The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1894-09-29

in the "By-way Church so long as
there is a church on the highway, no
matter of what name or faith.
Now this don't work, and the
churches themselves see it. There are
whole communities without church.
es; there are neither hocks nor shep-
herds, and the people are content to
live unenlightened, unchurched, in
the slums and the tenement house
districts of the cities, just as they
live without church or religion in the
beautiful streets and by-ways of our
own charming country village.
What is to be done about it2 Well,
we are talking about institutional"
churches. There is talk of convert
ing the Shawmut Avenue UNIVERSAL
list church, Boston, into an "institu
tional" church, or "neighborhood
church," as some call it. What does it
all mean ?What kind of church will
it be? How does it differ from COM
mon church? Perhaps the answer is
that it differs principally in location,
and lays less stress on fashion, form
and style, and emphasizes religion,
humanity and righteousness. l sup
pose the meaning of it all is, church
in the by-ways, for the byways, es-
tablished and sustained by the high
ways.
lido not assume to speak for the
large cities, any farther than that hui
manitY is pretty much the same in the
cities as in the country. The aspira-
tons of the by-ways are identical
with those of the highways, in city,
town or country. But in towns like
ours, we have scarcely the distinction
between highway and by-way, and
our associations are due largely to
congeniality. And SO I speak for
the towns when l say that there is
not the, distinction of by-ways and
highways. Our churches are not on
the highways. We do not ignore the
by-ways. And yet, for all practical
purposes, we might as we'll. A man
or woman says to me, cit is impossi-
be for me to speak with strangers
when they come into our church."
What more could the highways say
than 81 will not speak to them" Thus
one says, 81 cannot" the other says,
ct will not"
The result is the same strangers
are not spoken to. I say to man,
Il see that you support the church,"
eyes" sYou believe the church
is doing vast deal of good in the
world7" 20, certainly" "Don't you
think that it ought to do great deal
more among the by-ways, among the
unreligious, among the poor, and
among the lower classesa"
eyes, indeed, I am satisfied of
that" "Well, now, won't you take
hold with us and do some practical
work among this class of people9"
20, could not do that. I have no
talent for that, you know. I come to
church every Sunday, in the morning,
and I haven't the time. I could not
do it, you see."
AS I sat in the Opera House listen
ing to the beautiful voice that has
charmed the world with sweetness, |
said to myself, 'How vulgar, how pro-
fame, is any great talent that occupies.
itself simply for selfish ends, for sell
| fish qualification and ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
and how vulgar is any talent, how
ever high or low, that cannot do some
thing for somebody who would be
benefited by his assistance. 1t is not
enough for the highways to build and
sustain churches in the by-ways, for
the by-ways and simply throw the
doors open to the by-ways. 1t is far
from enough for us to throw our
doors open, say our seats are free,
ana invite people to come in. They
will not come in. We have to go out
in the by ways, and hedges and con-
strain them to come in. The by
ways cannot come up on the high
ways as the highways can come down
without condescending to the by
ways. If one cannot speak to stran-
gers in his church. it is high time he
is learning to do so.
And one can; know it. He does
it every day in his store. | have been
in when the ragged and the poor
came in to buy. The merchant was
IL grace and attention to them. He
was kind, he was polite, he called
! them by name, be inquired about
their affairs at home. and he sold
hem his goods and took their money.
What of this7 Do | condemn iti
No, indeed, far from it. See what