USA > New York > New York City > A history of the Brick Presbyterian Church in the city of New York > Part 24
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A concrete instance may be given. At a meeting in January, 1871, the subject of poor sewing "was enlarged upon," the minutes tell us, and in the course of the discussion "one girl was alluded to as a great
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object of charity, but a very poor sewer." There- upon, the record continues, "Mrs. Odell cut the dis- cussion short by kindly offering to give her instruc- tion in her own house, to see if she showed any disposition to improve under proper teaching." It is pleasant to read in the minutes of the next meeting that Mrs. Odell's pupil already showed "decided improvement."
When the garments had been completed and the women paid for their work, the next problem was to dispose of the finished product. Occasionally, when a large stock had accumulated, donations were made to the Dorcas Society or other similar organizations, but for the most part the goods were sold. The prices were adjusted in accordance with a double standard: members of the society and their friends paid the full, or nearly the full, cost of materials and making; while to the poor and to charitable societies garments were sold at a small percentage of the cost-price.
In order to give some conception of the amount of work accomplished by this useful organization, the results of a single season chosen at random, that of 1871-1872, may be noted. Including the work done by the members during the summer months two thousand and ninety garments were cut out, and by the end of the season all but one hundred and eight of these had been finished. The sewers, who ranged from forty to seventy in number, had been paid $911.25. Garments sold had brought in nearly $900, and over $400 had been received in subscriptions and donations. As the years passed all these figures were materially increased.
Out of the Employment Society there grew another
"THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH" 333
organization. In order to follow up, in a more dis- tinctly personal and religious way, the work which the society was doing, a Bible reader, or visitor, had been employed, Miss Margaret Griffiths, whose duty it was to visit among the poor women of the mission. In the course of her visitations Miss Griffiths found a great many sick children whose need appealed to her most strongly, and to the women of the Brick Church, also, when she brought her report to them.
The proposition was made that the Brick Church children be organized to meet this emergency, under the direction, of course, of their elders. The result was the Children's Society, which flourished for many years, and did an excellent work, not only for the sick children on the west side, but also for the boys and girls of the Brick Church, whom it trained in Christian service .*
At the meetings of the society the girls were set to work at making simple children's garments, and the boys, who are, it must be confessed, somewhat hard to make useful under such circumstances, were fain to be content with making scrap-books. Besides this, a good deal of money was raised, and with it a work begun which was destined to extend far beyond the sphere to which it was originally limited. We shall in a subsequent chapter have a glimpse of the Chil- dren's Society during the next pastorate, and at a still later time shall learn how, in dying, it gave birth to another organization which remains and works to the present day.
* The originators of this plan were Mrs. Norman White and Mrs. James O. Murray. Others who aided them were Mrs. Alexander McLean, Miss Mary M. Roberts, Mrs. John E. Parsons, Mrs. W. G. T. Shedd and Miss Houghton.
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In this account of the activities of Dr. Murray's pastorate, which mark the beginning of the present era, we come finally to the benevolences, which, with the growing wealth of the time had so increased in amount as to render the old schedules quite inade- quate, and which were now reorganized on a modern basis. The five annual offerings arranged in 1838 had, with some changes in the objects, continued un- til 1864, when a sixth offering was added; but two years later the number was increased to nine, and in 1870 there were ten stated objects of Brick Church benevolence .* Except for the division of some of these into two or more, and the addition of two others, ; the present schedule is practically the same.
In 1871, in response to a recommendation of the Presbytery, an entirely different system was tempor- arily adopted, the so-called "plan of weekly giving," by which the members were invited to pledge a stated sum for each Sunday throughout the year, the entire amount so received being then apportioned by the session among the various causes. For a time the results of this change were highly satisfactory. In October, 1872, for example, it was reported that "the aggregate contributions for the past year have con- siderably exceeded those of the preceding one, al- though the new system was not inaugurated until the middle of December." But at the end of four years' time, when the excellence of novelty had worn off, it
* These were, Church Erection, N. Y. Bible Society, Brick Church Mis- sion, Board of Freedmen, Domestic Missions, Board of Education, For- eign Missions, Aged and Infirm Clergy Fund, City Missions, Board of Pub- lication. These offerings were taken on the third Sunday of each month except July and August.
t For Hospitals and Church Federation.
