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Show A Wonderful Revival. Seventy Newark, New Jersey, Ghurches Unite and (Bapture the Gity. 7i Wonderful Story. Tiik Hei'L'iilkan is In receipt of a thl-tv page pamphlet descriptive of a great religious revival In Newark, New Jersej . This levival was carried on for one month (November 17 to Dicember 1) 201 meetings being held. Seventy churches of eight denominations in that city were represented. Nineteen evangelists, an equal number of singers and about live hundred woikers took part In the campaign. The pamphlet at hand details the method of piocecdurc, the linanclal side, the urcllmlnary meetings meet-ings and weeks of special prayer, the advertising done, with comment on the probability of peimanent good results. re-sults. The whole is of exceeding interest in-terest but of such length that It can hardly be leproduccd. Helievlng that certain pultuns are of exceptional Inlciest and will piove readable to the average peruser of these-columns, that part In refetotiotf to theatre and saloon meetings is piesented here. The pamphlet says: Great Crowds. "The story of the meetings fiom beginning be-ginning to end was of crowded houses, and on Sundays hundreds were turned away. These were provided for In overflow meetings. One great help was the weather. Only two days and i two nights did It rain. It poured In torrents the day Dr. Chapman tlrst made his appearance. This was at . 'I 'o'clock on a week-day afternoon, In I the Flist Presbyterian church, which, ; because of Its i-lze, was the place used for the central meetings. In spite of the rain, the church was packed, and hundreds stood. j Theatre Meetings. Varied and many were the meetings held. 1'iobably none made such an Impression as those In the theatre. These were of two kinds Sunday afternoon af-ternoon mass meetings for men, and midnight services after the "show" during the week All four Sundajs I the. play-houses were crowded and many were turned away. Hundreds at these gatherings asked for prayers, These meetings were held under the auspices of the Y. M. C. A , and the following day the secretary sent to each convert a personal letter, It was the midnight services that convinced the city that the church people peo-ple were in earnest. "It's been claimed by the unchurched that the church does not care," said the leader, In giving giv-ing out the notice for one of these meetings. "We are going over to that theatre tonight to show them that we do care," For each night meeting a theatre not of the tlrst standing was rented, and thus men and women who were apparently the furthest away from God heard the message of salvation. salva-tion. Jicfoie each theatre meeting theic was a street parade. These marches will bo long remembered, not only by those who took part, but by thousands of spectators who lined up along the way or gazed from windows. The parade was always headed by the evangelists singers and local pastors. It was strange to see thousands of conservative con-servative men and women marching through the streets so late at night, and stranger to hear them singing to the accompaniment of a Salvation Army brass band, "Onward Christian Soldier," "Nearer my God to Thee," "The Glory song," and "The King's Huslness." The purpose was to keep at the religious reli-gious meeting those who had witnessed witness-ed the play, and this was In a large measure accomplished. Christian men and women sat or stood sidn bv side with those whose whole appearance spoke loudly of a life given over to frivolity and sin. Mm and Women Brctk Down. At the last night theatre meeting, w hlch was probably the most striking, there were 2300 seated, almost as many standing, and 1,000 or more outside. As at each of the other theatre services, ser-vices, one nf the speakers had gone ahead, announced the meeting and invited in-vited all to stay, before the curtain went down on the last act of "Her First False Step." In less time than It takes to tell It, the curtain rose again showing about tlfty clergymen and a choir of about 150 young people. To many of the onlookers It appeared ap-peared like another play more tragic than the tlrst. Something In the atmosphere at-mosphere seemed to compel them to stay. Flashily dressed women, with bleached hair and painted checks, and fast-looking men sat still and listened And what did they her? Such music! "Shall we Gather at the HlverV'lloat-out HlverV'lloat-out on the heavy air, followed by "Jesus, Lover of my Soul," and then the "Glory song," When the music had done Its work of quieting the audience, au-dience, Evangelist Sttousc preached. And such a sermon. It was an appeal to these men and women to give up their present life and go back to home and true living at this Christian season. sea-son. And the message struck a responsive re-sponsive chord. w)men who had watched the play without visible emotion gradually melted under Mr. Strouse's exhortation, exhorta-tion, until llnally they broke down and wept. The men who had laughed loudly at the coarse Jokes of the players, play-ers, sat In deep thought. At the close hundreds asked for .prayers by rising or lifting their hands, and seventy-six signed decisions cards. At the only day theatre meeting Mr. Strouse told the story of his conversion. con-version. In the middle of a busy week day afternoon, the playhouse which seated about '',000, was tilled, all the standing room was exhausted, and 1,000 turned away. Mrs. Stro'use, a gentle little Southern woman, who always accompanies her husband, addressed ad-dressed an overflow meeting In the First Presbyterian church. Saloon Meetings. More striking though than the tho-atrc tho-atrc services were the saloon meetings. These were conducted by Evangelist William Ashcr and wife. The llrst such service was In the most pretentious preten-tious saloon In town, and the last was In one of the worst "dives" In the city. The Christian people did not know at llrst Just how to regard this part of the program, but before long several prominent clergymen were ac-companing ac-companing Mr. and Mrs. AMhcr on their rounds, One of the?: has been put on record as Intending to keep up the work. Inmates Scared. Mr. Asher always announced, In asking permission to hold a "little meeting", that he was not going to preach a temperance sermon, but simply sim-ply to give the men a short gospel message mes-sage And this Is always his method. Mrs. Asher has a little portable organ and upon this she accompanies the hymns which form an Important part of the meeting. Mr. Asher always leaves his song sheets behind him, and also sees that every one of his auditors receives a tract or two. Strange the thought of It, but the evangelist always al-ways talks about Jesus, whoso name Is seldom heard In such a place except In blasphemy. He tells the men about the Father's love, and the willingness of Christ to forgive a sinner Mr. Asher As-her always shakes each man by the hand as he leaves the building. He usually has many requests for prayers. One of these meetings was held in a saloon where there were men and women wo-men drinking together. When the Ashurs and their party entered, those already there thought It was a police raid, and many of them sprang out of doors and windows. The proprietor came to the rescue and called out, "Every one of you stay where you are." As the pstonlshcd audience came to understand what this strange Interruption Inter-ruption meant, all gradually gave their attention. After one of Mr Asher's characteristic talks, men asked ask-ed for prayers, and hard-faced women cried and promised to live better lives. Mrs. Asher took every girl by the hand and begged her to write a letter home to her mother. |
