Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1869-07-24
How to Fill the Church.

Whenever congregation has been or.
organized and a house Of worship erected
one matter of great concern very naturally
with many OF the members is expressed by
| the inquiry: How shall We add to the
membership, and thus fill our church!
Various experiments are resorted to tor
the purpose Of meeting the felt necessity
but they often fail to produce the desired
result. The true secret. OF permanent sue.
cess is, in such cases, overlooked, and some
cxpedicnt adopted which does not carry in
it the elements Of success
The injunction to fill up the church, it
is very properly said, is no, designed for the
minister alone. Too much is expected Of
him, especially in this direction. Mem
bers OF the congregation stand back and
look on, to see whe, her the minister is 60
ing to fill the church. If he does, all is
right if he does not, then he is not the
man for the place. 1--WE want a pastor
who can fill the church, and then it will be
an easy matter to keep up the congreSa-
, ton" To be sure the church ought to be
| filled, not because it will relieve burdens.
but it will bring more under the influence
of the Gospel, and more good may be ac-
comp!ished But the question is, how is
i it to be done?
Suppose the minister does it by his tai
ents. his cccentricites, or some other at
traction which he may possess. will it be a
hcaEhy growth which will really in
crease the strength and efficiency Of the
church, or will it be the mnis,cr'scr hang
crs.on, who will leave the moment he does? !?
| Such care nothing about the church. but
are merely satellites around their own soil
tary primary. When that goes. they are
now here to be found Having no love lor
the Church, they depart with the minis
ter.
This is not the right way to fill the
church, and it will fail Of the highest utiil-
| ty. Christians, when called into service
of Christ, are called as laborors, each one
biddcn to work, and ofcoursc each one hay
in. something's to do, they are all bound by
most solemn obligations, to lse all their the
influence in accomplishing this work.
| Whether it be the influence ofwealth learn
ing, or what not, all should be consccratcl
t. God and his cause. All these should
be brought to bear, SO as to bring the
stranger to the house Of God and to retain
! him there.
| B,, these alone, wthou. the social pow
! CT, will tail. While without them the latter
! may prove riiicient Tho former will ap.
| pear cold and ariStocratic. fail Of attracting
men: while the latter. which every Chris.
tian oN.ht to possess, Will bring all other in
: t,o "a, h, Al hot,
| him. 1t will make The congregation cour-
tens. impress the stranger with their evil
| i'v, mahcs him feel at home, and induce
him to come again. lie may find just as
good singing elsewhere. and just as good
preaching it may be, and forgot them dur
the week !; but he cannot forget the smile
Of friends, and the warm shake Of the haud,
and the kind invitation to come often and
make himself at home.
Kindness will make him feel at home.
Eloquence will fail to do this.costly MIL
sic will fall short of any such rcsult-but
uffablcncss, which costs uothing. will lcgit-
inatcly accomplish it. Then let each
church have ushcrs and let them be men
Of Christian courtcousness. who will give
us warm welcome to the stranger, Ms they
would ifhe were Il customer to their places
of business, and who will not suffer him to
leave the house without cheerful grasp
of the hand, inviting him to come again.
This can be done without any hypocrisy, it
is the very spirit of the gospel; it is Il sort
of missionary work which all Chritians are
bound to do. And if they do it, it will be
attend with the most gratifying results.
Let all that artificial etiquette which
waits for an introduction in the house Of
God be entirely ignored, remembering that
feature in it. What is wanted is to have
this clement brought out; and it ran very
easily be done. let the warmest hearted
men aud women in the congregation have
courage enough to go to work in this di.
rection, and they will soon be able to rev.
olutionize the whole of the membership.
Then the vis;tor will receive Christian
greetings from any one aud every one that
he meets, which will give him /" delicious
home-feeling" indeed.
Then we may say to all, Sow the seed
and reap the abundant harvest. The in
vestment is small but the returns are great
Try it and fill up your house. and you will
find that the people are not the mere sate-
litcs of the minister They are there by a
stronger, more permanent bond of union
in worship, in labor, and in love.-Lwh-
prnn.
ny" 4 lady reached a railroad depot in
! Dayton, Ohio, just as the train on which
she desired to take passage moved away.
AS she stood gazing at the train, her arms
full of packages and her eyes full Of tears,
Il ..nI III, l1,,,A