The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-12-19
HELL FIRE PASTOR
 WON'T BE FIRED
 IF HE CAN HELPIT
THE REV. J. ALBERT DEOJAY'S IDEAS ABOUT DEVIL AND PUN :: .ISHMENT NOT AT ALL ,.-
 POPULAR.
Leaders in the Congregation Turned Down When They Suggested Ex-
 pounding the Golden Rule.

Greenwich, Dec. 19-The Rev J. AL bert Deojay, whose old fashioned, si- mon pure gospel of hell-fire and brim- stone caused the deacons of the Bap- tfst church in Banksville, near here, I to separate him from his $525 a, year l job as pastor, is barricaded in his l home, and by advice of counsel, is defying the congregation to oust him. 1 The deacons say they are going to get
 a enew; pastor whose references from l the pulpit will not hit so near home and tfrat as they will need the parson- age they will evict MT. DeoJay and his 1 family, possibly today.
 | Dissatisfaction has been felt with 1 the Rev MT. Deojay ever since he
 said in a sermon a year ago: The l devil is in this church. Look about
 you and. you will see him" Natur- ally, the women looked about, and every man she saw immediately be-
 came a self-accused devil. This con gregation for thirty years had been
 accustomed to the gospel of earthly
 happines when MT. Deojay brought in ] the devil to perturb these contented l people. -.--
 | When the Ceiling Fell. l Incidents have occurred and recur- I red which made the pastor unpopular. On one occasion just after he had de- claimed with the enthusiasm and ora l tory of a revivalist that the devil was roosting in the belfry of the church a
 portion of the ceiling fell just beck @ | disclosure probably made the devil angry and he kicked a. section of the
 plaster1 off Anyway; it meant sx- | vile is not extrayagant.
 Why doesn't he let the devil aIone?''
 asked Deacon Abel Miller. We want ] to know more about how to be happy. iLet's have the Golden Rule l. On another occasion MT. -Deojay call
 ed at the home of Ebenezer Hobby, |
 Mrs. Hobby was i'll in bed The pas l tor was very solemn and asked per
 mission to read the Twenty third
 Psa1" 1a t9 ,;a Mrs; Hobby ho;En as got doMR s I through the valley of the shadow of death,'' when MT. Hobby, disgusted,
 ran down to the grocery store and neral service over his wife before she l was dead ] Of course, that added to the feeling GUS came to town he preached against letting the children go to it, that it was the playground of the devil and l that those who went to circnses suf- fered everlasting hell-hre. Deacon Abel Miller got right up in meeting and said the pastor was telling an un- l truth. except that Mir Miller made it I more eloquent and emphatic. One mo ther said the pastor had aroused her curiosity, and she was going to | | like.
 These straws continued to accunau- Hate against the pastor until the one was reached which. broke the cameHs 1 back. There are only two boys in 1 BanksviIIe who have grandfathers liv- ing, and when MT. DeoJay preached a l the speedway for hell, and that he had heard a little boy in Banksville cursing his grandfather. there were but two families involved Then he | aI< "a ffnfi1iaI nd | whffe he did not mention names every one thought he knew who was meant
 Refused To Be Discharged. l So, when Mir --Deojay's year was
 ended, several weeks ago, Deacons 1 Thomas Brundage notified him his services were required no longer. He refused to be discharged and a. meet 1 ing of the congregation was called and
 they ratified the deacons' action. But MT. Deojay held that he should re- l ceive three months notice, and re-
 of this city, to represent him. MT. Romme has notified the deacons that I if they try to dispossess the pastor from his home there will be trou- | ble.
 | EdeIbert Osterbanks, the village 1 blacksmith and janitor of the church, I refused to open the church for prayer | meeting Friday night and MT. Deojay walked up and down outside, praying by himself but quite auddbly. No one attended his prayer meeting outdoors. When he went to church last Sunday the doors were locked and the congre- gation remained in their homes He | again walked up and down in front of the church, praying and conducting a solitary service for an hour
 1 But, as a new pastor with fewer ideas about the punishment in the next world is to be engaged, the dea- cons say they will have to put Mr. l Deojay out of the parsonage Trou-