-4 It, 
 
 Twenty-five Years 
 of Religious Life 
 in Bloomington
 
 LIBRARY OF THE 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
 
 111. Hist. Survey
 
 :
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
 
 REV. JAMES H. GILLILAND
 
 TWENTY- FIVE YEARS 
 
 OF 
 
 RELIGIOUS LIFE IN BLOOMINGTON 
 
 AN ADDRESS BY 
 
 REV. JAMES H. GILLILAND 
 
 "IF THOU SEEK HIS MONUMENT 
 LOOK ABOUT THEE" 
 
 BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS 
 APRIL TWENTY-FIRST 
 
 1912
 
 DEDICATION 
 
 TO THE CONGREGATIONS OF THE FIRST, 
 SECOND AND CENTENNIAL CHRISTIAN 
 CHURCHES OF BLOOMINGTON, AND THE 
 FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH, OF NORMAL, 
 ALL OF WHICH WERE BLEST IN HAVING 
 
 J. H. GILLILAND 
 
 AS PASTOR AND PREACHER, THIS LITTLE 
 VOLUME IS DEDICATED.
 
 T 
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 V HE following address was prepared by J. H. Gilliland 
 for the Seventy- Fifth Anniversary services of the First 
 Christian Church. It was to have been delivered on Sun- 
 day evening, April 21st. On Saturday, April 20th, while 
 giving a final revision to the manuscript, Mr. Gilliland 
 sustained a stroke of paralysis that rendered him speechless 
 and helpless. Sunday evening a vast and grief-stricken 
 audience gathered at the First Church, the congregations 
 of the First, Second, Centennial and Normal Christian 
 
 CH Churches uniting in a never-to-be-forgotten service. Mr. 
 
 r\ Gilliland's paper was impressively read by Milo Atkinson, 
 pastor of the Centennial Church. 
 
 The solemn circumstances that made it necessary that 
 another should read Mr. Gilliland's paper, together. with the 
 intrinsic worth of the address, made the occasion impressive 
 beyond description. 
 
 Mr. Gilliland lingered till Friday, April 26th, when a 
 second stroke finished an earthly ministry unparalleled in 
 this community for substantial accomplishments in the 
 kingdom of God. 
 
 From the first, it was felt that this address should be 
 preserved in permanent form. After Mr. Gilliland's death 
 it seemed wise and proper that the account of the funeral 
 J* with the addresses should be included in this volume. 
 
 It is confidently believed that the wide circulation and 
 reading of this mighty message will but confirm among 
 many the opinion long held by those who knew ]. H. Gilli- 
 land intimately, namely, that he was a great preacher, a 
 far-seeing prophet, a veritable statesman, in the affairs of 
 the kingdom of God. 
 
 EDGAR DeWITT JONES. 
 May 7th, 1912. 
 
 964909
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF RELIGIOUS 
 LIFE IN BLOOMINGTON 
 
 I count it a privilege to share in the celebration of the 
 75th anniversary of the First Christian Church in Bloom- 
 ington; especially so, since I have been connected person- 
 ally more or less closely with it for almost a quarter of a 
 century. 
 
 Twenty-five years seem a long time if taken from the life 
 of a single human being, but in the great sum of human 
 life it is only a line. The last quarter of a century has 
 witnessed some of the most wonderful achievements and 
 changes of any like period in the world's history. However, 
 I am not privileged to speak of these ; I have been asked to 
 review twenty-five years of religious life in Bloomington. 
 
 Religious life manifests itself in at least three distinct 
 ways. There is the material, the intellectual, and the spir- 
 itual manifestation. 
 
 Bloomington, as a city, has made substantial progress 
 during these years. The street pavements, the street car 
 system, including interurban lines, water works, fire de- 
 partment, court house, coliseum, opera house and other 
 play houses, high school and ward buildings, extensive 
 business blocks, hospitals, sanitariums, Bloomington Club, 
 Masonic Temple, Y.M.C.A., and scores of our most beauti- 
 ful and costly homes, have been the product of these years. 
 We are living in a new Bloomington as compared with 
 twenty-five years ago. 
 
 The church has kept pace with this splendid commercial 
 and material improvement. It is impossible for me to treat 
 in detail the individual congregational histories of the city ; 
 I therefore, by way of illustrating the general material and 
 numerical growth of the Bloomington churches, give a brief 
 account of the congregations represented in the Ministerial 
 Association when I came to Bloomington.
 
 First Methodist Church, Grace Methodist Church, First 
 Presbyterian Church, Second Presbyterian Church, First 
 Baptist Church, Congregational Church, and First Chris- 
 tian Church. 
 
 In 1888 there was inaugurated in Bloomington a new 
 era of church building, which characterized the country 
 generally, and which has been, in the adaptation of church 
 buildings, to the various phases of church work, a most 
 marked evidence of church progress during twenty-five 
 years. 
 
 At that time there were no new churches, and but few, 
 modern or up to date in construction, in the city. Dr. 
 Jackson, of the First Baptist Church, led in the movement. 
 The location of the church at that time is now occupied by 
 the excellent Pantagraph Printing and Stationery Company. 
 The new building was erected on the corner of Jefferson 
 and Gridley streets in 1888, at a cost of about $40,000; 
 improvements were subsequently made which cost approxi- 
 mately $8000, making this church one of the most thor- 
 oughly equipped in the city. 
 
 Twenty-five years ago the church had a membership of 
 550, it now has 850. The pastors have been Dr. J. L. Jack- 
 son, W. B. Riley, C. S. Winbigler, Dr. Stanley McKay, 
 Loran D. Osborn, U. S. Davis, and Dr. J. L. Jackson. 
 
 Closely following this was the Grace Methodist Church 
 under the leadership of Horace Reed. The old building 
 was sold to the Adventists, and a new building erected on 
 the corner of Locust and East streets ; this church was also 
 dedicated in 1888, at a cost of $35,000. It then had a 
 membership of 239, which has increased to 850 at this time. 
 The pastors have been Horace Reed, W. A. Smith, James 
 Miller, H. C. Gibbs, T. J. Wheat, B. F. Ship, Theodore 
 Kemp, and M. N. English. 
 
 Passing the Christian Church for fuller notice later, I 
 record that the First Presbyterian Church was dedicated 
 February 6, 1896, under the pastorate of E. K. Strong, at
 
 a cost of $30,000. The membership then was 214; it is 
 now 618. The following pastors have served the church: 
 Edward K. Strong, DeWitt L. Pelton, N. H. G. Fife, 
 R. Calvin Dobson, W. A. Bodell. 
 
 At the time of my coming Dr. Dinsmore had been nearly 
 twenty years with the Second Presbyterian Church; soon 
 thereafter he departed to make his home in California. 
 He was succeeded by Dr. Kane, during whose pastorate the 
 present splendid church was erected, being dedicated on 
 December 13, 1896; the property is now valued at about 
 $100,000. 
 
 Twenty-five years ago the membership was 582, at pres- 
 ent it is 775. The pastors have been, John W. Dinsmore, 
 W. P. Kane, H. K. Denlinger, F. W. Hawley, and J. N. 
 Elliott. 
 
 The only congregation in this list which has not built 
 during this period is the First Methodist. They had a 
 splendid building at that time, remodeled and re-dedicated 
 November 14, 1897, soon to be replaced by a fine, modern 
 house. At that time there were 818 members in this church, 
 now there are 1600. The pastors have been, John L. Pit- 
 ner, Frank Crane, Frost Craft, G. E. Scrimger, G. A. Scott, 
 C. P. Masden, J. W. Summerville, and Geo. E. Pickard. 
 
 The Congregationalists have not been numerous and 
 have had a struggle with debt and other difficulties. A new 
 hope, however, came to this people in the burning of the 
 old mortgage and the erection of a new church under the 
 leadership of C. K. Stockwell, dedicated April 17, 1909. 
 The pastors of this church have been J. J. Tobias, A. B. 
 White, H. W. Holding, L. W. Morgan, Geo. H. Gate, 
 H. B. Long, N. T. Edwards, T. A. Humphreys, Frederick 
 Bowen, A. M. Conard, C. K. Stockwell, and H. A. Bush- 
 nell. It now has a membership of 150. 
 
 Other churches here at the time of my coming have 
 made similar progress. There have been built several mis-
 
 8 
 
 sion chapels, also the Park Methodist Church, Saint Pat- 
 rick's Church, the Church of Peace, Christian Science, 
 United Brethren, Mennonite, and Third Christian, churches, 
 and perhaps others which I do not now recall; also the 
 Y.M.C.A., with its splendid equipment, $100,000 building, 
 and large membership; the Illinois Wesleyan, with new 
 buildings, increasing student body, and growing activity. 
 
 These all speak of the material enlargement of the re- 
 ligious life and influence in the community. These build- 
 ings stand not simply for so much wood or stone or brick; 
 mere material value; they speak of a community's faith in 
 a crucified, risen and triumphant Lord. They speak of 
 truth, love, sacrifice, service. They stand for the principles 
 involved in the making of character. They stand for the 
 fatherhood of God, for the Sonship and Saviorhood of 
 Jesus Christ; they declare the sinfulness of sin and the 
 efficacy of the atonement, the sacrifice of love. They plead 
 for the conversion of the sinner, for the perfection of the 
 saint, for the uplifting and betterment of universal human 
 conditions, for the making real the Kingdom of God on 
 Earth. 
 
 The influence of a church in a community, with its 
 stream of humanity pouring in and out, is beautifully il- 
 lustrated by an incident in the life of Voltaire. 
 
