Los Angeles herald., 1906-09-03
WANTS 7OILERS
IN HIS FLOCK
"Preachers as Rule Are Sons Of
Laborlng cIass, Hence Talk
Of Estrangement Is
Idle"


the workingmen Of Greater Los An
geles last night Rev. Stephen A. North
rop at the First Baptist church, said;
IT welcome tonight the workingmen
of Greater Los Angeles to these pews.
"This church home, and every other
on this continent, ought to be your
headquarters on Lords day.
From boyhood have been In closest
touch and most intimate terms with
the church and with the pulpits there
of, and I have yet to know that spot
underneath the dome of any house of
worship where workingman and his
family were not welcome.
81 have met thousands of preachers
heard their private and public convic-
tions, and I have yet to hear one dis
paraging utterance against the sons of
toll.
"I have read carefully the produc-
tions of representative clergymen In
this country and Europe, and l have
never come across a sentence that was
not tender, kind and sympathetic to
and for the workingmen of the world
"And why not? From whence do the
100, 900 ministers of the gospel in Amer
lea. whether Catholic or Protestant,
come? From what homes? Whose
sons are they?
"They come from humble, modest and
unpretentious cottages. They hail not
fl ON the palace or the mansion.
Descended From Workers
"They were born underneath the roof
Of the laboring man, and If there Is any
class of people in the universe who
ought to be true to Christ and the
church it is the workingman. There
will he find his most royal welcomes
and his most hearty GodSpeeds Here
will he find his ideal profit sharing
the ideal brotherhood.
Hence this idle talk about the
estrangement of the laboring man from
the church is all out of place, and
surely out of harmony with the teach
ings of the man of Nazareth, whose
father was carpenter.
"The average church home today Is
no Pullman palace car or a limited ex-
press train for the wealthy and the
capitalist. Every auditor stands on
equal footing before God and should
also before man when h enters the
house of prayer, be he toiler with the
God is surely no respecter of per-
sons, and his church should never be-,
and the moment any body of Chris
tians, layrnen or preachers. put on the
robe of self-righteousnesS and proclaim
holier than thou gospel it is Of the
devil and not of God.
An Ideal State
when the Almighty organized the
!, n nj hot 4 a
in human history there should be an
ideal state In which the fatherhood OF
God should be recognized as universal,
and the brotherhood of man should be
recognized as universal; when there
should be Scythlan, bond nor free,
male nor female, but all in Christ
Jesus.
"The modern church is no aristocracy,
1t has no monopoly on the route to
heaven except by way of the cross; II
there is a place on earth where there
Ia the genuine spirit of democracy 1t Is
within the church of Jesus Christ
There Should be no oligarchy-the
rule of the few; no plutarchy-the rule
Of the rich-within the shadow of any
pulpit In this fair land, for are we not
all brethren, bound for the same
heaven?
IT want the church home where ad~
minister the gospel message to be free
from clannishness and true to the spirit
of brotherhood as taught by the friend
of sinners.
In Sympathetic Touch
II believe the church should be in
sympa thetic touch with both capital
and labor; that 1t should seek by pru-
dent and helpful methods to bring the
two together around one common
mercy seat.
"A kid glove is a non-conductor
whether II is In the church or out OF it.
IT can name Christian manufac-
turer today who Is conducting colos-
sal business and who is a man Of
wealth, and yet In a church of the
people. He is absolutely on plane
with every other man, whether a toiler
or a banker, and you would not know
that he owns dollar from anything
IN his manner or dress.
II hold that the church of the New
Testament sustains a fourfold relation
to the community. First. asa place of
worship; second, as a place for work;
third. as a school OF instruction in the
word, and In the last place, II is a
home for every sln-slck soul, be II that
Of a workingman or capitalist. And so
can truly say as ! look into the eyes
Of my fellow mortals tonight that God
IL no respecter OF persons, neither Is
the church, and neither am l."