Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1900-01-05


studying il and as II has apparently
come 10 IL climax today So this is my
~ excrsc for writing so extended q
otter at this time.
"You remember Henry Maxwell in
The seminary. ! thin. You said the last
time visited you in New York that
YOU had not sc, n him since we gradu-
ated. He was refined, scholarly fellow.
you remember and when he was called
TO the First church of Raymond within
u year after leaving the seminary | said
to my wife: Raymond has made a
good choice Maxwell will satisfy them
as IA sermunizer He has been here IL
years. and | understand that up to a
year ago h. had gone ca in the regular
course of the ministry, giving good sat
iSflction and drawing a good congrega-
ton to his morning Preaching service.
His church was counted the largest,
most wealthy church i'll Raymond. All
the best people attended it, and most
of them belonged. The quartet choir
was famous for its music, especially for
its soprano Miss Winslow, of whom
shall have more TO say, and, on the
whole, as / understand the fact, Max
we'll was in a comfortable berth, with a
very good salary, pleasant surround
ings, not a very eXactinS parish OF re-
fined rich, respectable people, such .
church and parish az nearly all the
young men in the seminary i'll our time
looked forward to as very desirable
But II year ago today Maxwell came
into his church on Sunday morning and
at the CLOSE of his service made the
astounding proposition that the mem
bers of his church volunteer for n year
not 10 do anything without first asking
the question, What would Jesus dor
and. after answering it, to do what In
their honest Judgment he would do, re-
CARELESS of what the result might be to
them.
THE effect of this proposition as 1t
has been met and obeyed by a number
of the members Of the First church Of
Raymond has been SO remarkable that,
as you know, the attention Of the whole
country has been directed to the move
ment. / call it Il movement because
from the action taken today il seems
probable that what has been tried here
in the First church in Raymond will
reach out into the other churches and
cause revolution in church methods,
but moro especially III new definition
Of Christian discipleship
I'm the first place, Maxwell tells me
he was astonished at the response made
to his proposition. Some Of the most
prominent members in the church made
the promise 10 do as Jesus would.
Among them were Edward Norman,
the editor of The Daily News which
has made such a sensation in the news
paper world; Milton Wright, one Of
the leading merchants in Raymond :;
Alexander Powers. whose action in the
matter of the railroads against the in
terstate commerce laws made such a
stir about year ago; Miss Page, one
of Raymond leading society heiresses,
who has lately dedicated her entire for
tune, as / understand. to the Christian
daily paper and the worl; Of reform in
the slum district known as the Rec
tangle, and Miss Winslow, whose repu
tation as a singer is now national, but
who. in obedience 70 what she has de-
cided to be Jess probable action. has
devoted her talent t. volunteer work
among the girls and women who make
up large part of the city S worst and
most abandoned population
I'm addition to these well known
people has been a gradually increasing
number OF Christians from the First
church and lately from other churches
in Raymond A large proportion Of
these volunteers who pledge themselves
TO do az Jesus would comes from the
Endeavor societies. The Young people
say that they have already embodied in
their society pledge the same principle
in the words, Il promise him that will
strive 10 do whatever he would have
me do. This is not exactly what is in
Guided in Maxwell's proposition, which
is that the disciples shall try to do what
Jesus would probably do in the disci-
pies place, but the result of an honest
obedience to either pledge, he claims,
will be practically the same, and he is
not surprised that the largest numbers
have Joined the new discipleship from
the Endeavor society.
II am sure the first question you will
ask is. What has been the result Of
this attempt, what has it accomplished,
or how has il changed in any way the
regular course Of the church or the COM
munityy'
lyon already know something from
reports Of Raymond that have gone over
the country what the results have been,
but one needs to come here and learn
something Of the changes in individual
lives, and especially the change in the
church life, to realize all that is meant
by this following of Jesus steps so lit
orally. To tell all that would be to
write long story or series OF stories
am not in "a position TO do that, but
can give you some idea perhaps of what
has hanpened here from what has been
told me by my friends ana Henry MAX
well himself.
1.-THE result of the pledge upon the