The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1890-05-22
A FURTHER EXPLANATION.

q ShoS SNIuSuCly almeQ Q1reCCly at INC.
regret very much to be compelled to
answer it. l am sorry that this matter
has been brought before the public in this
manner.
In the course of my announcement on
Sabbath morning, the 18th inst, said
that some would no doubt wonder why
we were to have an evening service in |
view of the fact of the w. c. T. U. meet |
ing that night. l told the people that
all knew about the matter was what |
saw in the papers. said further, that |
| had entertained the opinion hitherto,
that the tn. c. T. u. OF Sank Centre was
a union organization, but as nothing
whatever had been said to me about the
meeting, apparently neither myself or my
congregation were wanted at the ser.
vice.
The "Explanation" given by the secre-
tary only goes to show that my strict
ures were just. In the first place, if any
explanation could be given, the ladies
should have come to me instead ofcarry-
ing the matter into the papers. True, /
publicly criticised them somewhat for
treating my church and myself so shah
billy. but would have been glad to have
just as publicly made an explanation:
and further, would not have done as l
did merely because OF such treatment,
bnt it seemed necessary in justice to our
selves as a church, that the people might
understand that we Were not at all re-
sponsible for the state of things. Ac-
cording to the statement of the secretary
in the article referred to, the society "has
enjoyed the privilege of working in the
churches for eleven years." so that the
people would naturally wonder why we
appointed service of our own for that
Sabbath evening.
And so think I did just right in
putting the announcement ofour evening
service as 1 did
1would prefer now to let the matter
stay just as the secretary left it in last
weeks papers, were it not that no ex-
PLANTATION has been made, and the same
reason still exists for vindicating my
churek and myself. 1 am not antagonis-
tic to the legitimate work of the VIC. T.
u, but on the contrary, am heartily in
SYMPATHY with it, and am anxious to
do all can to further its interests.
! In brief, the following are the facts in
the case: In December last, if l remem-
er correctly, at meeting of the minis
terial association of this place, it was
suggested by one of the pastors mot my
self that the work of the w. c. T. u. of
| Sank Centre would be enhanced by the
dIscontinuance of the union meetings,
and by holding instead, simultaneous
temperance meetings, at stated intervals,
! in the churches, The reason for this, as
stated by the pastor proposing the
change, was that our combined evening
congregations would much more than
fill the largest Of our churches, and that
in fostering the union meetings, we
were givingfto good many people an
excuse for remaining at home one Sab
bath evening each month.
l heartily! agreed that the reason given
was good bne, and that some change
ought to be made, but was not in favor
of disseminating the union meetings. l
proposed instead, that we advise the
ladies to hold quarterly meeting in the
opera house, and that we do what we
could to see that the necessary funds
were raised. had two reasons for this
propositions: first, there are so many
meetings of the church, which are out of
the usual order, such as Sabbath School
Concerts, Christmas exercises, Children's
Day Exercises, Ladies Missionary meet
ings, ETC., that did not like to spare one
evening per month, especially as
thought much more good could be done
by rousing quarterly meeting than by
such as would be likely to be held as often
as once month.
Secondly: I thought best to 60 to the
opera house, because very large pro-
portion OF those that we are most de-
sirous of reaching in such work, are al
most never seen in the churces, but
would (many Of them at least) 60 to the
opera house.
l still think was correct. The other
ministers thought was. They requested
me to confer with the ladies of the w. c.
T. u at their next meeting. 1 did so.
Here were but three present, but those
were among the most prominent men,
bers. They agreed to the plan, the only
objection being one of finances. l said
l thought enough business men would be
willing to subscribe in small quarterly
payments to meet the expenses and that
besides collection could be taken at the
meeting.
left the ladies with the impression
that they thought the new plan better
than the old, and they seemed to think
that the union as a whole would adopt
the plan. l assured them that the minis
tiers did not wish to retard their work
in the least, but that we were i'll hearty
sympathy " it'll it, and in proposing the
new plan, we were seeking the highest
| good of the work The ladies seemed to
perfectly satisfied on that point. I,
| That was the last knew of the matter.
until saw the notices in the papers of a,
meeting at the Methodist church. By
the way, it seems to me that in view of
the facts, the sentence "The desired op.
por tunity was kindly given us by tho
Methodist pastor last Sunday evening"
was very unjust to me to say the least.
1 was particularly surprised when saw
the notice as the ladies had asked me to
give the addesss of the evening at their
first quarterly meeting which they were
to hold near the last of March.
This is all know about the matter.
If the ladies can give an explanation of
their course, or will publicly acknowl-
edge their error tin the papers since they
have chosen to use such a rnediuml 7