 "Just as the traveler comes out of one of the most 
 beautiful cantons of Switzerland, on the sunny borderland 
 of France, his attention is called to a little stone church on 
 the edge of the Swiss village. If you alight from the dili- 
 gence and brush the dust from the marble slab above the 
 door, you can read there, engraven in deep letters, 'Built 
 by Voltaire.' " 
 
 He was not a believer in the divinity of Jesus Christ, 
 and decided to go out of Paris one summer and spend some 
 weeks in a village in Switzerland writing books against the 
 divinity of Christ. He arrived at this little town on the
 
 mountain pass and took a room at the little Swiss hospice. 
 It was Sunday morning, and as he looked out of his win- 
 dow in the direction of the ringing of a church bell, he saw 
 the people going to prayers. It seemed that every man, 
 woman and child in the village was going to the village 
 church. For a while he listened to the music and the 
 prayers, and at last the throng came out and the people 
 quietly went to their homes. 
 
 Voltaire was interested and began to study the lives of 
 these people. He soon found that they lived the life of 
 Christ in that community, and the more he studied their 
 simple, honest lives the more he became convinced that he 
 could not write books against Christ; so he spent the rest 
 of the summer among those people. To perpetuate the 
 memory of the happiest time of his life, he asked that he 
 might build the villagers a stone church in the place of the 
 frame meeting house. When it was completed the people 
 put the marble slab above the door and had engraved upon 
 it, "Built by Voltaire." 
 
 This occasion not only justifies, but demands a fuller 
 record of the history and enlargement of the Christian 
 Church, the anniversary of which we are celebrating. 
 
 The First Christian Church was founded by Wm. T. 
 Major, who came to Bloomington in 1835. The organiza- 
 tion of the church was effected in 1837, in the parlor of his 
 home, located on the south-west corner of Front and East 
 streets. There were thirteen charter members, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Wm. T. Major, and two daughters Mrs. Elizabeth 
 Hawks and Mrs. Judith A. Bradner, recently deceased, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Martin Scott, "Father" Maxwell and two daugh- 
 ters, and four others, whose names do not appear. 
 
 The little company met each Sunday, for worship, in 
 the home of Mr. Major. About 1840 a little frame church 
 was erected on East street, between Front and Grove, near 
 the present location of Humphrey's wholesale. house.
 
 10 
 
 Mr. Major was the leading spirit and the most liberal 
 giver in those early days ; he also gave liberally to Eureka, 
 Indianapolis and Bethany Colleges. He was highly es- 
 teemed by the community as an intelligent, generous and 
 progressive citizen. Later, in 1856, he erected in the north- 
 west part of the city, Major College, at a cost of about 
 $20,000. For some years this was a very flourishing insti- 
 tution for the education of young women. In those days 
 the church was ministered to by such men as Alfred Lind- 
 say> Uncle Jimmie Robeson, Wm. Davenport, Walter 
 Bowles, and Billy Brown. 
 
 Sometime later, the old church was abandoned and sold 
 to the Lutherans, who moved it to the corner of South 
 Madison and Olive streets, where it did duty till the erec- 
 tion of their new church, when it was moved to the corner 
 of West Jefferson and Allin streets, and occupied for some 
 time as a school house by the German Lutherans. 
 
 In 1856, the present site, corner West Jefferson and 
 North West, now Roosevelt streets, was purchased for 
 $1500 in gold, and a brick building erected thereon at a 
 cost of $8000. 
 
 Some of the leading members and contributors of that 
 day were E. H. Didlake, Thomas P. Brown, Edwin Pos- 
 ton, Dr. E. K. Crothers, F. M. Emerson, Robert Moore, 
 E. W. Bakewell, and R. E. Williams, all of whom are 
 dead. The house was dedicated the first day of January, 
 1857, by Prof. Charles Louis Loos of Ohio. 
 
 From this date, till my coming, the following men of- 
 ficiated as pastors : LeRoy S. Skelton, Thomas V. Berry, 
 D. R. VanBuskirk, twice, Henry Earl, J. H. McCullough, 
 A. I. Hobbs, H. D. Clark, and B. J. Radford filling in- 
 terregnums. 
 
 I was called to the pastorate of the church in Blooming- 
 ton February 5, 1888. I entered upon the work with fear 
 and trembling. My first sermons were on "Why the
 
 11 
 
 Church Exists?" and "Sowing and Reaping." The con- 
 gregation numbered about 400 at that time. The first year's 
 labors were graciously blessed, and closed with a special 
 meeting, adding 117 to the membership. Miss Ethel Clarke 
 was the first one to make the Good Confession, and the 
 second person was J. O. Willson, whose recent death 
 brought grief to all our citizens; he was baptized on the 
 evening of January 3rd, 1889. 
 
 Early in my ministry it was decided to build a new 
 church, and on March 24, 1889, a call for money was 
 made, $10,000 was soon raised. April 21 plans were sub- 
 mitted to the congregation and a building committee ap- 
 pointed, consisting of the following persons : Henry Keiser, 
 Peter Whitmer, John T. Lillard, M. Swan, H. J. Higgins, 
 and J. H. Gilliland. On April 28, by a standing vote, the 
 congregation authorized the Building Committee to proceed 
 at once to the erection of a new church. 
 
 The last meeting was held in the old house on a delight- 
 ful day in June (the 2nd) ; the theme of the sermon that 
 morning was: "The Vision of Holy Waters." In the 
 evening there was a children's exercise. The house was 
 crowded at both services. The atmosphere of the morning 
 was charged with peculiar quiet; there was a mingling of 
 sadness at leaving the old house, and of joy in the antici- 
 pation of the new. Among the visitors of that day, appear 
 clearly before me tonight, the faces of Judge Reeves and 
 his wife, always our friends. 
 
 Thereafter for eight months, we worshiped in the old 
 Baptist Church, corner of Jefferson and Madison streets. 
 
 The corner-stone of the present building was laid 
 October 7, 1889, and the church was dedicated the 7th day 
 of September, 1890, under the leadership of A. I. Hobbs. 
 The building, exclusive of the lot and organ, cost about 
 $27,000.
 
 12 
 
 The first year after entering the new church we held 
 a meeting with 115 additions; other meetings were held 
 from time to time, mostly by the pastor ; our greatest meet- 
 ing, held by the church forces without any outside aid, was 
 in 1894, resulting in 360 additions; this meeting stirred 
 the entire community, and greatly extended the influence of 
 the church. During the year there were 120 other addi- 
 tions, making the total number of additions for 1894, 480. 
 
 Long to be remembered, by me, at least, will be those 
 seasons of refreshing in revival, the celebration of the tenth 
 anniversary, and the many splendid personal fellowships 
 enjoyed during those years. Indicative of the spirit in 
 which the pastorate closed, you will pardon a quotation 
 from my farewell sermon, delivered on July 27, 1902 : 
 
 "We have had a pleasant, harmonious, and profitable 
 pastorate. We are bound together by many ties. We have 
 come to the parting of the ways. It is not strange that 
 there should be regrets, and sorrow at this hour. I have 
 been with you a long time, I have baptized your children, I 
 have married them and buried your loved ones. Your in- 
 terests have always been mine; your sorrows have been 
 mine. I have tried to be your faithful preacher, your true 
 and sympathetic friend. There have been 2029 additions 
 in the fourteen and one-half years; 853 have gone out 
 from us; there remains a total nominal membership today 
 of 1550. 
 
 "At least 1300 of these have united with the church 
 during this pastorate. It is with a strange feeling that I 
 resign this place and step out of this pulpit, henceforth to 
 have no more rights here, or privileges, than any other 
 preacher of good standing among us. Before I do so, I 
 wish to express my sincere gratitude and thanks to the 
 official board, the members of which have stood by the 
 work faithfully, and supported me in nearly all my plans. 
 My wife and I are grateful for the uniform courtesy, kind-
 
 FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH
 
 LIBRARY 
 OF THE 
 
 OF ILLINOIS
 
 13 
 
 ness and appreciation shown us by all the societies and 
 members of the church. I must express my sense of abid- 
 ing profit from daily fellowship with the dear old man, 
 who has ever been an inspiration and encouragement to 
 me, an unflinching servant of God and the church, whose 
 zeal and love of the church nothing can destroy, may he 
 live long to honor the Master's name." I referred to 
 Brother Bergman. He has since gone to his everlasting 
 home. 
 
 Since leaving your pulpit, I have enjoyed the honor and 
 the privilege of sharing in many of your special services, 
 as on the present occasion. Here, did I on your behalf, 
 welcome that rare man, Arthur Wilson, and his wife; that 
 man who won his way into all hearts so surely and quickly, 
 that in six short months he was the friend of all; whose 
 work was so promising ; whose death was, to us, a calam- 
 ity ; and whose memory is among our choicest treasures. 
 
 I was your representative in the reception of W. R. 
 Lloyd and family. He was a good man, always on the 
 right side of moral questions, zealous for the good name of 
 the church; aggressive and out-spoken in favor of all 
 things he deemed right, and against everything he thought 
 to be wrong. It was during his pastorate the church be- 
 came a living-link in the Foreign Missionary Society. 
 
 Again, it was my pleasure to share with you in the wel- 
 come to Edgar D. Jones and wife. Brother Jones is a re- 
 fined, Christian gentleman; rarely gifted, and deservedly 
 popular both in the church and out. May your splendid 
 fellowship together continue many years. I dare not at- 
 tempt to call the roll of honor in this church, or estimate 
 the forces which have made for righteousness in these years. 
 With a nominal membership of 1500, with the present 
 capable and beloved pastor, and your vision of larger 
 things, I know you will go on to greater achievements. 
 May God bless you all, and grant to you many happy re- 
 turns of your anniversary day.
 
 14 
 
 For some months before the close of my work here, I 
 had been advocating the organization of a new church. In 
 November, 1900, the members of the First Church as- 
 sembled in this room and granted the privilege of a new 
 organization on the condition that $10,000 should be 
 pledged, and a sufficient number of persons interested to 
 make the movement a success. 
 
 On December 30, 1900, 100 persons entered into cove- 
 nant to become charter members of the new church. 
 