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"THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH"
was felt that for the Brick Church the old arrange- ment was, on the whole, more successful, and the schedule of ten specific annual collections was re- sumed.
The spirit in which the church at this time ap- proached this whole subject of giving is well illus- trated by the brief address on the subject of "Chris- tian Beneficence" which the session prepared in 1865 and published in the "catalogues" of the congrega- tion for 1866 and subsequent years. In this little publication, it may be added, no other department of the church's life, except the duty of Christian disci- pleship as a whole, was given so much space.
"That our prosperity as a church," the session declare, "is closely connected with the use of prop- erty for religious objects, is apparent from the Word of God. As an explanation of our frequent public contributions in the church, members are here re- minded of first principles made known in the Script- ures."
They then proceed to show that the religion of the Old Testament was inseparably connected with "statedly recurring tithes and offerings, so that no conscientious Hebrew could fulfil the duties of the sanctuary without necessarily becoming a systematic giver"; that the prophetic teaching of later Israel was no less emphatic on this subject; that "the pre- cepts and example of the Saviour confirmed all previ- ous teaching as to the importance of alms-giving, and gave assurance of great spiritual benefit result- ing therefrom," and finally that "apostolic authority enjoins Christian liberality as a grace in which Christians were to abound."
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Therefore, they conclude, "regarding alms-giving as an imperative Christian duty, an exalted Christian privilege, a means of grace, and an act of worship, the session of the Brick Church recommend all its members to accord to Christian beneficence a high place in their Christian life, and to see that it be un- ostentatious, cheerful, systematic and prayerful."
That this appeal of the session to the spirit of gen- erous giving in the people met with a large response, the statistics of the offerings for these years plainly testify. Though not so eloquent, in the form of ex- pression, as the words of the church officers just quoted, the figures reported by the treasurer from year to year did certainly possess a certain eloquence of their own. In 1865, the people had given about $19,000, a very large figure, it was thought at the time, and more than twice as much as had ever been given in any one year up to three years previous. But in 1866, the next year, the people of the Brick Church gave $61,550. The special work * which caused such an amazing increase at this time will form the subject of the next chapter, and for the present it is necessary only to notice the amount contributed. The next year, when the same special demand con- tinued, the contributions reached almost the same figure, amounting to over $59,000. This was re- markable enough, but when, after the special need of those two years has been met and left behind, the offerings continue, in 1868 and 1869, to aggregate as much or more, we become aware of a new standard of giving adopted by the people of the Brick Church.
* The building of the Brick Church Mission on West Thirty-fifth Street.
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After that there was, indeed, some falling off, but even so, there was no return to the old low figure of 1865. The congregation had learned how much they could give, if they chose, and were plainly dis- posed to take a large part in the religious and philan- thropic work of their day.
CHAPTER XIX
A WIDER HORIZON: 1857-1875
"When I ceased my active connection with the mission, I felt, and I had occa- sion frequently to say, that I looked upon the twenty years of my service there as the most profitable of any work in which I had been engaged. I doubt if there is any work in this city which bears larger or more satisfactory fruit than this." -- JOHN E. PARSONS, from an address in "The Story of the Christ Church Work," pp. 43 f.
"Behold, I have set before thee an open door."-Revelation 3 : 8.
