The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-04
The Church as q Club.

The Church as q Club.
The Rev. DR.. RAINsFoRD Of st. Georges
Episcopal Church preached a very remark
able sermon to men last Sunday evening.
Its purpose was to induce men to attend
church, and to bring along their friends.
Here are some extracts from his discourse
taken from the report In the Tribune:
ct am a nrm believer in open.air exercise. and be-
lieve that oven on Sunday the man who goes out ana
TAX o. exercise IL all the better forit. But he should
not desert the Church for his bicycle and golf club.
There IA something else which needs exercise besides
the physical man.
.The Church 70 an association to mako mon good.
II is argued by tho non.churchgoers that . man can
be good without attending church. This 10 possible,
but II IN the exception to the rule. and such men ara
rarely met.
Everything in this life oboys the rule Of associa-
tion. Our schools and colleges. our business COM
panies, our Government are ali associations. So ia IL
with the Church. II 10 an association with well.doing
as its ono object. It needs an association to mako
the world good. That association 10 the Church, and
We want you to come and help us.
ct do not mean to tell you that the Church Is In
fallible; that there are no hypocrites in 1t. But do
say that It offers to everybody the opportunity Of do
ing good toward his fellow man.
"Thers are more practical reasons why you should
Join the Church. Religion alone can keep society
young and pure. and 1 am sure none OF you would like
to sec society 60 to the bad. 1t is also in the Church
that you will nnd the forces to Tight the evils Of the
land. And there 10 one form of evil that is stalking
among us to-day that needs crushing out. It 10
bribery and corruption in politics. This black Satan
IA daily destroying the good and honorable men In
the political world.
"In the recent municipal election I know and you
know that bribery was rampant. We all know that
<ta our,hastnr M nY,r folIpv n "a dOne in the IARfn-
Iature at Albany. But how are we going to meet and
crush out this great evil7 I tell you that we can
stamp 1t out only by association, and that association
is the Church. We must all Join forces and Tight"
DIR. RA1NsFoRD said also: 1--WE cannot
give you an infallible Bible, for the Bible Is
not an infallible book but we can give you
| a light into your feet and a hope for your
lives"
1t will be seen that in all this there is no
reference to the Church as a divine institu-
ton, in which lies the means of saliva
ton for men. 1t is treated as q fallible
human institution, which commends itself
to men as a voluntary association simply,
of moral and religious usefulness to them.
That there is any divine obligation to join
the Church and that its sacraments are a
means of salvation is not commended by DR..
RAINsFoRD. With all its faults, his argu-
ment is, the Church is a desirable associa-
tion for men, Inc attendance upon its
services is of moral advantage to them.
That is, in the view of DIR. RAINsFoRD.
the Church is a sort of religious club to
which a man should go for moral improve
ment. He says nothing about any religious
belief required by it from him, but infer
e~ntially leaves him to believe or deny
according as he is minded So far as
the Bible is concerned, he gives men an
example of denial by himself refusing to
accept its infallibility. Go to church, he
says in substance, because the influences in
it are good and pure, as a man might say
associate with refined people If you wish to
take on refinement.
DR.. RAINsFoRD, moreover, commends the
Church specifically as a political club, and
he referred to the late municipal election
to illustrate it's advantages as such. In
that campaign his particular church was
especially active as a political club. The
Citizens Union movement, so-called, was
started in st. Georges Church. Its candi-
date for Mayor was one of his vestrymen
the Chairman of the concern was another,
and among the officers generally were a
majority of that vestry. DR.. RAINsFoRD,
therefore, calls on men to join st. Georges
as a political club.
He says that he "knows" that bribery
was rampant in the recent municipal cleo.
ton" He is a false citizen, then, IL he
does not impart that knowledge to the au-
/ thorities, so that the bribers and the bribed
may be punished under the severe penalties
of the bribery law. The Grand Jury should
not fail to subpoena the Rev. DIR. RAINsFoRD
to give his testimony as to the knowledge
he says publicly he has concerning an in.
tolerable crime. If he has no such knowl'
edge, he has spoken falsely.
This formal announcement of its rector
that st. Georges Church is no longer q
church according to the definition of the
ology, but merelya political club, is Estate.
ment of a fact which had before become ap.
parent to the public: but its candor is none
the less creditable to DIR. RAINsFoRD.