Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1905-06-26
Calnage
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee, D. D.

large city in the Union there is a con-
siderable population to whom this SER
mon peculiarly applies. The preacher
voices their plea for the gospel, and
urges that it be no longer rejected.
The text is Acts xvi, 8, Come over
into Macedonia, and help u.s.
Nearby Macedonians! What do you
meanT' says some one as there any
class of people living near to me who
have not the gospel preached to them
as it ought to be preached? Why. near
" all my life have been living in one
of our large cities. l have sat under
some Of the greatest preachers of the
world. Surely all those who live near
to me have the same kind of gospel
advantages 1 have?" No, my friend,
you are wrong. There are scores, and
hundreds, and thousands, and tens Of
thousands who have not Before L get
through with my subject / hope to
prove to you that my premise is true,
for today 1 am going to speak for the
most part to those who have lived near
~ all their lives in a large city.
Where did you go to church when
you first came to town. ''Oh," you
say, Il used to worship in such and
such a street. The great DR.. So-and-so
preached there. But / moved away,
and most of my old neighbors moved
away long ago. The boarding house ele-
ment crowded US out. The region where
used to live is now filed with room
ers.'" Indeed! l suppose very few
people are now living in your old
street. "Oh, no; quite the contrary"
you answer. Where there used to be
one family living in house there are
now sometimes twenty or thirty peo-
pie. Light housekeeping in many in
stances has made each double room
house a whole family" Indeed! Then,
with the increased population swarm
ing there, suppose your old church
is crowded to the doors. / suppose
your old Sunday school is five times
larger than it used to be and the
church members have taken every pew.
NO." you answer. 81 only wish that
were true. l love that old church now
more than l have ever loved it But
the trouble is the wealthy people
moved away. Then old DR.. So-and-So
got a cali to heaven. Then the people
who remained called q. fine young man,
but ne could not make the church go.
He struggled on and on. They could
not pay him a salary sufficient to live
upon and he had to leave. Now the
old church has very ordinary man in
the pulpit. The seats are only sixth
full. The whole work there seems to
be at standstill What is being done
Is done In the Quicksands. One month
the people are there and the next they
are gone. am afraid the old church
is geographically doomed"
Your old church's work geographical
" doomed? What! Can such condi-
ton exist at our very doors? There
are thousands and hundreds of thou
sands of a city's population swarming
around those old churches. Shall all
our best church strongholds be turned
to secular uses? Such q condition
must not exist. My theme today is
call for help for what Is termed the
deserted church of the boarding house
regions of large city. 1 would make
a plea not for the downtown church.
which is situated in the heart of a
business center of a great city. have
been pastor of such church as that in
Pittsburg, and 1 know they can be
made useful and prosperous if right
methods are adopted. 1 make not a
plea for the church situated in the
residential region. have such q
church as that in the beautiful city OF
Los Angeles. If man does his work
there, it is not difficult to gather in the
families But l make a plea for the
halfway" city church, the church
which is not downtown nor uptown.
plead for the church which is surround
ed by 'rooming houses and by tn
boarding house element-the 'halfwa.
church" which is in a region congest
ed with multftudes of people who hav
not the gospel preached to them as
ought to be. l make a plea for such
church because have been pastor o
one and 1 know of the almost insur
mountable obstacles which it has t
overcome.
The @HaIfyvay Church."
The halfway church, OF the larg
city to be a spiritual success mus
have, in the first place, an earnest banC
of strong, ablebOdied men and wome1
who for the church's sake are ready Il
help the minister and fill the officia
positions of that church. 1t must have
tried gospel veterans in its boards Of
elders, deacons and trustees. 1t must
have able leaders in the Sunday schoo
who know the Bible and are ready t.
stay by their classes under all condi
lions. 1t must have these men and
women. not as visitors, but as mem
bers in good and regular standing
who are identified with the church be
cause there they know they can bes
serve their Lord and Master and Their
they VIII always be IN their places.
why do 1 put such an emphasis upol
ghis plea for consecrated men and VIC
men in the official boards? A tru