USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > The first century of Central Congregational Church, 1852-1952 > Part 3
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The three-day 50th Anniversary was over in March, 1902. The membership of Central Church, seven hundred and fifty strong, had paused to confer together, to take ac- count of stock, to review their half-century of church life, and to give thought to the future.
They saw themselves soundly established as a vigorous and congenial center of religious leadership in the heart of a growing community of high-minded and forward-looking people. As to tangible assets they were housed in a sub- stantial and beautiful church building with its adjoining Memorial Chapel, they were actively supporting the Portu- guese Mission at Fox Point, and they were contributing
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substantial sums of money for work in foreign missions (to seven organizations), in home missions (twenty organiza- tions and individuals) and for aid to some twenty-four local charitable projects. And they were now free from debt.
As to intangible assets the men and women of the church, young and old, were giving themselves in many personal ways. Volunteer teachers served the Sunday School; its sessions were averaging one hundred fifty in attendance. Committees were active in a varied program of church and community work and social service: classes and clubs among the Fox Point Portuguese; a foreign missions committee of men, one of women; a women's sewing circle for a dozen home mission projects; a YMCA committee; a men's civic club of 90 members; the Marsh Paper Mission distributing magazines and books to the mariners of the New England coast; committees on ushers, flowers, care of the buildings, and aid to the needy.
Leadership was thus distributed broadly throughout the people of the parish. Supervision of the executive manage- ment of the church and the "Society", which was the cor- porate owner of the property, was allotted to the Standing Committee, chosen each year to be the organization's stal- wart board of directors.
And underneath these visible activities there flowed a deep and steady undercurrent of devotion quietly broadening its influence as the beautiful church services drew more and more people of the busy city to join the reverent family circle of Central Church in its worship of God.
All in all Central Church stood well up on the splendid
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list of Congregational churches of New England. Here in- deed was an attractive field of work for a new minister who should be asked to take the leadership.
All that Spring and Summer of 1902 Central Church ex- plored the field of Congregational ministers in search of a successor to Dr. Moore. In October the committee was pre- pared to report, a church meeting was called, and an invita- tion was authorized to be formally tendered to the Rev. Henry Evertson Cobb, D.D., of the West End Collegiate Church of New York City. Two weeks later came a call for another meeting of the church to hear Dr. Cobb's re- sponse ; his letter was dated November 10, 1902.
It was my full purpose [wrote Dr. Cobb] to come to you and I so informed your committee. Since that purpose was formed however certain disastrous and far-reaching consequences which I could not foresee and which are indeed unprecedented and peculiar to this field have made it clear that it is my duty to remain in my present charge.
Dr. Cobb's "regrets" were never explained. Two months later the committee recommended that the Church call the Rev. Edward F. Sanderson of the Washington Street Con- gregational Church of Beverly, Massachusetts. The com- mittee stated that they
were all united in their estimate . . . a man of strong personality, pleasing in manner, a good speaker and preacher with a fine voice and delivery, of good ancestry, a graduate of Amherst College and Hartford Theological Seminary.
Mr. Sanderson's acceptance came promptly; it was in
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January, 1903. In his letter the young minister voiced his ambitions for his new charge; his ideals were high and his spirit dynamic.
My heart's desire [he wrote] is that Central Church may be a temple of communion with the Living God, a refuge for the heartsick, a school for instruction in Christian discipleship, that it may be a fountain of inspiration for this life and a gateway unto the life which is to come.
Call for a Council of the Rhode Island Churches was issued jointly by committees of the Church and the Society. The Council convened on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 28, 1903; ministers and delegates from all over the state were in attendance, and felicitations to Central Church and its new minister were hearty. From many of the neighboring churches came particular words of welcome; the Rev. Asbury Krom spoke for "Round Top," the Rev. Wallace Nutting for Union Church, and the Rev. J. J. Wooley for Pawtucket's Park Place. President George Harris of Am- herst and President W. H. P. Faunce of Brown presented their eloquent congratulations.
