Mrs. Grundy. (Tracy City, Tenn.) 1903-1930, 1904-06-16
Uncle Toms
Chat.
Fashionable Church Worship.

simple manner of worship much
better, probably, than you do the
new-fangled ways of your own
church. You are bound to ac-
knowledge that the cold icy
greeting you receive at your own
place of worship is calculated to
freeze out what little religion
you possess, and causes you often
to quench the spirit as it steals
gently into the heart. How often
have you longed to shake off the
embarrassment you are under and
proclaim your freedom in the
Lord, but your fashionable church
has decreed that your preacher
must do all the preaching, all the
praying and all the talking and
you must be very quiet and pay
close attention. Your old fashion
lovefeasts and class meetings have
played out; fashion has driven
that old time custom out of the
church and the babies with it.
No more halleluiah times now in
the town church; the devil and
fashion have taught you better
sense than to act a fool and praise
God. Mitchell, Sauls daughter,
the wife of David, has been in
town and given a few lessons on
what's right and proper, and she
wants no more leaping and prais-
ing God and she don't want ba-
bies either, to bother around for
they might disturb the preacher
or some fined-haired simlin head
present. Then it won't do to cry
or weep as that would show a
weakness and really is not manly
or womanly. They allow you to
sing q little yet but you must
delegate that part chiefly to the
choir as they are so much better
singers than you and then it
won't do to have too much spirit
in the song lest somebody might
feel like shouting, If the preach
er happens to forget himself and
says real good thing, you must
not say amen out loud for if you
do somebody will say he or she is
sanctilied and snub you. A real
good christian has mighty hard
time to live in some churches
nowadays for the reason they
are not free to worship God with
any sort of freedom or even ac-
cOrding to the dictates of their
conscience. Not much old-time
halleluiah religioniloating around
for it's crushed out. No praises
for God, no more leaping for joy,
no more moving happy on the
way with glory in the soul. Give
me the plain old country church
where people worship without
pomp or style; where the thread
bare garment is respected and
the weeping or cooling child is
welcome. Let me hear the old
time songs as they fill the house
from floor to rafter; where the
angels delight to hover to lend q
listening ear and carry the glad
news from earth to heaven, say
ing, the dead is alive, the lost is
found. and God has healed the
brOken-hearted. Let me worship
ever with the happy christian
where fashion and style is forced
to the back seat and ordered to
behave. Let me encore and sing
the praises of God; let me hear
the cooling of the lovely babe as
it sits in the mothers lap; let
me hear the shouts of Gods peo-
pie for victory; let them make
the welkin ring with aye must
be born again" And such a
glorious, happy birth, born into
life eternal with a circle of glory
in the heart, a sweetness never
forgotten. What a happy birth
what a translation from death tC
life. Brothers and sisters, sing
shout and leap for joy, don't let
fashion rule any longerand cleave
to that religion that knows NJ
fashion. Rich and poor, keep tc
the right and serve God in the
beauty of holiness; quit cold and
heartless ways; be warm hearted
and genial; get out of the world
ly-nhlhded church, come back to
the old land mark and love God
with all your heart. This gang
has fought nearly everything
. ~ IL. IN. ..:.1 -. 49,