The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-04-02
AN INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH PROPOSED
  Rev. Dr, ]. A. Duncan Has Been Studying Matter HE ASKS A QUESTION Explains Why Church of Thls Kind Might be Needed In Birmingham With the Rapidly Growing
 Mixed Population.
HE ASKS A QUESTION

| The Rev. pr. J. A. Duncan, pastor of the First Methodist church, has recent ly returned from New York, where he
 went to study the Institutional church
 as conducted there. He had in view the establishment of similar church III
 Birmingham and he states that in ms opinion the time has come for such an institution.
 Yesterday pr. Duncan went into detail
 regarding the matter and the result or his investigations in New York. In speaking of 1t he said:
 Has the time come for what Is known as the Institutional church to have a place in every city that is growing? and which promises to have in 1t, in time, a large mixed population? In order to answer this question, suppose we glance at what one of the great institutional churches of the country has accomplish ed.
 .Twenty-three years ago St. George Episcopal church was down town, In | New York. its membership far removed | from 1t and the question was what shall | we do with 1t? Other down town church. | es were being abandoned. Other churches were being moved as the people who be- l longed to them were moving, and the problems of down town work were left l largely to efforts of missionaries, with
 work only partially organized, and even I then in rather an unsatisfactory fash l fen.
 pr. Ralpsfords Work.
 "Dr. Rainsford took charge of St. | Georges parish, and started the work of organization. What has twenty three
 years brought forth2 pr. Rainsford him i, self says;
 "'After looking back upon this work
 in the years coming I am very sure that | unless all churches are made far freer l than they are today, they will be far emptier.
 Unless locks and bars are taken down | and all people trying to be good and | trying to make the world better are made to see that the church is herself a stand | ing invitation to them; and to her courts and services they are welcome not be- cause individuals are hospitahly inclined, but because the whole church is an ef- l fort visible to embody Christs gospel of | invitation to the whole of mankind; un- | less I say, not in theory only, but in actual practice, our churches are thus
 made free. the very sort of people we
 most want as members will be outside l church membership-casting out devils we hope in Jesus name-but not walking with the churches.
 We must so interpret and urge oth- 1 CTS to interpret the creeds that they serve as guides to common worship. not
 as chains to bind men to dogmatic be- | liefs no longer possible.
 "'The churches that boldly follow this course will reach the people, the plain l people. all sorts of people, and reach them all the time.
 "'And another and most important thing; she will draw to, and retain in her ministering able men,
 s'In this great church the church build l ing itself is open all the time. It's vari- ous departments of work are arranged with great care, opening necessarily to everybody, but as far as possible 1t is organized so that the life of every mem ber touches the life of the whole church. Every morning at o'clock there is a short prayer service for members of the church, or for people on their way to business, or for any one who chooses to stop for a few moments of prayer be- fore beginning the days work. "The great spiritual strength of the church lies in It's almost perfectly or ganized Sunday school. This Sunday school has one thing only in view, that 4t.1 Ii,.aC fner nf hn ha when he grows up to be a man he shall be a christian man. In order to ac- complish this purpose he is taught reli- gious history as it is recorded in the scriptures, religious history as it has been written by the church during the past 2OOO years. the spirit of the christian life as manifested in the lives of great men and in the life of the church of which this Sunday school is a part They recognize the fact that the christian man, to be really what he should be, must christianize everything that he touches Various Sides. "That there is religious side to life that there Is also a social side; that there is a serious side, and that there Is a comedy side; that there is work side, and that there is play side is never lost sight of. St. Georges parish is or- ganized as far as possible to meet all these various needs.
 Aside from the missionary societies. and those organizations which are or dinarily termed purely religious, there are other organizations that are for the pur- pose of social enjoyment. mental culture, and mutual helpfulness.
 There Is the Mems club. the Girls Friendly society. the Married Women's
 society. the Kings daughters, the Moth-