That evening came the installation. The Church was filled, the program was noteworthy. Dr. James C. Vose, pastor emeritus of Beneficent Church, led the service. President Faunce, Mr. Nutting, and Dr. Moore, then of the Harvard Divinity School faculty, made moving addresses. Loyalty and interest overflowed from the church member- ship out into the community, and the installation was a
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memorable event. The new minister, thus warmly welcomed, was a young man of thirty, magnetic, handsome, unmarried, and abounding in energy. His appreciation for his new church was keen. As he told his congregation a few months later at his first annual meeting, "This church is a great working church, it is like a great heart pumping out life all the time".
A great working church it was indeed. The busy groups of men and women that had so impressed the new minister continued their tasks with faithful zeal. Some 550 families made up the church membership of well over 750 persons; the church building and Memorial Chapel grew steadily in usefulness and importance as a center of East Side religious life. New projects were added: the young women formed a new Social Service League with 37 members; the Knights of King Arthur, formed in 1904, was a lively experiment in chivalry for the boys of the congregation; Mr. Sanderson held literary evenings when an interested group read and discussed poetry and drama.
Reaching out beyond its own borders in Diman Place, the Church was steadily increasing its responsibilities in wider fields. To local charitable projects it contributed some $5,000; the list began with the important Portuguese Mis- sion and included 28 organizations as beneficiaries. The ladies of the church were particularly busy with work for home missions; in addition to clothing and supplies, $4,500 was devoted to helping a list of poorly-off communities. To foreign missionary fields $4,000 was allotted; the list in- cluded a mission at Chihuahua, Mexico, Dr. Grenfell's
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Hospital in Labrador where Miss Jessie Luther had organ- ized its handicraft classes, Dr. Humes' church in Bombay, and a dozen other causes.
The year after Mr. Sanderson came, the Society built for the Portuguese Mission a new brick chapel on Sheldon Street to replace the old Transit Street quarters. The chapel was dedicated with general congratulations to "Missionary" Manuel R. Martin and to the Mission's hard-working execu- tive committee: The Rev. Fred B. Hill, Central's assistant minister, Mr. Frederic H. Fuller, Mr. Charles W. Bubier, Mrs. Franklin J. Sawtelle, Miss Ruth A. Haskell, and Mrs. William MacDonald. For the finance committee Mr. Francis W. Carpenter reported that $9,282 had already been raised by contributions to pay for the new chapel, besides which the church had appropriated some $3,000.
Sunday morning services in the beautiful church edifice were a growing attraction. It was before the days of free pews, but the pew owners cordially shared with all comers. The music, supervised by Mr. John H. Mason and under Miss Helen Hogan's skilful and devoted direction, was notably excellent. And, to crown it all, Mr. Sanderson's engaging sermons were warm with spiritual feeling and appeal. To attend Central on a Sabbath morning was a social event; frock coats and silk hats were plentiful, and the in- sidious automobile was not yet in the peaceful scene. Central was a community institution; many Brown students made it their "church away from home", visitors in goodly numbers availed themselves of a sure welcome and the pews were well filled.
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THE RESCUE MISSION
In the downtown center of Providence, within a stone's throw of the old Central Police Station, there was in the early 1900's a rescue mission for unfortunates. The Mission had its headquarters in an ancient wooden structure that had been the home of some well-to-do family in the days when Fountain Street was a residential section. It was known variously as the Fountain Street Mission, the Rescue Mis- sion, the Ministry to the Unfortunate, and in later years its successor, Church House, had its own brick building on Wickenden Street. The threefold purpose of the Mission was "care of discharged prisoners, care of fallen women, and care of their children".
When Mr. Sanderson came to Central Church the Foun- tain Street Mission was under the charge of the Rev. Frank H. Decker, a former Congregational minister. Money to support the Mission was contributed by various individual donors and churches.
Mr. Sanderson became greatly interested in this "min- istry to the unfortunate" and gradually devoted increasing energy to it. Mr. Decker was active day and night; money was needed, and he was an untiring special pleader for the unfortunates and their rescue.
The first official notice of the participation of Central Church in the responsibilities of conducting the Mission appears in the records of the Church under date of December 5, 1907. On that evening the church was called "to discuss the matter of appointing a minister for the Fountain Street Mission".
