The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1900-03-13
PASTOR REPLIES.
The Rev. John L. Scudder
Answers the Personal At
tacks Made By Taber-
nacle People.
accommodation, MAY Be
Stern Discipline to Be Melted
Out to All Trouble
Makers.
EXCOMMUNlCATIOll, MAY Be

Recent utterances by certain soeaIeo
leaders in the downtown prahch Oh 'ie
First Congregational Church nave peen 20
rabid and manifestly incorrect that 'ne
time has come for me to break silence
and state the facts in the case. am ds-
tonished and my church is grieVed anu |
Justly indignant over the rash ana lntein-
perate remarks of a few individuals last |
Sunday evening after the evening service
NY own good name, the honor Oh my |
ch,,reb and the interests of Christianity |
demand plain statement with regatu 70
the difficulty in our downtown branch.
..I have neither the time nor disposition |
to follow up every petty slander and eA-
nose it's falsity. am well known IN tins |
city and throughout the State, anc these
sillv assertions by men who ought 10 |
know better cannot injure me IN the least |
NV self respect will not allow me to pan
dy words with a few disaffected indlVlo-
mails. however exasperating their words |
and actions may be. If, however they
go too far in their vilifcation and dare |
to assail my personal character they may
suddenly lind themselves involved IN Il |
lawsuit.
As sample of the falsehoods and mis-
representations circulated by this handfui
of trouble makers, l quote the Wofos al
tributed by the Evening Journal OF TINS
city last night to Miss Frost, as foAows:-
"a number of people have inquired way
the Tabernacle was not interested IN the
1Inian .E,vanga,istic meetings. 1 was sur
prlsed. too and made inquiry, and nave
found the solution. The invitation was
sent TO our pastor on church and law, ana |
Mr.. Scudder informed them that he had
no interest down here, thaA he is on the |
n4su and did not approve of our taking
any part in the services
This is a ridiculous fabrication ana as
one Christian brother among other IN
accuracies. has kindly informed the public |
that 1 cannot tell the truth, 1 subjoin a |
DETER from the Rev. John Francis Morgan +
bearing upon the subject, which proves
that the assertion attributed by the
t.Journal' to this estimable lady Is apso-
qutely and utterly false:-s
Jersey city. March 3. 1900.
Owing to statements publlshed IN thlS
evenings Journal it Is on-y falr IN
the interests of truth to state lnat
when it was proposed that we enter
into a union evangelistic movement
eorresponded with. the Rev. j. L.
Scudder regarding the matter lie
answered that he heartily favored any |
such union movement and wished II
Godspeed, but inasmuch as the Iaper-
nace was practically managing its
own services it would be better 10 |
consult some of the members of the
Tabernacle Church. After some dis
cussion ii was decided that inasmuch
as the Tabernacle had no pastor 10 |
represent them and matters were in an
unsettled condition, it would tbe as WeH |
not to extend them an invitation.
JOHN FRANCIS MORGAN.
This letter shows conclusively that I
was anxious to have the Tabernacle par
ticipate in the Union services. The rea-
son why the Tabernacle was not invited
by the committee in charge was, as Mr.
Morgan very politely states, because OF
their unsettled condition
Now permit me in brief to give the his
tory of our downtown work since the So
called consolidation of the two churches.
For year and half the utmost good
feeling prevailed on both sides, but as the
people moved up town and those residing
on the hill for the most part attended the
uptown church, and the audiences in the
Tabernacle grew smaller few of its
members became jealous of the prosperity
on the hill and recently this jealousy has
developed into sort of mania Nothing
our church does appears to suit this re-
bellious element, and of late their rancor
has developed to such an extent that our
Board of Trustees and Board of Deacons
took decisive steps and appointed COM
mite with absolute power to operate the
Tabernacle. If, as church we nave
erred at all, it is in being 100 lehiehl hat @ anu
demonstrated its inability 70 carry on tne
downtown work successfully Ihey nave
made ridiculous demands ana IN some IN
stances clamored for what they already
possessed. ra
nacle when as matter OF Iaet, Iney
have been using it all the time. Iney
have asked for the privilege OF choosing
their own preacher Wnlcn " was w1oaag heag
freely accorded them. The Rev. Syaney
II Cox was their own choice, ana since
his departure the pulpit supply mas DEE, pen
in the hands of one of TIE senior down.
town deacons They wanted downtown
man for Treasurer, and when Mr. James
S. Whipple, an honorable, peacerui an an
pointed a gentleman VINO resides ooWn-
town and contributes downtown, he was
treated with manifest discourtesy anu
harsh language They have imagined all
sorts of grievances and ventilated their
spites and quarrels in the neWspapeLs,
thinking thereby to gain pubic sympathy
and nose as being prosecuted but the
inevitable result of such inJudlcious actlom IL
has been to disgust the pupnc, CUT 1la
many valuable contributions ana run the
downtown plant in debt. Their mutlnouS
spirit, coupled with open insults, nave
driven away many peaceaply oisposeaa ,s s'sa
members of the downtown branch, ana
under this shameful mismanagemenl ths
audiences have become pitiably small M aIu
the income c0freSpOnUlnSly luSa6lc. liiS
palpable fact is that two or three mead
strong persons have almost ruined the
Tabernacle, and the only way to save the
wreck was for the church to adopt de-
cisive measures through its regularly ap-
pointed boards This it has done. Hence
forth the First Congregational Church
will assert its authority, treat these few
trouble makers with a firm and kindly
hand. If this small minority had mani
tested Christian spirit, stopped quarrel
ling gone to work, contributed more and
talked less, the work would have been
prosperous today. We shall do what we
can TO resuscitate the Tabernacle under
the new management. Those who desire
IN remain with us and treat their breth-
rem with Christian courtesy, will be well
come. but contentious persons who heve
nrornised to seek the peace and well
fare's Of the church will in all likelihood
he subject to church discipline. If they
Continue toSmake trouble they may even
l,e excornnlln: Gated. We shall not trifie
vim them any longer: We proposed to
Keep Keep up the work in the Tabernacle Just
ss long as we can get the money to oper-
Ate IL Sincerely yours,
JOHN q. scUDDE9s' ''