Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1918-07-01
Several Webster City Churches Will
Unite in Sunday Evening Vesper
Services in Court House
Park.
DURING JULY AND AUGUST.
Laymen From Several Societies Will
Have Charge of Arrangements
for Meetings.

| WcUSlt ClIy 10 " ldNC uAlOh opcAA
air Sunday evening veSper services
| through the months of July and
August. Final arrangements for
these services were made yesterday
afternoon at meeting Of the city
| ministers held on the porch OF the
| Baptist parsonage. Except Chautau-
qua Sunday, these meetings are plan
ned for each Sunday evening through
the two months. They will be held in
the court house park. If the weather
be unfavorable the meeting Will be
taken into one of the nearby
churches. After considerable discus
sion as to the best hour for these
services, Z p. m. current time was
agreed upon as being most likely to
please and attract the most people.
The program of each meeting will be
in charge of one OF the ministers.
One of the ministers of the city will
preach at each service, but the name
of the preacher will not be announc-
ed beforehand. There happen to be
Just as many Sundays as there are
ministers in this vesper movement,
hence each minister will preach bul
once during these meetings. Thus
will the ministers be helped towards
summer vacation and the people
will get the maximum OF variety and
interest in this series of open air
sermons.
Business arrangements for this
series of meetings are in the hands
of committee of representative lay
men, one representing each church.
The committee is composed as fol-
lows: w. e. Gossard, Christian; DR..
T. B. Larrabee, ngregational; II.
E. Pringle, United Brethren s. K.
Virtue, Methodist; Charles Goehring,
English Lutheran, and John I Teal,
Baptist. The committeeman from
the Universalist church will be nam
ed later. This committee will have
charge of the business end of the
meetings. 1t will be the executive
committee of the movement. 1t will
arrange for the seating, the musical
instruments, chairs, parking Of auto
mobiles, hymnbooks, etc.
In addition to this committee, Rev.
J. w. Stiverson, pastor of the United
Brethren church, is the committee on
music. He hopes to secure the CO.
operation of community musical or
CARNATIONS to lead the singing and
provide special music from time to
time.
While complete arrangements have
not yet been made, it may be fore
casted that it is hoped that the COM
mittee of laymen may be able to have
the area south and east Of the band
stand seated with chairs or planks.
The committee will request auto
mobilists, of whom it is hoped a great
many will attend the meetings, to
park their cars head-on to the curb
ing along the two streets facing the
band stand. Thus parked automo-
biles will furnish excellent seats
from which both to see and hear.
In many cities such services as
are being planned here prove to be
very popular. They draw immense
crowds, sometimes amounting to
thousands. The singing is popular
and swings the crowd. Patriotic
songs are used extensively, also the
old favorite hymns of all the churches.
Ordinarily the service lasts about an
hour. The outdoor charm when
day is dying in the west casts a spell
upon the entire community. 1t is
like Chautauqua at its best. People
get the habit of driving in from the
country as they do in Chautauqua
time. The services promote the
community spirit. In this time OF
war it is a good thing for the entire
community to get together to worship
God and to fortify itself against dark
days to come.
The ministers of Webster City are
planning these services in the strong
expectation that they will be helpful
to the united religious life of the city,
and they bespeak the interest and the
attendance of the entire community.
Let everybody plan to attend all
these vesper services.
The Yoemen of Homer and their
friends enjoyed on ice cream social in
the Yoemen hall Friday evening. The
affair was Red Cross benefit and