Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1899-12-21
CHURCH COL oNlzATioN.
A Successful Combination of Business, Re.
ligion and Common Sense.

Successful Comb bination of Busine ess Re.
ligion and Common Sense.
An enterprising minister of Ancer-
son, Ind, is making great success
of novel project which an irreverent
critic refers to as turning the church
of God into real estate Office" The
plan of the minister, who is Pastor
w. II. Covert of the denomination
known as the Church of God, is to 10y
out plots of ground near the religious
edifice and place those members OF
the church who have no homes of
their own in position to acquire
them by selling the land. with any
kind of building the purchaser wants
OIL easy terms and the lowest price
possible. In this way the church pas.
tor gathers his fock all around him
and is sure of keeping them. for the
owner of house is not transient
occupant of the fold. but stays there
and becomes pillar of strength. The
church seeks no profit on the venture,
so that the prices accepted are re-
markably low. All that is desired is
to keep the members faithful to the
religious organization that puts them
Al edO way VI oWhAhS thCAi hoihCs
The pastor has found this system OF
church colonization to work like
charm. Where there was talk of
closing the church on account of lack
of funds the congregation is now
large and increasing one, the PASTORS
salary is always raid on time, and the
organization is in most flourishing
condition. When the pastor who had
enterprise enough to carry out his
plan of combining the ideas of
business man with the fervor of
preacher of the gospel was asked to
make statement regarding his ex-
perience for the benefit of the more
timid ministers who prefer to preach
to empty seats in the old orthodox
way, rather than insure success by a
radical departure, he wrote the fol-
lowing:
"Our local members being few, and
the town of small population, hit
upon plan to get church people to
locate here permanently. I began by
raising stock companies for manufac-
turing purposes, and then, to induce
persons to invest and to make the in
vestment safe L gave a deed i'll fee
simple for certain amount OF stock.
Where the stock was sold at par, with
every 500 cash 1 gave 500 worth of
the capital stock and deed to lot
worth practically 800, thus making
the investor absolutely secure.
persons OF limited means were at
tracted by this plan to settle here.
They came in from all over the coun-
try and the town soon began to thrive.
But wanted the church to thrive
too. 1t was found by careful figuring
that houses could be built for from
$400 to $500 of the kind thatrent from
50 to $12 month. L put the plan be-
fore some of the church members and
they heartily approved of it. Those
with money enough to build agreed to
put up houses for the poorer members
and sell them on the easy payment
plan without interest. By this means
it is within the power of almost every
member of the church to acquire
house, and the benefits accruing all
round are such as to make the project
blessing to every one concerned.
To be member of the church is to
share in building plan that makes
a man q house-owner in time without
any additional economy at all being
necessary, for the members who help
their less fortunate brethren to &C luire
houses ask for no profit on the outlay,
while the church sells the land at cost
price.
''The church is satisfied, for it wants
only to so!idify its membership and
root the component parts of the or
ganiZation to the neighborhood. The
richer members are repaid for their
loans by seeing the property in the
vicinity of their residences increase in
value through the colonization of
peaceable, respectable and industrious
| citizens, and those to whom the houses
are sold are, of course, happy and
grateful to those who enabled them to
own home. The plan has helped
me and pleased the members. 1t is a
mixture OF business, religion and
practical common sense that harms no
one and does many people good. The
same conditions do not exist every
where, and hence the plan could not
be made universal. Where similar
conditions do exist the plan will be
found to work admirably"
The Church Of God is a very old
organization in the United States. 1t
was founded in 1923 in Lower Paxton
township, Dauphin county, Pennsyl-
vania. There are over 500 ministers
and between forty and fifty thousand
members in the Unite States. The
church at Anderson, Ind, vas estab
lished IN August, 1886.