Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1911-02-18
BAD WEATHER
:. WAS NO BARRIER
FIFTY MEN ATTENDED THE MASS
MEETING AT FIRST M. e.
CHURCH.
DIR. THOMPSON TALKS

General Secretary From New York
Tells Of Principles Underlying
the Organization; Yester- :.
days Program.
Fifty men braved the rain and storm
last evening to attend the mass meet
ing at the First Methodist church, at
which DR.. Fayette L. Thompson OF
New York city, general secretary or
the Methodist Brotherhood, dehVereu
an address. Although the audience was
small those present were inspired win
the talk Of the New York speaker. Dr.
Thompson has a very strong personal
ity and every line on his face and every
sentence from his lips betoken charac-
ter and sincerity. On account OF the
small audience of men, DR.. Thompson
did not give any set address, but TOOK
parts from his various talks. He told
of the, principles underlying the Meth
odist Brotherhood. He stated that the
mems movement was sweeping over
the world and manly men were coming
to the front. The modern church IS
calling for a type of manhood equal TO
twentieth century opportunities:
until comparatively recently ne
said. "the women have had their
church societies, but there has been
no society exclusively for men, and
this has been one of the reasons, per-
haps. why the women have outnum'
hered the men in church membership
and church activities. 1t is great fact
that the modern secret society has fur
nished to the manly men something the
church has absolutely failed to sup.
nlv. There is a desire on the part OF
men to provide for this divinely I'M
planted instinct. Let the church cease
her criticism Of the secret society untll
she has supplied the want. am not a
member of a secret society and never
expect to belong to one, but l nave
often been impressed with the deep
and sincere tenderness and care OF the
secret society in the house OF sickness
and of mourning. 1t is there before the
church is and that Is not the fault oil
the society, but of the church. l don't
want the society to take the place CT
the church, but until the church SUP
niles this want, she must not crltlclse
the society"
Closes Brotherhood Rally.
The address by DR.. Thompson at
the mass meeting last night marked
the close of the brotherhood rally In
Ottumwa. The weather was very 1n-
clement and there were few. brother
hood men from neighboring towns in
attendance. About fifteen attended the
conference in the afternoon and the at
tendance at the morning session was
smaller.
Several papers on the program had
to be passed over, as the men to whom
the subjects had. been assigned were
not present.
should Furnish Entertainment.
The program yesterday afternoon
opened with a paper by f. L. Stickney
Of Moulton, His subject was. How TO
Work Up Brotherhood Gathering.
Mr.. Stickney stated the first thing was
to get down to preparation, then gen
eral organization, and then the pro-
gram. The program, he stated, need
not be one of instruction, but one to
entertain. One Of the most valuable
things to work up brotherhood gath
ering, Mr.. Stickney stated, was liberal
advertising, and he pointed to public
ity as one of the most important fea.
lures. At the conclusion Of Mr.. Stick
ney's address, his paper was thorough
" discussed. Some favored debates
upon some timely subject and the gen
eral thought of those taking part In
the discussion was that entertainment
should be provided at the brotherhood
sessions instead of making them re-
ligious meetings.
Brotherhood Bible Classes.
"The organization of Brotherhood
Bible class" was the title Of the adj
dress delivered by DR.. w. B. LaForce.
In opening his talk, Dr. La Force told
Of the bible class organized at Keokull
under the new movement while he was
resident there He stated that it was
founded on the brotherhood idea and
while bible study was the central
thing, there were three other. sub
jects-sociability, athletics and Chris
tian service. The adult bible classes, hs
asserted, was one of the greatest move
ments in the church. He stated that
men got their inspiration Of brother
hood from the bible, and that the
brotherhood would not thrive on social
life alone. DR.. LaForce asserted that
there was no subject of more vital in
terest than the bible.
DR.. Thompson followed DR.. LaForce
on the program, and combining himself
to discussion of DR.. LaForce's talk.
He stated that there was large num-
Der of so-called brotherhoods which
were not affiliated with the general
brotherhood. In some churches he
stated that mems bible classes were
antagonistic to the brotherhood, but
not so in the Methodist churches. The
Brotherhood Bible class, he declared,
were the biggest words in the English
language, as it interpreted the spirit
of Jesus Christ.
Solve Country Problem.
"The country brotherhoods, said
Dr. Thompson. "are working out the
country problem. The country dis
tricts are becoming paganized." The
speaker pointed out how the country
churches were being unsupported by
residents Of the rural districts and he
declared that one of the tasks Of the
country brotherhood was to revive in
terest in the church in the rural dis