Durango semi-weekly herald., 1907-03-04
MILLION FOR CHURCH
ON A $2,5oo,ooo LOT
By William e. Curtis. Correspondent
of the Chicago Record Herald.

New York.-These are certainly
days of big figures. What would the
Pilgrim Fathers have thought; what
would Rev. Cotton Mather have said !;
what would Thomas Jefferson have
written, II anyone in their day had
possessed an Imagination SO bold, so
vivid, as to predict that house of
divine worship costing a million dol
lars would be erected upon site val
ued at $2,500.OO0? Yet that is exactly
what the vestry OF st. Thomas church
Ia about to do.
And wherever else in the world, in
Europe or America, has the congre-
CATION of any church contributed $274,-
339 for missions, charity and the sup
port of the gospel In single year?
Yet that is what st. Thomas parish of
New York city did during the year
1906. Rev. DR.. Ernest M. Stires, the
rector, who used to be in Chicago,
has given me the figures. The total
offerings of that church for missions
last year were $S4,930 the pew rents
amounted to $55,321; the offerings at
church services amounted to $66,700;
the remainder came in subscriptions
and donations.
OF the mission fund $39,472.92 was
sent outside the diocese. The remain
der was expended for missions and
charity work In the city Of New York.
have been told that this is the
largest sum ever contributed by any
congregation in the world in single
year for such purposes. AT least, am
assured there Is no record of greater
generosity. st. Thomas is by no
no means the richest church in New
York city. Trinity parish is one of
the richest corporations in the world.
1t supports eighteen different churches
In different parts OF the city, and
owns real estate and other property
valued at fifty millions or more. The
old Dutch Reformed church is also
very rich. st. Bartholomew Episco-
pal. and the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian
churches are said to have more mil
lionaires in their congregations than
ST. Thomas, but last year their CON
tributions to religious purposes were
not SO large.
When DR.. Stires came here from
Chicago st. Thomas had been on the
down grade for some years, owing to
the illness and infirmities of the late
Rev. DR.. John Wesley Brown, his pre-
decessor, but he took hold with energy
and faith. and In a few years has
brought the church up to point of
unprecedented prosperity and activity,
both from business and spiritual
point of view The communcants now
number 3,176 and there are 1,56S pu-
pills In the several Sunday schools.
The church was almost entirely de-
stroyed by fire in 1905, but that ca
lamity seems to have stimulated the
activity and enthusiasm of the CON
gregation. A temporary roof furnishes
them shelter. and they are now con-
sidering plans for n million dollar
church to be erected upon the present
site; but the work of construction will
not be begun until another year.
Messrs. Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson
OF Boston won the competition among
a group OF the strongest architects in
America. and their plans are now un.
dergoing modification and criticism by
the vestry and members of the con
gregation. Cram, Goodhue and Fer
guson are believed to be as thorough
exponents OF the Gothic as any archi-
tects in the world. and the people of
st. Thomas wish to have as perfect
an example Of that school as can be
erected. They are already building
the Episcopal cathedral in Havana and
a cathedral church at Halifax, and
their designs for the reconstruction OF
the military academy at West Point
a.