Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1883-02-07

Miss ANNA OLlvER.-Miss Anna Oliver,
formerly of Boston, has almost completed
her fourth year in the pulpit of the
Willoughby Avenue Methodist church in
Brooklyn, and having demonstrated that
Il young woman can be successful
pastor, she and her friends think it is
about time the Methodist bishops received
her into the church work. The church.
which she purchased from the Williams
burg savings bank for Sl4 600. was about
to be turned into livery stable or II beer
garden when she got it. She held the title
in her own name for sometime, giving hel
bond for $4,000. but she subsequently
conveyed the property to trustees. 1t was
found that if the property was Geeded in
the customary way the conference might
repudate the Methodism that tolerated II
young woman us Il pastor, and appropriate
the church. Miss Oliver began TO run the
church on strict business principles,
making her own salary the last payment
due, and requiring all bills to be settled
monthly. Each months proportion of
interest on the mortgage has been uni
formly deposited in the savings bank, so
hat at the end of six months the full
amount is always on hand. She deter
mined to make her enterprise unique in
its economy. She figured out that 81. 250
would meet all the expenses, her own
salary included, and when the revenue
tell short she gave to the church what was
Jue her. She set her face reso,utely
against church fairs, festivals, oyster
suppers, necktie sociabes, leap year
entertainment S, charales. tableaux, can
la,as, wax work shows, or any other
projects that would turn the church into II
play house, an eating saloon or II bazaar.
She, however, favored lectures, concerts,
spelling bees, historical examinations,
debates and Il reading room, and manages
to get n little revenue from letting the
church rooms for school. When Miss
Oliver completed the usual Methodist
pastoral term of three Yeas last April,
she resigned, saying that she was a
Methodist and believed in itinerancy. but
the trustees declined to present the subject
to the church, and the official board, which
has seven female members, unanimously
rlextended Il call to her. She had worked
herself down in health, but she accepted
on conditions which gave her some relief.
She has had her study in the church, has
had room on Willoughby avenue, and
has been Il table boalder at another place.
Now it is proposed to erect cottage
the church for her home. She
hit upon q way by which She could erect "A
house if she had land owned by herself,
and, accordingly she made n proposition
to the church that if its members would
raise $1,000 at once she would accept it for
salary due and to come, would pay it on
the SIS, coo mortgage secure the release
of the building lot alongside of the church,
and put up II homo tor herself. This
ingenious plan, which went TO the solution
of question that had troubled many men
in the church, was responded to at once,
and Miss Oliver has filed plans for
cottage she is going to build in the spring.
She's got a head like Jay Gould for
business" said one of her friends. "She
BIAS clung to her tenets of economy, and
the result is thai last year the receipts of
the church amounted to S4,709. 90, being
AN increase of 81 2l9 50 ever the year
before. The iuter, ST ON tho debt has been
reduced S 100, and the $1,000 above referred
TO reduces the debt 10 2,000.-BoStor
Eieratd.