The record-union., 1896-10-26
WORKING and WAITING.
Rev. c. L. MierS Inaugural Sermon at
st. PaurS Church.
Plans Adopted by the Vestry and
Rector for the Future Work
of the Parish.

Last evening Rev c. L. Mel preached
MS inaugural sermon to congregation
which filled every seat in st. Paul 5
Church. The text was taken from the
Epistle to the Ephesians-"A And having
done all, to stand"
Mr.. Mel announced that he was gong
70 speak of plans agreed upon by the
VeStry and himself for the work Oh the
parish, and asked first, What is TINS
church here for? 1t is here as place
where the children of the Father may
come to praise and pray to Him;
place where they may come TO near his
word and will; place OF encourage
ment, guidance, inspiration; a source
of faith, hope charity; a center OF
helpfulness with a range wide as human
need; a spring of personal sympathy
and practical beneficence from all to ALL
This church.is here to minister freely to
mind, heart, soul, body; to iced the
hungry; clothe the naked; house the
homeless; visit the sick and sorrowing;
welcome and adopt the newcomer; to
baptiZe, minister the great sacrament
at altar and couch; in brief, this church
is here to make full and free proof Of its
Christian ministry and Christian spirit.
That is our mutual work. That is your
work am your instrument, your min
lister. the channel through which you
minister these things. That is why you
support me, and that is why | have al
ready refused and will continue to re-
fuse compensation for the offices of re-
1igion. l want to emphasize the fact
that anyone who needs the offices or
ministratiOns of this church can have
them at any time on demand free of all
charge save thank you.
In this work for God and Gods chill
dren you have called me to be your
leader I appreciate fully your conf
dence and the honor, and, in good faith,
have accepted your call gladly. / ex-
pect you to be true to me just so long as
i am true to you, and our common
work and Christ, our great leader and
eXemplar.
And so, In detailing plans, need I say
first, that this church needs all the sup
port you can possibly give it? 1t needs
your thought, your prayers, your pres
ence, your activities, your money. Two
of the great questions of the day stand
upon a silver or a. gold basis. The ques-
ton of church support, too frequently,
stands upon a nickel basis. Now, let
me say once and for all, if you want a
1ive-cent church, and want to do a five
cent work, you had better get five
cent minister. In other words, the work
have indicated cannot be done cheap
ly 1t costs. 1t costs in time, thought,
pa atience and money. Now, the vestry
and / have decided, for we move to-
gether in all these matters, that this
church and its work shall hereafter be
supported by the free will offerings of
it's members. Not by fairs, baZars,
luncheons, dinners, carnivals, grab
bags, or such devices, but by the free
will offerings and contributions of its
members, whether made on the impulse
at the collection, or by pledges, or by
pew rents.
When ii comes to matters of charity
charity to all, then / am quite willing
t. appeal to all, and invite the cooper
alton of all in whatsoever proper en-
tertainment or merry making may be
devised. But when, apart from this,
the question is the support Of the
church OF God, / think we ought to
keep house for ourselves and be
ashamed to ask others to discharge for
us. or even to help us to discharge, Sa-
cred debts which it is our duty and
privilege to pay freely and fully for
our own selves. Therefore, | expect
hereafter marked increase in the in
come of this church"
Mr.. Mel then went on to speak of the
pew rents, and said '"These are a mat
ter of bargain and sale. Those who
care to do so pay 50 much month for
regular seats. Those who do not care
to do so can always find seats, or if not,
seats will always be promptly and
gladly found for them. Let me heart
fly thank those pewholders who have
placed seats in their pews at the ser
vice of newcomers, and let me express
the hope that all pewholders will glad
~ welcome visitors to their pews at the
morning service In the evening all
seats are free.
Let me further impress upon you
the fact that St. Pauls is a church for
all sorts and conditions of men, women
and children. All are equally welcome
at all times and all, l pray God, will
be equally at home here. Let US have
q home church, a church home and not
g. consecrated refrigerator, or freezer
10 crystallize the cream of society into
cold, conservative consistency. Let us
have home church with a warm well
come for all"
The speaker then pointed out the
necessity Of hearty services, and spoke
especially of encouraging cOngrega-
tional singing with the aid of the new
evening choir, now one hundred strong.
He touched upon the work of the vari-
Gus church societies, said that they
would all be continued and paid a
high tribute to the work Of his prede-
cessors. the Revs. Davis, Won Ecrrlich
and Ottmann. The Guild and Sunday
school work was outlined. The Sun
Cay-school is to be under the personal
instruction Of Mr.. Mel, who will every
Sunday teach all the classes. The force
Of teachers is to be increased TO forty
md no teacher will be allowed more
than eight pupils, save in the infant
class The Daughters of the King Will
take full charge of all the charity work
Of the church and important plans. on
broad lines, have already been adopted
pnd will shortly be laid before citizens
generally for consideration. Mr.. Mel
spoke briefly of his personal work and
then broke off his address abruptly and
asked the congregation to sing two
hymns. The response to this request
suggested forcibly that the contem-
plated repairs to the roof be begun at
once
After the hymns the preacher spoke
directly to the text for some twelve
minutes and made an appeal for per-
sonal support in the work OF the
church. He urged the Importance of
working and waiting for results. and
by many illustrations emphasized his
theme, closing with a strong plea for
Iatient, persevering service.