Omaha daily bee., 1902-12-15
CLEARING OFF CHURCH DEBT
Last Of Hansoom Parks Ten Thousand
Dollar ~Incumbranos Provided For.
BISHOP wcABt CONDUCTS THE SERVICE
One Member Gives Fifty Dollars 70
Hear the Bishop sing "Papa,
what Would You Take
for Met"

John RedgwiclL a plumber, living at 1912
South Twenty-seventh street, pledged him
self to pay $50 to hear Bishop Charles c.
McCabe sing Papa, What Would You
Take for Me-" at the Hanscom Park
Methodist Episcopal church Sunday morn
ing, and the bishop promptly fulfilled his
part OF the agreement, playing his own &C
compartment on an old organ carried up
from the basement for that solo. and for
the bishops own composition, I'VE Are
Building Four a Day" which he sang i'm
mediately afterward.
The incident was only one of several in
teresting ones which occurred during the
fifty minutes that were required in the
raising Of 81. 800 with which to cancel the
last Of the 10000 indebtedness of the
church. Bishop McCabe closed his exhor-
tation at 1850, and at II 40 the congrega-
tion arose triumphant to sing the doxology
in gratitude for the success OF the effort.
1t was in october, 1885, that a little
group Of the faithful, meeting at the resi-
dence Of John Dale, determined to organ
lie a Methodist church in the Hanscom
park neighborhood. They began by pur-
chasing a lot at the northeast corner OF
Woolworth avenue and South T~wenty-ninth
street, and building thereon the first
church, dedicated in March, 1887. They
worshiped for a year under Rev. Willard,
now presiding elder of the Grand Island
district. Then for FIVE years they wor-
SHIPPED under Rev. George Brown, now OF
Derby, Conn, and at the close of his min
istry projected a new building to replace
the old edifce, which had cost $4,000, and
which has more recently served the Wal
nut Hill church congregation.
New Church with Big Debt.
The new church was built during the
Ave years ministry OF Rev. William p.
Murray, now Of the Erie conference. After
its dedication in 1892 It had the uncertain
blessing of a SIC, 900 debt, and when Rev.
Clyde Clay Cissell succeeded, four years
ago, DR.. +. M. Sisson, now presiding elder
of the Norfolk district, he promptly as
ssulted the debt and succeeded in reducing
1t to &c. 900 about two years ago.
For the past three months he and Elder
]. w. Jennings, with the directors of the
church, have been campaigning to annihi-
late the debt entirely. They secured 81, 900
subscriptions from the Helping Hand So
ciety and the Church Extension society;
$500 subscriptions from w. p. Hartford, Pc
ter whitney and the families OF Oscar and
Arthur Allen; $3.50 subscriptions from w.
I. Stephens and Mrs. Mary Knode; 800
subscriptions from Rev. Cissell, John Dale,
Mel Uhl, H. H.. Ernest, G.. F. Clark, c. P.
White, George B.. Cary, D.. A. Foote. @. ".
Johnston and John F Dale; SIS subscrip-
tions from FIVE others; $50 subscriptions
from twenty-four others; $50 subscriptions
from six others; S25 subscriptions from
thirty-hve others; $40 subscriptions from
several; SIS subscriptions from thirty
two; $40 subscriptions from thirty; IS sub
scriptIons from twenty-five, and enough
others Of varying amounts to make the
total $500.
Raises Fifteen Hundred Dollars.
To raise the additional s 1900 with which
to wipe out the debt the visit of Bishop
McCabe was seized upon and the morning
was devoted to securing pledges for
amounts one-third Of which was to be paid
at once, another third next June and the
final third next December, the burning OF
the mortgage to occur on December Is,
next.
At the conclusion Of his address yester-
day morning the bishop placed upon the
rostrum a chart marked with $50 vacant
squares, each for $40 donations, and in
vited the congregation to fill them. Il
was done In fifty minutes. Once the Civ
ing seemed to lag and was revived only by
an offer to I'LL FIVE squares II ten other
men would do the same. They did It. An
I'M NNe "oo hAANN "A w Tux
Redgwick offer Of $50 for a solo by Bishop
McCabe. BY the time the chart was filled
enthusiasm ran high and the board had
to be reversed to accommodate an addi-
tional SIS contributed in IS and 81 amounts.
At the evening service Rev. Cissell
painted a connection between the SO, 900
mark and the $500 mark on the financial
thermometer that overhung the pulpit. 1t
was made a jubilee service, with a hymn
Of triumph, a hymn of Christian activity
and short addresses by Bishop McCabe,
DR.. Tindall, pastor of Trinity Methodist
church. DR.. Jennings and Pastor Cissell.
Mrs. Walter Dale in the morning and Mrs.
]. w. Thomas in the evening we're the So
loists.
In his morning address and exhortation
Bishop McCabe took as his text the Lords
admonition to Moses: AND let them
make Me a sanctuary. that l may dwell
among them"