Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1894-07-13
HERE'S a CHRISTIAN.
-ANOTHER CLERGYMAN TELLS SOME
UNvARNIsHED TRUTHS.

He Says the Church of Today Caters to the
Rich = The Working People Hate Not
Christianity, but "Churchianity" Sound
and Wholesome Doctrine. 4
Rev. G. L. Arnold, pastor Of St. Pc
ter's church, Detroit, preached sermon
the other Sunday which a local paper
called ga scorcher. - Among other
things he said in substance: 49,.
The command Of the Master to go and
preach the gospel to every creature pre-
cludes all idea Of class privileges in the
which the Saviour established in the
world. The gospel is not for the rich,
the poor, the Jew, the gentle, the bond,
the free, but for all equally. The par
TALLY Of the church, if there be such a
thing, is reserved for the unfortunate
and the oppressed classes. AS a fact Of
her history the church consecrated the
activities Of the first and following CEN
turtles of her life up to comparatively
modern times to seeking out and help
ing those who most needed help-the
ignorant, the poor, the unfortunate.
Even as the common people heard Jesus
gladly, SO the common people through
all the past centuries focked to their
church as their friend.
But in these times new thing is seen
in the world There is Christianity
in the nineteenth century with which
the common people will have nothing
to do-a church which the woHkingmen
all over the world have forsaken and re-
pudiated. Not only have these people
deserted the institution which was once
their best friend, but they are now out
in the world suffering the miseries of
indecision, unrest, neglect and conscious
oppression. They are bringing anxiety
upon all who have at heart the best i'll
terests of humanity and society. The
preacher cited a large number Of facts
to show that the desertion and repudia-
ton Of the church by the workingmen
are profound and seemingly final. The
church is SO empty Of the class whose
presence once proved the divinity Of her
mission that it has come to be a reii "a
gious and social clubhouse for the fiat
and we'll liking' Of the world. He also
cited many proofs that the workingmen
are not hostile to the person and teach
ing of Jesus of Nazareth 1t is not Chris
tianity, but <churchianity, which they
have come to hate
The cause Of all this does not lie with
the workingmen, but with the church
itself. The church does not want these
people, and it shows this not always by
its acts, but by the very words Of it's
members MR. Arnold told q number of
anecdotes to illustrate this. A brave
man who bad saved eight lives at the
peril of his own was referred to in pray
er meeting as one whom the church
ought to get inside Mld do something
for. A pious member roso and said right
out in SO many words that ''this church
does not want any Of that class of peo-
ple.' The pastor Indignantly rebulzed
the brother and declared that as long as
he was pastor the doors should always
swing inside for all classes. That pastor,
one Of the most eloquent and manly in
the city, had to go. It has come to the
pass that all we think of wanting new
members for is their ability to help sup
port the church-not how much can the
church help them.
Whenever our older churches must be
orn down to give place to new ones,
as they sometimes have to be, it is not
arger churches, but finer ones, we build
We make them luxurious for ourselves,
not useful for others. We talk about
"church work." but the whole thing
always reduces itself to the amount of
money we can raise; the luxuriousness
of the furnishings we can put into our
buildings. No, we do not always tell
the poor and the humble in words that
we do not want them, but they have
found it out, and they have learned to
hate the church for our sakes
The church is directly responsible, in
q certain measure, for all this unrest of
mind and soul and body: They need
that which a real, living, holy church
is designed to supply in the world, but
the church of this age has turned them
away and will not feed them as the
Lord would have them fed
Mr.. Arnold's way of getting back the
confidence Of the workingmen is to
open the social and material opportuni-
ties Of the church to them. They will
not hear our gospel directly, for they
are incensed against it through our
fault. But we can begin by doing them
other kinds Of good in a way that they
can appreciate We must first win their
confidence by any and all means. We
must do it, for the world at large can
not afford that this enforcement of the
church and an important class continue
longer. There is danger in it for all
concerned. We may philosophize, shoot
down, scold, write learned essays, but
we, the church, must mend our ways.
Who Crows Now?
It is to be feared that good many
Britons felt the truth of the cynical