O F all that was accomplished during Dr. Mur- ray's pastorate nothing can be compared in importance with the opening in 1867, of the Brick Church Mission Chapel. The work for which this building was provided has already been several times alluded to in this history, for it had been started ten years before the date just mentioned. We must now turn back to trace its progress through those earlier years. It is fortunately possible to tell the story almost entirely in the words of those who were themselves the foremost workers in the enterprise. *
* An address of Mr. John E. Parsons, first superintendent of the Brick Church Branch Sunday-school, delivered November 27th, 1905, and pub- lished in "The Story of the Christ Church Work," N. Y., 1906. Also a minute of the Brick Church session in 1866, on the origin of the mission, printed in the same pamphlet. It was signed by Dr. Murray as pastor, Mr. John E. Parsons, whose controlling influence in the work will be made abundantly evident in the succeeding narrative, and Mr. George de Forest Lord, another devoted laborer in the school "who taught the boy's Bible class," says Mr. Parsons, "I think down to the time of his death, certainly down to the time when I ceased to be superintendent [1877], and toward whom, during all his life, I entertained feelings of the warmest and most affectionate regard."
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"In the winter of 1857-1858," we are told-and we should remember that the present Brick Church was not then completed, "by a simultaneous impulse, two enterprises, one at No. 654 Sixth Avenue and the other at No. 1272 Broadway, were started for the purpose of furnishing religious instruction on the Sabbath to the children and young persons of the destitute section of the city lying to the westward of the Sixth Avenue. The former was principally sus- tained by members of [the] Brick Church and of the church at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Nineteenth Street, * while the latter owed its origin mainly to persons connected with the Scotch Presbyterian Church, ¡ though each extended an earnest invitation for aid to all those connected with the churches in the upper part of the city who felt a desire to assist in the Master's work. A description of the origin of one will explain the origin of both. It was in literal obe- dience to the injunction, 'Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.'" į
"In October, 1857, six or eight young men, with more faith and fervor than financial strength, were impelled to start in this part of the city a mission school. ... On a bright Sunday afternoon one of the number took his place at the head of the stairs, while the others went out to bring in boys from the street. First came one, then a second, then two or three more. Then there was a rush, and the room was taken possession of by a considerable number of
* The present Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church.
t Then in Fourteenth Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues.
# "Session Minutes."
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the young roughs of the neighborhood. They had been found playing ball, * had accepted an invitation, with the idea that more amusement might be afforded in the school than in the street, and they, with the others who had preceded them, formed the nucleus of what later on was to become the Brick Church Mission.
"They very quickly discovered that an essential feature of the fun was to obey orders. The first les- son on that line was taught that afternoon. It was followed up on succeeding Sundays, until there was established as a characteristic of the school . . . absolute good order." ¡
"The twin movements continued separate until the spring of 1859, [when] it was deemed by those having them in charge (they happening to be on terms of personal friendship) desirable to coalesce. The large hall į at the north-east corner of Broadway and Thirty-second Street was accordingly engaged, and there, on a pleasant Sunday morning in the month of March, 1859, teachers and scholars met." § From the time of this union two sessions of the school were held each Sunday, one in the morning, the other in the afternoon. Thus the children were fully provided for.
But it was soon found that another class of people had been drawn within reach of the influence of the work, for which the school did not provide at all.
* "And finally a company of boys found playing at ball, who at once contributed some fifteen or twenty hardened little Sabbath-breakers." "Session Minutes."
t Narrative of Mr. Parsons.
¿ On the third story.
§ "Session Minutes."
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These were "the parents and adult friends of the children." So good an opportunity as this, for en- larging the scope of the enterprise, was not to be lost, and accordingly "the services of a faithful mission- ary," the Rev. John Kimball, * "were secured, and in the succeeding winter [1859-1860], a church service on Sunday afternoons ; was started." ¿
It will be observed that during all this time the work was entirely independent, connected neither with the Brick Church nor with any other, except through the individual church members who carried it on and contributed to its support. The Brick Church provided such devoted workers as Mr. Thomas C. M. Paton and Mr. A. Gifford Agnew, but the superintendent, Mr. John E. Parsons, though in later years so closely identified with the Brick Church, was then a member of the Scotch Church, and it was from two of his fellow-members there that a considerable part of the money for the school's sup- port during its early years was derived. Mr. Parsons himself tells us in a peculiarly interesting manner how this came about.
