The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1894-05-04
DO THEY SAVE soULss
Value of Church Bazaars and Oyster
Suppers Questioned.

Conference wrpstlCu with the PROB
lem whether church work is adj
vanced aud God glorlicd by the
holding Of bazaars. oyster suciables
and candy pulls. MIS-. Harriet Kel-
sey Fay OF Pasadena, in paper on
"Woman's Work in the Parish"
which sparkled with clean-cut wit
aud satire, boldly attacked the
growing practice Of the church in
giving These windmill shows" as
she called them. While her re-
marks were frequently interrupted
by applause, II was evident that the
merrlment was provoked by the
witty manner in which Mrs. Fay
handled the subject rather than by
the approval of her ideas 10y her
auditors.
Several old ladies' shook their
heads doubtfully when Mrs. Fay
said that the stewing Of oysters and
the piecing OF quilts could never he
made instrumental in the saving Of
souls. but only two or three had the
hardihood to- take the negative side
of the question in the discussion
which followed.
"In connection with the church
there is some work which woman
can hardly be expected To under
take" said Mrs. Fay. "Fur example.
ia the erection Of a church edlicc
the putting in OF the stone founda-
ton or he raising Of the tower would
hardly d.vOlve upon her. And |
doubt whether il is any part of her
duty To extend time aud str"ngi h
aud vex her soul in getting up ba-
4 airs, preparing suppers aud selling
tickets for concerts aud lectures ~ a
means Of raising money, which. a. a
matter Of principle. men ought tu
take from their pockets ia one
round sum. \ resort to the games
aud tricks, the frolic and fun. the
sham aud low pcuny.catrhing
schemes which are common on such
occasions for the purpose Of raising
money To promote the worship al
God aud the moral a"d spiritual
education Of his children j. q pain
ful iurougruity. And fur, hrrinurc
there is danger Of engendrring ani
mosities which would more than
couut.rbalance all the financial
gains. TIL" expenses usually con
sumo most of the receipts, aud il
the disappoiu' ment, the in"vitabl,
loss OF srlf.rrspect aud the lowering
of the moral tone could bc taken
Into account The defici, would bc
large. am fully convinced that
the popular claptrap rr>orlcd tn
ostensibly for the promotion Of tn,
social life Of the church, j. defeat inl
its own end.
As au instance Of the harm don,
10y the pernirIOus practice 81 hold
ing church fairs aud things Of tba,
kind. Mrs. Fay related an instauc,
which had recently come under hcl
own observation.
About six weeks ago" I'll" said
zone of the intelligent. rliucd an,
! thoroughly r" igious women ~ Pasa
= icna, ia u conversation which ha,
with her. used substantially tn. fol
lowing words: Our church rruiirr
so much time aud attention, has :,
many evening meetings, associations
. convention and cutCrtainm"nls. an,
our Sunday school so many side
shows. picnics aud exhibitions. :,
much outside work that accomplishr
no good, 50 much actual dissipat ion
that our home life is greatly disturb
, ed. My husband aud have. there
fore, been seriously cOnSidarin,
whether we would not Withdraw
J from all religious institutions. u
church life is really becoming
fruitful source 81 d"mOraliIatiuu.
\ II know men. continued MIR,
Fay. "who are wanting neither il
respect for tru" religion nor in de
votion To their families, aud yet T.
break up th" rhurrh and SUNDAY
school relations uf their wives an,
children and put an end To III
serious disturbamr" in their domeSli
life, made in ia" name ~ God an,
religion, hav. sold their homes an,
their businesses and moved to he
parts Of the country. They deter
mined to form new assuciat IOrs froi
which all connection with institu
tional religion shnuld be excluded.
Mrs Fay's remarks caused de-
"Id"d sensation among her nearer,
While some smiled apprnvingly
Others shook their heads aud stare,
at each other in anaZ"nent.
Rev. Eliza Topper Wilkes uf Oak
land, president 81 the conference
arose to combat the theory adNancr,
T. by Mrs. Fay. Sh" th"ught picnic,
church fairs, oyster Suciablrs an,
other entertainments Of that orde
might be- made ie means Of aidiu
. the church a great deal,
= Miss Ruth Campbell Of San Frau
\ cisco also took the negative SADIE q
. the question. While she did no
!, champion the cause Of the sid
shows she did not agree with Mr.,
Fay that woman's work in tn
church should all be Of the ntellec
tual order. She saii that she didn
like to lock herself up IN her roor
for an hour and pray. Sh" woul
d rather pray for fifteen minutes an
spend the remainder Of Ia" time i
conversation with some one f.
whom she had an alfoctiouate r,
gard.
|. DR.. Fay 81 Pasadena sp"k" in SUI
J. port OF ia" paper read by his wifi
T. He said that the churches in tn
!" southern part Of the State w"r" 70
= ing To such extremes that the lin
must soon be drawn. lie said tina
only II short time ago a church ,