The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1907-01-14
EXPLAINS WHY He
CHOOSES THEATER

In answer TO the numerous COM
ments that have been made by the
clergy and laity regarding his selec-
ton of a theater in which to preach
to the people, the Rev. William RAIDER
yesterday morning at the Colonial The
alter defined his stand in preaching out
side the church building. He declared
that II was a logical and not a novel
way of preventing the alienation of
the masses from the church. DIR. RAIDER
breaches every Sunday morning at the
Colonial Theater.
In addition to the sermon defining
his attitude on speaking outside a
church, a special service, non-sectarian.
was given consisting of readings of
Scripture.
DR.. RAIDER took for his text Acts xix,
81, II: And certain of the chief off,
GERS of Asia, which were his friends
sent unto him and besought him not
to adventure himself into the theater.'
He said in part:
/ ind in this text an argument for preaching
anywhere to reach men. John the Baptist used
deck OF ship for platform. Paul spoke to the
Athenians on Mars Hill. Jesse Lee on Boston
field, London The theater has more than once
been used by the church. DIR. Talmage never
preached better sermon than he delivered in
the Cbestnut-street Theater. Philadelphia In
1867 great revival was inaugurated in Chatham
Theater. New York. Perhaps we are too con
ventional. ! preach in the Colonial Theater in
order TO reach the people of San Francisco
There is a break between the masses and the
church The masses have broken from the
church. The church may be alienated from the
people
The merchant reaches the people. In this he
excels the preacher BY enterprise and push, by
ter and charm be invites the attention of the
The actor reaches the masses From the day.
of Gsrrick TO Booth and Mansfield and Irving the
actor has by his fiction reached the public. Thea
tiers are more crowded than the churches The
sweet singers reach the people. drawing them
since the days Of Jenny Lind and Patti as the
magnet draws the steel.
ton. fails TO do this. The puIpits of Christen
dom have been springs Of liberty. They have
1t may be due to the fact that many of us
preachers deliver poor sermons
We cannot give much Internationally push
or a gentle kick to lift men up. Some men must
be drawn up, others kicked kindly into the king
dom Of God. When il is remembered that from
an economic viewpoint the bod carrier gets more
indueenent 70 carry mortar than TO preach the
Gospel and this may account for the small num-
Again, competition is rife in ecclesiastical cir
cles. There are too many denominations, too
many clergymen, too many churches whose DIFF
ferences the average man cannot point out
Then, too the devil has a grip on the modern
world. This is the age Of the devil. not the
angel: Of Mr.. Hyde. not DR.. Jekyll; OF the flesh.
not the spirit: and this materialism tells IN
church attendance. II this country continues to
20 on as il now is in it's self-indulgence and
luxury and materiaIism then only the hand Of
Almighty God can save the majestic ship of state
from going over the Niagara Falls OF ruin
Therefore the Gospel should be preached every
where, TO eyerybody--plainly, honestly and ef-
fecfively
The fheater since the days Of Thespis has in
volved the larger idea Of life The world Is
stage and we are actors Witness Napoleon the
footlights, the musket shots of Waterloo and the
burning buildings of Moscow. Witness Gustavus
Adolphus with Germany the stage and the
moving armies, with their chorus Of cannon as
auxiliaries. Witness Lincoln on the stage washed
by two oceans. Behind him the blacks with the
ever shifting scenes Of the republic Greater
than Irving and McCready and Mccullough were
these actors Of real life.
We are all on the stage We all need relir-
ion. Soon the curtain viii fall. the lights will
go out, and the play of life. whether comedy
drama tragedy, VIII be over ,