The herald., 1896-12-14
SELECTIONS o. SERMONS
Rev. Burt Estes Howard on
Church Support
THE VITAL NECESSITY OF FAITH
Disc0ursed by DR.. Thomson in
Strong Sentiments
THE PURGIN0 OF THE SLUMS
Forms the Foundation for Rev. Rice's
THE pURGINo OF THE SLUMS
Forms the Foundation for Rev. Rice's
Address
DR.. Wilson Yearns to Give the Lost Ones the
Gospel
Rev. Edwin johnson breaches In Boyle
Heights - Father Adam at the Ca
thedral-At the Universalist,
Baptist and Others

thedral-At the Universalist,
Baptist and Others
At the First Presbyterian church the
pastor, Rev. Burt Estes Howard, ad-
dressed a large audience on the ques-
ton Of Chuch Support. He said, in
part:
There is q lot of nonsense and false
philosophy about this question. I must
confess to a great impatience with the
sentiment that regards the church as
q sort of privileged holy beggar The
church asks for support because it has
q right to support 1t asks no favors.
It seeks it's dues. Out upon this misera-
BILE notion that religion stands hat in
hand at he door of the public as sort
of respectable mendicant, whining for
the scraps Of charity! No wonder there
is a cry for virile ministry, when for
generations the preacher has been reck-
oned into the life Of his community as
something either more or less than
mana kind of mongrel composite OF
fancy, mawkish sentimentality and
moonstruck melancholy. No wonder
there is demand for vigorous, manly,
practical religion. when for so long the
church has been looked upon as clois-
tered arrangement separate from the
real life of men, and not as dignified
institution forming mighty factor in
the social evolution of the world.
For every dollar the church receives
she gives full value. By the same rights
that any legitimate institution takes its
place in the relations Of men and claims
for itself the allegiance of rtght-mlnded
people, by these same rights and more
does the church demand recognition and
support. The church is not charity.
I,,xr ic rarit1 NO
cessity in every community where 1t is
either pleasant or safe to live. When
those who look upon the church as an
object Of their generous pity can find
a spot on all Gods earth five miles
square where they can carry on their
business unmoaested, bring UP their
children in decency and refinement, a
place where womanhood Is respected,
where property is secure and happiness
the rule of life-when those who pat
roniZe religion as a pensioner on their
bounty find such a place in all Gods
earth, where the church has not gone
before and made these things possible,
then it will be in order for them to
speak of the church in terms of conde-
scension, and to talk of money contrib
uted to it's support as charity! l have
no intention of defending the errors OF
the church iD either dogma or practice
and these errors are many and grievous
but with all her follies and frailties,
with all her imperfections in idea and
method, with the fact staring Us in
the face that she has been often, per-
haps always, weak where she should
be strongest and strong where she
should be weakest, yet the church. stand
ing as she does for organized righteous
ness, Is today the conservator of our
liberty, our civilization and our COM
mercial and social prosperity. The man
who denies support to the church, even
though he may justly find fault with
much of her doctrine and narrowness.
aims a blow at his own welfare and
the welfare of the community.
But the church is declared to be run
extensively Expense is purely a mat
ter ratio. No matter how large the
outlay, thing is not expensive if 1t
brings in a still larger return. In the
case of the church we cannot figure up
results in dollars and cents alone. What
the moral impact Is on the community
we cannot calculate, nor can we sum
up the thousand and one forces set in
motion affecting the individual and cor
porate life of society. But at any rate
the churches, like our churches and
schools, cannot be called expensive
merely because the money that goes into
them comes forth as social benefit, as
improved character and condition, rath-
er than as increased coin. Take such
church as our own, reaching more than
1900 people every Sunday, the expenses
are less than six dollars per year for
each attendant. Is there a lodge in the
city whose dues are less? An English
actor spends few weeks in America,
and takes homie with him enough
American dollars to run twenty-five
churches like this fur year. Did we
get value received? An alleged dam
seuse, with two-penny variety show
attachment. makes a stand in our lead
ing theater, and hundreds of people
pay g. dollar and half to see her. She
demands, and what Is more, gets, enough
money for few minutes clumsy anna
teur wriggling on the stage to run this
church for twelve months Did Los An
geles get value received? Was that
farce factor in the moral life of this
city equal to this church?
AS to the expensive administration
OF the various boards of the church at
large, there is as much ignorance as
there Is criticism. 1t has been repeatedly
charged, with absolute falsity, that but
rev cents out of each dollar contrib
uted reach the field for which 1t was
INTENDED. The books, which are open
FOR inspection. show that the actual
cost OF administration Is about three
per cent, and that fully 81 cents out
Of every dollar contributed reaches the
field for which it was intended. Here
IS great church. handling several mil
lions of dollars in a work that girdles
the earth. involving an immense amount
Of labor and vast number of workers
transacting its business at an actual
cost Of administration of less
than three per cent! What other
business Is there anywhere. IN
volvein so much labor and money
carried on with such economy? an
peal to the business sense of intelligent
men, and ask if this is a careless hand
ling of investments. So in presenting
the claims of the church to men, we
simply ask for the legitimate recogni-
tion of worthy institution, worthily
administered for the public good.