Show 7 razing of an old chicago building recalls career of dwight L L moody famous evangelist of 50 years Y e ars ago A go by ELMO SCOTT WATSON released by western newspaper union arthey HEY have torn down an building on chi cagos famous near northside North side which was a landmark rich in the religious lore of america it was the old moody church building on the northwest corner of la salle street and chicago avenue where a modern business district links a t part of the famed gold coast with a typical city slum erected in 1873 by the world famous evangelist dwight L moody this building was known as the chicago avenue church until the death of its founder in 1899 renamed the moody church it finally was outgrown and purchased in the last days of the world war by the moody bible institute of chicago but even though the disappearance pe arance of this picturesque building removes one of the tangible evidences of the influence which dwight L moody once exerted upon american society it makes room for what appears to be an even greater monument to the great evangelist forwith for with the passing of this historic building has come the launching of a building program by the bible school founded on adjoining property by moody more than halt half a century ago already a 12 story administration building complete with studios of a watt radio station located in the tower casts carts its shadow over the building in site soon to become a grass plot on moody bible institutes downtown campus meanwhile basement of the proposed torrey gray auditorium named in honor of dr R A torrey first superintendent perin and dr james M gray late president of the institute has been finished origin of the moody church is directly traceable to the street urchin sunday school class organized r r 4 k 4 1 l k I 1 dwight L moody one of the most colorful of american evan gelista ge lists in a characteristic pulpit pose in chicago in 1858 by 21 year old dwight L moody moody was bom in northfield mass february 5 1837 he was brought up on a farm until he was 16 years of age when he left home and went to boston where he was employed in a store for several years clerk in achoe a shoe store in boston he became a professor of religion under the preaching of a dr kirk and shortly afterwards emigrated to chicago where he found employment as a clerk in a large wholesale shoe store perhaps it was indicative of his later powers as an evangelist that he soon became one of the most successful salesmen in in the place while thus engaged he began to spend his evenings doing m missionary i S work among the lo 10 lowly aly and destitute ot of the city one day he applied for a teaching position in a mission sunday school but was told that already there were too many teachers but if he would bring his own class they told him he could teach accordingly the next sunday the young shoe salesman turned up with a dozen street toughs in tow once started nothing could stop the growth of this unique class there were fights one day a careless scholar entered with his cap on A loyal member spotted him sent him sprawling with a blow between the eyes and the comment ill teach you not i to enter moodys moods sunday school with your hat on but in of such disruptions enroll 77 Q 1 4 V 4 n the chicago avenue or moodys moods Mo odys church as it appeared soon soo after fter completion in 1876 it hs hits recently been torn down to make mak room oom for forthe the new n buildings of the moody mj bible institute int i nt which i moody f oun ded in 1886 ment soared with mus mushroom broom growth and moody scoured the city for teachers when attendance hit 1500 moodys moods sunday school was known throughout chicago and when one day in 1860 president lincoln visited the school its fame spread throughout the middle west and no wonder for in addition to his ability to attract noted persons to his school moodys moods methods of operation were shockingly unconventional his plan for disposing of unfit teachers had little to ask in efel efficiency scholars were allowed to transfer from one class to another inevitable results were that teachers who fi failed ailed to interest their scholars were quickly left without classes his devices for publicizing his school were as novel as they were successful he issued stock certificates of the north market sabbath school association capital shares at 25 cents each these certified the purchase of shares for the erection of a new building for dividends apply at the school each sabbath at 3 p m moodys moods bodyguard at another time 13 street arabs were promised new suits at christmas for regular attendance every sunday until that time their names red eye smikes madden the butcher jackey candles Gi berich billy Blu cannon darby the cobbler butcher kilroy greenhorn black stovepipe old man Rag breeches cadet all but one fulfilled the conditions and the newly uniformed squad became known as M Mo odys bodyguard capitalizing on the incident moody made before and after photographs these he hung under the capt captions ioni does it pay 11 and gilt it does payl proof that it did became apparent in many cases one day years later a former teacher in the old sunday school st stopped before a railway ticket office you dont seem to know me said the agent no I 1 dont believe so replied the traveler you know moodys moods Mo odys bodyguard yes I 1 have a picture of them at home well the agent answered when you get home take a good look at the toughest of the lot and see the chap youre looking at now and a church member A union army general others went into the north market mark sunday school as youthful hoodlums and came out respectable i i citizens one became postmaster of chicago another a general in the union army thus it was inevitable that out of this expanding group should come a permanent organization young men and women who had grown up in the school were reluctant to leave so in 1884 1864 the illinois street church was erected then a strange organization made up of persons from every church de nomination and persons outside all denominations but the years of moodys moods first church building were numbered on the sunday nighton night of october 8 1871 while he was preaching on the text what then shall I 1 do with jesus which is called christ the fire bells sounded soon moody had difficulty in making his voice heard above their clamor at length he gave up saying take this text home with you and turn it over in your minds during the week and next sabbath we will decide what to do with jesus of nazareth that was the night mrs OLe arys cow kicked over the lantern that started the great chicago