The sun., 1908-05-10
CALVARY'S "BAVL" ROOM
PLAN THAT LETS SERVANTLESS
MOTHERS GO TO CHURCH,
Room Provided where They May Depo,l.
Their Children for safekeeplnE Or
II mey Prefer They Can Have a Nurse
Sent 10 Their Home In Their Absence.

Sent 10 Their Home In Their Absence.
On a clear crisp Sunday in January
last -bawl' room, as some members %
the congregation called it, was opened in
Calvary Baptist Church, West Fifty seventh
street Ordinarily this room is called the
church parlor.
1t Is mezzanlne adjunct to the chapel
or Sunday school room and may he shu,
OF from Il by movable glass partitions.
and II is out Of sight and hearing Of the
church auditorium. Windows facing the
south let In lot Of sunshine when there "a
any sunshine 10 let in. The furnishings in.
olude a bright rug, comfortable rockers
and couch.
On the crisp January day referred n
half a dozen youngsters in charge Of a
woman who had been engaged to loo',
after them took possession OF this room
from II TO O'Clock while their servantless
mothers, with care free minds attended
the morning church services As to how
the youngsters behaved during the two
hours history has little 20 say
That was the beginning Of a movement
the end Of which il not in sight and which
10 being approved by churches Of other
denominations in this city and elsewhere-a
movement TO help mothers to attend morn.
ing service free Of encumbrances. For
Il has come 10 pass that the presence A,
the Irregular church services Of small children
is not hailed with pleasure by the oongre.
CATION in general
"0ne restless little tike," remarked A
church member. 'can make prayers and
sermons null and void for dozen or more
persons in his vicinity, including the parents.
and also get on the pastors nerves
'.n these days homilies TO mothers on
the duty Of ohurohgoing do not include
an invitation to bring the baby along.
That is why the movement started at
Calvary is likely to grow fast
At the start there we're practical men,
bers who questioned the wisdom Of tbs
'bawl' room. The plan had been tried onoe
or twice elsewhere. they said, and been
found wanting. Other members approved
II. declaring an intention 10 stand by the
pastor in carrying out the plan, even 10 the
extent Of loosening their purse strings.
1t hasn't turned out to be such an enor-
nous undertaking said the Rev. Dr..
Macarthur when asked for the results 10
date Of his experiment Every month |
have had some money placed at my dis
posal for the purpose, and when that falls
short shall make up the deficit myself.
1Our aim is TO give every mother In the
congregation, every parent. in fact. chance
to come to church II she or he wants 10
come Most Of the mothers long TO come,
and ! don't know any one who needs the
rest and the quiet and the spiritual uplft
afforded by a church service more than
the mothers do
AT first my plan was to give them this
chance on communion Sundays only. The
invitation TO leave their children In the
church parlor in care Of a woman Of ex-
perience was issued just before the January
After that 1t was good for
every Sunday, and now we include the pre-
paratory Friday evening lecture before
each communion in our plan.
'No the children are not brought here
then lhe nurse goes TO them. for the
is no longer restricted to caring
for children at the church. To do merely
that was something, but 1t was not nearly
enough Il did not begin to meet the needs
OF the mothers.
For instance. the workers whose duty II
s TO get in touch with the poorer families
Of the parish found that when there were
two. three or four children included the
" work Of getting them dressed TO come n
church and the necessity Of paying extra
oar fares was often big stumbling block
in the way Of accepting the church's invita-
lion. In other cases sensitive mothers,
tearing their children's clothes would no4
stand favorable comparison with the clothes
Df other children at the church, have kept
hem at home.
Learning this we decided TO enlarge the
scope Of the work TO send a nurse TO the
children for couple Of hours OF Sunday
morning instead Of having the children
come to the nurse. This plan has worked
,ut splendidly
There is one family in the congregation
which include four children, the youngest
)nlv six months old For several years the
mother ha d not attended church at all
For the last few weeks she has been coming
'egularly with her husband She was qt
he last preparatory Friday evening lecture
IND Daptl2ed ner last sunday.
Next Sunday we shall be doing work at
10Th ends OF the line. Several women ara
letailed 10 60 to as many homes and act AS
nurse for a couple Of hours, and there will he
,thers on duty at the church. These
women, by the way, are members OF my
congregation who are glad for a small re-
nuneration 10 do this work. In fact, they
iced the work, therefore by employing them
We are helping the mothers and helping the
Women who take the mothers place.
One OF the regular staff Of workers here
eeps list Of the women who are willing 10
u the role OF temporary nurse and are capa-
lie OF filing It. Whenever possible
roman who is detailed 10 90 TO a certain
ouse on particular Sunday calls there
eforehand and gets little acquainted with
he children 30 that her work may be easier
n Sunday
DO children as a rule take kindly 10
trange nurseE the doctor was asked.
Not at first always. But il the nurse
evelops entertaining qualities and totes
he youngest about a little and maybe
erves a simple meal, which takes up a
tile time, they soon become reconciled
nd the hours pass 80 quickly the mother
back before they know il. At the Socond
lslt, II the nurse has made q good i'm
resslon she will have no trouble,
Among the children left In the church
arlor Sunday mornings are some who
ant be happy unless allowed TO run and
lay hard, and for such IL a clean, sweet
'om In the basement where they can
mp their fill without disturbing any one
interfering with their companions who
. satisfied 10 look at pictures.
We are proposing 10 enlarge the work
sry much next autumn. our aim being
empl 10y a large enough corps Of women
anFh l. ~. L
ere is a mother who can't get out OF q
lndaY morning unleAa aoma nna nnAs