The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-05-17

church are large. The pastors salary
Is in the neighborhood Of $4,000, and
there is an assistant pastor. also q pas
| tor for the Persian church and another
| for the Bohemian church. and q corps
Of employees at the church.
To visit the place is like stepping into
the Offices Of q big business house. There
is SO much telephoning as to require .
switchboard and the constant service
| of an operator. and there are secretaries
and stenographers and directors Of de-
partments and other church workers. The
membership Of the church In now 1.3oe
| the additions for the year closing April
l were 223, of these IL came by confess
sion. The Sunday school with its
branches numbers 1.0s1.
The dedication of the church began on
Sunday evening, May 10 with q sermon
by DR.. Stone to the workmen who built
the church and their friends. which was
something new in dedication services;
1t continues to Sunday the 17th- when
DR.. W. H. Roberts, clerk of the General
Assembly, and DR.. Stone will speak in
the morning, and in the evening there
will be a union service Of the church and
its affiliated and branch churches. A
HOldpic array Ol SpcdhcEs are On thc
program for the meetings during the
week. Nothing is being left undone to
make the church feel that its new build
ings had been deliberately and complete
ly dedicated to a most important work
in Chicago. Solid masonry has counted
for much in the history Of the church.
and so ought this cathedral Of Chicago
Professionalism to stand against the raw
ages Of time, the shifting of population.
the Entertainments Of business and the
disintegrating influences of the worldly
spirit
On the Thursday following the dedica-
ton services the Presbyterian General
Assembly will give the church an intro
duction to its wider place and usefulness
in the denomination by its gathering of
more than 1000 commissioners. And here
again the church will witness a rather
unusual spectacle. 1t will see its pastor
standing at the front door to welcome
the assembly and then going out of the
back door of the moderatorship. For DIR.
Stone is the retiring moderator. after
year of the most strenuous service which
followed an election of a somewhat SEN
sational character. At the election. which
occurred in Atlanta, he was sprung as a
dark horse; since then he has been
race horse, flying from one side of the
country to the other. His itinerary for
three weeks recently included trip to
Los Angeles, two trips to the Atlantic
coast, a trip to Minnesota and a Sunday
in his own church. How many banquets
he had to cover or how many after-dinner
talks were tagged on to the regular adj
dresses which he made cannot be stated.
And yet this rolling Stone gathered large
additions to his church.
1t is said in Presbyterian circles of Chi
cago that DR.. Maitland Alexander is like
ly to be the next moderator. but the
expected does not happen in the General
Assembly as much as 1t once did. There
has been some rebellion against fixing
things. Dr. Alexander is pastor of the
First Presbyterian Church at Pittsburgh.
where a stone thrown into a crowd would
hit a millionaire, and he is a millionaire
himself, but he gives away all his salary |
and goes in for Billy Sunday revivals |
with enthusiasm Of a baseball fan.
II is also said that DR.. Charles l. |
Thompson will retire from the secretary |
ship of the Board Of Home Missions. |
and that a Chicago man may be selected |
to take his place. The board is ending |
the year with a net deficit OF sss, 900. due
10 smaller receipts and increased work. /
There also is a serious controversy in
The denomination over the management
DR. methods Of the board. On one side
If this controversy a prominent New
York pastor says. THE board may find
I wise to spend the main part Of its re-
sources in constructive craftsmanship
-ather than in the painting and main
aiming Of churches" But this is just
What the board has been doing" says
he Presbyterian of Philadelphia, and
he churches are tired of it The Pres
,yteries do not propose to stand by and
Lllow the board to spend all or most Of
to money in the departments for expert
nentation and theorizing." Social work
md rural community work are the prin-
ipal causes Of the friction or division.
More local control by the synods will
,e demanded. It il akin to the State
lights question which was 50 prominent
n the Congregational conference held in
last winter. The Union Semi
lary controversy is an annual. and Of
course 1t is expected to arrive on time
n Chicago. But the Presbyterians have
hown remarkable ability In handling
important questions and they are not
kelly to fall down in the presence Of the
soths who will stare at them from the
,illars and arches and the carved angels
Who will cling to the brackets Of tbs
eiling and make the record for another