The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1914-10-20
Chapter VII.

Chapter VIII.
It was In Chicago as under.secretary
of the Y. M. G. A. that DR.. j. Wilbur
Chapman first met Mr.. Sunday. The
earnestness and sincerity Of the young
man and particularly his close sympar
thy with the masses made q strong
impression upon the evangelist and
led to the offer Of position to travel
with him as an assistant. Those who,
in later days. chose to contrast the
methods Of DR.. Chapman and Rev. Mr..
Sunday often failed to take into ac-
count the difference In personal tenn
permanent and doctrine Of the two
men. Although they parted company
after two years they have always
maintained friendship and shown an
interest each In the work Of the other.
There can be no doubt that the two
years spent with DR.. Chapman were OF
great educational benefit to the aspir-
ing evangelist. DR.. Chapman was not
only thorough Bible student but q
magnetic speaker and good organ
izer; he had developed at that time
his peculiar capacity for doing great
deal Of work in q short space Of time,
capacity In which the student prob
ably outstripped the master In later
years but which at the time was val
liable training.
Mr.. Sunday frequently refers to his
period with Dr.. Chapman In his adj
dresses and always In the spirit Of the
greatest appreciation. DR.. Chapman.
then, as in later years, confined hin
efforts largely to cities Of considerable
magnitude. One episode to which Mr..
Sunday is fond Of abiding has to do
with campaign in Indianapolis. On
that occasion President BENJAMIN Har-
rison and his daughter we're In the
audience and 1t became possible for
Mr.. Sunday to extend In person an
invitation to the president to occupy
seat upon the platform. The argu-
ment which the young evangelist used
and which finally proved effectual was
that the spectacle Of q man 80 gener.
ally known and so generally revered
making a public confession Of his ad-
herence to religion and his faith In
the doctrine Of the church, would have
a powerful influence upon those In the
audience who had never taken such
stand He regarded It az one Of the
proudest moments Of his life when
he was able to lead Mr.. Harrison to .,
seat upon the platform.
With Dr. Chapman Mr.. Sunday got
frequent opportunities to test his ora
torical powers and to improve his
skill in the competition and handling
of his sermons.
Although he has never said 80, there
is feeling that It was q desire ON
his part to reach men who could not
be reached under the Chapman plan
that led Mr.. Sunday to embark In the
evangelistic work by himself and to
abandon the large cities. Anyhow.
this is what he did.
He went straight home to lows, the
state of his birth, and took up his
work in small towns. Places OF 5000
and 1000 we're the scenes of his very
earliest independent endeavors. and
through sheer lack Of material, accord
ing to his own account, he was driven
from place to place at intervals OF .
week or ten days. II had half dozen
sermons at that time" he says. and
when these had been used / had to
go on to the next place." During this
period Of his career tents were ire
quently employed because no audi
torium in these small places would
accommodate the crowds which from
the very first began to flock to his re-
vivals.
It was little later that Mr.. Sunday
became associated with M. B. VIII
liams, an evangelist Of considerable
note in his day and In that part Of tho
country. Mr.. Williams ia given credit
for being the father of the tabernacle
idea, an idea which Mr.. Sunday has
perfected and improved. and brought
to a magnitude and degree Of perfec-
ton Of which its inventor never
dreamed.
Elgin, H., has the honor Of building
the first tabernacle. II would seat
5000 people and had o chorus Of 300.
It was dedicated In December, 1900.
From this 1t will be seen that ut tho
outset Mr.. Sunday preserved the ratio
| Of / to 10 between choir and audito-
rum. In the days when 10000 and
1900 capacity auditoriums became
actualities the choir had grown to
1000 and 100 members. The taber-
nacle idea originated in the early sos
and has been very generally adopted
by evangelists, particularly those CD
4 Grating In smaller communities or I'm
sparsely settled districts II remained
| for Mr.. Sunday, however. to demon
strate its utility under other cCndi-
tons such as Columbus. Toledo. South
Bend, WilkesBarre and PittSburg
have amply demonstrated.
The architecture Of the tabernacle.
| like its size, has besn . Development.
The prime requisite In every instance
Ia the best possible accommodation Of
| a large mase Of humanity within the