The Portland daily press., 1897-02-15
CHURCH Bull DING SOCIETY.
Rev. George A. Hood Speaks of the Work
at Williston.

Yesterday morning Rev. George A.
| Hood of Boston, New England field score
tary of the Congregational Building
society. spoke of the work of the society
in the Williston Congregational church,
and in the evening at the Woodfords
Congregational church. His text WAS,
1 Chron. IL 10, "Arise, therefore and
build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God. -
He said that ever since God built the
tabernacle In the wilderness all forms of
the religion must have their churches,
and, indeed, ali false religions must
have their temples. COngregaflonallsts
are the only ones who have organized
two hundred churches, more or less, anu
have built only one hundred or more per
year.
Our young men developing the new
towns are equipped with docks, elsya-
tors, mills, machinery and every i'm
provement for doing their work six days
of the week; will they go to church the
first day of the week in an abandoned
saloon or dance hall. carpenter shop,
or loft of livery stabief No, 1t makes
them humesick; they have no respect for
church which cannot build, and they
cannot afford $25 or $50 to help it build.
The church, like any other line of bust
ness, finds an equipment to succeed. Ii
we can aid the young church to build,
the new settlers will attend, will give
fifty cents OF one dollar or two dollars to
make it self-supporting; and the future
character Of the town can be nodded by
the church. Thus the Congregational
Church Building society helps the young
churches Of the Congregational Home
Missionary society and Of the American
Missionary association among the dark
races. We aid them by three funds; the
grant fund, the loan fund, and the par
sonage loan fund: the money is paid back
to be used over and over, the loans every
five years, the grants irregularly by con-
tributions. Every dollar is secured by
first mortgage and insurance policy,
therefore there ia no loss. The aid pays
only last bills, therefore the missionary
church will be out of debt. The society
has always paid every dollar when due,
Therefore Donors to the annuity fund are
sure Of their annuity. Why DO they need
helpe Because church building costs
four or five times as much as the mis-
sionary's salary; where the Home mis-
sionnry society helps pay the minister,
economy and success demand that the
Church Building society should be able
to give much larger aid on the building.
Because to convert open prairies or empty
woods into a town is hard for tho first
settlers; with homes and farms mort
gagged, interest and taxes high, shanties
to live in, usually at first no partitions.
no plaster or paint, no cellar CT well ;
snowdrifts inside when they are outside,
and food frozen solid In the morning;
ths people cannot build churches with
out aid But they give wonderfully. A
carpenter trying to get home for his
wife and swo children gave $175 out of ~
a day wages; lsborer earning $500 a
year gave $3.50 and note for 800 more.
A minister in dug-out had saved money
| for a new roof, but afraid of losing the
new church for lack Of Church Building
society aid, he gave his roof money and
kopt an umbrella beside the bed in case
of rain.
A missionary church has its first hope
of success when it gets building, and
it cannot build without aid. If not
| aided the churches will die. or if they
live it will only be by continued aid from
the Home Missionary society. One home
missionary superintendent said his
churches would live only two years with
out building. Large mum ers OF ou'
! churches have died from this cause, and
| $50 now are homeless and hopeless fol
church without a building is like al
egg without shell, the more 1T If
| brooded the worse condition 1T is in.
When a church dies it damages the moral
future OF the new town and loses the
Christian orkers and money OF the
future. If we aid church to build, 6
revival soon follows, and many Eastern
young men are saved in this way In the
new town, now life. new habits. A