New Britain herald., 1921-11-26
WIFE
 OCCUPIES PULPIT
Mrs, ]. |. Davis Comes to Fore
 n Emergency

Owing to slight misunderstanding in the program for the Goodou evan gnlstic services scheduled for yeater- day afternoon in the Methodist church Rev. Dr. Goodell preached q diHcrcnt sermon than the one adver- tised aad one jocal minister appear ed at the church and he did not stay for the service. The wife of the lo- cal Methodist minister otticiatod in the pulpit in the absence of her hus- band.
 Preached Wrong sermon.
 The sermon which had been an nounced on placards printed some or other Dr., GoOdcll was not aware of this and had announc- ed few days ago that he would preach on prayer Local ministers did not know of the change in plans and all but the one referred to stayed away. Rev A. B. Taylor appeared in time for the meeting, but seeing no men and being told that the other ministers did not feel like "butting in" to a mothers meeting, he stayed outside the auditorium, although he was seen shaking hands with Dr. Goodell after the service.
 Takes a Welshman To Do It.
 WAen it came time to start the service, Rev. Dr. Gocdell was the only in the building. But the training and environment of genera tions of ministers served in good stead, Mrs. John l.. Davis, is the wife of Rev John L. Davis, pastor of Trinity NJ. E. church, of this city; she is a grand daughter of the late Rev. William Hughes, Presbyterian minister in Wales she is the daugh- ter of Rev. R. w. Hughes, a Congre- gational minister who filled one pull pit in Iowa for 40 years. She is the niece of Rev. Robert Roberts, now pastor of the Welsh Presbyterian church in Rome, New York, and her fondest hopes are that her son, Phil lip r. Davis, whose initials are P. II. D. (Ph. D.) will turn out to be a minister. And so it was that Mrs. Davis had the honor of filling the pull pit before the largest afternoon con- gregation since the opening of the services.
 Worked Like a Veteran.
 But the sturdy Welsh blood, which never brooks defeat, combined with a life long atmosphere in minister ial environment, did not phase Mrs. Davis. She opened the service as though it were the most natural thing in her life announced the hymns with as much, if not more, calm ser entity than her distinguished husband; called for volunteer prayers and led the first one herself; held the respon- sive reading of the afternoon with as much tranquility as a veteran plat form orator and turned the meeting over to Dr. Goodell unruffled and not a bit fiustered,
 Missed the Preachers.
 Not aware that he was about to de- liver a sermon not scheduled for that occasion, Dr, Goodell, in commence ing his talk, commented upon the absence of his brother ministers and intimated that maybe they might not have sufficiently recovered from Thanksgiving. He spoke of the at tention the meetings are attracting in the city and said fathers and mothers have consulted him about their chill dren, Sunday school teachers have ap- preached him about their pupils and others have asked him to see certain friends. He said he felt this was a remarkable achievement after three or four days inasmuch as Billy Sun day Rev. pr. Henry w. Slough, Mich olson, Hummer, Spooner and other evangelists of national fame do not extend an invitation until the begin ming of the third week.
 The Secret of Prayer.
 The secret of prayer was the gen. eral theme of the afternoon session The speaker stated that hardly one person in a thousand really knew what a genuine prayer was, T, my self, was in the ministry for years before I really knew what a prayer was," he said.
 Some Still Survive.
 Why" continued the speaker, i've used to have some old saints years ago in our churches whose sole idea of a prayer was to pray so loud and long that they finally thought they brought God around to their own terms. Their prayers were simply teasing God for something they want ed to get They thought if they made their minds up solid enough and shouted loud and long enough they could get just whatever they want ed. We pray for health and we pray for wealth. How do we know what's