 On January 20, 1901, the new church constituency as- 
 sembled in this place and raised $8700, which amount was 
 soon increased to $10,000. This was the first season of 
 rejoicing in what was destined to become one of the most 
 remarkable church movements in Bloomington. The church 
 was incorporated April 22, 1901. On July 18, 1901, the 
 following building committee was elected : J. H. Gilliland, 
 chairman; Campbell Holton, treasurer-secretary; Gertrude 
 B. Welty, W. R. White, Abel Brooks, R. R. McGregor, 
 Frank Boulware, and Gus Lundquist. 
 
 On January 16, 1902, a contract was let to J. F. Rees 
 for $16,600. April 20, 1902, the corner-stone was laid, 
 and a list of the names of the charter members, numbering 
 about 275, was placed in the stone. 
 
 The church was dedicated by J. H Gilliland on No- 
 vember 23, 1902. The entire indebtedness of the church 
 had been previously provided for, a rare thing in church 
 building. On dedication day $3500 was raised for current 
 expenses. This was one of the most happy and triumphant 
 experiences in the history of our work in Bloomington. 
 The Firsh Church, and Arthur Wilson, their new pastor, 
 participated heartily in all the services of the day. The 
 baptistry was dedicated at the evening meeting by the bap- 
 tism of five young ladies Marjorie McGregor, Grace 
 Woodard, Arlie Pierce, Hazel Smith and Monte VanGundy.
 
 15 
 
 Special meetings were held as follows: January, 1903, 
 by J. H. Gilliland, the pastor, with 99 additions; January, 
 1904, by Allen Wilson, with 89 additions; January, 1905, 
 by J. H. Gilliland with 106 additions. Union meeting with 
 the First Church in September, 1907, the Brooks Brothers 
 leading, with 70 additions. As a result of the Billy Sun- 
 day meeting, with two weeks' preaching by the pastor, 
 there were 160 additions. In a short meeting by E. E. Vio- 
 let, in March, 1909, there were 16 additions. 
 
 I closed my pastorate with the Second Church July i, 
 1909. The church had a membership of about 700. About 
 90 of these afterward became charter members of the Cen- 
 tennial Church. I was succeeded by Stephen H. Zendt, the 
 present pastor. Brother Zendt has proved himself to be an 
 earnest, aggressive, and wise leader of his people, and is 
 most highly esteemed by his preaching brethren for his 
 solid worth. During his pastorate the church has become 
 a living link in the Foreign Society, and other advances 
 made in the work; the future of the church is bright with 
 promise. 
 
 February 29, 1908, a lot, located on East Grove street 
 and Willard avenue, was purchased by Mrs. Aaron Rhodes, 
 Dr. O. M. Rhodes and J. H. Gilliland, with the hope that 
 in due time, there might be a new church built upon it. 
 
 In March, 1908, a resolution was adopted by the Of- 
 ficial Board of the Second Christian Church, and approved 
 by the congregation, endorsing the movement to establish a 
 Christian Church east of the Illinois Central railroad; in 
 pursuance of this action, about 70 persons signed the fol- 
 lowing statement : "We, the undersigned, do hereby prom- 
 ise and covenant together to become the charter members 
 of an East Side Christian Church in Bloomington, 111., to 
 be located on the south-east corner of East Grove street and 
 Willard avenue, whenever the enterprise can be placed on
 
 16 
 
 a satisfactory financial basis, and the new church is ready 
 for occupancy." 
 
 A call for subscriptions was made at the Second Church 
 on Sunday, October 18, 1908; a little over $10,000 was 
 raised. On January 5, 1909, the following building com- 
 mittee was selected: Dr. O. M. Rhodes, treasurer; Har- 
 vey Hart, Dr. W. H. Land, clerk; C. B. Merwin, F. R. 
 Bean, J. A. Harrison and J. H. Gilliland; the latter was 
 made chairman, and to this committee was added later the 
 name of J. M. McMurry. 
 
 At a meeting of the new church people, held January 
 10, 1909, the building committee was instructed to secure 
 plans and proceed with the new house. George W. Kramer 
 of New York City was selected as architect. On June 8, 
 1909, the constituency met and incorporated under the 
 name of "Centennial Christian Church, of Bloomington, 
 111.," selecting for trustees Dr. O. M. Rhodes, C. B. Mer- 
 win and J. M. McMurry. 
 
 Bids were received by the committee on June 10, 1909, 
 the lowest of which, that by Mr. E. R. Ward, was accepted, 
 and after some adjustment a contract was made with him 
 on June 21, 1909, for $16,388. Dr. O. M. Rhodes, C. B. 
 Merwin, F. R. Bean, and Harvey Hart w r ere selected as a 
 committee to supervise the erection of the building. The 
 corner-stone was laid August 22, 1909. 
 
 The church was dedicated by J. H. Gilliland, the pastor, 
 May i, 1910, when over $15,000 was raised to pay the 
 balance of the $25,500, the total cost of the church, includ- 
 ing lot, and furnishings. I was succeeded in this pastorate 
 September i by Milo Atkinson. Brother Atkinson has 
 proved to be a model pastor for the new church. The tie 
 of affection, mutual regard and appreciation can be no 
 stronger between pastor and people, than exists between 
 Mr. Atkinson and the Centennial Church.
 
 17 
 
 The Sunday School under the superintendency of J. A. 
 Harrison, has doubled. A meeting in January and Feb- 
 ruary, 1912, by Herbert Yeuell, resulting in about 80 ad- 
 ditions, has increased the membership to 235. The church 
 enjoys a strategic location; her spiritual condition is al- 
 most ideal; her ministry of helpfulness for the future is 
 most inviting and promising. 
 
 No resume of our history would be at all complete, or 
 satisfactory, had I omitted this brief account of these two 
 congregations, the one the daughter, the other the grand- 
 daughter of the First Church. These children reflect credit 
 on you; they are most worthy of your cherishing love. 
 They have abundantly justified their being; the one is 
 growing in the strength of womanhood, the other is a most 
 beautiful and promising girl, with whom, I confess myself 
 to be in love. 
 
 You have one God, you have one Christ, sou have one plea, you have 
 one cause, DOU are one people, gou are brethren and sisters in Christ Jesus. 
 "Keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace," and God will bless and 
 prosper gou all. This is my prayer for you. 
 
 Interesting as such a recital of facts and figures may 
 be, it is, after all, largely the record of the external and 
 material manifestation of religious life. I must now turn 
 to the consideration of that phase of religious life, which 
 is of more moment, the mental and spiritual. I assume that 
 the religious life of Bloomington is but an arc of that vast 
 circumference which encircles the entire country. 
 
 No church, or community can live to itself alone; all 
 feel the pulsing tides of scientific, philosophic and religious 
 thought and life; our problem, therefore, is but a part of 
 the greater problem of our country ; hence, our discussion 
 must now take a wider range, for we are in the current of 
 the world's movement. We dare not lay to our soul the
 
 18 
 
 flattering unction that everything in our religious life is 
 ideal, or even approaches the ideal. There are many con- 
 ditions which will perplex us and cause anxiety, yet we 
 must face the facts, 
 
 Some are so anxious to live the "quiet life" they refuse 
 to see the word of sin, they refuse to hear the cry of suf- 
 fering humanity, they do not wish to be stirred from their 
 passivity and indifference, to any sort of aggressive battle 
 for a great cause, knowing that to think is painful, and to 
 act will demand sacrifice. 
 
 Without attempting, at great length, to pass on the 
 merits of the case, let us examine briefly the Theological 
 Status, noting some changes, and transfer of emphasis in 
 recent years. 
 
 1. There has been a change of emphasis from the deity 
 of Jesus to his personal worth; from the metaphysical 
 Christ to the historical Christ. Questions like the follow- 
 ing are being asked anew and new answers, at least in part, 
 are being given: Was Jesus sinless? Did Jesus work 
 miracles? Did he forgive sins? Did he die for us? Did 
 he rise from the dead ? Did he really live at all ? 
 
 2. There has been a change of emphasis from the 
 death of Jesus to the teaching and example of Jesus. 
 
 "The trend of contemporary opinion is very largely in 
 one direction; namely, to define the essence of Christian- 
 ity as consisting merely of the teachings and examples of 
 Jesus, as recorded in the first three Gospels in distinction 
 from that view of the Person of Christ as the Eternal 
 Word, manifesting the Father, and the Work of Christ as 
 the suffering and triumphant Saviour of the world, as set 
 forth in the Fourth Gospel and in the Apostolic epistles." 
 (C. Hall). 
 
 Mr. Hall says the above tendency is based on three 
 things The resistance of Scholastic Theology awakened by 
 modern advances and reconstructions in philosophy. The
 
 19 
 
 resistance of Apostolic Theology through identifying it 
 with the ponderous scholastic systems built upon it. 
 The growth of the historical method of Bible study, 
 where the accent is placed on the narratives of the first 
 three Gospels, including the teachings and the idealistic ex- 
 ample of Jesus as constituting the essence of the Christian 
 religion." (Hall). 
 
 3. There has been a change of emphasis from the 
 supernatural to the natural; from the authority of the Bible 
 to the Christian consciousness. 
 
 4. The modern view of Miracle; Virgin Birth; Res- 
 urrection. See Thompson, Gordon, Warschauer, Soltau, 
 Lobstein, Lake, etc., etc. 
 
 5. There has been a change of emphasis from philo- 
 sophical to practical materialism; from Christianity to 
 ethics, and humanitarianism ; from the message of salva- 
 tion from sin to a social message; from the conversion of 
 the individual to the redemption of society; from doctrine 
 to life and character. 
 
 Notice again the assumed constructive results of critical 
 study : 
 
 1. The very general acceptance of the critical method, 
 which has made the Bible a new book. 
 
 2. The composite character of certain books of the 
 Bible. 
 
 3. The legendary, mythical, poetical, and human ele- 
 ments in the Bible. 
 
 4. The purpose of the Bible better understood. 
 
 5. The recovery of the real humanity of the Biblical 
 personages, Abraham, David, Isaac, Jacob, all real human 
 beings. God used them; He has always been shut up to 
 the use of human beings for the execution of His purposes. 
 
 6. The belief that the authority of the Bible has not 
 been impaired by the passing of the verbal theory of in- 
 spiration and inerrency.
 
