The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1900-02-07

Ills Cttftn Was counted the largest.
most weaitay church in Raymond \ All
tie best ro.ole attended it. and most
Oh thSll D. iGr.sed. The quartet choir
was famous ivr its music, especially for
its soprano. Miss Winslow. of whom
shall have more to say, and. on the
whole. as | understand the fact. Max
well was IN comfortable berth, with a
very good salary. pleasant surround
ings, not n very exacting parish of re-
fined, rich, respectable people. such a
church and parish as nearly all the
young men in the seminary in our time
| looked forward to az very desirable.
''But 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 year
not To 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-
gardless of what the result might be to
them.
1.-The effect Of this proposition as it
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 movement because
from the action taken today it seems
probable that what has been tried here
in the First church in Raymond will
L, 4
cause revolution in church methods,
but more especially in new definition
of Christian discipleship.
lin 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 to do as Jesus would.
Among them were Edward Norman,
the editor of The Daily News, which
has 10 de such a sensation in the news
paper world; Milton Wright, one of
the leading merchants in Raymond;
Alexander Powcrs, whose action in the
matter of the rail- Aads against the in
terstate commerce Nws made such a
stir about "a year ago ;AMiss Page one
"
who has lately dedicated LIZ entire for
tune, as / understand. TO thf Christian
daily paper and the work of Nyeform in
the slum district known as the Rec
tangle and Miss Winslow whose repu-
tation IA a singer is now national, but
VINO. in obedience to what she has de-
cided to be Jesus probable action, has
Il I'd 1aV foil 70. xynlfr IL
among the girls and women who make
up large part of the city's worst and
most abandoned population.
lin addition to these well known
people has been 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 as 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 l will
strive to do whatever he would have
me do. This is not exactly what is in
cluded in Maxwells proposition, which
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.
Il am sure the first question you will
ask is, What has been the result of
this attempt, what has it accomplished,
or how has it changed in any way the
regular course of the church or the com
munityT
"You 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 position TO do that, but
can give you some idea perhaps of what
has happened here from what has been
tOlu lht W my ilituuS anu ltcul hdA-
well himself
THE result of the pledge upon the
First church has been twofold-it has
brought about a spirit of Christian fell
lowship which Maxwell tells me never
before existed and which now impresses
him as being very nearly what the
Christian fellowship of the apostolic
clurches must have been, and it has
divided the church into two distinct
groups of members. Those who have
not taken the pledge regard the others
as foolishly literal in their attempts to
initiate the example of Jesus.
"Some of them have drawn out of
the church and no longer attend, or
they have removed their membership
entirely to other churches. Some are
an internal element of strife, and l
heard rumors of an attempt on their
part to force Maxwell's resignation. l
do not know that this element is very
strong in the church. 1t has been held
in check by a wonderful continuance of