careful business men. The disciplined judgment, the knowledge of men, the forethought and skill of these workers who were educated at the school of practical business life, helped most. The Trustees and working committees in all our undertakings, whether for Church, Hospital, College, or Missions, have been, providentially, men of thorough business training, who used their experience and skill for the church with even greater care and perseverance than they would have done in their own affairs.

"When they wanted lumber, they knew where to purchase it, and how to obtain discounts. When they needed money, they knew where the money was, and what securities were good in the market. They saved by discounting their own bills, and kindly insisted that contractors and laborers should earn fairly the money they received. They foresaw the financial needs and always insisted on securing the money in full time to meet demands.

"Some men make religion so dreamy, so unreal, so unnatural, that the more they believe in it the less practical they become. They expect ravens to feed them, the cruse of oil to be inexhaustible, and the fish to come to the right side of the ship at breakfast time. They trust in God and loaf about. They would conduct mundane affairs as though men were angels and church business a series of miracles. But the successful church worker is one who recognizes the plain facts of life, and their relation to heavenly things; who is neither profane nor crazy, who feels that his experience and judgment are gifts of God to be used, but who also fully realizes that, after all, unless God lives in the house, they labor in vain who build it.

"None of our successful managers have been flowery orators, nor have they been in the habit of wearying man and the Lord with long prayers. If they speak, they are earnest and conservative. They are men whom the banks would trust, whose recommendations are valuable, who know a counterfeit dollar or a worthless endorsement They read men at a glance, being trained in actual experience with all classes. They have been the pillars of the church. While some have been praying with religious phraseology that the stray calf might be sent home, these men have gone after him and brought him back. They have faithfully done their part, and God has answered their earnest prayers for the rest."

Dr. Peltz, for many years associate pastor of The Temple, in speaking of the business management of the affairs of the church, says:

"Many persons imagine that the financial organization of Grace Baptist Church must be something out of the usual way, because the results have been so unusual. There is nothing peculiar in the general plan of financial procedure, but great pains are taken to work the plan for all it is worth. Special pains have been taken to secure consecrated and competent men for the Board of Trustees. And the Trustees do this one thing, a rule of the church permitting a man to hold but one elective office. Competent financiers, consecrated to this work, and doing it as carefully as they would do their own business, is the statement that tells the whole story."

All these business matters are in the hands of the deacons and Trustees, the deacons, if any distinction in the work can be made, looking after the membership, the Board of Trustees attending to the financial matters.



After a person has signified his intention to join the church, he meets the deacons, who explain to him the system by which members contribute to the support of the church. If he desires to contribute by taking a sitting, he is assigned a seat according to the amount he wishes to pay, or he can pay the regular church dues, $1.20 a year for those under eighteen years of age, $3.00 for those over that age. Those who take sittings find in their seats, on the first of every month, a small envelope made out in bill form on the face, stating the month and the amount due. Into this they can place their money, seal it, and put it into the basket when the offering is taken. The following Sunday a receipt is placed in their seat, a duplicate being kept in the office. Envelopes are sent those who do not have sittings, and in these they can send in their dues any time within the year.

In addition to the little envelope for the seat rent, every Sunday envelopes are placed in each seat for the regular Sunday offering. These envelopes read:

SPECIAL OFFERING

THE BAPTIST TEMPLE

Amount ..................

Name ........................

Address ......................

This offering is made in thankful recognition of the Mercy and Goodness of God during the past week, and with the hope that my gift and my prayer may he acceptable to God.

In addition to the amount raised from sittings and dues, it is necessary for the payment of the debt on the Temple to have givers for 5 years as follows:

100 persons who will contribute 50 cents per week. 300 persons 25 cents per week. 1000 persons 10 cents per week. 1300 persons 5 cents per week.

VISITORS AND MEMBERS

Can enclose special Messages for the Pastor with their offerings.

This Gift will be Recorded on the books of the Church.

All this money pours into the business office of the church, where it is taken in charge by the Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees and duly recorded by the Financial Secretary.

The business office is a very businesslike place, with files, typewriter, letter-copying press, big ledgers and all the modern appliances of an up-to-date business office.

The card system is used for keeping the record of member's contribution, being printed in a form that will last for eight years.

All payments are entered on these, and at any time at a moment's notice, a member can tell just what he has paid or what he owes on the year's account.

But in addition, the Sunday offerings of all those who place their contributions in envelopes at the morning and evening service and sign their names, are entered on cards, and when it is remembered that the basket collections alone for the year 1904 amounted to $6,995.00, it can be seen that this is no light task. But The Temple appreciates what is given it, and likes to keep a record. Any person giving to The Temple and signing his name to his gift, can find at any time how much he has contributed during the year.