 20 
 
 7. That Revelation is progressive. 
 
 8. That God has been teaching the world by incarna- 
 'tions and principles, and not by specific rules. 
 
 9. That the Bible is not of equal value in all its parts ; 
 that it is not a "Level Bible." 
 
 10. That direct access to the Bible, and the exercise 
 of private judgment in its interpretation, is the right and 
 duty of every individual. That nothing should stand be- 
 tween the spirit of inquiry and the word of God. 
 
 In order to make the remaining portion of this address 
 more catholic, more representative of the convictions of re- 
 ligious leaders; to make it a sort of concensus of opinion 
 on the religious situation in Bloomington, I have addressed 
 several of my fellow-pastors two inquiries, which they have 
 very kindly answered: 
 
 What is the most serious defect in the religious life of 
 your congregation; the thing which most hinders the suc- 
 cess and prosperity of your work ? 
 
 What, in your judgment, are some of the most danger- 
 ous conditions or tendencies in the religious life of the 
 present day ; and on the other hand, w^hat are some of the 
 most hopeful conditions or tendencies in the religious life 
 of the present day? Time forbids an elaboration of these 
 replies; however, I think it will be of interest to recite, 
 just here, without comment, the answers given to the first 
 query. 
 
 I sent out nine letters, and received seven replies. 
 
 i. The first answer to query No. I is "Indifference." 
 This answer was given by three persons out of the seven. 
 
 2.. Decline of religious life in the home. Two gave 
 this answer. 
 
 3. Failure to realize the divine obligation of church 
 
 VOW9. 
 
 4. Unfaithfulness in attendance on public worship, and 
 the lack of personal work.
 
 SECOND CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
 
 21 
 
 5. The worldly spirit, evidenced in seeking for pleas- 
 ure, wealth, and social distinction at the expense of deep 
 religious things. 
 
 6. The substitution of formalism for vital Christianity. 
 
 7. Prayerlessness, and the consequent shallow sense of 
 loyalty to the obligations of church membership. 
 
 I must now set forth an answer to the second query, 
 above, utilizing the suggestions, as I may, made by the 
 pastors. 
 
 I. What are some of the most dangerous conditions, 
 or tendencies in the religious life of the present day? 
 
 1. The Love of the World. 
 
 As Demas left Paul, loving this present world, so many 
 are leaving Christ and the church, because they love the 
 world and the things of the world ; unmindful of the teach- 
 ing of John "Love not the world, neither the things of 
 the world. If any man love the world, the love of the 
 Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust 
 of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the vain glory of 
 life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the 
 world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that 
 doeth the will of God abideth forever." i Jno. 2:15-17. 
 
 Many "determined to be rich, to possess the world, fall 
 into a temptation and a snare and matiy foolish and hurt- 
 ful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition. 
 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil; which 
 some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, 
 and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows." 
 i Tim. 6:9-10. 
 
 We are in great need of the exhortation of the apostle 
 to flee these things ; and follow after righteousness, godli- 
 ness, faith, love, patience, and meekness." 
 
 2. The Passion for Amusement. 
 
 This tendency is so pronounced that almost every pas- 
 tor noted it. Amusement, here is not to be confounded
 
 22 
 
 with healthful recreation, with legitimate play, but it re- 
 fers to that craze which is leading all classes of society in 
 a mad desire to be superficially amused, coddled; till all 
 appetite for the substantial is destroyed; till serious views 
 of life are dissipated; till men and women are incapaci- 
 tated for thinking, till the great concerns of life are buried 
 beneath a senseless demand for "a good time," without re- 
 gard to the effect on the physical, moral, or spiritual life. 
 
 Public conveyances are thronged, the places of amuse- 
 ment are wide open, and filled with seekers after the spec- 
 tacular, after entertainment; the interests of home, church, 
 moral life are sacrificed. Witness our recent election when 
 the theaters of Bloomington were refused the privilege of 
 opening on Sunday, by the shameful majority of 266. 
 
 3. The prevalent Criticism of the Church. 
 
 The church is regarded by some, as the enemy, rather 
 than the friend of men ; as the robber of their rights and 
 privileges and pleasures. It is charged with attempting to 
 exercise an authority to which it has no rightful claim. 
 
 It is held responsible for every lapse in morals among 
 professed Christians, and not a few, with Satanic delight, 
 say, "Another of your church members." 
 
 It is charged with being out of sympathy with the poor, 
 and toiling masses; belated and antique as related to the 
 great scientific, and philosophic world; as indifferent to 
 social evils, and to the tyrannical dominance over the peo- 
 ple, of great financial, and soulless corporations. 
 
 Others class the church with human institutions, and 
 regard membership in it as undesirable, much less essential. 
 
 4. The Lack of the .Spirit of Urgency; the spirit that 
 would compel them to come in; that would count every- 
 thing as dross, that Christ might be won. 
 
 There is a widespread indifference and apathy among 
 Christians as to the kingdom of God, abandon in the service 
 of Christ is madness, a generous giving of money is a suffi-
 
 23 
 
 cient ground for suspicion. There is a lack of rejoicing 
 over the conversion of sinners; no adequate sense of the 
 loss of a soul without God. The Lord's prayer to send 
 laborers in the field, and his injunction to labor while it is 
 day as the night soon cometh, awaken no resolve to heroic 
 endeavor. 
 
 There is little heart-breaking, soul-anguish over sin, 
 over the lost, over the languishing enterprises of the divine 
 kingdom. 
 
 5. Errors and Abnormalities of Modern Evangelism. 
 
 Measuring evangelistic efficiency by the number of con- 
 verts, and the feverish desire for numbers, without regard 
 to how they are made, and misleading newspaper reports of 
 results. The lack of clear and adequate scriptural preach- 
 ing, resulting in no intelligent convictions as to truth and 
 duty, in the minds of the converts. Evangelism is often 
 marred by irreverence, slang, the lack of culture, and sec- 
 tarianism. Often a total failure to recognize and proceed 
 in harmony with true psychology. 
 
 The comment of a recent writer "Of evangelism of 
 the true order the church will always be an advocate. 
 Evangelism lies at the heart of the gospel. The call of men 
 to the holy life must be made imperious and compelling in 
 every generation of Christian history. But of a revivalism 
 that is mechanical, legalistic, emotional, hypnotic, and ap- 
 parently chiefly concerned with numbers rather than char- 
 acter, with newspaper reports rather than with permanent 
 transformation of life, we have had quite enough. The 
 price of such evangelism is too great in the waste of many 
 who pass through these paroxyms of emotional fervor 
 without further results, and become thereby less susceptible 
 than ever to Christian influence; in the cheapening of re- 
 ligion throughout the community, by making it an agency 
 for entreating, cajoling, threatening, and wheedling men
 
 24 
 
 and women into the churches; and in the inevitable tend- 
 ency to interpret God in terms so trivial and mechanical that 
 men lose regard for the Father who should be the very 
 center and source of their lives." 
 
 6. The Misuse and Desecration of the Lord's Day. 
 
 This is made a day for travel, for pleasure, picnics, vis- 
 iting, for lounging at home with a Sunday paper, or other 
 light reading. Neglect of religious meditation, of public 
 worship, of the Lord's table, resulting in a slackness of 
 morals, and impoverishment of the soul. 
 
 The day is desecrated by the open saloon, the open play- 
 houses and dens of vice; by Sunday ball games, races, by 
 great crowds of men and women assembled for public 
 drinking and carousal. There is a widespread failure to 
 understand the character and purpose of the Lord's Day. 
 "The inspiration of this day is its joyous liberty, the lib- 
 erty which is born of love. 
 
 "It is not the Jewish Sabbath, nor a Christian substitute 
 for a Jewish Sabbath. It is not a day of bondage to tradi- 
 tion, a day whose meaning is realized and whose use is 
 fulfilled in a stern routine of ordinances, resting like a yoke 
 on the neck of life. It is a day of spontaneous expression, 
 a day of gladness and affection, a day whose uses love, and 
 love only, can control. 
 
 "No one can be said to keep this day who does not love 
 and honor the risen Lord. It is the Lord's day, and only 
 they who care for Him, care for it." Cuthbert Hall. 
 
 7. Another condition, though not dangerous, is per- 
 haps serious, and deserving of serious consideration, 
 namely "The multiplicity of agencies for Christian activi- 
 ties such as the Y.M.C.A., Y.W.C.A. Federated Brother- 
 hoods, Associated and Affiliated Christian organizations of 
 many kinds, to such an extent as to overlap, and work over 
 and over again certain groups of people already busy in 
 their various churches, or people who should be busy in
 
 25 
 
 teaching Bible school classes and working in various like 
 capacities." I have stated this condition in the language of 
 one of the pastors; I believe the statement is justified; I 
 believe the work of the church is often .weakened rather 
 than strengthened by so many such organizations. 
 
 I would not assume the role of a critic, for I am the 
 friend of every institution having for its purpose the uplift 
 and betterment of humanity; I believe, however, that the 
 Church of Jesus Christ, is the one, supreme, divine agency 
 for the world's redemption, and all these other organiza- 
 tions should do her work and contribute to her upbuilding 
 and success, and in her name for her glory and not their 
 own. 
 
 For example, the Y.M.C.A., one of the best of these 
 institutions ; made possible by the church, supported by the 
 church, and to her we send our boys and men; does she 
 send to the churches material for new members ? Does she 
 return the boys and men, who are already members of the 
 church, with greater loyalty to the church, and more will- 
 ing to serve the church along her lines of work? Does she 
 make it easier for the pastors to find men to carry out their 
 programs of church service? I have asked several pastors 
 of late, what specific, definite, helpful contribution has the 
 Y.M.C.A. made to your church? I ask you this question, 
 not as a critic ; not assuming that no such contribution has 
 been made, but simply as a querist. 
 
 This array of dangerous conditions is quite formidable, 
 yet, in my judgment, they are but symptoms of yet more 
 fundamental, and alarming conditions. 
 
 i. The weakening of the Sense of Authority. 
 
