The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-05-16
CHURCH SCORED
AGAINST CRITICS
IN ROCKEFELLER INCIDENT
SAID REV. c. II. STRONG, IN SER
MON ON CHURCH HOSPITALITY.

ely Deten0eu IN It's Right TO Sc
Iect It's own Members-One Reason
for Want of Hospitality in Church.
es Is That Society Is Not Clearly
Distinguished from Church.
Using for his subject the statement
of John D. Rockefeller that his wife
had attended a church for eighteen
years without a single member of the
church having word to say to her,
Rev. Charles Strong, rector of St.
Johns Church, preached a sermon last
night on Hospitality in the Churches"
He selected as his text 1 Peter i've,
Use hospitality one to another with
out grudging."
In introducing his subject Mr.. Strong
said that the fact that the richest man
in the world, three Sundays ago, said
his wife had attended a New York
church for eighteen years without hav-
ing soul say a word to her, had CIV
en- rise in newspapers and magazines
to the discussion of the sociability
| and hospitality of the Christian
church, and, as in all such discussions
MUM A4OAAoSAiSSS as WCAA elo 4A4ONAA oCAloCJ
had been uttered.
After carefully considering the mat
ter" Mr. Strong said, lone is forced
to the conclusion that in the Christian
churches to-day there is not always the
| feeling that ought to exist between
the men and women who profess the
same religion, worship at the same al
| tar, and partake of the same sacra-
| ment; we must admit that our
churches-all of them are not excess
sive in the cordiality among their
| members.
Distinction Not Clear.
'One of the troubles is that the defini-
| ton of society and it's functions is
not clearly separated from the church
and the functions of the church" Dis
cussing the functions of society and
those of the church, Mr.. Strong said
| that society is a man-made institution
for the promotion of social inter-
course and the enjoyment of the mem
bers, and that every society in the
world has a right to lay down what
conditions are necessary in selecting its
members.
In Illustrating the justice of this
statement he asked what interest the
average man would have in a society
of doctors engaged in discussing the
| technicalities of their profession or
in that of a meeting of ministers
solving the niceties of doctrinal points,
| or yet of artists, busy with the mi
mute distinctions of their art.
mo one questions their right to adj
| init only such persons as they see fit,
| and the same principle should hold
| good with society which has the right
to say with what man and what wom-
an its members have an affinity, and
shall, in consequence, admit" he said.
The object of society being such with
| the admission of members objectional
| TO others, the object of it's organiza-
ton would cease to exist. But though
| society has this right of discrimina-
| ton it has, at times, caused much
| evil in the way of caste and of dis
elimination.
Characteristic of Breeding.
"The first characteristic of a gentle
man and a lady" Mr. Strong said. rs
not that they can trace an ancestry
\ back to the nobility, or the gentility,
for several generations, but that they
show courtesy, kindness and consider
alton to everybody. And yet how conf
mon it is to see these principles vio-
| lated"
Getting back to the relation of the
| church to such matters, he said that
social things would have to look after
| themselves, that the church has moth
ing to do with society any more than
it has to do with Masonry, or any other
organization of men or of women, other
than to insist that they all be moral,
that they tend to the uplifting of man
kind, and the enjoyment of mankind,
and that when this is done the duty
of the church ceases.
THE church. like society, is a dis
tinct institution and has its definite
functions, and underlying these 1t in
| cludes necessity for the kind and hos
pitable relation between the men and
women who compose it," he said. AS
divine and not a man-made institu-
| ton, it has a right to expect noble
characters and noble instincts among
it's members.
Scored Against Skeptics.
at rather think, myself" Mr.. Strong
said, cit is a credit to the church that
so rich a woman could attend it for
so long time without having any no.
tice taken of her. We score one
against the skeptics who say the
church is always running after rich
people Had she been less wealthy,
however, there would have been rea-
son to criticize the indifference display
ed to her presence.
There is great danger to the church,
sometimes, because of it's excluSiveness.
1 believe this Is sometimes a fault of
the Episcopal Church. All classes
should be represented in the church,
and when you get them there you
have a closer representation to the
church of Christ. The first principle
of the church should be to develop
sociability and kindness among it's
members. When a stranger attends
it's services the members should be
ashamed to leave without having en-
couraged something of this spirit. You
don't want an introduction handed to
you on a silver platter; what does it
matter to you whether the person be
rich or poor, it isn't going to affect
your social position one way or an
other.
"A visitor should receive such a re-
ception that when he leaves the church
he will not feel that the gospel of
Christ has been shut between the COW
ers of the Bible. 1 may be speak
ing a little from personal remem-
brances for some of my most lone
some moments have been when on
visits to churches and chapels far from
home, have been filled with all the
dear associations of home and family
the service have left without receiving
church is a mere simulacrum of the
spirit of Christ.
st. Johns Reputation.
Everybody who has the time should
begin the practice of the rites of so-.
ciability and hospitality in the church.
One trouble is there are too many per-