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There is no report as to Mr. Sanderson's presentation of the Mission's problem or of any discussion thereon, but some light is shed by a statement made a few weeks later when Mr. Sanderson told the church that the Mission's need of increased financial support had become imperative. At all events the church meeting took formal action:
By vote of the church the pastor was empowered to engage a minister to undertake work among the unfortunate, said minister to be re- sponsible to the pastor and the pastor to be responsible to the Church for his work. That the pastor be given the privilege of raising funds for this work and of assuming the financial responsibility for the same.
Mr. Sanderson was now deeply involved in Fountain Street. He had won consent of the church for a full-time minister and on the front page of the church calendar, fol- lowing the names of Mr. Sanderson, minister, and Mr. Fred B. Hill, assistant, was added, “Rev. Frank H. Decker, as- sistant minister in charge of the Fountain Street Mission". And Mr. Sanderson not only appealed to the congregation for funds but joined Mr. Decker in seeking money from downtown men of affairs.
But the situation was an awkard one. The church vote giving its pastor the privilege of assuming the financial responsibility for the running of the Mission created a dual allegiance. The task was a heavy one even for a man of the abounding energy and zeal of Mr. Sanderson. He appealed to the congregation, and several hundred dollars was sub- scribed. But much more was needed.
Three months went by and the Mission's finances were ebbing. A business meeting of the church was called "to
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consider plans for the ministry to the unfortunate". Mr. Sanderson addressed the meeting. He described the work of the Mission embracing its three-fold objective, "care of the discharged prisoners, care of fallen women, and care of their children". He voiced his conviction of its importance and said that "some definite plan was imperative for its con- tinuance".
An earnest discussion followed. The problem was a serious one. Everyone was in sympathy with the motives of the pastor, everyone approved financial contribution to the Mission's work. Adoption of full responsibility, which would include rent, salary of minister in charge, running expenses, and assumption of a project admittedly expanding in cost, called for sober consideration; the decision would be a vital one for the welfare of Central Church. Participating in the discussion were many of the active leaders in church work: Messrs. Seeber Edwards, Fairchild, Fuller, Jackson, Hunt, Torrey, Miss Bancroft and Mrs. Jackson. It was finally voted that the ministry to the unfortunate be referred to the Standing Committee for an early report. The meeting closed by voting that "the Church desires to express its sympathy in this movement and with the hope that means may be found for its enlargement". A week later the Standing Committee brought in its report.
The Question of Ministry to the Unfortunate.
The Committee deems it wise for the immediate future to develop that work only along present lines. To this end we recommend that the matter of renting and equipping quarters adequate to immediate needs be entrusted to a committee consisting of Mr. Sanderson and three members to be chosen by the Church.
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The Church meeting accepted the report, and to serve on the committee with Mr. Sanderson they chose Messrs. Frederic H. Fuller, Frederick H. Jackson and Arthur W. Fairchild.
It was on a Thursday evening late in March, 1908, that the Church accepted the report. The summer went by. Mr. Sanderson went to Europe, returning in September. Autumn activities began, people were returning from vacation, the pews began to fill up again. So far as the attentive Sunday morning congregations were aware, Central Church was pursuing its widening path of community usefulness in per- fect harmony. Few knew of the seriousness of the problem of the Fountain Street Mission.
On his return from Europe Mr. Sanderson told the Stand- ing Committee of his unabated desire that the Church adopt the Mission. The Committee, called together for a special meeting on September 28, 1908, weighed the problem. Two of the committee were for proceeding with the task as pro- posed by Mr. Sanderson. But the majority of eight felt that the burden would at that time be an unwise one for the church to assume.
The decision of the majority of the Standing Committee was a serious blow to the plans which Mr. Sanderson en- visaged for the Mission. The issue was now clearly drawn. Could the minister yield to what he believed to be a wrong decision of the committee, was the decision final, should he in the face of the committee's advice against it make a direct appeal to the Church and congregation? These questions formed the young minister's personal problem.
