The Washington herald., 1907-07-13
Followers of Bishop Crowd,
Form Feryent Chorus.
BUT KEEP THEIR SHOES ON
ExhOrtatiOns of the Preacher Aimed
at Shiekering Set OF SehismsticS
in Rear OF Edihce-Thunders of His
Condemnation Echoed by the
FaithfuI-order Not obeyed.

/
of "amen," long-continued acquicscences
of Amt it the truth?" convincing cho-
ruses of yes, Lord" solemn bobbing Of
/ heads, strange fluctuations of the body,
and other violent manifestations of re-
iigion marked the evening service at the
/ Church of God and the Saints of Christ.
Presiding over the demonstration with
modest mien, and yet with commanding
dignity, was Bishop Crowdy. the heaven
sent prophet" lalbeit Of lowly BIRTH, the
voice of God" (even though his own artic-
ulation Is laborious. infrequent, and al
most unintelligible). the white-heeced
lamb" Though his skin Is as black as the
sands of Ethiopia
He is sail to hear perfectly. but gives
no sign 10 denote that the tributes Of his
followers reach his ears. On one. corner
OF the raised platform his episcopal
| throne was placed. Il had been decorated
with multi-colored ribbons. and made
tenantable by red cushions. Above his
/ head and in plain view OF the congrega-
ton, a large olleloth tablet bearing the
ten commandments has been raised. Allu-
sions to these mandates we're frequent
during the services.
The bishops son, who is still uncertain
as to whether. he too. possesses the gift
| OF prophecy, was kept busy during the
evening tanning the prophet while the
pastor Of the church, Oliver Tyler, did
most OF the scheduled talking, encourag ed
/ by the interspersions Of his hearers. The
usher, creole. stands in the back Of
the church. and the choir is arranged In
a semi-circle before the platform. OF
course there was a party OF schismatics
and unbelieyer5 and sCOffers in the back
Of the church who made their heresy APP
parent. and who mumbled things and
/ giggled when the watchfui eye OF the
usher was not upon them.
Aims Anasthemas at Them.
To these the pastor addressed most OF
his determinations, pointed the most bit
Ing Of his sarcasms. extended his most
alluring invitations to be saved and
hurled his dogmatc challenges 10 phf0-
sophlcal. apologize. and theological dis
cussions. At these misguided creatures
he stormed and gesticulated, he pointed
and blazed, he cajoled and insinuated
/ finally becoming disguised because they
refused to see the light and come forward
The meeting was opened by a prayer
a chanted Incarnation laden with scrip
tural passages and exhOrtations. During
this ceremony the faithful stood. crossing
/ fingers with each other high in the air.
while the usher stood with Outstretched
arms and the apostates in the rear snick-
cred. Then came a song by the choir
I The women were uniformly dressed IN
white shirt waists, with black ties and
fetching bows OF white ribbon on their
heads. They were enthusiastic singers
in fact. they were good. loud singers. and
they worked hard last night.
The men affected the conventional even
ing attire for the most part. save that
some wore gray vests, some vests thai
once were white, others vests Of uncer
tain color and yet more, no vests at all
There were like varieties Of coats, Ike
differences in cravats. ike changes il
trousers. But most unusual OF all wa
the strange undulating motion with which
the choir. which rose TO make its noise
kept time 20 the swing OF the musi'
and the baton Of the direetress.
Neither This Nor That.
Commencing with a gentle sldelonl
/ glide. the singers. male and female. grad
ually increased the scope OF their gyra
lions until their figures described III,
course OF a pendulum II could not b
called fandango. neither would catchucS
be the proper description; it was not {
can-can nor couchee-cOuchee, Loi
Fuller never did anything Ike It. nor DID
Little Egypt. but II bore some resem
blance to the tremulous wavings Of (
combination of national dances. leaving
out the Highland fling and the Jig o.
Killarney. The song over, and the choi
exhausted. the pastor rose.
His sermon was a long one. and lasted
from until 9. with some interspersions OF
song. He covered a wide field, taking IL
all the sciences. all the Scriptures, lots Of
/ geography. bit Of theology, and all thS
while he walked from one end Of the plat
form: to the other, stopping only by way
OF emphasis to bang down the grea
Bible which lay on the table.
You amt got nothing" he cried.
By the personal pronoun he meant those
outside the fold, and the congregation
agreed with him in their various methods
You amt got no ZEAL" he shouted.
And the congregation agreed some more
You make your own righteousness
with baptism and all that, but tell yoI
everybody has got TO pull OF his shoes
when he comes into church"
Order Not Obeyed.
BY this last erudite, symbolic phras,
the pastor meant, probably. what he said
but he did not explain it further. anC
the congregation kept their shoes on.
You haven't got any Jesus. roared TIL
pastor. looking hard at the unsanctihe'
in the rear.
Deed. no. Lord. no. Truth" cams
from a hundred sanity threats.
''The goats is on one side and the sheel
is on the other"
"Oh, yes. my Lord" "=fe is calling,
"Time amt long" came the chorus.
God has given US lis name. and HI
people must keep His name; and he hav
give us His prophet and glory be; glor.
be; glory to the prophet"
I'VE Will keep the prophet. Glory be Z
the Lord" echoed the multitude.
isaiah thrashed the world; he don
cleaned 'em all by hisself, so says tn
Scriptures, and we are on his side, ar
we have a prophet, and he viii clean er
up, and the prophet don't tell lies, ant
we have no pile Of books under his arm
and you haven't any Jesus" continues
the exhortation, which grew constantl
more disconnected.
Volleys of amens came thick and fast
and the. women screamed their acquies
cence and the men agreed in deep bas
tones The service was beginning to b
successful.
So it went on for an hour. and at tn
, end everybody was tired and full TO tn