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Show Church Sets Good Example Imposing Sacred Edifice Being Erected in New York Is to Be Conducted Along Democratic Lines, Its Sponsors Have Announced. (From the Literary Digest) Usually in New York when a church congregation moves to a Fifth or Park avenue location, It becomes "exclusive." But to prove the rule by the exception, the Madison Mad-ison Avenue Methodist Episcopal church recently moved Into a new handsome structure on Park avenue in the midst of the elite residential area and became more democratic. It changed its name to Christ church, eliminating the denominational denomina-tional title, and took steps to do away eventually with the outworn system of renting pews to members. It has thrown open Its doors to all Christians and made its choice seats available to visitors. In removing- the denominational Methodist title, the church followed the example set a few years ago by Ilev. Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, whose Park Avenue Baptist church became simply the Riverside church when It moved Into the Rockefeller-built Rockefeller-built temple on Mornlngsido heights. The subsequent action of Christ church Is not surprising in view of the fact that its dashing and Immaculately Im-maculately dressed minister, Rev. Dr. Ralph W. Sockman, was a pupil of Doctor Fosdick years ago at Union Theological seminary, and has since followed closely In his liberal footsteps. Through tart, epigrammatic sermons ser-mons delivered to consistently large congregations and over a large radio network, Doctor Sockman has become be-come recognized as an outstanding Methodist spokesman in the country. His books and lectures have added to his followers. Instigator of the Methodist world peace movement, and a liberal in his social and economic eco-nomic views, he is a well-known figure fig-ure on the Monday morning sermon pages of New Tori! newspapers. He has been minister of Christ church for 17 years, and for two years before be-fore that was the associate minister minis-ter ; he has held no other pulpits. To distinguish further his ministry he moved his congregation Into the most lavish and ornate though yet uncompleted edifice of the Methodist Method-ist church. It is a marked departure from the staid bareness and simplicity simplic-ity of the old-type Protestant church. Tall, mustached, sleek and only forty-four years old, Doctor Sockman Sock-man Is known for his pointed comments com-ments on topics of the day. A few of his epigrams delivered in sermons are: "We have pork barrels In congress because we have hogs at home." "Our exportation of Christianity Is hindered by the Inferior quality of the home product." "It Is unfortunate when a revolt against convention becomes extended extend-ed Into a convention of revolt." "Our trouble with philanthropy is that it is de-personalized." "Dangerous as are the currents of lawlessness, even more sinister are the social inertia and evasions of the so-called decent 'man on the street.' " "Living conditions affect religious belief just as truly as belief In God affects conditions of life." "The danger of the machine age lies In men having authority over great mechanical forces but with the moral conceptions of a pigmy." "In this depression we have begotten be-gotten a wartime spirit of co-operation without a wartime spirit of hatred." Just how far apart from the traditional tradi-tional old white frame or red brick Methodist church the new Christ church has gone may be seen from the description of the edifice furnished fur-nished by the architect, Ralph Adams Cram. As the designer of the Gothic cathedral of St. John the Divine, Bishop William T. Manning's mammoth Episcopal structure In New York citj', and other buildings, build-ings, Mr. Cram had long advocated Gothic as the truly Christian church architecture until he made a trip some years ago to the East. This tour convinced him that Byzantine "is much more nearly an artistic manifestation of the early and undivided undi-vided church," and that Gothic and Renaissance churches "are essentially essential-ly Catholic styles, and were developed devel-oped for the definite purpose of expressing ex-pressing the Catholic religion, philosophy phi-losophy and ways of life." . So the design for this new Methodist Meth-odist church became Byzantine, created cre-ated along the lines of the art which found Its first great expression in Constantinople about 600 A. D. and which has been expressed In such buildings as St. Mark's in Venice and the Capella Palatina and Mon-reale Mon-reale In Palermo. After the example exam-ple of Doctor Fosdlck's installing of Gothic statues of saints and an altar al-tar with a gold cross in his Baptist church, It was not so difficult for Doctor Doc-tor Sockman's congregation to permit per-mit gold leaf domes, mosaics and handsome marbles in their new temple. tem-ple. "Another reason for choosing this style," Mr. Cram explains, "was that there are a large number of other churches In New York, similar in general dimensions, whereas such Byzantine examples as exist are found only in large structures. Moreover, More-over, a Gothic church should properly prop-erly dominate its surroundings, which, In a large city, Is impossible. Christ church, however, has been designed rather as, so to speak, a jewel, both outside and In. That is to say, a building that will command attention and create a sense of reverence rev-erence through the delicacy of Its |