All this income is deposited to the order of the church treasurer, who is then at liberty to draw against it as directed by the Board of Trustees and properly certified by their chairman and secretary. The business office is kept open during the entire week with the exception of two afternoons, and two evenings.

The pew committee, which is composed of three members of the Board of Trustees, attends to the rental of the many sittings in The Temple. A large number of the regular attendants at the services of The Temple are not members of the church. They enjoy the services and so rent sittings that they may he sure of a seat. The third committee drawn from the Board of Trustees is the House Committee, composed of three members. It has charge of The Temple building; sees to its being kept in order; arranges for all regular and special meetings; sees that the building is properly heated and lighted; decides on all questions as to the use of the house for any purpose, for the use of a part of it for special purposes; manages the great crowds that so often throng the building; has charge of the doors when entertainments are going on; in short, makes the most and the best of the great building under its care. Six persons are constantly employed in taking care of The Temple, and often there is necessity for securing extra help for the caretakers of this church whose doors are never shut.

The Deacons, as always, look after the welfare of the membership. On Communion Sundays, cards are passed the members that they may sign their names. These cards the Deacons take charge of and record the members present and those absent If a member is away three successive communion Sundays the Deacons call on him, if he lives in the city, to find the cause of his absence. If he resides in some neighboring town, they send a kindly letter to know if it is not possible for him to attend some of the Communion services. In person or by letter, they keep a loving watch over the vast membership, so that every member feels that even though he may not attend often, he is not forgotten.

Thus the business of Grace Baptist Church is managed prayerfully but practically. If some part of the machinery seems cumbersome, shrewd and experienced minds take the matter in hand and see whereby it can be improved. What may seem a good method to-day, a year from now may be deemed a waste of time and energy and cast aside for the new and improved system that has taken its place in the world of every-day work. In its business methods the church keeps up to the times, as well as in its spiritual work. It knows it cannot grow if it is not alive.



CHAPTER XXV

THE CHORUS OF THE TEMPLE

Its Leader, Professor David Wood. How he Came to the Church. A sketch of His life. The Business Management of the Chorus. The Fine System. The Sheet Music and Its Care. Oratorios and Concerts. Finances of the Chorus. Contributions it has Made to Church Work.

With a pastor who had loved music from childhood, who taught it in his early manhood, who was himself proficient on several instruments, music naturally assumed an important place in Temple life and work. From the moment of his entering upon the pastorate of Grace Baptist Church, Mr. Conwell made the music an enjoyable feature of the services.

In this early work of organizing and developing a church choir, he found an able and loyal leader in Professor David D. Wood, who threw himself heart and soul into helping the church to grow musically. He has been to the musical life of the church what Mr. Conwell has been to its spiritual growth, and next to their pastor himself, it is doubtful if any man is so endeared to the Grace Church membership as is Professor Wood, their blind organist.

He came to them in May, 1885, the regular organist being sick. His connection with the church came about in the most simple manner and yet it has been invaluable to the work of The Temple. His son was an attendant at the church, and when the regular organist fell ill, asked his father if he would not take his place. Ever ready to do a kindness. Professor Wood consented. The organist never sufficiently recovered to come back to his post, being compelled to go West finally for his health. Mr. Conwell asked Professor Wood to take the position, and from that day to the present he has filled it to the satisfaction and gratification of the Grace Church.

He was born in Pittsburgh, March 2, 1838. His parents were poor, his father being a carpenter and he himself built the little log cabin in which the family lived. When David was a baby only a few months old, he lost the sight of one eye by inflammation resulting from a severe cold. When about three years old, he noiselessly followed his sister into the cellar one day, intending in a spirit of mischief to blow out the candle she was carrying. Just as he leaned over to do it, she, unconscious that he was there, raised up, thrusting the candle in her hand right into his eye. The little boy's cry of pain was the first warning of his presence. The eye was injured, but probably he would not entirely have lost its sight had he not been attacked shortly after this with scarlet fever. When he recovered from this illness he was entirely blind. But the affliction did not change his sweet, loving disposition. He entered as best he could into the games and sports of childhood and grew rugged and strong. One day, while playing in the road, he was nearly run over by a carriage driven by a lady. Learning the little fellow was blind, she became interested in him and told his father of the school for the blind in Philadelphia. His parents decided to send him to it, and at five years of age he was sent over the mountains, making the journey in five days by canal.

He was a bright, diligent pupil and a great reader, showing even at an early age his passion for music. When eight years old, he learned the flute. Soon he could play the violin and piano, and in his twelfth year he began playing the organ. All these instruments he took up and mastered himself without special instruction. In mathematics, James G. Blaine was his instructor for two years.

