The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-04-27

" -A~ ~N A@N-e NO AAa %NSbN
 Reviews Work of His Pastorate-To Usher fin Church of Democracy.
 At the Pilgrim Congregational church yesterday morning the Rev. Alexander k.
 Irvine preached at 10:30, bringing his pas torate 10 a close with that service. Previous clesiastical council held last Friday and th,:n said: T give notice now that there will be business meeting of this church
 next Friday evening and a motion will be
 of the church and the ecclesiastical society
 and the clerk will take due nOtice."
 MT. Irvine in his sermon spoke as fol- lows:
 II bring to a close this morning the pull pit ministratiOnS of pastorate four years and six months in duration. During that
 time l have experienced some Of the most
 intense joys of my life and some of the two years before l accepted the pastorate: was strongly advised not to come. l
 came, however, believing that Congrega-
 ti0nal ministers of the city had put low ity. The church was at low ebb. It was divided over the departure of Mir. James
 and the attendance at all services was very
 low We began ehildren's services MeegasdnG and eight months of the year ever since. we had a membership of 150 This has been
 the most beautiful and hopeful feature or
 my ministry. .., and went well until the novelty wore on The evening service was conducted as a
 peoples service. There were no reserved seats and working people no longer afraid of getting into the wrong lot came and en- | joyed it. The service was in charge Of men | who had never done anything of the kind 1 before They worked faithfully and vel ] and for three years we had a service tnat oDt 6rnn n hundreds | ehurched people from all parts of the city. New Haven's first and only social settle
 ment is part of the fruit of the ministry. n The novelty wore off of It here put II nov | fills a large place in the city. We adopted
 foreign missionary and for year Ihis | movement was sustained. then it fell nat: | It was killed by men who boasted tnat | they never had and never would give to | foreign missions. One of thsse men nad an immense amount of money interest,he never gave to anything and never intended. He just gathered 1t for the sake ot gettlng
 1t. He is type, During my ministry il a we | ly-it was against the Mormons, by TOT mer missionary to Salt Lake city. At our fftieth anniversary over siaIy
 united with the church. These accessions si | meant nothing to the society. Some or US officers said They bring no money into the treasury True, but 1t was because
 they were spending their lives making kaag
 money for others. It was inevltapie that | | their contributions. That is the standard
 of the society. :. |. .u 4ho 1 small Connecticut villages-the, only nope
 The old stock Is sluggish-the. character IS i fixed. The least intimation of a new 'dea l was taken as revolutionary change py
 men and women who know little Of the | worlds progress. ., .z s.There is hope for church if there is diversity, but none without it. The attempt | to democratize 1t failed The pastor saw the failure coming and prepared for 1t. Qn- l ly an expert could handle the problem. He
 called the deacons together and told them hen | he would not stay longer than his year end 1 ing May 1, 1903. He begged them to help him hold the church together. For the
 in the government of the church the pastor l and deacons are utter nonetities. It the
 making of deacon goodness is quallty
 sought after, but the qualification TOT t4e
 there is deviation from this rule IL IS on i the score of patronage. Power in the case
 of the former Is rope Of sand; ln the lat- 1 ter It Is law. .,,....,, increasing In membership by the hundreds
 md at the same time it's business affairs
 going to ruin and going, to ruin Dy pusihess
 men who are successful and wealthy. .,,,.. l ''The records Of the society snow tnls
 same chaos for years. The society could
 never be gotten together, so our only. re-
 sort was to discuss It with the working
 men-at this time there was only one enc mem
 thing at It. He was present and agreed l that something must be done
 TAbout this time the pastor took some
 interest In the question of municipal iran
 missions. was the beginning of the end; for | the one he was called socialist and TOT TOT
 the other it wassaid he was mad. The
 charge were not, wholly untrue: The work l A. .1 @aI-r
 of the pastor and to give the church busi-
 ness plan, but they were barred Quincy
 were not allowed voice in the affairs of
 the church even though they had been
 "There is no hope. for such church ul- | til 1t asserts its independence of the rich
 and recognizes the right of every member | to voice in its affairs. If the church IS
 tocracy. These men cannot see the differ ence. The idea of the church has never
 dawned upon them. Their conception of 1t l is to come once week and har something
 go home again. They say; they pay for 1t
 and that they will have what they pay for.
 ''The whole passion of Christ and the
 yearning heart of God for the welfare , Of Of
 which fills their own stomachs is divine
 and eternal and cannot. change, Gospel truth, God, anything social or religious IS acceptable which does not alter the estab- ltShed Ofuef. Iue DFeiCueE IS bHGlI uiiCu man, He may be brainy, but not too brainy social, but not too social-religious, but
 not too religious. He must trim his sails | to suit every breeze of the community; his
 mental qualities must be acceptable to the contemporary ancestors by whom he is sur- rounded, or he does nOtgfit.
 | "A man here may do one of three things. He may degenerate and conform to type. He may stay for three or four years by | the aid of diplomacy and much grace. He
 may go mad. Therefore an essential quail.
 tication for this pastorate is keen sense of
 humor. If my successor has this he will enjoy the community ministry for few | years and will do much good among the chidren-he will enjoy the view from the parsonage, the bay, the river, the noun | tains. He will make friends, too, of some of tn most genuinely good people on earth. l He must come as 1 came believing this place to be suburb of paradise and blessed | will that man be if he departs before he changes his mind
 Personally for every thorn I can count | ten roses--many times they were given by | the same people, but the roses were real. For every sorrow can count ten blessings.
 You will hardly credit it, but I solemnly declare to you that l go away ten times richer than when I came. Since I came i here I have become firm believer in own ership by idealism and my faith in God