Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-10-09
The Modern Church Service.

Cy recent uenuClatlOn OF lne HhOueTI
church service and defence of non-church'
goers. DR.. Trafton is evidently Il good
deal wrought up on the subject lie
speaks with plainuess, not to say bitter
ness, which makes his accusations all the
more singing. A characteristic passage
from his remarks, delivered ut the recent
conference of Methodist ministers in Bos
ton will give some idea of the nature OF
the objections made. DR.. Tratton said
81 confess don't like to go to church.
| I'm sorry to say it. When | was boy
was glad when they said, Let us go into
the house OF the Lord | enjoyed the
preaching, the singing and the praying.
| Let me start out now IL 20 to church and
worship God At home we have had our
private devotion. We come to the church
doOr-l'm saying what took place exactly
aud we see plenty of seats vacant. We
ask one OF the young sihpper-snappers
| with Il rosette in his buttOuhole for u seat.
He says: You wait a while and I'll see.
by and by, when the bell stops tOlling, the
man says, You can find a seat in the gal
| lery.' In the gallery you see four young
people talking and laughing. Suddenly
the organ starts and then as suddenly the
four grow solemn, jump up and begin to
squall. You can't understand word they
say. They sing hymn you never heard
before and never want to hear again,
You can't sing with them. Call that sing
| ing Gods praiseY It's not only folly, but
it's blasphemy. You've no business to
Introduce such trash as that, and call 1t
devotion. Then the prayer. In the old
times the minister used to pray, TO suppl
cate, to implore, just as If he expected
something would come, and something
did come. Now, this brother who prayed
delivered a hOmily, an address to the peo-
pie, a strained effort. 1t wasn't praying
| confess it didn't touch me at all. | kept
saying to myself: on, nonsense 'Eid-
dle-stlcks ? | say this ought not to be-
We ought not to 90 away disguised"
1t is plain that either the Doctor was re
markably unfortunate in his choice of Il
place of worship, or else he must have
gone to church-as some Englishmen
come to this cOuntry-with the deliberate
intention of taking everything he saw in
the very worst part, and afterwards show
ing it up in the most uniavOraDle light.
The Doctors appearance must have been
greatly against him, or the young snip
per-snappern would never have sent him
up gallery, with "plenty of seats vacant
III the body of the house. We think that
the testimony of most strangers who visit
churches other than their own, whether
in city or country, would be decidedly OPP
posed to DR.. Traitors. AS IL general
rule, with rare exceptions, strangers
receive geutlemanly, courteous and
sometimes charitable treatment from the
church ushers They are placed at the
doors for the purpose of being polite to
strangers, and accommodating them so
far as lies in their power, and while now
and then shipper snapper" may be
bumptiOus and disobliging, it is common
ly not 50 much the fault of the church, us
of the young mans seif-conceit and I'M
due sense of his own Importance. Those
who receive the courtesieS of Il house of
Worship as well as those who extend
them, ought to exercise little charity.
1t is Il very good frame of mind with
which to enter the house of God.
AS to DR.. Trafton's arraignment of the
choir it is easy to see that he is one of
the old-fashioned kind of ministers who
believe that they can hold up both ends
of divine service alone. If he had his way,
of course, the choir would be banished-
and the organ too probably, and either
himself or some prccrntor would pitch
the tune for the congregation, and lead
the singing. But the idea that church
music is of no value except as Il form of
worship has pretty generally wldened into
the broader idea that it is useful
both for worship and edtication What
would DR.. 1'raftou think of the entire
congregation should insist on preaching
in unison with him? The sermon is for
edlficatiun-so is a certain legitimate
class of church music, the kind of music
that is rendered by a properly conducted
and well-trained choir. Hymns are for
worship: sacred choral selections are for
edilication, emotional quickening, the
moving of the spiritual nature. Quite
likely the signalling" which DR.. Trafton
heard from the four suddenly solemn per-
sons in the gallery was, in reality, very
good and appropriate singing, which
moved some devout hearts in the audi
ence to truly spiritual and helpful aspira-
tons. 1t is just barely possible that DR.,
Traitor has not an ear for music.
The talking and laughing" of the
choir is probably as old as human nature
itself. 1t used to be obserVed-with Other
quite natural proclivities, such as falling
asleep and the like--in the pews them
selves in the good old-fashioned times fol-
|
not quite ready to believe that it is Sc
prevalent as DR.. TraftOn suppOses. We
have seen some very well behaved choirs
-choirs that listened to the sermon /
great deal closer than DR.. Traitor seems
to have done. 1t the tour persons con
shutting the test case in this instance, hat
been aware that there was doctor of di
vinity at each end of the church, thei
solemnity would probably have beer
greater, perhaps sufficient.
DR.. Trafton's criticism of the moderl
prayer comes nearer To the mark. i
might often we'll be q little less categorical
and declamatory-a little more spontaneou
and supplicatory. Still, one does occasion
ally get some valuable information from
prayers, such, for instance as the death o
a prominent citizen, or some personal mat
ter of paramount interest in his owl
, church circle. If there is IA judicious in
termingling of supplicaton and instruc
J ton perhaps we ought not to find mucl
fault with the preacher who occasionall
| 6iynlUaS a littla naya IN the A lmiuhtV