After leaving school his struggles to succeed as an organist were hard and hitter. Despite his unusual ability, it was difficult to secure a position. He met with far more refusals than encouragement. But he was persistent and cheerful. Finally success came. Two days before Easter the organist of an Episcopal church was suddenly incapacitated and no one could be found to play the music. Professor Wood offered himself. The rector's wife read the music to him. He learned it in an hour, and rehearsal and the services passed off without a break. He was immediately engaged, his salary being one hundred dollars a year, his next position paid him fifty dollars a year. In 1864, he went to St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, as choirmaster and organist, which position he still holds, playing at The Temple in the evenings only.

He is to-day one of the most widely known organists of the country, being acknowledged everywhere a master of the instrument. He is a member of the faculty of the Philadelphia Musical Academy, principal of the music department in the Pennsylvania School for the Blind. It is said he has trained more good organists than any other teacher in Philadelphia.

His cheery, kindly personality wins loyalty and devotion at once. His Christianity is the simple, loving, practical kind that fairly shines from his presence and attracts people to him immediately. The members of the Chorus of The Temple are devoted to him. No rules are required to keep them in order; no other inspiration to do their best is needed than his simple wish.

In the old church at Mervine and Berks streets he had a volunteer choir of about twenty, all that the little organ loft would accommodate. They could sing as the birds sing, because they had voices and loved it, but of musical training or education they had little. They were drawn from the membership of the church, composed of poor working people.

From this nucleus grew the chorus of The Temple, which was organized in 1891, six weeks before the membership took possession of its new building. With the organization of this large chorus, Professor Wood faced a new and difficult problem. How was he to hold from one hundred to one hundred and fifty people together, who were not paid for their services, who were not people of leisure to whom rehearsals are no tax on time or strength? These were nearly all working people who came to rehearsal after a day's tiring employment. That he has succeeded so splendidly in these fourteen years proves his fine leadership.

He had a body of workers devoted to the church, people before whom was ever held up the fact that they could serve the Master they all loved by singing, if they could in no other way; that they could give their voices, if they could give nothing else. He had a body of workers devoted also to himself, who would have followed him unhesitatingly no matter what commands he lay upon them. But he felt they should have some other encouragement, some other interest to hold them together, so almost immediately upon their organization he took up the study of Haydn's "Creation." It seemed a stupendous undertaking for a young and inexperienced chorus, one with no trained voices, few of whom could even read music at sight. But they plunged into the study with spirit. No incentive was needed to come to rehearsals, no one thought of dropping out. Indeed, the opportunity to study such music under such a master brought many new members. And in the fall of that year the oratorio was given with splendid success.

This method has been followed ever since. Every year some special work is taken up for study and given in the fall. It is an event that is now a recognized feature of the city's musical life, eagerly awaited by music lovers not only of Philadelphia but of nearby towns. In addition to Haydn's "Creation," which has been sung four times, the chorus has given Handel's "Messiah" three times, Mendelssohn's "Elijah" twice, Beethoven's "Mount of Olives," Mendelssohn's "Hymn of Praise," Miriam's "Song of Triumph." It has also given a number of secular concerts. For all this extra work neither Professor Wood nor any member of the chorus has ever received one cent of pay. It is all cheerfully contributed. The oratorios are given with a full orchestra and eminent soloists. In the secular concerts the music is always of the highest order. Guilmant, the celebrated French organist, gave a recital at The Temple while in this country. The chorus believes in the best, both in the class of music it gives and the talent it secures, and has long been looked on by those interested in the city's musical welfare as a society that encourages and supports all that is high and fine in music. Among the selections given at the Sunday services are Gounod's "Sanctus," the magnificent "Pilgrim's Chorus," the "Gloria," from Mozart's "Twelfth Mass," Handel's beautiful "Largo," the "St. Cecilia Mass," and others of the same character.

The plan of fining members for absence from rehearsal, which was adopted at the time the chorus was organized, has also had much to do with its success, though it is rather unusual for a choir. Instead of being paid to sing, they pay if they do not sing. The fine at first was twenty-five cents for each failure to attend rehearsal or Sunday service. Many shook their heads and said it was a bad idea, that the members wouldn't come and couldn't pay the fine, and that the chorus would go to pieces. But the members did come, and when for any reason they were compelled to stay away they cheerfully paid the fine and the chorus flourished. These fines helped to pay the current expenses of the chorus. In the last three years the amount has been reduced to ten cents, but it still nets a sum in the course of the year that the treasurer welcomes most gladly. A collection is also taken at each service among the members, which likewise helps to swell the chorus treasury.

