"Billy" Sunday, the Man and His Message: With his own words which have won thousands for ChristEllis, William T. (William Thomas)
Religion
"Billy" Sunday, the Man and His Message: With his own words which have won thousands for Christ
Ellis, William T. (William Thomas)
Baseball players -- United States -- Biography; Evangelists -- United States -- Biography; Sunday, Billy, 1862-1935
Without the assistance of the personal-work secretaries the rush
forward when the invitation is extended would mean a frantic mob.
The recruits have to be formed into line and directed to the pulpit
where they take Mr. Sunday's hand. Then they must be guided into the
front benches and the name and address and church preference of each
secured. While the invitation is being given personal workers all over
the building are busy gathering converts. The magnitude of the Sunday
evangelistic meetings in their results is revealed by the necessity for
systematically handling the converts as vividly as by any other one
factor.
The tabernacle by no means houses all of the Sunday campaign. There
are noon shop meetings, there are noon meetings for business women and
luncheon meetings, there are services in the schools, in the jails,
in the hospitals, and there are special afternoon parlor meetings
where social leaders hear the same message that is given to the men of
the street. In a phrase, the entire community is combed by personal
activity in order to reach everybody with the Sunday evangelistic
invitation.
The personnel of the Sunday party has varied during the years. The
first assistant was Fred G. Fischer, a soloist and choir leader who
continued with the evangelist for eight years. At present the staff
numbers about a dozen workers. Among past and present helpers have been
Homer A. Rodeheaver, the chorister; Charles Butler, the soloist; Elijah
J. Brown ("Ram's Horn" Brown); Fred. R. Seibert, an ex-cowboy and a
graduate of the Moody School, who is the handy man of the tabernacle;
Miss Frances Miller, Miss Grace Saxe, Miss Anna MacLaren, Mrs. Rae
Muirhead, Rev. L. K. Peacock, B. D. Ackley, Albert G. Gill, Joseph
Seipe, the builder, Mrs. and Mr. Asher and Rev. I. E. Honeywell. As
the magnitude of the work increases this force is steadily augmented,
so that the evangelist must not only be a prophet but a captain of
industry.
The Sunday Campaign clearly reveals that as Kipling's old engineer,
McAndrew, says,
"Ye'll understand, a man must think o' things."
[Illustration: BURNING WORDS OF MR. SUNDAY THAT REACH THE HEART.]
CHAPTER VIII
"Speech--Seasoned with Salt"
I want to preach the gospel so plainly that men can come from the
factories and not have to bring along a dictionary.--BILLY SUNDAY.
Sunday is not a shepherd, but a soldier; not a husbandman of a
vineyard, but a quarryman. The rôle he fills more nearly approximates
that of the Baptist, or one of the Old Testament prophets, than any
other Bible character. The word of the Lord that has come to him is
not "Comfort ye! comfort ye!" but "Arouse ye! arouse ye!" and "Repent!
repent!"
Evangelist Sunday's mission is not conventional, nor may it be judged
by conventional standards. He is not a pastor; probably he would be
a failure in the pastorate. Neither would any sensible person expect
pastors to resemble Billy Sunday; for that, too, would be a calamity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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