The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-02-02
go TO CHURCH" DAY
FINDS PEWS FILLED
Plan to Bring Out WOrshippers
Meets With Success
in Brooklyn.
PASTORS ARE PLEASED
Only One, DR.. Clarke, Is Not
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
It "spsm."

20 to church Sunday" oboArvSd yss-
terday in Brooklyn by nearly oil Protss-
tant denominations, achieved q big sue
cess. A good many thousands Of persons
who usually don't 60 to church even In
the City of Churches filled the pews MORN
ing and evening
Or. $. Parkes Cadman at the Central
Congre tional Church and DR.. Newell
Dwight Hills at the Plymouth Church
had to turn people away.
With the exception OF DR.. l.. Mason
Clarke OF the First Presbyterian all OF
the borough's ciergymen interviewed by
THE SrN conceded that the day was a
success. Most Of them thought II ought to
be observed each year and there were In
teresting suggestions as to that from DR..
Hills and from DIR. James Taylor Dick
inson of the sixth Avenue Baptist Church.
Fine weather played II big part in the
success of the day, a fact acknowledged
freely by most OF the pastors But plenty
Of advertising. they agreed. had still more
To do with bringing out crowds. Tho plan
of go to church sunday had been sue
cessful In the West when the Brooklyn
Eagle proposed a trial OF 1t in the bor-
ough over the river Episcopalians,
Mcthodists. Presbyterians, Congregation
worLed hard ,oya,h.r Ia advertisc Feb
ruary as "A day to get the people out.
...,, 80. u..s
""' -'""s A"
Rabbi Alexander Lyons, arguing that
attendance at Jewish services wasn't what
II might be, was on a committee which
put "go to church legends all over
Brooklyn. from Greenpoint TO Bath Beach
The Brooklyn Rapid Transit helped by
putting the churches posters in Its cars.
DIR. Cadman told THE SuN that hun
dreds were turned away from tho Central
Congregational Church In the morning
after the church, which seats 2.1o0. had
been filed as full as safety allowed.
.The striking thing was that they all
STAYED to communion" said the pastor. II
preached "A short sermon-twenty minutes
on .rebeginning life and I told them
that those who wanted to rebegin their
lives had only to stay TO the communion.
I don't know that a soul left. 1t was
most wonderful That congregation was
yisibly moved.
We had present many people VINO were
Ths ;Iaa of the dav was a very erea.
SUCCESS"
Wanted All TO Feel ~ Home
The Rev. DR.. James NJ. Farrar, pastor
OF the Old First Reformed Church, had
g7s to hear him in the morning by actual
count. His church seats about $50. The
attendance was from 800 to 400 above the
usual Sunday morning CONGREGATION.
"The success of the day was far beyond
ANYTHING / expected" DIR. Farrar said.
mo. l did not make any reference to the
day I'm my sermon or otherwise. did not
pray for the newcomers either. l tried
TO make II n plain. usual service with a
plain, simple sermon. for wanted the
strangers to feel themselves at home;
didn't want them to feel that attention
was especially drawn to them"
Rabbi Lyons held his "all out" service
on Friday night and It was an big a sue
cess as the services OF yesterday. DR..
Lyons says that lie hopes to establish a
Sunday service for his people.
DR.. Nehemiah Boynton Of the Clinton
Avenue Congregational Church said ne
had 700 to hear him in the morning, which
was 400 over the usual congregation. The
attendance was lessened, he thought. by
its being communion service. Com
munion congregations are always smaller.
n.,. v~~..... n. rr..l>
Doesns A"'eres' nr' oAArN'
DIR. l.. Mason Clarke, dissenting wholly
| from the general chorus OF approval. said
| to THE SUN:
THE church was pretty full. IT gen.
orally is l did not preach special SER
mon or pay any attention to the go ia
church theme. I'm not interested In
these experiments, are your
He was told what the other pastors
said and commented:
well, It may have been good
spasm"
| Dr. Dickinson OF the Sixth Avenue Bap'
tist reported an attendance OF more than
500, which is 20 per cent above normal
His sermon was on "Ihe Giovious Mis-