The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1879-02-06
The Lost Tribes of Israel.


The religious services in the Chris
tian Israelite Sanctuary at 108 First
street are intermittent, depending upon
the presence in the city of preacher.
Sometimes they are not oftener= than
once a month, and then sometimes
there is preaching for several consecu-
tive Sunday evenings. But the zeal of
the members of this little known relig-
ious sect seems unabated by this irreg-
ularity of meeting. They call them
selves Christian Israelites, and yet they
admit that there is not, and never has
been, Jew among them. They go
further, and insist that there is not a
Jew now on earth, according to Bible
teaching; that is, there is no Israelite
without guile. The society that meets
in the little chapel in First street is one
of the two of this denomination in the
United States. The other is in Boston.
Their creed seems to be the acceptation
of the Bible, from the first word of
Genesis to the last of Revelations, and,
except such parts of it that are, with
out doubt, allegorical, they believe it
should be taken as literal. The older
members of the society are as familiar
as the most learned theologian with
and they teach it day by day to their
Scriptures indelibly fixed in their minds.
The teacher of last evening, Catherine
Schertz, illustrated, as is always her
custom, every thought with a passage
from the Bible, giving book. chapter
and verse; and this remarkable famil-
iaritv is shown by others, who speak
impromptu at times. Their remarks
are frequently as mosaic of passages
from the Bible, illustrating a single
thought. They believe that they, and
others who are prepared like them, are
the members of the lost tribes of Israel.
They are the nucleus of the one hun
dred and forty and four thousand of all
the tribes of Israel who are sealed, and
who will witness the second coming of
Christ. The seventh chapter of the
Book of Revelations is the cornerstone
of their religious faith. They believe
that, being sealed and prepared, they
will see the Savior when he comes in
" the twinkling of an eye," but that
only they will see it. The worldly and
wicked will not see this coming, and
will know nothing of it.
The series of sermons that Catherine
Schertz has been preaching have all
been based upon the central thought of
the ingathering of Israel, for the re-
depption of spirit, soul and body, to
enter into life eternal, and she loves to
dwell upon the seventh chapter of Rev.
elations.
Mrs. Schertz is q woman well on in
years. Her face is pallid, but her eyes
are bright and full of expression. She
speaks without note and with a strong
German accent, but her English is pure
and grammatical. The pulpit is desk
raised upon partition that extends
from one side of the chapel to the other.
It conceals all of the speaker below the
gray cape that just covers the shoul-
ders. She wears drab Quaker bonnet
that conceals all of the head except the
face. The chapel is the second story
of First street tenement. Narrow
stairs lead to it from the street, and q
green baize door keeps out the drafts.
A dozen pews on the left-hand side are
occupied by the females, the children
sitting on the first rows, the young
women along in the middle, and the
matrons behind. Only the children
dress gayly. The matrons wear the
plainest of Quaker garb. Across the
narrow aisle sit the men, in primitive
Methodist style, and the young men
and boys sit in the front seats. There
are few old men, and the whole con-
gregation numbers less than a hundred.
An organ, all of which is concealed,
excepting the pipes, behind the par
tition that also serves for a pulpit,
leads the congregation in the singing.
There are no voluntaries, no afterludes.
The hymns are of the most fervently
pious kind. and the tunes the familiar
songs of the early Methodist Church.
Words and music seem familiar to all,
and the holding open Of the hymn-book
is only a formality. Singing, with
reading of the Scriptures and q ser
mon, make up the religious service.
Last evening Mr.. Schertz repeated
promise after promise to the congrega-
ton for the elect, and urged them to be
valiant, never yielding, and always
ready for the coming of the Savior.
The chapel was fuller than is custom
ary, but for large church and congre-
cation these Christian Israelites do not
long. Their faith seems to be an
abiding one. and to make them very
happy. The sect was founded by an
Englishman in 1922, who always insist
ed that his spiritual vision was enlarged
by special providence, and that he
was thereby permitted to teach the doc
trines as the Divine will, which are ex-
pounded in several sanctuaries in En-
gland, but in only two in this country.
N. Y. Sun.
.