Speaking of the organization and work of such a chorus, Professor Wood says:

"In organizing a church chorus one must not be too particular about the previous musical education of applicants. It is not necessary that they be musicians, or even that they read music readily. All that I insist upon is a fairly good voice and a correct ear. I assume, of course, that all comers desire to learn to sing. Rehearsals must be scrupulously maintained, beginning promptly, continuing with spirit, and not interrupted with disorder of any kind. A rehearsal should never exceed two hours, and a half hour less is plenty long enough, if there is no waste of time. In learning new music, voices should be rehearsed separately; that is, all sopranos, tenors, basses, and altos by themselves first, then combine the voices. You should place before a choir a variety of music sufficient to arouse the interest of all concerned. This will include much beyond the direct demand for church work. The chorus of The Temple has learned and sung on appropriate occasions war songs, college songs, patriotic songs, and other grades of popular music.

"No one man's taste should rule in regard to these questions as to variety, although the proprieties of every occasion should be carefully preserved. Due regard must be paid to the taste of members of the chorus. If any of them express a wish for a particular piece, I let them have it. When it comes my time to select, they are with me. Keep some high attainment before the singers all the time. When the easier tasks are mastered, attempt something more difficult. It maintains enthusiasm to be ever after something better, and enthusiasm is a power everywhere. In music, this is 'the spirit which quickeneth.'

"In the preparation of chorus work do not insist on perfection. When I get them to sing fairly well, I am satisfied. To insist on extreme accuracy will discourage singers. Do not, therefore, overtrain them.

"An incredible amount may be done even by a crude company of singers. When the preparation began for the opening of The Temple, there was but a handful of volunteers and time for but five rehearsals. But enthusiasm rose, reinforcements came, and six anthems, including the 'Hallelujah Chorus,' were prepared and sung in a praiseworthy manner. Do not fear to attempt great things. Timidity ruins many a chorus.

"Do not be afraid to praise your singers. Give praise, and plenty of it, whenever and wherever it is due. A domineering spirit will prove disastrous. Severity or ridicule will kill them. Correct faults faithfully and promptly, but kindly.

"In the matter of discipline I am a strong advocate of the 'fine system.' It is the only way to keep a chorus together. The fines should he regulated according to the financial ability of the chorus. Our fine at The Temple was at first twenty-five cents for every rehearsal and every service missed. It has since been dropped to ten cents. This is quite moderate. In some musical societies the fine is one dollar for every absence. This system is far better than monthly dues.

"The advantages to members of a chorus are many and of great value. Concerted work has advantages which can be secured in no other way. A good chorus is an unequaled drill in musical time. The singer cannot humor himself as the soloist can, but must go right on with the grand advance of the company. He gets constant help also, in the accurate reading of music. Then, too, there is an indescribable, uplifting, enkindling power in the presence and cooeperation of others. The volume of song lifts one, as when a great congregation sings. It is the esprit du corps of the army; that magnetic power which comes from the touch of elbows, and the consecration to a common cause. No soloist gets this.

"Some would-be soloists make a great mistake right here. They think that chorus work spoils them as soloists. Not at all, if they have proper views of individual work in a chorus. If they propose to sing out so they shall sound forth above all others, then they may damage their voices for solo work. But that is a needless and highly improper use of the voice. Sing along with the others in a natural tone. They will be helped and the soloist will not be harmed.

"The best conservatories of music in the world require of their students a large amount of practice in concerted performance and will not grant diplomas without it. All the great soloists have served their time as chorus singers. Parepa-Rosa, when singing in the solo parts in oratorio, would habitually sing in the chorus parts also, singing from beginning to end with the others.

"Many persons have expressed their astonishment at the absence of the baton both from the rehearsals and public performances of the chorus of The Temple. Experience has proven to me, beyond a doubt, that a chorus can be better drilled without a baton than with it, though it costs more labor and patience to obtain the result. To sing by common inspiration is far better than to have the music 'pumped out,' as is too often the case, by the uncertain movements of the leader's baton."

With a membership that has ranged from one hundred to two hundred and fifty, skilled business management is needed to keep everything running smoothly.

The record of attendance is regulated by the use of checks. Each member of the chorus is assigned a number. As they come to rehearsal, service, or concert, the singer removes the check on which is his number from the board upon which it hangs and gives it to the person appointed to receive it as he passes up the stairway to his seat in the choir. When the numbers are checked up at the close of the evening, the checks which have not been removed from the board are marked "absent."

The bill for sheet music for one year is something between $400 and $500. To care for so much music would be no light task if it were not reduced to a science. The music is in charge of the chorus librarian, who gives to each member an envelope stamped with his number and containing all the sheet music used by the chorus. Each member is responsible for his music, so that the system resolves itself into simplicity itself. In the Lower Temple enclosed closets are built in the wall, divided into sections, in which the envelopes are kept by their numbers, so that it is but the work of a moment to find the music for any singer. An insurance of $1,200 is carried on the music.