The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1891-06-20
THE BUILDING OF BIG CHURCHES

A Modern Tendency as Illustrated by the
Erection of the Tabernacle.
The dedication of DR.. Talmage's new
Brooklyn Tabernacle serves to call atten-
ton to the modern tendency to the
erection of immense church edifces. It
is not so many years since church seat
ing thousand persons was considered
very large even in the large cities. Until
the erection of the Plymouth church
building by Beecher's congregation in
Brooklyn it is doubtful if there was a
similar building in the United States
with seating capacity of more than L.
500. Plymouth church, with its 5000 or
1000 sittings, had no imitators for a
long time, probably because there were
no more Henry Ward Beechers, and the
average church member with money did
not believe in building churches with
the seating capacity of Roman amphi-
theater until preachers could be found
who would fill them.
The history of DR.. Talmage's own
church perhaps furnishes the best illus
tration that can be cited of the evo-
luton of the modern big church. Be
ginning in 1869 as the pastor Of what
was then known as the Central Presby-
terrain church in Brooklyn, DR.. Talmage
preached in an old meeting house, with
seating capacity of few hundreds.
This proving too small, in the following
year the society began the erection of
the first Tabernacle, with capacity of
nearly two thousand. Two years later
this was destroyed by fire, and on it's
site the second Tabernacle was reared,
with sittings for 5000 This was burned
in 1899. The society then sold its old
site and bought a new one within few
squares upon which to build the third
Tabernacle, which will seat nearly six
thousand people. Through the medium
of two fires and one remove the seating
capacity of the building in which the
popular Brooklyn preacher holds forth
has increased at least tenfold in twenty
two years.
Except the Mormon temple at Salt
Lake City, which, it is claimed, will
hold 10000 people, DR.. Talmage's church
is the largest in this country, that of
Sturgeon, in London, alone equaling it
anywhere. 1t is not the only big church
in the country, however, although the
biggest. Grace Baptist church. in this
city, it is claimed, has a seating capacity
of nearly 5000. Chicago has several
seating more than the first Talmage
Tabernacle, while Plymouth church.
the Lafayette avenue Presbyterian and
the Tompkins avenue Congregational
churches, in Brooklyn, each have seat
ing capacity up in the thousands
Whether the limit in this direction has
been reached it is yet too early to deter
mine.
1t will scarcely be worth while to build
churches larger than that Of DR.. Tai
mage, for the simple reason that only the
strongest speakers can make themselves
distinctly heard in any building by more
than 5000 or 1000 people. There is room
in good many Of our large cities for
church edi6ces of this type, however, if
preachers can DE found who will fill them.
The usual complaint is that majority
of the small sized churches in the cities
are not more than half filed. This be.
| ing the case, it is probable that the fur
Their evolution of the big church will de-
pend entirely on the evolution of the big
preachers.-Philadel Times.