The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1909-10-17

all things by the temple. II 1 get angry
I think OF the temple. The temple is my
work. The same methods OF thought and
conduct can be followed in any business.
any profession, or any employment. IL IL
is entered upon for the glory Of God
''Dr. Lyman Abbott" I said. ''once told
me that character is Christianity
DR. Abbott is right l hold that
| Christ is the Divine Son Of God and the
! center Of all kindness. mercy. justice. and
righteousness. Abraham. Isaac, and ia
cob believed in Christ, although they
never heard HIS name. The good that
men do is from Christ, and that is Chris
| tianity."
but is church membership necessary
\ 70 salvation?"
NO; plenty Of men out Of the church
are saved-more, perhaps, than are in
the church"
do you preach a personal devil?''
There are many human interpretations
and descriptions of heaven and hell" DR..
Conweu answered Il don't care for
them myself Being old fashioned about
the Bible. believe what # says. preach,
and en- sustained, 1 think. that good peo-
pie VIII go to heaven. but that bad peo-
pie won't"
How have you built up the largest
Protestant congregation in the United
| StatesY'
Thousands Are Baptized.
1T has been built by personal work on
the part of the people and the pastor.
have baptized 5000 men and women In a
single year For five years seven persons
joined the church each Sunday. Seven,
| by the way, has always been my fortu-
nate number.
Strangers WHO come to the temple
are treated cordially. We take them by
the hands and tell them we are glad to
/ have them in our pews We learn their
names and follow them persistently. in
telligently, and tactfully. So far, we have
declined TO hold revival meetings Of our
own. Evangelists have preached at the
! temple because II is the largest church in
the city, but they were under the man
/ agement OF other religious organizations
or denominations. Each year we have a
fair that lasts for n week. The idea, I
am sure, originated with US We sell all
kinds OF things, but money-making is
merely an incident in the purpose. The
object OF the fair Is to bring the people
Of the church together and to attract
strangers.
This year we had a week OF games.
One night. for example. thirty shuttle
! boards were in operation. On another
/ night our thirty-One deaoons PLAYED
basketball with the trustees. and I was
referee of the games. We also had races
OF different kinds. Friday evening was
given over to the children. On Saturday
night all the winners OF the week came
/ together in final tournament. Nearly
| 900 persons took part in the contests.
They were seen beforehand and told what
they were expected to do. The scheme
you see, Is TO bring IN people from the
/ outside, to form their acquaintance. TO
visit them at their homes. and finally to
get them into the congregation.
Fairs Are EvanEeiiStic.
so our fairs, seemingly social and COM
mercial, are really evangeIistic Ordi-
nariy, a fair adds 800 persons to orr mAr,-
| bership Let me add, DR.. ConweII 49,
on TO say. that there Is unity In tho
/ Baptist temple We have had q com
mittee on discipline for twenty-six wears
but no one has ever come before II
either TO defend himself or 70 make
charges. We used to have a Committee
( on employment. To-day, when a Young
fellow says that he has lost his lob sew
eraI hundred men in the church become
! MS enthusiastic agents, and in less than
a week he is at work again We are a
Christian family, loyal and helpful to-
ward one another, and the temple is as
much our home as is the house we live
in up the street.
DO you write your. sermons?"
L have never written sermon In nv
life; nor a lecture. l preach twice on
Sunday and talk briefly at the mid-week
prayer meeting. Saturday evening. or