The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1908-02-02
PASTORAL VISITS
TO THE SALOON
Providence Pastor Enters a
New Field
SATURDAY NIGHTS WORK
Extends a Personal Invitation to Bar
tenders and Patrons to Attend
church-some Are Re-
ponding to Call.
from the Providence Journal.

No one saloon has a monopoly of Mr..
Green's attention; he visits all that are
within the field of his pastoral work, and
it takes pretty much the whole evening to
do it. But the rounds are made thor
oughly, and by the time they are finished
every man who has been in front of the
bar during the minister's tour has at least
had a chance to receive an invitation to
go to church on the following day.
For these Saturday visits to the saloons
are Mr.. Green's answer to the scriptural
/ injunction to "go out into the highways
and hedges" AS yet he has not carried
out the rest of the injunction, to compel
them to come in" But he has not found
it necessary; nor, perhaps, would 1t be
effective in this case Not a few of them
have accepted the invitation and gone vol
unfairly to hear the minister who at
tracted their attention by carrying the
war into the enemys camp in this unusual
fashion.
Just how many men have entered his
church because of these invitations Mr..
Greer does not know. It's hard to rec
ognize a man in his Sunday clothes when
you've only seen him before one of a
crowd smoking pipes and leaning against
the rail of a saloon bar" he says, ''but l
know number of them have come to
church as a result of the work"
Rev. Mr.. Green, as Olneyville has
promptly discovered, is not pink tea
Christian" He himself cheerfully as
serts it, "The days have gone by when
you can go to pink teas and imagine you
are doing the Lords work." he declares
in explaining the methods which have
caused the Sunday evening audiences in
his church to expand In size till they now
fill the edifce. and which have made him
one of the best known figures in and
around Olneyville square In the four
months since he assumed the pastorate of
the church.
Instead OF church organizations, which
merely meet to listen to literary pro-
grammes and eat light refreshments, Mr..
Green believes in organizations that put
some hard, active work into the business
OF spreading the influence of the church.
He believes in conducting revival services
every Sunday in the year, and between
Sundays as well. I'D rather live five
years and do something than live rs years
and accomplish nothing he says by way
of explaining his philosophy of the siren
uous life in church affairs.
Consequently, before he had been pas
tor of the church more than few weeks
he began to organize the men of the
church for an active campaign And first
of all he interested them in the Saturday
night crusade that makes 1t impossible
to visit an Olneyville saloon or store or
even to pass along the sidewalks of OIL
NEVILLE square on Saturday evenings
without being informed personally and
individually, that Rev. Bowley Green will
preach the following evening in the
Broadway Baptist church, and that those
who have no other church home are well
come.
That phrase about having no other
church home is important, too. 1t means
exactly what 1t says, and very few min
listers have made 1t quite so emphatic
as has Mr.. Green. He emphasized it so
vigorously at one evening service a few
Sundays ago that a member of another
church who had gone to hear Mr.. Green
rose from his pew and walked out
II heard afterward that he thought him
self insuted, said Mr.. Green. There
were quite a lot of members Of other
churches there, and l told them 1 didn't
want them. The members of a church
belong in that church. The members of
my church belong with me. The members
of other churches belong there. And L
told them So We are trying to bring in
the people who don't go anywhere else.
We want to reach them, and we need the
room for them"
The Saturday night crusade is by no
means confined to the saloons. Two mem
bers of the Mems club are stationed on
the streets to extend invitations to those
who may be passing. Two others go
through the stores. And two more visit
the saloons. The latter is perhaps the
hardest of the routes, and so Mr.. Green
enlisted himself for it. not believing in
asking his parishioners to do anything
that he is not willing to do himself
The workers are provided with cards
giving the subjects of the sermons. and
where possible these are offered. On the
streets the passing of cards or circulars
is forbidden, so the invitations there are
by word of mouth. In the stores and sa-
looms cards are used.
'I have met nothing but the most cour-
teous treatment from the proprietors and
bartenders," says Mr.. Green. They seem
perfectly willing that we should distrib-
ute the invitation cards. On entering a
saloon for the first time 1 go straight to
the man behind the bar and ask permis-
sion to hand the cards out to their pat
rons. Then L give one to the man himself
and start down the line
"Of course there are some funny expe-
rences. The men often think it is good
joke, and start to jolly me. Yes, I've
been asked to drink a good many times.
| A man must be ready for all sorts of sal
lies, but If he goes at it in a gentlemanly,
quiet way he's not likely to have any un-
pleasant experiences.
Zone man, under the influence of liquor,
started to swear at me- But he only start
ed. stepped up closer instead of re-
ceding, and looked at him squarey in the
eye for a minute"
1t may be mentioned incidentally that
Mr.. Green is a rugged specimen Of physi-
cal manhood, who looks. as If he could
readily hold his own in any trough house,
that was ever started Tall and sturdy IN
appearance, he is athletically disposed.
and looks to be not over 80 or "a years
old, though his actual age is a. He has
never found it necessary to make use Of
| his strength and athletic ability In the
highways and hedges" however.
Men rarely refuse to accept the cards.
! continued Mr.. Green. Occasionally some
one hesitates, but when remind him that
| If | am interested enough to come to the
saloon to see him he ought to be cour-
teous enough to take one of the invita-
lions, he accepts.
1--WE began this work two weeks ago.
| The first evening we visited ten saloons
and distributed 200 cards. The next week
we visited II saloons and distributed $50
cards. OF course a good many men have
| come to know me in that way, and some
times when they meet me on the street
| they greet me with Hello Brother or
some such phrase as that. But that
doesn't bother me any. Why should TT
"All we are trying to do is to suggest