 Parental authority is on the wane; respect for civil 
 authority is declining ; the almost total lack of discipline in 
 the church is the result of the dethronement of authority. 
 
 There are many who fear neither God nor man, they are 
 a law unto themselves. We are, perhaps, the most lawless
 
 26 
 
 civilized people on earth. There are many, whom, if you 
 undertake to persuade to the acceptance of certain truths 
 or a certain way of conduct, will laugh you to scorn; ap- 
 peal to Jesus and they will tell you he was but a man; ap- 
 peal to the Bible, they will tell you that it is of no more 
 authority than any other good book. What "I think" set- 
 tles the question. 
 
 2. The Failing Sense of Sin. 
 
 We are told there is no sin; there is little crying out 
 for mercy because of sin, there is little profound moving 
 of the conscience on account of sin. Speak to a company of 
 wordly cultured people as sinners and you insult them, they 
 will resent it. Jesus counted men sinners and came to save 
 them. Where there is no sense of sin, there sin abounds; 
 where there is no conscious need of a personal Saviour, 
 men do not cry out for forgiveness. 
 
 Men are self-satisfied, self-sufficient, they need no God, 
 they need no salvation. 
 
 3. The Lack of Faith. 
 
 4. The Lack of an Intelligent Understanding of the 
 Word of God. 
 
 5. The Lack of Vital Christianity. 
 
 The substitution of formalism, vague religiousness for 
 vital Christianity; church membership for piety and de- 
 votion. 
 
 Mr. J. R. Campbell says the lack is far more pronounced 
 in this country than in England. 
 
 We substitute morality, charity, human institutions for 
 Christianity. We would like to be Christians, but we do 
 not wish to pay the price, to bear the burden, make the sac- 
 rifice. We want to be Christians by some short cut, by 
 some "booster" method, by some "rally" plan. 
 
 6. The Decay of Family Religion. 
 
 This is one of the most lamentable and threatening of 
 the dangers to our religious life. Scripture reading, re-
 
 27 
 
 ligious conversation, and the family altar are neglected. 
 Many homes of the church, as well as of the world, have 
 no positive religious influence on the members of the fam- 
 ily. If you enter some Christian homes, elegant in appoint- 
 ment, with occupants, intelligent, possessed of a certain 
 refinement and culture, you will find the atmosphere is sur- 
 charged with business, society, plans for pleasure and ease, 
 and wholly lacking in any vital Christian character. 
 
 "I am, therefore, in no mood to disparage the ministries 
 of the schools, but I am in a mood to declare that all their 
 ministries are secondary, and that if we make them primary 
 we are disregarding the fountains. The natural and the ap- 
 pointed place for children to make the acquaintance of God 
 is their own home. The most powerful and persuasive lips 
 for declaring the awful sanctities of religion are the priestly 
 lips of the ordained parent. I would prefer the early guid- 
 ance of the illumined father or mother to the instruction of 
 all the State teachers and official priests in Christendom! 
 And why? Because, in the first place, there has been com- 
 mitted to the parents the psychological opportunity when 
 spiritual guidance can best be given. We have fatally post- 
 dated the season when spiritual receptiveness begins, the 
 angel is stirring the waters of opportunity long before many 
 of us dream. When wonder is just born, when feeble 
 imagination begins to try her wings, when desire awakes 
 and goes abroad in curious quest, aye, when love springs 
 up, and shines and clings, the door is ajar for the gentle 
 guide of souls. That early hour of delicate susceptibility, 
 that season when the surface of life is porous to the High- 
 est, is the opportunity of the parent, and of the parent 
 alone. And as theirs is the opportunity, so theirs is the 
 superlative privilege, and to them has been entrusted the 
 sacred office of "taking occasion by the hand," and of lead- 
 ing the impressionable life into adoring intimacy with the 
 Lord. For, after all, the preeminent and proudest preroga-
 
 28 
 
 tive of a parent is to introduce his child to the Master, and 
 to tenderly guide him in the earliest stages of his pilgrim- 
 age to Zion. "Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul 
 diligently, lest thou forget, the things which thine eyes 
 have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days 
 of thy life; but teach them, thy sons, and thy sons' sons." 
 "Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and 
 shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when 
 thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and 
 when thou riseth up." "And ye fathers, provoke not your 
 chilren to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and 
 admonition of the Lord." 
 
 There is a great dearth of religious training in the 
 home, many parents fail altogether, and turn over the re- 
 ligious training of their children to the Sunday School, or 
 other outside agency. The Christian woman who dele- 
 gates the care and religious instruction of her child to an- 
 other is unworthy of motherhood, if she be so endowed 
 and circumstanced that she herself can perform the service. 
 Hundreds of parents acknowledge failure to lead their chil- 
 dren to a religious life, to the Sunday School, and especially 
 into the church, and keep them there ; the problem of the 
 young people in the church is a home problem. 
 
 Many deplore the fact that the public school teacher is 
 deprived of the privilege of religious teaching, yet these 
 same persons have relinquished the God-given privilege, 
 and divinely imposed obligation of religious home training. 
 
 This condition is traceable in part, to flippant and un- 
 worthy views of the marriage relation. It is often entered 
 without serious thought, or preparation; it is treated as a 
 joke, and broken without conscience. "Marriage is robbed 
 of spiritual significance, much of the literature of the day 
 is creating a secular and superficial conception of father- 
 hood and motherhood; marriage is deteriorating into a 
 mere civil institution."
 
 29 
 
 It is regarded as a mere personal convenience, whereas 
 God gave it to us as the fundamental religious institution. 
 
 How much do we need to safeguard it! It is today 
 more endangered than ever before. Prof. Ellwood in a 
 recent volume on "Socialism and Modern Problems," says : 
 "We find that the family life at the beginning of the 2Oth 
 century is in a more unstable condition than it has been at 
 any time since the beginning of the Christian era." 
 
 It is endangered by the removal of its sanctities, by cer- 
 tain destructive social teachings; by the loss of authority, 
 reverence and respect; moreover, the questions of indus- 
 trial womanhood, child labor, boarding house and hotel 
 life, drunkenness, lust and easy divorce combine to break 
 it down. 
 
 In 1885 this country had more divorces than all the rest 
 of the Christian civilized world put together: 23,472 as 
 against 20.131; in 1905, 68,000 as against 40,000. The 
 divorce rates tell the same story. In 1905 France granted 
 i divorce to 30 marriages; Germany i to 44; England 
 i to 400; Switzerland i to 22; the United States i to 12; 
 the state of Washington i to 4 ; Montana i to 5 ; Colo- 
 rado, Arkansas, Texas and Indiana i to 6. 
 
 Divorces in the United States are apparently increasing 
 faster than the population. From 1867 to 1886 divorces 
 increased 157 per cent; the population increased about 60 
 per cent; from 1887 to 1906 divorces increased 160 per 
 cent, and population 50 per cent, divorces thus increasing 
 in the United States three times as fast as the population. 
 In 1870, 3.5 per cent of all marriages in the United States 
 were terminated by divorce; in 1900, 8 per cent, and it is 
 estimated that at the present rate of increase, by 1990 one- 
 half of all marriages will be terminated by divorce. Can 
 you imagine the moral degradation of that period? Do 
 you believe that our civil and religious institutions can long 
 survive such a condition?
 
 30 
 
 There are no less than 36 grounds for divorce recog- 
 nized by our laws; from one in New York to 14 in New 
 Hampshire. Of the million divorces granted from 1867 to 
 '1906, 94 per cent were granted for adultery, desertion, 
 cruelty, imprisonment for crime, habitual drunkenness and 
 neglect on the part of the husband to provide for the fam- 
 ily. Fifty-five per cent were for adultery and desertion 
 alone. This leads Prof. Ellwood, from whose book I take 
 these figures, to say: "We must conclude, therefore, that 
 divorce is prevalent not because of the laxity of our laws, 
 but rather because of the decay of our family life; that 
 divorce is but a symptom of the disintegration of the mod- 
 ern family." 
 
 Among the causes for divorce mentioned by Mr. Ell- 
 wood, are these: i. The decay of the religious theory of 
 marriage and the family. 2 Individualism; the spirit 
 which leads a man to find his law in his own wishes, even 
 in his whims and caprices. 3. Modern Industrialism. 
 4. The growth of our cities, where divorces are more fre- 
 quent. 5. Increasing laxity of the laws regarding divorce, 
 and increasing laxity in the administration of the laws has 
 certainly been a cause of increasing divorce in the United 
 States." 
 
 We cannot, therefore, escape the conclusion that the 
 decay of family religion is the fundamental danger of this 
 present age. 
 
 II. What are Some of the Most Hopeful Conditions 
 and Tendencies in the Religious Life of the Present Day? 
 
 1. A better conception of God as Personal, Imminent, 
 Transcending; as the Loving Father of all men. 
 
 2. The Conviction, without metaphysical theory, that 
 Jesus is the Saviour of the world. That personal loyalty 
 to him is the essence of Christianity. 
 
 3. The conception that Man is Divine; that he is of 
 transcendent value; a value exceeding that of dogmas,
 
 31 
 
 days, ordinances, institutions and books. He is the final 
 cause of divine and human endeavor. 
 
 4. The Awakening to the Consciousness of the dan- 
 gers and evils in the world, and the growing determination 
 on the part of the best men and women of all classes and 
 vocations to grapple with and destroy them. 
 
 5. The Modern Sunday School movement, and the 
 Men's Forward movement. 
 
 6. The changed attitude to the Social Question. 
 This question as we now look at it is comparatively 
 
 new. "The word 'socialism' is believed to have been 
 coined by Comte about 1839. The phrase 'social organism' 
 was popularized for English readers by Herbert Spencer 
 in 1860." General interest in the subject has arisen during 
 the period under review tonight ; most of the best books on 
 the subject have been published in recent years. 
 