"I received one day," he says, "a note from a member [of the Scotch Church] asking me to call. I did so. He began to speak about the school, and asked how we proposed to meet its expenses. In the
* See Appendix Q, p. 535.
t "As the child is father to the man, so the school was parent to the church. The need of a congregation for adult worshippers became appar- ent as soon as the school was fairly started. Some assembly for worship must be available for parents interested in the work through their children, some household of faith into which scholars could be received when they were ready to make their personal profession of the religion of Jesus." The Rev. James M. Farr in "The Story of the Christ Church Work." p. 16.
į "Session Minutes."
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enthusiasm of youth I expressed strong confidence that what we could not do ourselves would in some way be provided, we did not know exactly how or from what source. He asked what our rent then was. I told him $600 a year. He said he thought that would be about his share. And he went on to say that (although he would make no promise for the future), until I received notice to the contrary, I would, on the first of every month, receive his check for $50.
"Within a year or two he died. Not long subse- quently I received a line from his brother asking me to call. I called. He told me that in looking over his brother's accounts and papers, he found that once a month I was receiving this payment of $50. He asked me to explain what it was for. I did so. In almost the same words which had been used by his brother, he said that (although he would make no promise for the future), until I learned to the contrary I would receive on the first of every month, toward the ex- penses of the school, his check for $50, and for a year or more it was sent. I refer to this, not only because it shows how was justified the trust in Providence upon which we had relied, but particularly because Mr. Samuel Cochran and Mr. Thomas Cochran, the two brothers, were the great uncles of Mr. William D. Barbour, and it was not long after this that there began Mr. Barbour's connection with the school which, to its very great benefit, has lasted down to the present time."
And here it is pleasant to record that three others among the present workers in this school, the Misses Hatfield and their sister, Mrs. Alexander McLean,
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A WIDER HORIZON
have served for a term of years only slightly shorter than that of Mr. Barbour. They entered the work in 1864 and 1865, and it would be hard to estimate the value of their devoted service in the more than forty years that have since passed.
But to return to the progress of the work: at the same time that the school was showing a tendency, as has been related, to grow beyond itself into a church, its own members were rapidly increasing, so that larger quarters, especially for the accommodation of "a numerously attended infant class,"* were found to be necessary. In response to this demand "the three upper stories of the building No. 1285 Broad- way" were obtained, and thither the mission moved in the month of April, 1860 .;
"The standing of the school was by this time assured. There had gathered together a large corps of teachers, all young, all personal friends, and all devoted to their work. There had become es- tablished the morning Sunday-school service, pre- ceded by a short prayer-meeting, the afternoon Sun- day-school service, succeeded by periodical teach- ers' meetings, a Wednesday-evening service, and, with the assistance of students from Union Seminary, a preaching service,"¿ on Sunday evenings. "The enterprise as thus constituted continued until Novem- ber, 1862, without special church connection, and sustained by the voluntary efforts of those engaged in it." §
* "Session Minutes."
¡ Between Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth streets, where the store of R. H. Macy and Co. now stands.
į Narrative of Mr. Parsons.
§ "Session Minutes."
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"At this time there was being agitated in the Brick Church the question of establishing a mission school of its own. It meant," says Mr. Parsons, "that there would be withdrawn from our school a considerable number of valuable teachers, male and female. It meant that there might be two weak mis- sions in near competition, instead of one strong mis- sion." The result was an invitation to Mr. Parsons' school to become the mission of the Brick Church.
