The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-10-15
HAS QUIT THE PULPIT
WHY A WOMAN PARsON RETIRED
FROM THE PREACHERS DESK.
Too Many Men Attended When She
tered Very Serious Objections.

San Francisco Chronicle.
1t falls out that San Francisco is a Jay
town" in more senses than the theatrical
one. From the preachers standpoint it is
not a green pasture. for the grass is short
and dry. From the point of view of the
woman preacher il is a bowling wilderness.
We are not educated.
The latest instance of local conservatism
is the failure OF Rev. Lila Frost Sprague as
a preacher in the Second Unitarian Church.
at the Mission. The idea has spread that
Mrs. Sprague's resignation. which took
place last week, was the result of sermons
that fell fiat and a Sunday school that
decreased In numbers. AS a matter of fact,
neither of these things is the real reason
for Mrs. Sprague's resignation. Since she
was elected assistant pastor she has
preached only three times. Once was in
February, when she made her first APP
pearance in the pulpit as a pastor and was
greeted by a large audience. The second
time was on Easter evening, when chairs
had to be brought in to accommodate the
crowd, and the third time was when Mr..
Sprague was Unexpectedly called to Stock
ton and the Rev. Lila filled the pulpit with
out any previous announcement. The as
sertion has been made that when Mrs.
Sprague preached the house was empty,
but as she herself says:
II couldn't very we'll empty the house
when they didn't know / was going to
| preach. could To-
The truth is that it is the women of the
Mission who do not like Mrs. Sprague and
who are at the bottom of the trouble. The
trustees Of the church have stood by Mrs.
Sprague Loyalty. They like her and do not
hesitate to say so. In January of this year
they passed fattering resolutions OF CO.
| CDeratlOn. in which Mrs. SpraCue's name
was coupled with that OF her husband in
testifying to the prosperity Of the church
trustees made Mrs. Sprasue the pastors
assistant, and bore testimony to her worth
a a1ses zeal lina 1t b is true they called mh her in ,S Sns
would scarcely have alluded to a married
pars0n as anybody's husband.
salary when Mrs. Sprague was made the
pastoral as well as domestic assistant OF
nnr nas'ae Gould dne not aa''e po esdfGvere efre una. M fne
Sprague more than $50 a. month for her
services-the amount being dictated by the
Mr.. Sprague objected. He wanted 1t distinct
~ understood that his wife was not a six
Observation-Disclosures sort of person, and so
he declined to allow her to have any salary
own salary, and he was directed 10 ar
range financial matters with his assistant.
AS he had always divided before. he was no
worse off financially. and infinitely better in
other respects than before.
Inc Superlnten0ency OF the SUNDAY SCHOOL
was at once voted to Mrs. Sprague. Oddly
enough, no one ever thought Of Directing
to that part of her work
ALL THE MEN ATTENDED.
When Mrs. Sprague preached It was not
iceable that all the men went to church.
When Mr.. Sprague occupied the pulpit the
womer occupied the pews. The question
whether the pastor or his assistant should
fill the pulpit came, in time. to be the ques-
ton of whether the women or the men of
the congregation needed spiritual guidance
the most. The Spragues solved the ques-
ton to their own satisfaction.
Mrs. Sprague is a mite of a woman-not
at all Of the Deborah type. There is nothing
of the prophecies about her. She neither
carries a torch nor points an accusing fin
ger, but is merely petite, smiling and well
groomed. In the pulpit she wears the ordi-
nary attire of a well-dressed woman going
to pay visits, and no cap, except a coronet
of brown braids. That She is eloquent no
one has ever denied. while hundreds have
testified to 1t.
away on a vacation trip to Washington, the
dissatisfaction crystallized. Mr.. and Mrs.
Sprague alternated in preaching while in
were quite as favorable TO little Mrs.
Sprague as to her big husband. But in spite
of the fattering notices, when the Spragues
returned they found that a storm had been
brewing. Rev. Mr.. Sprague advised his wife
to resign. She did so, leaving him without
al assistant ana the sunday ScnOoi without
a shepherdess. AT the time 1t Yves announced
that Mrs: Sprague would do missionary
work in San Jose. She has since changed
her plans. She will attend the National
Unitarian Conference at Washington in Oc-
tober, and will then go to Atlanta.
The Spragues graduated in the same class
from the theological seminary and were or
dained at the same. time IN Rev. Jenkin
Lloyd Jones's church at Chicago. Since
then they have held three pastorates, and
have always been associate pastors. Di-
rectly after their marriage they were in
Wisconsin. Here Mrs. Sprague took up the
missions that men had started and aban-
twice each Sunday, and for over a year
neither heard the other preach. At Po-
MONA: CAL, the Spragues were next sta
toned, and Mrs. Sprague was the pioneer
woman pastor in the town. 1t did not take
very long to melt the ice in Pomona. Peo-
pie were a bit ofish at first and doubted
one time Mr.. Sprague was called TO San
Francisco to supply the pulpit he now oc-
cupies for three Sundays. He did not think
he could go, but his trustees urged him to
accept 1t was not a very propitious time.
The Spraguc baby was only three months
old. and the two pastorates were six miles
apart. During Mr.. Sprague's absence his
wife preached twice each Sunday in pulpits
six miles apart, conducted a bazar-it was
Christmas time-and drove home every two
hours during the bazaar to look after little
Miss Sprague. Several weddings and a fu-
neral or SO were mere incidentals. The
trustees decided that this was about up to
the ordinary capabilities. of a man.
During her college course Mrs. Sprague
supported herself in a bookbindery, kept
bachelor maids hall and managed to grad
uate we'll up in her class. In spite of these
triumphs. the sentiment of the women at
the Mission remains against her.
NOT THE FIRST TO BE REBUFFED.
Mrs. Sprague is not the first woman
preacher who has met with a rebuff on this
coast. Rev. Eliza Topper Wilkes was called
by Rev. Charles wendte. of the First Uni
tartan Church, of Oakland. as his assistant,
all on his own responsibility. Mrs. Wilkes
is a ~forceful, cultivated woman. She was
paid by Mr.. Wendte out of his own salary
and was an invaluable assistant. particu-
larly on the pastoral side. which. even more
than preaching, seems to be a woman's
particular forte. When Mrs. Wilkes
preached the church was full of men. bu,
the women couldn't be induced TO give her
so much as a trial. People who had friends