 It is said, "that all problems of human life are parts of 
 the social problem." This has been called the "era of the 
 social question." The social problem has been defined as 
 "the outer margin of the question of personal experience." 
 
 "It is the adjustment of the individual and the social 
 whole in the family, in the state, in the industrial order 
 and elsewhere." 
 
 There is an increasing sense of brotherhood, a greater 
 willingness to accept the responsibility of our brother's 
 keeper. Socialism, at times and in some forms, has sought 
 to destroy the idea of God, has opposed the church, and 
 proposed to furnish a substitute for Christianity. 
 
 Possessed of the idea that Christianity is concerned 
 about the other world, and not at all about the present, we 
 are not surprised at the attitude. The church, however, is 
 not chiefly concerned about the future, but is concerned 
 about making a heaven on earth now; is primarily inter- 
 ested in securing to all classes better economical, intel- 
 lectual, and spiritual conditions. The church has never
 
 32 
 
 conceived her mission more clearly, as voiced by R. J. 
 Campbell, "to relate more closely the Gospel message to 
 the ethical ideals of social justice, and human brotherhood." 
 
 This the church must do for her self-preservation; she 
 must train her leaders and members, as far as possible, to 
 be social leaders and workers. "This does not mean to 
 serve on reception committees, to teach boys' clubs, to or- 
 ganize boy scouts, collect subscriptions, officiate at pink 
 teas and such like functions ; but to 'see things steadily, and 
 see them whole/ as was said of Sophocles; men with an 
 all-around view, persons who are trained in the complex 
 problems of the economic and social world. Unless such 
 social wisdom is developed in the churches, then the organi- 
 zation of religion is likely to lose its authority over modern 
 minds, and to be abandoned by an increasing number of 
 persons as a refuge for sentimentalists, the ecclesiastics, 
 and the reactionaries." Pera. 
 
 As Dr. Mathews says : "The church is not to be made 
 a religionless mixture of civil service reform, debating so- 
 cieties, gymnasiums, athletics, suppers, concerts, stereopti- 
 con lectures, good advice, refined negro minstrels, and dra- 
 matic entertainments." 
 
 This is to degrade the church and betray her mission. 
 
 There is in the minds of some people a notion that 
 Christianity is one thing, and social service another. This 
 distinction has been made to the hurt of the church, and 
 church workers have sometimes consented to it, and are, 
 in a measure, to blame for the perpetuity of this false dis- 
 tinction. Social service that is of any value, is Christian 
 service. Christian service is for the whole man, and for 
 all men; nothing can be more comprehensive than this. 
 
 There is a growing and deepening conviction in the 
 minds of the leaders of human uplift and betterment, that 
 Christianity is efficient for the salvation of both the in- 
 dividual and society, and that the church is the divinely
 
 33 
 
 appointed agency for the accomplishment of this task ; that 
 "we stand on the threshold of a greater religious era than 
 the world has ever seen, and that the distinguishing mark 
 of it will be the prevalence, in all phases of human life, of 
 the essential spirit and principles of the religion of Jesus; 
 and that there is a tendency to recognize with increasing 
 clearness, that moral enthusiasm and effectiveness have their 
 normal and constant source in religion." Bib. Wld. 4/12. 
 
 7. Finally Among the hopeful tendencies is The 
 Vision of a Larger World; the new era of Missions; the 
 new consecration of men and money to the world's evange- 
 lization. 
 
 Conscious kinship in Jesus is inspiring men to make the 
 noblest sacrifices ; the nations of the earth are coming into 
 their inheritance; every real problem is a world problem, 
 and every world problem is the problem of man's salvation. 
 
 The vision of a united people under the banner of Christ 
 is thrilling the universal heart. Contributions to its reali- 
 zation come from every quarter of the earth, for ex- 
 ample, Dr. J. L. Barton, secretary of the American Board 
 (Congregationalist) before a recent inter-denominational 
 conference of missionary secretaries and leaders, urged 
 the necessity of a united church of Christ, to meet the new 
 and intricate problems attendant on national reconstruc- 
 tion." The missionaries in China would quickly create one 
 church for the empire, were it not for the denominations 
 at home. 
 
 We are truly living in a great and wondrous age; let us not be laggards; let us 
 not be selfish; let us not be overmuch interested in the things which die with the 
 dap. 
 
 May we count no burden too heavy, no sacrifice too great, that we map walk in 
 that goodly company committed to the imperishable verities of the kingdom of Christ. 
 
 May we open our eyes to the entrancing vision of a Christ conquered world; 
 may we open our ears to the cry of the needy, and gird our loins for a ministry to 
 the world's hurt. 
 
 I congratulate you, brethren and sisters of the First 
 Church, upon the arrival of the 75th anniversary of your
 
 34 
 
 church life; your record has been a creditable one; God 
 has led you and blessed you. There is a great company of 
 sainted ones, who have gone out from this congregation, 
 looking down upon you with approval tonight; they are 
 wishing you many returns of this day; they are wishing 
 for you loyalty to Christ and his church. In twenty-five 
 years more, nearly all, if not quite all, who were 25 or 30 
 years of age when I came, will have passed on; a new 
 generation will have the work of this church; young men 
 and women, prepare for it, and may God help you to be 
 as heroic and true as have been your fathers and mothers. 
 "And may the God of peace, who brought again from 
 the dead the good shepherd of the sheep, with the blood 
 of the eternal covenant, even our Lord, Jesus Christ, make 
 you perfect in every good thing to do his will, working in 
 us that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus 
 Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever, Amen."
 
 THE FUNERAL OF J. H. GILLILAND 
 
 Sunday, April 28, the day of Mr. Gilliland's funeral, 
 was gloomy and somber. The rain fell most of the time 
 in solemn downpour. It was as though the heavens wept 
 with us in our great loss. Long before the hour for the 
 service, which was 2 130 in the afternoon, the First Church 
 was crowded with people. The main auditorium upstairs 
 and down, Bible School rooms, and vestibule were thronged, 
 many standing throughout the necessarily long service. 
 
 The floral offerings were profuse and beautiful. They 
 were piled in fragrant heaps about the pulpit and arranged 
 in orderly array around the platform. 
 
 The reading of the great hymn, "Fallen on Zion's Bat- 
 tlefield, a Soldier of Renown," opened the service, after 
 which a mixed quartet sang "Rock of Ages." Dr. John L. 
 Jackson, pastor of the First Baptist Church, read comfort- 
 ing passages from the scriptures and offered prayer. Next 
 a solo, "Come Ye Disconsolate," was sung. Edgar De- 
 Witt Jones, pastor of the First Church, delivered the fol- 
 lowing
 
 MEMORIAL ADDRESS 
 
 For the second time within a decade, our city mourns 
 the death of an eminent member of the ministerial body, 
 and our churches a leader who led. 
 
 Nine years ago, last month, a concourse of people simi- 
 lar to this one of today assembled within these walls to pay 
 tribute to the beautiful life and blessed memory of Arthur 
 Wilson. It was a grief -stricken people that gathered here 
 that day and very great was their need of comfort. The 
 minister who spoke the eulogy then and who comforted the 
 bereft, was the man in whose memory we are met today, 
 the wise, far-seeing, faithful J. H. Gilliland. 
 
 On Friday night, a week ago, Mr. Gilliland was present 
 with us at a service in the church. His voice was lifted in 
 prayer. He listened with interest to an address by N. S. 
 Haynes. After the meeting was over, he laughed and 
 talked with friends. He seemed in excellent spirits. It 
 was remarked how well he looked, how strong and vigor- 
 ous. The next day at noon, as he was giving final revision 
 to a carefully prepared address on his twenty-five years' ex- 
 perience as a Bloomington pastor, he was suddenly stricken 
 low. For six days he lingered thus and on last Friday 
 evening, more suddenly than the first stroke, a second fol- 
 lowed and his strong, heroic spirit passed away. 
 
 Dazed and bewildered, we find it difficult to accept the 
 fact of this strong and useful man's passing. Early yes- 
 terday morning I awoke. Day was breaking, birds were 
 singing joyously. Slowly, like a half forgotten dream, 
 there came to me the realization of our great loss. J. H. 
 Gilliland was dead. The strong man upon whom many of 
 us loved to lean had gone from us. O, the old-fashioned 
 death! O, experience ancient as humanity, yet so eternally 
 new, so tragically recent.
 
 CENTENNIAL CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
 
 37 
 
 At such a time as this, words are but feeble vehicles ol 
 even heartfelt sympathy and human speech seems strangely 
 poor and inadequate. 
 
 James H. Gilliland's place in our city was unique and 
 his influence mighty for good. 
 
 AN EXTRAORDINARY MINISTRY. 
 
 For a quarter of a century he lived and labored here. 
 He came here a young preacher full of energy. He was 
 consecrated, studious, growing, and such he continued to 
 the last. His career here has never been duplicated by any 
 minister in our own communion. I doubt if it has been 
 by any one anywhere. For fifteen years Mr. Gilliland was 
 pastor of this church, building the commodious edifice in 
 which we are gathered today. Then he organized the Sec- 
 ond Church and. led them in the building of their handsome 
 structure. . Next he organized the Centennial Church and 
 built their beautiful edifice, and at the time of his death, 
 he was leading the Normal church in a similar enterprise. 
 Throughout such development, Mr. Gilliland's heart was 
 big enough for us all. He was our bishop beloved, not of 
 ecclesiastical appointment, but the common choice of our 
 hearts. From his great paper of Sunday night, I take this 
 fine sentiment spoken to all four congregations in union 
 meeting assembled : 
 
 "You have one end, you have one Christ, you 
 have one cause, you are one people, you are breth- 
 ren, and sisters, in Christ Jesus. Keep the unity 
 of the spirit in the bonds of peace, and God will 
 bless and prosper you all. This is my prayer for 
 you." 
 
