Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 56, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 October 1909 — GOVERNOR HEARS FROM MINISTERS [ARTICLE]

GOVERNOR HEARS FROM MINISTERS

Clergymen Object to an Address Marshall Delivered. HE FINDS FAULT WITH CHURCH Indiana's Executive Declares That When the Average Man Becomes a Member of a Congregation “Mrs. Millionaire Looks at Him With Turned Up Nose and Bays ‘He Chn Not Sit In My Pew; He Does Not Belong to My Set.'” Indianapolis, Oct. 26. —At a meeting of the Methodist Ministers’ association an address of Governor Marshall delivered at Columbus at the annual meeting of the Associated Charities was criticised. The speech objected to was as follows:

“I have fault to find with thechurches in Indiana; not your church or mine, but the churches as expressed by the generic term church. The churches are entirely too anxious to turn over to the state the conduct, growth and morals of the state. The churches are entirely too anxious to let the legislature declare what shall be good and bad In citizenship. Nobody wants the church and state united. “Can Not Blt In My Pew” “The ministers ask why men stay out of the church. Why, when the average man joins the church of today all he gets is a chance to help pay the salary of the preacher and listen to two sermons on Sunday, and some of them not very good. - “When the average man Joins church Mrs. Millionaire looks at him with turned up nose and says, “he can not sit in my pew; he does not belong to my set.’ When the average woman Joins church her standing in the church depends on the cut of her gown or the style of her hat. If the church of the living God would get back to when every man and every woman was a brother or a sister the churches of this state would soon be filled with communicants. "You can not convert a man to Christianity when he Is so hungry he could eat green turnips. You can not make a success of a church when a person enters and thinks he has got into cold storage. Resolutions Are Adopted. “No matter what the state is doing, if the men and women of the churches will realize that it is not only their duty to look after the morals and the clothes of their neighbors, but their needs as well, then conditions will be bettered.” Rev. Dr. Joshua Stansfield offered a resolution finding fault with the governor for his utterances. This resolution was signed by Rev. Stansfield, Rev. Albert Hurlstone and Rev. George D. Wolfe and was passed. Rev. Gustavus E. Hieler said: “The governor carries a heavy burden and, I undestand, is a Christian man and wants to do the right thing. If you are going to criticise a man every time he says something-you are going to have plenty to do. We should not show ourselves too sensitive. If we went to criticise him, let us criticise him to his face and not rush into print”