The Washington herald., 1907-05-16

A decided sensation was created at the
twelfth annual Episcopal convention Of
the Diocese Of Washington. held in St
| Adams Church yesterday, when Rev. Q
Ernest Smith. D. u. rector Of St Thomas
Church, read his report on The state OF
the Church. arraignng Sunday golf. rid
ing and driving dinner parties, and re-
ceptions as the causes for the falling of
| in attendance. contributions. communi-
| cants, and general interest in church mat
| ters.
/ DR. Smith said. that in 1905 there were
ninety-six clergyman as against 100 the
| year before that 9o4 persons were con-
/ drmed. as against lo9S in 1906. that the
| total offerings were but S3o43i329. as
against 1916. .Sl2-17 in 1905. Speaking Of the
population Of this city and church com
/ municants. DR.. Smith said that Of the
100000 population, the Episcopal Church
/ had less than 10000 communicates. gath
| cred out Of Tsls families. only 5 per cent
Of the whole. yet we were first here"
Deploring this state OF affairs. Dr.
Smith said there Is among those who by
/ inheritance. belong to the church. a lack
OF interest in religion. which is evidenced
| by a neglect Of Christian institutions; "a
| lack of interest specially marked in the
most influential part Of the diocese. the
city Of Washington. This is manifested in
! various ways
Some Seldomi others Never.
Many of our most prominent citizens
are only occasionally Seen at church
others never. The spectacle presented By
these people is new in our history Here
tofore some profession Of religion has
been a sine qua non to social recognition
and an indispensable condition Of moral
/ responsibility. Nc vadays a man can
stand on the topmost rung Of the ladder.
social and political and be at the same
time out Of all church life"
Complaining Of. Sunday amusements.
Or Smith said sunday. throughout a
large part Of Washington. IS neither a
day OF rest nor Of religious Observance
Whatever NAV be the explanation. sun
cay is probably worse kept here than IN
any other city Of the East. Here, govern
ment officials are constantly engaged in
unnecessary Sunday labor here. build
ing contractors uninterruptedly fulfill
their contracts and here. storekeepers.
without let or hindranCe. open their
stores.
simultaneously. while these are toiling
Al business tasks, others by thousands
are tUiling for pleasure. Dinner parties
and receptions are being more and more
given on Sunday. Golf is claiming an
eveT-increasing number of votaries. while
Sunday riding and driving is many times
greater than on weekdays.
Busy Even I'm the Morning.
Even the morning hours Of Sunday,
heretofore sacred TO divine service. are
now devoted. in certain quarters. 10
breakfasts at which as many as 30 or 800
have sat down Riding TO one Of these
breakfasts lately a life was crushed out.
the damage was appraised at a money
vaIue, and the incident was closed
Among our more interested brethren
there is a widespread attitude of dis
loyalty toward those rules Of the church
which for centuries have been observed
by the faithful Theaters are generously
patronized. and dinners and receptions
given, apparently without protest, not
only throughout Lent, but even in Holy
Week itself"
Disobedience TO the bishop and clergy
is censured by DR.. Smith. He says:
Nowhere else, so far as we know, is
there such a lamentable neglect Of the
respect due to the pastoral Office of the
clergy as here The known wishes Of
bishop and clergy seem to have little
weight where inclinations run counter TO
loving and loyal obedience, Rarely now
in many places is the clergy called upon
70 minister to the sick and dying With
the best intentions In the world, physi- |
clans often forbid them to see their pa
tents What wonder that now comes
Christian Science, so-called and forbids |
the physician himself to see the sick
Neglect Aged Ministers.
The Rev Dr. Smith deplored as the |
saddest feature of all the utter failure |
to care for such faithful ministers "as |
have come to a penniless old age.
Unable 10 toll any longer" continued /
the speaker. these must surely welcome |
death as the friend which takes them |
away from a too crushing poverty. And !
we seem TO be content to have it so: yet 1
how the church can expect Gods bless
ing we know not. Perhaps here we have |
the secret of all our dryness of spirit, and /
all our want of success.
Speaking Of the financial irresponsi- |
bility Of the church, the Rev Dr. Smith /
said;
rs there another city in America with /
parishes which can say, as
Washington can say, that having 100000
on its churches, and having
heard its bishops appeal. seconded and |
by the appeals of the clergy,
extending over weeks and even months.
that IL gave less than S50G0. and this
when a little while later it gave Sl25o0O
toward obtaining a new site for a uni
versity. Moreover. is there another dio-
cese with the wealth in its peoples hands.
other than this. which can say that all
its income for one year for all purposes,
from all churches, was only S304, ,343 %.
Individual members Of this church there
are who possess a larger annual income
than this, and find 1t hard to make ends
meet.
Attitude of Press DepIOred.
The attitude Of the daily press toward
the church was described by the speaker.
who said that we have no encourage
nent to overestimate our influence in this
with the papers,. The rector
IF a prominent parish was more than
Two years in this city before any news
Continued on Page 4, Column 3
Take Advantage of Baltimore & Ohio
leo excursion at $50 a. m. Sunday. May
9, to Harpers Ferry, Charlestown, and
and return