This plan had, indeed, been under consideration for some time, and the church had more than once extended this invitation in an informal way; but in 1862, the matter was taken up with a more definite purpose, and in November of that year the Brick Church officially assumed charge of the enterprise. The relation thus established was well defined in the following minute prepared by Mr. Daniel Lord and adopted by the session in April, 1863: "The session, having had in consideration the relation of the mis- sion school lately patronized by the congregation, express their view of that relation as follows: That by their pastors, elders, and other officers of this church they will foster and favor it in every way, and will favor its aid and support by the contribu- tions of the people. They will visit it, or see to its visitation by proper officers and delegates, and will generally supervise and promote its welfare. That the session, on the other hand, expect that their counsels and advice will be deferred to, and that be- tween the school and those engaged in its manage- ment and government, and the pastors, elders, dea- cons, and members of the church, a cordial, active, and hearty cooperation will be kept up."
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A WIDER HORIZON
During the first half year of this most profitable and providential union the Brick Church people gave to the work of the mission $1,195,* a true prophecy of the constant and generous support of later years. Immediately the second story of the building which adjoined the one already occupied was secured, and "the division wall sufficiently removed to make one larger room." Had it not been that the Civil War, which was at this time raging, checked the advance of every sort of aggressive enterprise, the mission would no doubt have been provided almost at once with a building of its own. That it was worthy of such accommodation had soon become evident to all.
The work was, in truth, growing in all directions. The Saturday morning sewing-school, which was to become an important institution, was started at this time. A children's prayer-meeting, and, a little later, a reading-room and library for adults were other new features. But especially the development toward a church, to be the centre and focus of the whole work, had become very marked. Mr. Kim- ball, the first missionary, had been succeeded, in 1862, by the Rev. A. E. Rulifson, and he, two years later, ; by the Rev. Govello B. Bell. By this time Sunday services were held in the morning as well as in the evening, and in 1865 it was proposed that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper should be celebrated at the mission on the evening of the same day on which it was celebrated in the Brick Church, one of
* The average annual contribution for the first seven years was $4,194.00.
" In the interval between these two, the Rev. Mr. Tait preached for a few months.
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the pastors of the Brick Church and the missionary officiating.
Of course, under the conditions then existing, all who, through the work done at the mission, were led to a personal acceptance of Christianity, became members of the Brick Church, and made their public profession there; and until this time it had been necessary for all such persons to go to the Brick Church in order to receive the Communion. But the session, when the matter was brought to their atten- tion by Mr. Bell, now decided * that there were con- vincing reasons for making a change. It was thought that the people of the mission, coming to the Brick Church for Communion only, felt themselves in some degree to be outsiders and strangers at a service where such a feeling was peculiarly unfortunate, that possibly some were actually deterred from becoming professed Christians because of these conditions, and that the effect upon the regular worshippers at the mission, of having the ordinance administered there, could not but be good. This important step toward the transformation of the mission into a church was accordingly taken.
In the winter of 1865-1866, the most pressing problem connected with the work advanced toward its solution. At that time "the great and general prosperity which followed the close of the war, afforded the hope that success might attend an effort on the part of the Brick Church to erect a building for its mission, and for the accommodation of the various services which had grown about it." } A
* In June, 1865.
+ "Session Minutes."
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committee was accordingly appointed by the mis- sion workers themselves, and so energetically did they take up the task, that when they laid their plans before the trustees of the church in May of 1866, they had secured pledges amounting to $40,000,* and had actually bought "three lots on the south side of Thirty-fifth Street, west of Seventh Avenue," t where they proposed to begin building at once. }
A year and a half later, on October 20th, 1867, the Brick Church Mission Chapel, at No. 228 West Thirty-fifth Street, was dedicated. § The building (known in more recent years as Christ Church) will be well remembered by many readers of this volume. It was built of brick, with light stone trimmings, and presented its gable end to the street. Below, on the
* The pledges for definite sums amounted to $38,200 and four gentle- men had promised to bring it up to the figure named in the text. The sum subscribed had increased to $41,370 by April, 1867, while over $26,000 was added the next year.
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