The call of the North. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1923-1924, 1923-11-14
CONGRECAT|ONL|STS
AND PRES. COOLIDGE

and PRES. COOLIDGE
As Is we'll known Calvin Coolidge
is the first President Of the United
States Of Congregational faith and
lineage. It has been q matter Of
speculation as to whether he were
actually member of the church and
q professed Christian, or only q
brother-in-law, as it was known Mrs.
Coolidge was a member in active
standing. Many thought when they
read that on Sunday, August s, fol-
lowing the tragic death of President
Harding, when the weight of his new
responsibilities and sincere grief for
his fallen chieftain were pressing
hard upon his soul, Mr.. Coolidge re-
ceived the communion at the hands
Of his pastor, surely the new Presi-
dent is q professed Christian. But
always there was a question mark be-
cause no one would state positively
just where Mr.. Coolidge stood and he
himself is the nations man Of silence.
But the meeting of the National
Council was the occasion if not the
cause for the removal of all doubt as
to the Presidents stand.
Coolidge Joins the Church
First came the election of Presi-
dent Coolidge as honorary moderator
of the National Council, and Mr.. Cool
idge's modest acceptance of the hon
or. This was on Wednesday, Octo-
Der II. The next evening a telegram
came to the pastor Of the First Con-
gragational Church of Washington,
the Rev. Jason Noble Pierce, who
was in Springfield as a delegate to
the National Council Of Congrega-
tional churches, announcing that ear
lier in the evening, Thursday, Octo-
Der 10, President Coolidge had been
officially accepted as a member of the
church and the time of his joining
had been dated back to August s,
when for the first time he had re-
ceived the holy communion in the
church.
It may have seemed to some q very
simple matter and to certain skep-
tical and suspicious critics it may
have seemed bid for the church po-
litical vote, but we are certain that
to the Rev. Mr.. Pierce, the pastor,
and to those who know the inner life
of President Coolidge the act was
fraught with the deepest religious
significance and was the result Of a
conviction which had its roots in an
overwhelming sense of the need of
God. Neither Washington at Valley
Forge nor Abraham Lincoln before
the Battle of Antietam felt a pro-
founder desire for divine guidance
than did Calvin Coolidge when he
faced the problems of this agonized
world as the head of the worlds
greatest republic whose material and
spiritual resources have placed it in
providential leadership.
The Rev. Mr.. Pierce gave a per-
sonal statement to the press in which
he said that President Coolidge
wanted to join the church at the
time he took the communion but he
feared his motives would be misun-
derstood. His election as honorary
of the National Council Of
Congregational Churches seemed to
open the way. The choice Of Wash
ington, D. c., as the place for holding
the next National Council in 1925
was undoubtedly Influenced by inter
est in President Coolidge and even if
he should not be in the White House
as President, he will undoubtedly
preside at one session as the honor
airy moderator.
The Edwards church in Northamp-
ton where the Coolidge family at
tends when at home, as already re-
ferred to, derives it's name from the
immortal Jonathan Edwards, who
was the most famous of Northamp-
tons pastors. When the church sexton
showed our party the Coolidge fam
lily pew he was asked whether Mr..
Coolidge was a Christian and wheth-
er he partook Of the communion.
This was on the very day President
Coolidge joined the church but be-
fore the fact had become known.
81 don't know whether Mr.. Cool
idge is a Christian or not and don't
think he ever took communion" said
the sexton, "but one thing is certain
he never failed to put his offering in
the collection basket"
The Congregationalists in the Ma
tional Council showed q fine ppre-
citation of the Presidents act by
treating it as a sacred, personal mat
ter and not one to be exploited for
denominational gain. While the fact
was given to the press, and it would
have been a crime against the coun-
try not to have done so, there was
no demonstration at the public meet
ing and no public congratulations
either in speeches or resolutions
Christian Advocate.
FIVE HUNDRED JOIN KHAN AT
FAIRMONT