New Britain herald., 1915-02-04
REV. KEESf RECEIVES
 SECOND URGENT CALL Queensland Church in Australia
 Wants Him to Accept. GETS TWO OTHER TENTATIVE OFFERS

Generous Pastor of German Baptist
 Church Has Three Separate Pastor
 ates Under Consideration. He Will
 Inform Congregation Tonight.
 One formal call to accept a large pastorate in far away Australia, and two informal hints at possible calls to parishes in North America. one in the state of Saskatchewan in the British Northwest and another from large city church in the Middle West, are being considered by the Rev. Frederick Reese, pastor of the Ger man Baptist church in this city and will be disclosed to his congregation at the midweek service this evening.
 Second Call to Antipodes.
 That the local clergyman is much in demand and that his ability in the field of religious teaching is acknow- 1edged and appreciated is evidenced from the persistent call from the Antipodes. Last May the German Baptist church at Queensland, Aus tralia, rendered Pastor Reese a for mal call to take charge of their parish Although the offer was fiattering enc the clergyman, after due con- sideration, decided that his work in New Britain was still incomplete and declined to accept the call. Again in October the Queensland church sent him an informal letter, asking if he would care to consider another call at that time.
 01, T11n- +l,I H. he received his second formal call from Australia and is carefully con- sidering it. Under his regime as pastor the local German Baptist church has increased in every direc- tion until today it stands as one of the strongest in the state Previously Pastor Reese was deterred from fur ther consideration of going to the An tipodes by the severe illness of his wife, but since then he has suffered her loss through death and now feels that possibly there is field for greater work in the far southwest. This church is the largest of it's de- nomination on the continent of Aus tralia, and has a membership of over 800. In the letter accompanying the call Pastor Reese was informed that there would be no danger for him on the Pacific, and that an American citizen such as he is has nothing to fear in Australia if he keeps out of mischief. Furthermore it was argued without a shadow of doubt that as the minister, being in the business of doing good to all people, would be able to do much more there, espe- ctally to the people there who are British subjects
 To lend further weight to their or guments the Australians sent a num- Der of picture cards of the country and the people of the district and as an additional argument enclosed the photograph of a brother clergyman riding in his automobile.
 Letter From Western City.
 Last week Pastor Reese received a letter from a large church in a city in the middle west, asking him if he feels in a position to consider a call to the church there While Pastor Reese is withholding the names of the place, he says that it is a fairly large city and the church is also a big one.
 Another From Saskatchewan.
 From the Canadian northwest came a similar letter yesterday. Pastor Reese was informed that it might be possible for him to secure the pas torate of the largest church in that Bection if he would consider a call l there.
 Just where his path of duty lies the | has not been able to deter ] mine but he will probably consider | the situation from every angle before | taking any decisive step.
 Has Had Successful Pastorate.
 Since his advent into the church life l of New Britain a number of years | ago the Rev MT. Reese has endeared himself to his congregation and other friends about the city. He is known as an honest and conscientious work CT and his act of a few days ago in giving back $100 of his annual salary because of the hard times shows more clearly than words can express the exact type of whole hearted, Christian nan that he is.
 In remarking on his giving back a part of his salary, Pastor Reese said: After preaching the sermon last Sun lay morning on The Battle for Our Daily Bread I felt inclined to offer o my church a reduction of $10O rom my salary. informed the church board of my intention on the same afternoon and the church ac- ,epted my proposal at the business meeting on Monday evening with much gratitude"