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On a crisp October Sunday morning, two weeks after the meeting of the Standing Committee, Mr. Sanderson preached to a good-sized audience, and at the close of the sermon he read his resignation. The congregation was taken completely by surprise. He explained at length his reasons:
At a special meeting of the Standing Committee on September 28 [he said] eight members of the Committee gave their opinion that the retention of the Rescue Mission on Fountain Street as an integral part of the work of Central Church was neither practicable nor desir- able. Without committing the Church they informally expressed their conviction that this work ought not to be continued for another year in its present relation to our organization.
This opinion I find myself unable to share . .. My conviction remains unshaken that such a work as this Church voted to sustain here is practicable and desirable.
In the light of the New Testament teaching there seems to me to be something unspeakably valuable and beautiful in the sympathetic union of a church of culture and of financial strength with the ignor- ance, the degradation and the poverty of the life of its own city. Should I as your minister consent to a withdrawal of our Church from the work which it has undertaken, after I have seen with my own eyes fruits which justify it, I should be sacrificing not an opinion merely but a deep and conscientious conviction. On the other hand it seems impossible to insist upon this conviction without disturbing the harmony which has ruled here in such unbroken beauty thro' many years.
My resignation becomes therefore the best possible course for both Church and minister and I hereby call a special meeting of the Church to be held in Memorial Chapel Wednesday evening, October 14 . .. I feel assured that you will continue the loyalty of the past by granting me now a generous release.
The audience listened to the resignation in shocked be-
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wilderment. As the service ended, groups of the congrega- tion gave hushed voice to their surprise and dismay. On Wednesday evening the whole membership filled Memorial Chapel. Mr. Sanderson did not attend. The Church clerk, Mr. James C. Kimball, called the meeting to order ; Deacon Frederic Fuller was elected moderator. Mr. Fuller led in prayer and Mr. Kimball read the letter of resignation.
Details of the meeting appear rather fully in the book of Church records kept by Clerk Kimball. They give a picture of warm but for the most part courteous discussion. The unprecedented possibility of a rift in Central Church hovered over the meeting.
The Standing Committee took the brunt of the discus- sion. Criticism of later days, that the committee "ran every- thing" was not voiced. Two of the committee believed that Mr. Sanderson could successfully carry out his enlarged program for the mission, that the people of the Church and perhaps a wider group would rally to produce the money needed. Eight men of the Committee stood for a realistic continuance of the current program of aid to the mission but felt that adoption of financial guarantee of the greater pro- ject-rent, minister in charge, and running expenses-was an unwise leap for the Church to take.
Mr. Horatio B. Knox, Superintendent of the Sunday School, represented the view of the minority who favored all-out support of the mission. He explained his position thus: "I am heartily in accord with Mr. Sanderson's views and work at the Fountain Street Mission. It has been ex- ceedingly difficult for me to have to differ from others
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of the committee." He then offered a resolution paying warm tribute to Mr. Sanderson and accepting the resignation "only because of the final and absolute character of the request".
Mr. Arthur Fairchild seconded the resolution. He was of the majority of the committee and had had the experience of serving with Mr. Sanderson on the group to rent and equip quarters for the mission.
I wish to express my regret at differing from Mr. Knox [he said] but I do not feel that wisdom justifies continuance of this work now. I am a great friend of Mr. Sanderson. I love that man, and his resignation came to me like a bolt out of the clear sky.
Speaking for the mission committee itself, Mr. Fairchild told how he and Mr. Fuller "had spent much time looking at property to lease, but nothing suitable could be found with- out great expense for alterations". They finally secured the present quarters on Fountain Street at a rental of $1000 a year, this being half the $2000 appropriated.
Before Mr. Sanderson went abroad, [he continued] the problem presented itself as to how funds should be raised to carry on during the summer. Mr. Sanderson had made a plea from the pulpit for a fund of $1600. Of that sum only $300 was pledged. ... Already the work has cost over $4000; will naturally expand; it seemed unwise to try at this time to carry on the work.
Mr. Knox spoke again:
There never has been any attempt, in or out of the committee, to badger Mr. Sanderson, never a criticism of him or a hard word to him. In advice given it has been with the honest desire to act for the best interest of the Church. It seems the right thing to give Mr. Sanderson the release he requests.