fire about midnight illinois street church was laid low by the flames and moody never saw his congregation again aided by wanamaker but almost before the fire in chicago was extinguished moody was in the east soliciting funds for relief work soon with money provided largely by john wanamaker of philadelphia he returned built a temporary tabernacle where for months destitute families were housed and services were held then as his work became wider known contributions were received from all parts of the country these together with pennies with which sunday schoolchildren school children purchased bricks built the basement and first story of the church at the corner of lasalle and chicago avenue this was housed over and first occupied in 1873 meanwhile moody found himself faced with a real difficulty the fire had left chicago in ashes there were no homes anywhere near his church where he could find people to invite to the services not even saloons so he decided on a trip to england and while there he was so impressed with the need of people for christianity that in 1873 he returned with his song leader ira D sankey for a three year ev evangelistic an ge listic campaign of the british I 1 isles S les moody and sankey return upon the return of moody and sankey to this country they appeared often in the new chicago building at the same time as ever moody attracted to his pulpit some of the most famous men of his time there probably is no single church in the middle west in which so many great personages appeared roll call of speakers at old moody church includes henry ward beecher william jennings bryan gen william booth andrew murray george muller P P bliss J hudson taylor henry drummond john hay thomas spurgeon gen 0 0 howard and a score of others meanwhile the reputation of D L moody spread he conducted evangelistic meetings in virtually all of the large cities in the east he launched two schools in massachusetts a girls school el at northfield and a boys school across the connecticut river at mt hermon both of which are in existence today then in 1886 he founded a bible school in chicago later to be renamed moody bible institute in november 1899 moody began his last evangelistic mission a week of meetings in kansas city mo fifteen thousand people jammed the auditorium the first night arhim A thousand more were turned away each night it was the same but thursday the sixteenth moody suffered a chill found it difficult to walk and was ordered to bed by a physician he was taken to his home in northfield mass and died thereon december 22 today 66 years since its foundations were laid lahd old moody church first institution inspired by a onetime one time shoe salesman has been leveled but the memory of D L moody one of the most golor colorful ful ol of american evangelists ge lists lives on oa influence 1 of the moody sankey rev revival ivalin in britain is a matter of history even today in england and scotland there are hamlets where whole church congregations live in the memory of the american evangelists in the larger cities audiences of 10 to 15 13 and even 20 thousand turned out night after night to hear moody preach and sankey sing even englishmen will admit that San keys singing revolutionized church music in great britain heretofore church organs were few the idea being that musical instruments were an abomination to the lord and the only songs used were psalms which were chanted rather than sung sankey changed all this with modys support he brought in a portable organ placed it on the pulpit and sang spirited songs these proved irresistible even to the stolid british to meet the demand for this type of singing moody and sankey got together a collection of their songs and had them printed success of the new song book was instantaneous first edition was sold in a day bookstores were emptied of the second then they appeared in dry gooda goods and grocery stores in meat markets even the newsboys hawked them until copies were sold although moody and sankey reused refused to copyright their book the publishers did and soon royalties had mounted to a cons considerable id erable figure still the evangelists would have none of it in desperation a comm committee was formed to decide on the dispensation of the funds one member knew of the unfinished finished church in chicago and as a result was sent to add the upper floor and tower of the building in in 1876 i moods moodys democratic ways but above all else it undoubtedly was moodys moods naive and democratic spirit that won britain one night in london he was as was his habit directing the seating of the audience As he anxiously watched two bewildered old ladies who were vainly looking for front seats a friend brought upon the platform a distinguished english earl glad to see you lord said moody wont you please take a couple of chairs to those two old ladies down there he did on another occasion it was whispered to him with consider Z ILI J X an all unknown shoe salesman salaman at 24 with hardly a years schooling in les less than two decades dwight L moody founded two secondary schools and a bible institute organized a church and made his name a household word on two continents able consternation that an exalted personage had lust just entered the hall 1 I hope she may be much blessed moody whispered back during the worlds fair of 1893 the chicago avenue church better known as moodys moods Mo odys church became headquarters for a citywide evangelistic campaign when fair officials announced open day sunday churchmen threw up their hands in in holy horror lets outlaw it 1 I said some boycott the fairl fair cried others no replied moody good na tu well just run them out of sunday business thus the city was divided up into districts and a church named for each section meetings were held nightly and every means possible employed to attract people moody himself plunged into the thick of the fight lie he rented forepaugh circus largest tent and pitched it on the fairs front doorstep at first he could get it only for sunday morning services ten thousand persons attended and the circus plugged its afternoon and evening shows with the announcement hat hal hill baha hal three big shows moody in the Morn morning forepaugh in the afternoon and Even evening ingI but the idea proved a boomerang instead of attending afternoon and evening circus performances people crowded into a near by church which moody had se be cured As a result circus officials official abandoned their performances then they asked moody to auppl an evangelist to hold meeting sundays in their tent in other cities at their expense |