Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1881-09-28

J "'NiNF GNNlAN ~ NNN VI Wv =
all Summer, either at their country
places or else at some place Of Summer
resort or perhaps iaunting about from
place TO place. These are not the ma,
ority of church.going people. There
are very few churches most OF whose
people arc gone all Summer. Some Of
the church members take q short va,
cation, and many have to content them.
selves with day or two at time. II
the managers of the church are in real
earnest in the work Of saving souls and
making men better it is the poorest
sort OF policy to 60 out OF business for
one-sixth Of the year. No factory
with invested capital would conduct
its affairs in this way unless il had
overstocked the market with its pro.
ductions or was unable to procure
hands or material to be worked into
goods, The churches have not yet
crowded the world with more converts
than it has room for. There is no dif-
fculty in procuring enough ministerial
help for the supply Of pulpits during
the absence Of regular pastors. No
newspaper could afford to send rs
whole corps of editors into the country
for two Summer months and discon.
tinue its publication for that time,
The trial Of such an experiment would
dispense with the necessity of resum-
ing business in September Now comes
the day OF hard work in the church
which has been closed. The dispersed
congregation is hard to gather. Some
Of the people who have remained have
attended other churches which they
happened TO find open. Some have
gone TO halEa-dozen different churches
in as many Sundays. They begin to
fancy that they can be prohtted by
some other preacher than the one who
minister's in their own church. Some
have spent their Sundays in quietly
dong nothing at home, and have come
to the conclusion that this is such a
nice way to pass the Day of Rest that
they will continue the habit. The
children are quick TO follow in the
ways Of their parents They think
that if tho churnh can with propriety
be shut for two months in the year it
is not of much account during the
other ten months, They have given
their Sunday school lessons in the slip
in the vacation, and would like TO try
il for few weeks longer. 1t will be
at least n month before the church
which opens to-day will recover all the
congregation it had when it closed for
the Summer. All that time it will
drag along in an imperfect manner,
with only q part Of its organization in
working order. No worldly enterprise
could live and prosper if thus managed,
1t is time now, TO plan for next Sum.
mer's work. Let some church which
has been closed make its arrangements
to keep open house. If the pastor
wants a holiday oil Summer let him
take it, Provide an earnest and spirit.
cd preacher for each Sunday and an.
nounce that all people who happen to
be in town are welcome TO come.
With good preaching, attractive service
and delightful music, there will be no
difficulty in filling any church Even
il most Of the regular pew. holders stay
away, a lot of outsiders will come in,
including great many sinners who
ought to be converted Thus the Sum.
mer enterprise Of the church will be a
wholesome means Of extending its ad.
vantages to many who otherwise would
not have come under its influence.
Ocean Grove is phenomenon of
religious growth and progress in its
own way. Its twelfth season has now
closed, reporting more meetings and
greater crowds than in any previous
year. Where all the people attended
the meetings find lodgings and food is
marvel There, as at many other of
the religious camps, there has been en-.
tirely too much crowding. The privacy
Of homo which might reasonably be
expected where there are so many cot.
tages specially designated for home
comfort is in many cases sadly broken
in upon. 1t is not that cottagers are
covetous in renting out every spare
foot Of bedroom that may happen TO
bc under their roofs, but probably
rather that they feel constrained to
yield to tho great pressure of people
who need accommodations, Certain il
is that whenever cottager has room
to put up one more cot than he bad
originally contemplated some boarder
comes in to fill the chink and keep the
premises packed. The old ideas OF
leisure and elbow.room which were
uppermost in the midst Of people who
went TO the seashore have given way
to the hustle of q hurry.and drive sue
cession of meetings, which last from
sunrise until night and to a crowded
and jammed state Of affairs which sug.
gests TO every man the impending
probability of being punched in the
RIBS by his very contiguous fellow.man.
The condition Of navigation on the
pretty little sheet of water known as
Westloy Lake is fair indication of the
whole moral and physical makeup to
Ocean Grove. This '1ake" is about as
wide as Broad street and somewhat
over half mile long. There are
several hundred row boats on il which
crowd its surface so closely that every
body who handles an oar runs the
risk of hitting in the head the occupant
Of some other boat. At the conclud.
ing day OF the camp meetings one emi,
nent preacher said that he believed
that two-thirds of the people at Ocean
Grove TO be baokshders. Another
said that there was no such place along
the whole Atlantic coast for backslid.
ing. It's to be hoped that these gen
tlemen are wrong. IL were mourniu
fit were the case that alter a dozen
Summers Of such preaching and pray
ing as Ocean Grove has witnessed the
religious condition Of the place were as
bad as these statements indicate. The
sayings of these preachers have been
wildly circulated and the impression
is thus conveyed that baoksliding il
one OF the principal features of relig
ions life OF the Grove. II this impres
sion is incorrect the friends of the place
ought to hasten to correct IL