Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-27
PREACHING REFORMS
Local Ministers Object to Giving Out
Free Advertising
BY ANNOUNCING ENTERTAINMENTS
It Requires Too Much Time and Diverts the
Mind From the Sermon.
PLANS ADOPTED In OTHER CITIES

tlvals etc.
Other ministers who preside over congre-
cations equally large, continue to read
nearly all announcements that come to
them from either secular or church sources.
Among the laity of the religious people OF
Pittsburg and Allegheny this has aroused
controversy as to what is church etiquette
on the subject. Some interesting points are
brought out on both sides of the question
by interviews had with leading clergymen.
On last Sunday Rev. w. II. Pearce, d.
D., of the Butler Street M. E. Church, Law
renceville, in little statement before the
congregation, discouraged the practice. For
his flock ne prints a miniature newspaper
called the Church Isdings, and into this he
crowds all the announcements possible. 1t
is only monthly, however, and ne told the
congregation it would be an excellent thing
to print slip of paper, or card, Tor every
Sunday, bearing all acceptable announce
ments. He said that all the principal
churches in the country are ceasiDg to be the
means OF free advertising.
Rev. DIR. Pearce, when interviewed, gave
his views more in detail. Said he:
VIEWS OF REV. DIR. PEARCE.
ga preacher in Baltimore not long since
told his congregation that if there was any
time lett after making the usual pulpit an
nouncements he would preach sermon. 1
think he struck the keynote of the objection
to this once popular church custom. To ask
a pastor to make long string of announce
ments, many of which he is expected to
amplify with complimentary remarks, is to
hamper him. 1t takes his mind, TO greater
or lesser extent, off the line OF thought to
which he wishes to confine himself for
the effectiveness of his discourse. To leave
the pastor free to devote himself exclusively
to making the devotional exercises
and the sermon a success, some other
plan should be contrived for the
announcement of social events. This
matter of announcements has grown to large
proportions. The number of our church So
cieties has multiplied Of late years, and
their gatherings for social and religious
purposes are numerous. But, in addition to
these, a minister receives all sorts of secular
announcements. They are about lectures,
and the like.
"The neighboring churches send in re-
quests to announce their fairs, festivals and
bazaars. If you announce one you must
open wide the way and announce all. They
are usually pay entertainments, so that an
announcement is equivalent to free adver-
tisement / reject a great many Of these,
and try to limit all announcements to the
societies connected with our own church, or
to some outside cause in which the public
generally is interested, such as the Y. NJ. G.
A. work, when it does not conflict with
dates for meetings in my own church.
THE WEEKLY BULLETIN PLAN.
ga couple of years ago tried the week.
Il c,,l sa
full where some provision is made for the
cost of printing it. When that plan is
adopted all notices should be in BY Satur-
day morning so they may be printed. That
reminds me of another evil of the pres
ent system. Probably two-thirds of
the announcements in every church
are placed on the pulpit Sabbath morning,
or carried to him by the ushers during serv-
ice. He has no time to determine their
merit, and runs the risk of thus hurriedly
announcing something that, had he time to
look into, he would reject as Questionable"
Rev. DR.. Purvis, of the First Presbyterian
Church, said: 81 am opposed to using the
pulpit for advertising purposes. The news
papers are for that. 1 guard very strictly
all the announcements made in my church.
I receive dozens of notices weekly
of lectures, concerts, fairs, bazaars and
social entertainments which / promptly
reject. 1t would consume valuable time in
the pulpit to read them and fulfill
no useful object. Now and then
have to make an exception to this
rule, where something is of such 4
common interest to the community as to
demand its recognition. These may be OF
patriotic or charitable character. But as a
usual thing 1 refuse to announce any pay
entertainments. Such requests are usually
accompanied by couple of admission
tickets These throw into the waste basket.
You remember the Newsboys House Asso-
citation gave a dinner or festival in the
chapel of my church. / am connected
with the association, vet 1 did
not announce the affair from the pulpit"
STANDS THE ANNOYANCE.
Rev. DIR. Cowan, of the Third Presbyter-
ian Church, said: "Oh, announce pretty |
much all that comes to me. True,
it is annoying sometimes to find !
lot of announcements heaped up |
on the pulpit Sabbath morning, |
but usually they all pertain to events out OF
which some good may come. 1t does not !
take me very long to read them. Those |
know nothing about, simply read. Those |
am familiar with or which are |
often emphasize with some remarks. |
You see there is a way of boiling down an
nouncements so that they will not take up |
much time. You can't suppress entertain |
ments by refusing to announce them any |
more than you can muzzle the press. The
age for that has gone by. The |
free ticket nuisance does not bother me. |
They are usually sent as compliment TO the |
pastor and not believing that he actually |
will care to use them; I prefer my church to |
be sisterly, and for that reason 1 announce |
nearly all the entertainments of neighbor- |
Ing churches when they are sent me. It en- |
courages friendship"
Rev. T.. j. Leak, d. D., of North |
Avenue M. e. Church, said: II make an
nouncements freely, though I try to dis |
criminate between them. Although have
sometimes been embarrassed in the pulpit |
by the large number Of notices that find
their way there, and the wordy recommen-
dation some of them ask at my lips, I
always try to read them all.
IT TAKES UP TIME.
ST prefer to err on the generous side. 1t |
is true this often does take up considerable
time, but audiences are for the time inter- |
ested in hearing them. If there are many
they cam. remember all, so no harm is done.
I do reject announcements which conflict |
with the dates of religious meetings in my
own church. On this score 1 have rejected
Y NJ. G.. A. announcements sometimes"
In all the above churches the reading of
announcements takes up from to 10 min
utes each service, except in the First Pres
byterian, where DR.. Purvis disposes of them
in less than two minutes. At Emory M. E.
Church, in the East, Rev DR.. Wilson
has the printed slip plan. In
church at Scranton the clergyman is