Birmingham age-herald., 1895-06-02
4 UNIQUE DISCUSSION. Should Church Services Be Gen. eraIly Advertised? THE PRESS AND THE PULPIT And the Attitude of One to the Other Sifted by Noted Newspaper Men at
 Methodist Social.

the subject talked over al the last ulil-
 ner of the Methodist Social union. held
 at Jaegers, Fifty-ninth street and Mad ison avenue, New York, last night. The. decorations for the occasion were unique and in accord with the matter under dis | cussion. On the walls were hung indis- | criminately patent medicine, food prod uct, theatrical, soap and circus bill post | CTS in profusion. There were samples of l French, English and American posters | in startling effects. None of the speak | CTS, however, favored this style of att 1 tracting the attention of the public to the churches and their services.
 Charles A. Dana was the first speaker. | He said that he thought that at this time there was an occasion, but not really a
 need. for the churches to advertise In 1 his opinion use of the advertising col | umns of the daily newspapers was the | most efficient dignified and effective method to pursue.
 N c. Fowler, Jr., followed MT. Dana | He took the position that religion was a l commodity that could be bought and | sold the same as any other commodity, | and that the same methods, in a meas l ure, should be used to boom it as in other business. He argued that the Bible was | the best advertisement ever written. Herbert F. Gunnison spoke about val | iiouo HlCtAOuo Ol ClluICH duNtIllSlIS. ! said: ia It seems to me that sensational adver-- | tSing Is something that churches can well afford to avoid. I have never known church to succeed any length of time which has been run on sensational meth-k ods. have in mind many conspicuous failures Perhaps some people consider | large audiences, drawn together by al- | turing advertising devices, as an evil dence of success, but it is no more test of religious strength than that the crowd | at Monday bargain sale is evidence of | the prosperity of dry goods establish | ment. do not wish to set myself up as | critic of what is within the bounds of | good taste and good sense in the treat ment of religious topics by the clergy.
 But as the clergy find a perpetual theme in criticising the conduct of newspapers
 l may be pardoned for referring to the | subject. Several years ago, when I was | reporting, good Baptist clergyman of Brooklyn asked me to come to his study | on Sunday afternoon to make a synopsis | of sermon he was to deliver that even- | Ing. The sermon in question was fierce | attack upon the Sunday newspapers and | the strong argument was that 1t com | pelled people to work on the Lords day | His anxiety to have a good report of his | sermon did not save me from an after noons task. When I learned that MT Fowler the doctor of advertising was to | be present it occurred to me that I could give him few choice selections in the
 art of putting things taken out of the religious advertisements of a local pa per, which might help him in his secular work. l would not be understood as in
 any way refiecting upon the clergymen
 who are responsible for the subjects
 which quote, or of even suggesting that
 the peculiar phrasing has been resorted to as bait to draw an audience. I can
 only add that good Methodist friend oa me o nu doxy
 that the titles of many of the sermons
 were very deceptive and that instead of
 hearing something spicy he has found as a general thing that a good orthodox sermon was preached. Here are some of the selections want to give to Dr. Fow- Ter: Should Moral People Waltz At tend the Theater or Play Progressive Euchre?' Flight Persons Who Died Twice." Tragedy of the Napkin" A Brooklyn clergyman preached a sermon on crankS and evidently made hit and the next Saturday he again announced "Cranks," with the statement that the new light thrown upon this much used name on the first evening was a guaranL tee of interest in it's treatment. Here is a bit of phrasing that puts into the shade the work of the newspaper headline
 man: Attractions of a count and of a bank account" Another: Heavens
 perfume, or golden vials fun of odors,'' Where did Cain find his wife, or is there plurality of races?" The foun-
 dations of the temple the most wonder ful arch ever constructed, and what be- fell a poor beggar" A Presbyterian minister in Brooklyn preached yesterday
 on "The Menace of Undisturbed, But Li- centious Evil' and in the evening on
 "Acquiring a Beautiful Face" Another
 Presbyterian clergyman in the same city
 preached on "The Beauties of Beautiful 1
 Women" A Methodist clergyman
 preached on "A Tree By the Rivers
 Brink" preceded by a seven minutes
 sermon to children on Ropes, or Boys
 and Girls Who Tie Themselves" and a I
 prominent Baptist clergyman spoke on
 '"The Strychnine o1 Lying and an,
 nounced that it was the beginning of a
 series of sermons on "The Unruly Mem
 Der, Full of Deadly Poison" Now as to
 some of the advertising methods. Il
 doubt very much if we can get many |
 practical hints from the beautiful as-
 sortment of posters that are before uslf|
 A poster to be effective must have spe-,
 cif1c or definite announcements. To ada
 vertise weekly services in this way
 would be very expensive Then in these
 cities, especially in the crowded portions,i
 there is comparatively little bill board \
 space, and what there is ought to be
 taken down.
 The church show cards in store win
 dows are an imposition on honest trades
 people. The window space of stores is
 of value to the occupants, and church
 people do wrong in soliciting the use of
 such space without offering sufficient
 compensation. I want to say just a,
 word about church papers. I know there
 are some papers of this kind that are
 well conducted, have good circulations
 and are of positive value as advertising
 mediums. In my judgment. however,
 the average church paper, whether 1t is
 a weekly. monthly or an annual publi-
 cation, appearing with the annual
 church fair, is a delusion and a snare.