The Washington herald., 1918-02-26
CURTAIN SOON
DESCENDS ON
BILLY REVIVAL
Records Show Campaign Of
Evangelist Has Been
Big Success.
BY ARTHUR JOYCE.

the curtain on the great elSnt weeks
marathon between Billy Sunday and
the devil. The strenuous evangelist
will begin today the last lap in the
contest that has stirred Washington
to religious fervor hever before ex-
perienced.
Billy's last sermon In the Capital
will be preached next Sunday night.
And on the following day he and the
members of his party will shake the
sawdust from their heels and HE
themselves westward for weeks
rest before the great Chicago revival
that will continue for ten weeks.
Campaign Unusual.
The campaign here has been un-
usual in many ways. Talk that the
revival was a "fiivver" is untrue.
There never yet has been a Sunday
campaign that has ''fiivvered." Many
persons judge the success or failure
of Sunday revival by the amount Of
money collected at the Tabernacle and
comparison with other cities Of the
''trail-hitting'' records. Such an es-
innate Is unfair. 1t would be just as
logical to Judge the worth of a base
ball team by the number Of "rooters"
in the bleachers.
For every one trail hitter" who
marched to the front" and publicly
accepted Christ during the campaign,
there were probably three others sit
ting in the Tabernacle wooden bench
es who mentally vowed to lead the
| better life" The average man or
woman has the bump Of modesty well
developed. They can't stand for the
"showy" things in life. They refrain
from attracting public attention and
, to them a walk down the "sawdust
afsles" is as inviting as an appeal for
a tango in q crowded department
store.
On this basis, therefore, there were
at least 5000 persons at the Taber-
nacle meetings who were strengthen
ed religiously by the evangelist as
against the 1900 who gave public
recognition of their regeneration
through walking the aisles" Yet
there is no way OF tracing the "men-
tai trail hitters'' except through the
records of the Washington churches
months after the campaign shall have
closed.
While the Tabernacle has been
thronged during every night meeting
in the eight weeks of the campaign
here, there can be no Judgment pass
ed on the actual campaign results un-
til a Retrospective view of the work
shall be taken six months or a year
from now.
Billy Sunday supplied the spark to
the religious flames at the revival
meetings. The ministers OF Wash
ington and the laymen who have at
tended the Tabernacle meetings will
fan the flames to q veritable confia-
grafton. But this will take time.
Religion is Topic.
The revival has made religion an
important topic for discussion these
days in Washington. And when you
can get several hundred thousand per-
sons talking religion, there's a re-
action due that forecasts big results.
Most everybody's singing the revival
hymns instead Of the ragtime pieces
and the new war-songs. You hear the
tunes everywhere in Washington.
Whether the talk has been pro-Bflly
or anti-Billy, it's been talked-and
that helps a lot. Billy has frequently
emphasized that he doesn't care what
brings people to the Tabernacle SO
long as they come, nor does he care
a rap what they think of his preach
ing methods. so long as they talk
about religion. The battles half won
when you get people to talk about It,
he argues.
Ministers will tell you they have
tried for years in their churches to
do what the evangelist has done here
in seven weeks. Records OF many
churches will show not more than a
handful Of new accessions in the last
year. In no case Is the minister to
blame. The secret seems to lie in the
appeal. Billy Sunday has ufdoubted-
ly "popularized'' religion, as is evil
denced by the number Of persons rep
resenting all walks of life-from the
top to the bottom-who have been
crowding his Tabernacle nightly.
Washington pastors are already feel
ing the effects of the revival in in
creased membership. Scores are
focking into the churches of various
denominations. Among the trial
hitters" have been representatives OF
almost every denomination, including
Roman Catholics, Jews, Unitarians,
Universalists and Christian Scientists.
In the "foIlow-up" work of the min
listers to ''land" these "hitters," big
percentage of them has welcomed the
opportunity to unite with the church.
Ministers are reporting a new awak-
ening in their churches and a gen.
eral desire of their constituents to
do somtehing' in the work Of leading
others to Christ.
Personal Workers.
! From the Tabernacle meeting will
| develop a persistent force OF lay per
sonal workers that is expected to dc
great things for the Washington
churches. This is the general opin.
ION of campaign workers and the min-
listers. They've become saturated with
| the work through association with the
| evangelist and Billy's persistent ap-
peals to his audiences to do some
thing for God" has borne fruit to q
remarkable degree.
The revival expense fund of s62, ,oOt
has virtually been collected. The col.
lections ran over a period of seven
weeks, while in some other cities they
were cleaned up in three to five weeks.
But these are war times and demands
for financial aid from the general pub
lie have been larger recently than al
any period in Washington's history
There's no fair comparison between
cities on the money proposition. since
each has its own peculiar local con-
ditions.
In no city where Billy Sunday has
| campaigned has there been such 9
large attendance at the meetings as
in Washington. And nowhere else
have so many soldiers visited tn,
Tabernacle. There's no accurate es,
innate Of the number Of persons who
have heard Billy preach, but the av.
erage nightly attendance has beer
about 10000.
MnA Coefe T oee NNA