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Professor William MacDonald took the floor. He was professor of history at Brown, having come to Providence from Maine the year before Mr. Sanderson was called.
Mr. Sanderson has asked me to speak for him [he said]. But first [as Clerk Kimball's records narrate] he wanted to say a word as a member of the Church. The matter of the Rescue Mission was not the only cause of Mr. Sanderson's resignation. Ever since Mr. Sanderson came, certain people have been working against him to try to drive him out. The important thing is are we going to allow our minister freedom of speech in the pulpit. .. . Mr. Sanderson offered to stand responsible for the financial part in case the Church failed in it; .. . he offered, if this project caused a falling off in the benevolences, to make up the deficit. The Standing Committee voted it down.
Professor MacDonald asserted that it would be cold- blooded to adopt Mr. Knox's resolution accepting Mr. Sanderson's resignation. He proposed that a committee of five wait on Mr. Sanderson with a request to reconsider, that meantime the Standing Committee be directed to continue the work at Fountain Street as at present, and that another committee of five be appointed to investigate the work at Fountain Street and report to the Church.
This vote was passed and Moderator Fuller appointed the two committees: To wait on Mr. Sanderson, Professor MacDonald with Professor J. Irving Manatt, Mr. Irving O. Hunt, Mr. Knox and Mr. Fairchild; to investigate the work at Fountain Street, Mr. Walter G. Brown with Mr. Charles H. Philbrick, Mrs. Ralph C. Watrous, Mr. Charles R. Makepeace, and Mr. William B. Greenough.
No time was wasted; three evenings later the Church met
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again and heard Mr. Sanderson's response-that he felt he must adhere to his decision to leave.
In this letter of final decision, copied in full in the record book of the Church, the reader of today looks back forty years and more with a feeling of respect and sadness. The powerful call of a deep missionary zeal to exalt the work of the rescue mission struggled with the young minister's affec- tion for his Church.
I desire to express [he wrote] my appreciation of the request that I reconsider the question of my resignation. . .. The main issue on which this Church is divided ought, in order to secure clearer comprehension, to be restated. . . . In a word it is this: Is the mainten- ance of a rescue Mission for the poor and degraded of its own city the kind of work in which Central Church should engage? The financial consideration does not in any way enter into the problem. . . . I agreed to incur no debts. . . . I have received offers of help from three business men, members of this congregation but not of the Church, as would equal half the amount necessary for another year. .. . My main contention that such work as this is legitimately within the sphere of a Christian Church has but echoed the opinion of many men of international reputation. . . .
I have been asked why I should make a matter of conscience out of what seems to be a mere question of business judgment. It is because I believe the roots go deeper than any mere business proposi- tion. . . . It vitally concerns the whole future of the Christian church.
I saw in imagination a great church, carrying on its mission work at home and abroad, meeting our foreign problem among the Portuguese in Providence, enjoying its well-ordered life in a beautiful building with a deeper satisfaction because it had provided an open door for the sinful, neglected and unfortunate who claim citizenship with us in our own city.
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I am not unmindful of the sympathy and support so earnestly and freely offered in these past days. I am profoundly touched by it and grateful for it, and I thank you from my heart for the request which you have made and all of the kindness and affection which it has im- plied, but I feel that the outcome is inevitable. . . . I feel that I must adhere to my original decision.
Thus the resignation became an accepted fact.
The episode of the Fountain Street Mission left supris- ingly little of bitterness in its wake. Loyalty to Central Church was deeply rooted in the hearts of an enlightened Christian membership and differences of opinion did not lessen the respect, one toward another, that was to be ex- pected within a devoted group of broadminded people. Re- grets there were on both sides-regrets that persisted and were to call for great tact and sympathy from Dr. Atkins and Dr. Bradford in their following ministries. But from the emotional experience, unpleasant as it might be, there grew a deeper loyalty.
Mr. Sanderson had the affection and respect of all. If the majority of the parish thought it unwise for the Church to adopt the Mission, the question uppermost for all was what was best for the Church.
Thus the people of the parish pondered, searched their hearts for the answer, made their decision, and turned their faces to the future with renewed thoughtfulness. It was an experience that tried men's souls, and because of it they gained humility and strength.
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