St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-05
"THE DouGUNuT BUSINESS,

"THE DOUGHNUT BUSINESS"
The above contemptuous character
4ZatiOn was applied by Prof. Park, Of
Andover, to the time-honOred methods
PURSUED by the ladies ~ church socie-
ties for raising money. The scorn of
the Andover theologian may seem I'M
kind, but it is gentleness and civility
itself compared to the tone adopted by
contributes to the current Forum a
Study of Church Entertainments"
For a year this gentleman has kept q
record OF the events arranged by re
ligiOus societies for raising money
which have come to his notice. His
list notes over two hundred such oc-
casions, most of which offend his sense
of delicacy, fitness and reverence. Pow
erty socials, minstrel shows, a perform
ance of The Mikado," and a menag-
erie of living animals come in for his
most scOrching condemnation. OF the
last of these he observes, Il do not re-
of making beasts and cattle praise the
Lord" Describing the occurrences at
the aforementioned form of entertain
ment, I'VE have here one of those ten
der and beautiful scenes which do so
much to impress the world with the
conservation and earnestness of the
modern church."
Mr.. Hale takes his stand firmly upon
the customs of the early church, and
says: I'VE are not informed that the
church at Ephesus or Philippi ever
advertised a bazaar, a clam-bake or a
strawberry social. We have no infor-
nation that st. Paul was accustomed
to give stereopticon lectures, Barnabas
operating the lantern. 1t is not clearly
established that st. Athanasius ever ar
ranged a kirmess, a broom drill or a
pink tea. There seems, then, to be no
inherent necessity for the church to I'M
dertake the amusement of the public.
Our Lord knew, I conceive, what the
nineteenth century would need at the
hands of his church; but he left it no
direction, explicit or implicit, to open
eating houses and theaters''
The reverend gentleman is brilliant,
but is he just? There is lapse of
logic in his argument which so keen a
mind should have perceived. The
founder of Christianity did not con-
descend to enunciate rules. He gave
principles instead. The church was
left in perfect freedom to establish its
own customs and to conform them to
the bent of human society as it shifts
from age to age. 1t is conceivable
indeed from the Epstle to the Ephes-
ians it seems certain-that the customs
of Ephesus and Philippi would not be
adapted to Boston and Worcester.
Mr. Hale attributes the features of
church life which he finds objectiona-
bic to the expense of supporting 144
competing sects, a division which is
IAN ineXcusabl economic error" This
is true, but there is nothing which
history makes more clear than mans
tenacity in such errors.
This is not a defense of church enter
tainments in the abstract. 1t would
be far more fitting if our churches had
only to dispense moneys, not to earn
them. But it is a condition and not a
theory Which confronts the Ladies' Aid
society when the parsonage roof leaks
and the treasury is empty, or when the
poor children of the Sunday school
have no shoes and stockings. 1t is
chiefly for repairs and charities that the
churches seek to earn money, and it is
always the women who earn it. ST.
Paul may not have given stereopticon
lectures, but did not Dorcas have a
sewing society? 1t is a solid. brick
and-mortar fact that there are legions
Of men who will let their wives con-
worth of food-stuffs from the family
larder and eight dollars worth of their
own labor, who would never dream of
putting their hands in their pockets
the same cause. Women are not vet
the wage earners of the family, nor
do they control the expenditure of the
average household except in a very linn
tied degree. In default of silver and
gold, they give time and ingenuity
and the results are displeasing to the
Rev Mr.. Hale. Of course the men
ought to be devoted and liberal, but
what if they are not?
AS long ago as the days of st. Eliza
beth of Hungary we know that wives
experienced difficulty in obtaining all
the money needed for their charities.
BIT. Elisabeth also used to take bread