Alpena argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1893-1909, 1893-04-26
Where the Fault Lies.

secular press it is found that minis
ters of the gospel are themselves
very caustic critics of church meth
DDS, but their blame is laid entirely
upon the shoulders of laymen.
These build churches, they pay the
salaries of ministers, they pay the
expenses of the establishment, but
the reformatory clergyman, charg-
ing them with lack of zeal, declares
that this is not enough; that they
must come down more handsomely;
that they must extend the field of
operation Of the church beyond its
four walls and carry the gospel to
every living creature-a matter
which cannot be done unless Croesus
in the pew will make larger contri-
button.
Is the minister quite certain that
he himself is not open to criticism?
Is there in his life the devotion, the
self-sacrifice, the industrious work
that tells? Is he doing what in
him lies to carry the gospel beyond
the four walls which resound to his
preaching on the Sabbath morn?
Does he himself go down among
the poor, sacrificing all his emolu-
ments save that needed to procure
for himself the necessaries of life?
The monk who breaches crusade
will not rouse enthusiasm unless
his breast is to be barred to the dan
ger that must come, and he who is
not willing to 60 among the heath
Ell himself can hardly expect that
his reproach to rich men among his
congregation for not sending their
money among the heathen will
avail much.
1t is nothing to keep perfunct-
DRY Christian congregation i'll line.
1t is much for a Christian minister
to sacrifice fame as a pulpit orator
and comfort in his rectory and get
out among the heather who are at
his very door in order to carry to
them the blessings of the gospel.
The very paper which contains the
report of a sermon by an Evanston
divine who finds the times out of
joint and seems to exclaim with
Hamlet,
Obi cursed spite that born, set it right.
and laments that the selfishness of
even church members is such that
nothing is done toward the salvation
of the mass of mankind, contains
also an account of the doings of
two humble women who belong to
an offshoot of the Salvation Army,
and without the honors even of a
uniform are charged with the duty
of going into what we call the slums
and of consecrating their lives to
the improvement Of the bodies and
minds of the persons they find there
and of leading poor creatures to
ulterior salvation. These women
pay $3.50 q month for their rooms
and spend $3.50 per week for SUBJ
sistence for both. Living on IS
cents day they have no opportu-
nifty to rise from a comfortable
breakfast of a Sabbath morning to
assure a rich congregation that it is
positively not doing its duty. I'm
the two rooms says the reporter,
(which are practically one, was an
iron bedstead and a bed, a cook stove,
barrel of coal, a roller towel, a
picture of Gen. Booth, o lot of
scripture notices, and box Of cast
off clothing. There was so little
fire in the stove that the newspaper
man, though he kept his overcoat
and fur cap on, was nearly frozen
to the chair" What were the
women doingP Doing what was
done by their Master in old Judea
going among the poor, healing
the sick, helping the hurt body as
we'll as the broken mind. For in
stance: "A poor woman near here
has been sick long time, and we
found that her husband was sitting
up with her at night and losing
time from his work during the day;
so we told him that we would help
him by taking his place every other
night" What further? "In cases
of sickness we scour the floor and
wash the children with our own
hands, and sit up all night with the
sick. In such cases the clothing
that we make up and give away would
be pawned or sold, but we manage
to prevent that by patching it with
blue or yellow, SO that nobody
wants it," Note further: "We
spend from six to twelve hours a
day in visiting the saloons and dis
reputable houses. We do this in
the afternoons and evenings, and
wherever we go we talk to the in
mates about the salvation, distribute