 Throughout all these years, besides leading in these 
 building enterprises, Mr. Gilliland was a busy pastor and 
 a most acceptable preacher. He officiated at many hundreds
 
 38 
 
 of weddings and funerals, he preached thousands of ser- 
 mons, and received into the churches of which he was pastor 
 about twenty-five hundred people. The high standard he 
 maintained is little short of marvelous. He undertook 
 nothing that he did not do well. He never preached a 
 weak or illy-prepared sermon. He was ever a workman 
 who needed not to be ashamed. 
 
 HIS STRONG MENTALITY. 
 
 Mr. Gilliland possessed a strong mentality. He was 
 ever a vigorous thinker, logical, and analytical. He was a 
 prodigious reader. He subscribed for and read a long list 
 of the leading periodicals of his own and other communions, 
 besides publications of a literary, scientific, and philosophi- 
 cal nature. He kept abreast of the times. His paper of 
 a week ago indicates how widely he read, how modern his 
 viewpoint, yet withal how practical his ideas of Christian 
 work. His magnificent library was a delight to all his 
 book-loving friends. Like their owner, the books that went 
 on those shelves were solid, substantial, worth while. I 
 knew somewhat Mr. Gilliland's love for books and in a 
 modest way was one with him in some appreciations of 
 literature. The day he was stricken I saw his desk just as 
 he left it with papers piled as he had placed them, and 
 yesterday I saw the treasured volumes standing in stately 
 array. The pathos of it all moved me deeply. 
 
 "Ah his hand will never more, 
 Turn their storied pages o'er, 
 Never more his lips repeat, 
 Songs of theirs however sweet, 
 Let the lifeless body rest. 
 He is gone who was its guest, 
 Gone as travelers haste to leave, 
 An inn, nor tarry until eve."
 
 39 
 
 HIS POWER OF HEART. 
 
 But J. H. Gilliland was strong in the affections as well 
 as the intellect. Naturally reserved, at times almost diffi- 
 dent, a chance acquaintance might have thought him cold, 
 and thus misjudged him. His heart was warm, his nature 
 cordial. All that was needed was the genial atmosphere 
 of his friends or better still his home circle. There he 
 shone at his best socially. There he was hospitable, social, 
 radiant. I think few public men who have succeeded so 
 signally as J. H. Gilliland have been with their families as 
 much as was he. He disliked to spend a single night else- 
 where and never did save when it was necessary. 
 
 He loved his wife and daughter with all passionate de- 
 votion of his strong nature. Beautiful indeed, was this 
 man's family life. 
 
 A MANIvY MAN. 
 
 J. H. Gilliland was a manly man. He detested shams. 
 He abhorred cant. He hated hypocrisy. He never atti- 
 tudinized nor strained for effect. His piety was robust and 
 full blooded but never ostentatious. He lived close to God. 
 In prayer at time, especially upon funeral occasions, he car- 
 ried the congregation to the very heart of God in petitions 
 of childlike simplicity and tenderness, yet majestic in senti- 
 ment and phraseology. 
 
 Mr. Gilliland ever stood for dignified standards in 
 church work. He loved the great hymns and an order of 
 worship that became the house of God. He seldom, if ever, 
 had time for the light or trivial in Christian work and yet 
 he was not without humor and appreciated real wit. 
 
 This faithful minister, this citizen, this manly man, 
 was a strong personality who laid his impress upon our 
 community for years to come. Bloomington is better be- 
 cause he lived here, our institutions are stronger because 
 of him, thousands of lives were moulded after the Christ 
 by and through the ministry of James H. Gilliland.
 
 40 
 
 We are poorer because he is taken from us, but we are 
 far richer because he lived. 
 
 For twenty-five years this man of God had gone into 
 the grief stricken homes of this community with the mes- 
 sage of Christian hope and love; now he lies as silent and 
 still as the forms over which he so often spoke words of 
 sympathy. Throughout all these years the wife of his 
 youth together with him has wept with and for us, now we 
 weep with and for her, and for the daughter, the two 
 brothers and the aged mother. 
 
 The voice that comforted us is silent, the vigorous per- 
 sonality that strengthened us stilled but the truth that was 
 spoken and lived by him is yet mighty to heal, potent and 
 all sufficient. 
 
 "We lay in dust life's glory's dead, 
 And from the ground there blossoms red, 
 Life that shall endless be."
 
 J. H. GILLILAND AS PREACHER AND PASTOR 
 
 Milo Atkinson of the Centennial Church 
 
 If the words of the living are heard by the spirits of 
 the dead, I fear I shall offend him in whose honor I now 
 would speak. For to J. H. Gilliland words of praise were 
 distasteful indeed. Yet I cannot justly speak or him ex- 
 cept in terms of highest praise. His life was a gem of 
 many facets, sparkling all with the beauty of Christliness. 
 
 I am permitted to speak of J. H. Gilliland as Preacher 
 and Pastor. In speaking thus of men we sometimes throw 
 one part of the ministry into contrast with the other to the 
 detriment of one or the other. Indeed most men can gain 
 prominence in one field of endeavor only at the expense and 
 sacrifice of the other. Few men attain to a high degree of 
 excellence both as preacher and pastor. J. H. Gilliland was 
 one of these few. 
 
 Had his pastoral labors been less fruitful he might 
 easily have been counted a great pulpit orator. Less force- 
 ful in the pulpit, he would have had renown as a great 
 pastor. But so well balanced were his achievements in 
 these two fields of labor neither appears conspicuous above 
 the other. His ministry was not a desert waste with here 
 and there an occasional oasis of success whose verdure was 
 made to appear all the more luxurious by the very barren- 
 ness of its surroundings. Rather was it a fertile field that 
 brought forth abundantly in every department of his labors. 
 
 No greater testimony to the power of his preaching is 
 needed than the record of the hundreds of men and women 
 who were converted during his special meetings. These 
 achievements are the more remarkable when it is remem- 
 bered that these meetings were held in his own pulpit with 
 no outside help. No man could have done what J. H. 
 Gilliland did in this respect except by giving himself in 
 most constant study and devotion to the task. And such
 
 42 
 
 were his habits. The careful, painstaking, scholarly, and 
 conscientious preparation of that great address which was 
 read for him here in this room last Sunday night before 
 that vast audience was characteristic of all his life work. 
 He never appeared before an audience of any character 
 whatever without having made the most careful prepara- 
 tion possible. 
 
 His scrupulous methods of thought and his thorough 
 knowledge of all great living themes would have given him 
 a place among the critics if he had asked for such a place. 
 But his was a nobler ambition. To use his own fine phrase, 
 "The preacher may well visit the critic's school, but his 
 place of residence must be at the interpreter's house." His 
 task was to make plain to others the great life-lessons he 
 himself had learned. 
 
 Some said that J. H. Gilliland was conservative. I have 
 heard others say he was liberal. Such classification be- 
 longs only to little souls who grasp but fragments of truth. 
 His great mind in its masterly sweep of truth; his great 
 heart in its Christly measure of love, refused to be classi- 
 fied thus as ordinary men are classified. His sermons were 
 liberal without disloyalty; direct without dogmatism; 
 scholarly without pedantry; spiritual without mysticism, 
 and withal so musical with the wooings of Divine love that 
 hundreds were won to Christ by his pulpit powers. 
 
 As pastor, how rich were the fruits of his labors! 
 J. H. Gilliland was not one of those "house-going preach- 
 ers" whose hurrying days are made up of a ceaseless round 
 of door-bell-ringing and meaningless visitations. He was a 
 shepherd to the flock. He had heard the Good Shepherd's 
 loving injunction, "Tend my sheep." 
 
 How many of you here today were baptized by his 
 hands! How many of you were met at the marriage altar 
 by this man of God. How often did he come to you when 
 sorrow sat with crushing weight upon your hearts, and in
 
 43 
 
 his coming bring to you the comforts of Divine love. His 
 were the lips that spoke to you of heavenly consolation. 
 Your sorrows were his sorrows, your burdens his burdens. 
 In your joys no one rejoiced with more unselfish delight 
 than did he. All this and a thousand times more he has 
 been to you in the years gone by. 
 
 And no wonder. His were high ideals, his a noble aspi- 
 ration. He labored with the feeling that the ministry is no 
 mere profession, but the "transcendent calling." He spoke 
 of the ministry as "a God-revealing, Christ-uplifting, Bible- 
 interpreting, man-saving, truth-seeking, world-redeeming 
 calling." To quote further, "The ministry is the cham- 
 pion of the needy, the advocate of the poor, the protector 
 of the helpless, the apostle of every good cause. Honored 
 with the presence of God and his power, clothed with the 
 authority of Jesus and the truth, directed by the principles 
 of faith, love and sacrifice, the ministry is the supreme call- 
 ing among men. This calling may eliminate the possibility 
 of a successful professional or business career; it usually 
 means no home for wife and children, a struggle with 
 poverty amidst many friends, yet few vital and sympathetic 
 friendships, and often an isolated and forgotten old age; 
 however the disciple is not above his Master, and notwith- 
 standing the sacrifices the rewards are abundant and satis- 
 fying. To win men for Christ, to fashion Christian char- 
 acter, is the rarest privilege accorded to mortals. A 
 preacher's converts are his crown and joy. To be permitted 
 the vision divine, to have fellowship with the unseen verities 
 of the kingdom of God and build for the eternal years, 
 amply fulfill the promise of Jesus to the faithful servant." 
 
 How well he fulfiled these ideas in his own ministry is 
 strikingy manifest by the large number here today, and by 
 the larger number who have gone out from here in other 
 days; a great host of men and women in this city and 
 those who have gone on to the Eternal City, whose lives
 
 44 
 
 have been enriched, unspeakably enriched, by the touch of 
 his pastoral labors. 
 
 That comfort he so often brought to us in other days 
 is doubly sweet to us today. For as the dark gate swings 
 outward and we look upon this mystery we call Death, 
 Faith speaks to us of the other side of that portal, illumined 
 by a radiance more glorious than the mind of man can 
 dream; of life whose beauty is given by Him who is the 
 "fairest of ten-thouand, and the one altogether lovely."
 
 FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH, NORMAL 
 
 This beautiful building which was under process of erection at the time of J. H. Gilli- 
 land's death, and of which the corner stone was laid Sunday afternoon. May 5th, just one 
 week after his funeral services, will stand, together with the three churches in Bloomington 
 as a splendid monument to his masterful ministry.
 
 IIBRARV 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
 
 JAMES H. GILLILAND AS A MAN 
 
 Stephen H. Zendt of the Second Church 
 
 First impressions are not infallible, but are frequently 
 worthy of recall. The first impressions of James H. Gilli- 
 land may be thus expressed : 
 
 Here is a preacher, single and sincere in purpose, tal- 
 ented, intense and withal successful. Here is a man no 
 less a man because a preacher a man among men. During 
 twenty-one years of acquaintance no valid reasons for re- 
 vising this first impression have appeared. 
 
 In all vocations there is room and preferment for genu- 
 ine manhood. In times of war "The man behind the gun" 
 is the all important personage. In the arts and times of 
 peace the man behind the workman's bench, the teacher's 
 stand, the lawyer's bar, the judge's seat, the statesman's 
 forum, the president's chair, is more than the insignia of 
 office, whether is be high or low. 
 
 J. H. Gilliland possessed qualities that would have made 
 him a leader in any of the world's occupations. He might 
 have been a captain of industry or a master of finance had 
 his conscience given consent. He did excel in that highest 
 of all vocations the ministry of "The Timeless Word of 
 God." 
 
 "The world has room for the manly man with the 
 spirit of manly cheer. 
 
 The manly man is the country's need and the moments 
 need forsooth. 
 
 With a heart that beats to the pulsing tread of the lilied 
 leagues of truth. 
 
 The world delights in the manly man and the weak and 
 evil flee, 
 
 When the manly man goes forth to hold his own on 
 land or sea."
 
 46 
 
 Nowhere are virile qualities more indispensable and 
 potent than in the ministry. A facetious cynic has declared 
 "The human race is composed of men, women and clergy- 
 men." On bill boards, in cartoons and yellow journals the 
 preacher is pilloried as a weakling. The impression and 
 expression that he who enters or remains in the ministry 
 is something less than a man are not uncommon. All such 
 vapid innuendos receive their just and most effective re- 
 pulse and rebuke in the life and work of such a man as 
 James H. Gilliland. 
 
 He who would reach men must himself be manly. Said 
 the keen, consistent Phillips Brooks, "No manly man can 
 be content with a mere ex-offkio estimate of his character." 
 Why may not the herald of Good Tidings declare "I dare 
 do all that may become a man, Who dares do more is none." 
 The subject of this sketch was a type of minister to which 
 there just now seems a need to revert. He was an example 
 worthy of emulation. 
 
 The elements of ministerial manhood are not necessarily 
 numerous or complex. The Prophets were men among 
 their fellows. Jesus was a man among men. Paul the 
 apostle and the other apostles were cast in ample virile 
 mould. "Their temper was heroic, their sympathies all 
 embracing, their spirits God-like." 
 
 Among the wisest of the maxims from Hesoid, the old 
 Greek, is his classification of men. "Some men think for 
 themselves, others have someone else think for them, while 
 the rest neither think for themselves nor allow any one 
 else to think for them." 
 
 J. H. Gilliland was a man of his own mind. He thought 
 for himself. By so doing he thought for others. The 
 original mind such as his could not pause to adjust itself to 
 all the whims, crotchety carpings and prejudices to which 
 the thinker is certain to run counter. He coveted not the 
 fickle popularity which is the portion of him who "Fawns
 
 47 
 
 for power by doctrines fashioned to the varying hour." 
 "The man of independent mind he looks and laughs at a' 
 that." 
 
 The manly man has the courage to express and abide 
 by his convictions. They may run counter to the designs of 
 evil men in places low or high. He trims not his message 
 to fit the prevailing customs commercial, social, civic or 
 religious. In these days of insistent clamour for "smooth 
 things" the need of the crisis is fearless manhood's plain 
 truth to manhood. He has the courage also to proclaim 
 his soul's message tho it wound the hearts of his friends. 
 Thus did J. H. Gilliland. He appealed to the better judg- 
 ment of people's better selves and expected them to follow 
 the higher gleam. 
 
 But more vital than having and declaring convictions is 
 the finer art of living them. Mental and moral honesty 
 alike insist upon this last. To have the boldness of the 
 righteous, the manly man must keep on speaking terms with 
 his conscience. By no other policy can he retain his self 
 respect or the respect of others. On the fiftieth anniver- 
 sary of his ordination the friends of the sainted Richard 
 Salter Storrs presented him a loving cup bearing this ap- 
 propriate inscription: "The Sermon is the reflection of 
 the Soul. As is the man so is his utterance." As J. H. 
 Gilliland preached even so did he live and so did he pass 
 within the vail." 
 
 "His life was gentle and the elements so mixed in him 
 that Nature might stand up and say to all the world, 'This
 
 J. H. GILLILAND'S SERVICE TO THE 
 BROTHERHOOD 
 
 J. Fred Jones, Field Secretary of the Illinois Christian Missionary Society 
 
 My acquaintance with Brother Gilliland began while he 
 was minister of the Harristown church. He was at the 
 same time a member of the old Sunday School Association 
 under which I served in company with the beloved Knox 
 P. Taylor of this city. 
 
 In 1896, when I was called to serve our state society 
 as its secretary, he was one of the members of the board 
 of directors, and for a time was its chairman. Three sep- 
 arate times he was honored with the presidency of the 
 society. 
 
 This association with the good Doctor gave me abun- 
 dant opportunity to know him and note his strong place 
 and influence with our people. For many years he has been 
 the dean of our ministry, if I may so state it, and this came 
 to him naturally, out of the loyalty and love of the men 
 themselves. Our young men believed in him most thor- 
 oughly, both as a man and a great preacher , and his frank, 
 manly spirit kept their trust in him clear and strong. Also, 
 his pronouncements were mighty in shaping the spirit and 
 molding the thought of us all. 
 
 He would never deliver a special address, though often 
 pressed to do so, unless he believed such a word from him 
 would serve a pressing purpose; but when that conviction 
 was upon him, he would prepare thoroughly for it as he 
 always did, and say the word that never failed to strengthen 
 the cause he so much believed in and loved. Knowing that 
 he always brought the beaten oil of the sanctuary, we list- 
 tened with profound respect, and even reverence, and 
 gathered the inspiration of the spirit that moved him. 
 
 More than any other one man, perhaps, he helped us to 
 keep the balance of an even movement within the ranks.
 
 49 
 
 In the day when there reigned what many thought to be 
 a spirit of uncertainty, and which disturbed the souls of 
 good and earnest men, it was his manly bearing and certain 
 word of brotherly counsel that assured all hearts. 
 
 His going is an irreparable loss to his brethren and 
 their cause, and to all Christian interests. The whole 
 brotherhood mourns today, while the weeping skies are 
 emblematic of their sorrow. 
 
 He was not only honored and respected; he was loved. 
 And there is no better evidence of it than the habit his 
 brethren had of affectionately calling him "Jimmie," though 
 never in his presence, and who could wish for a better testi- 
 mony than that. 
 
 However, we shall not grieve too much over our sense 
 of loss, for it comforts us to know he has left a rich in- 
 heritance of manly life and service that enlarges and in- 
 spires all hearts, and he is still alive a thousand-fold in the 
 lives of his fellows who knew and loved him and now re- 
 vere his memory. Blessed also, are those who loved him 
 most, for he has left to them a memory sweeter than the 
 perfume with which Mary honored her Lord. 
 
 For myself, I shall ever be grateful for the rich and 
 royal friendship he gave me, and I am deeply glad that I 
 had so expressed myself to him while he was yet with us. 
 
 "His name liveth ever more." .
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF MINISTERIAL ASSOCIATION 
 
 Read by Rev. M. N. English, 
 Pastor of the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church 
 
 Whereas, it has pleased our Heavenly Father in His 
 wise Providence, to take out of our midst our brother and 
 co-worker, the Reverend James H. Gilliland, and to call to 
 rest from his labors; 
 
 Be it resolved, by the McLean County Ministerial As- 
 sociation that we hereby tender to his bereaved wife and 
 daughter, his mother and brothers, other relatives and many 
 friends, our most sincere sympathy. 
 
 In his removal to a higher sphere we have lost one who 
 labored to the end, in the work to which God called him, 
 with unusual success and with Christian love and courtesy 
 to all. 
 
 Not only have those of his own communion suffered a 
 loss but the entire community is poorer by his call to rest. 
 
 He built for himself monuments, not only in brick and 
 stone, but of Christian souls who were led to the service 
 of Christ through his labors. 
 
 "He rests from his labors, and his works do follow 
 him." 
 
 By order of the McLean County Ministerial Associa- 
 tion. 
 
 WM. BAKER 
 W. A. BODKIN 
 M. N. ENGLISH 
 
 Committee.
 
 The quartette sang as closing hymn "Abide With Me" 
 and for more than an hour the sorrowing throng pressed 
 slowly and steadily through the vestibule at the main en- 
 trance to look for the last time on the well-known face. It 
 was nearly six o'clock when the last prayer was offered at 
 the grave side. In the meanwhile the rain had ceased and 
 through rifts in the clouds the sun was struggling to shine, 
 beautiful prophecy of the afterglow of a life singularly 
 devoted to God and fruitful exceedingly in Christian min- 
 istration.
 
 IN MEMORIAM 
 
 The members of the First, Second and Centennial 
 Christian Churches of Bloomington, Illinois, and the First 
 Christian Church of Normal, Illinois, deploring the un- 
 timely and sudden death of Rev. J. H. Gilliland, under 
 whose pastorate all of these churches erected new houses 
 of worship, desire to make known their estimate of his 
 Christian character and great work. 
 
 Rev. J. H. Gilliland was a man among men, who, not- 
 withstanding his attainments, was modest and retiring to 
 a degree that reminded one of the promise in the sermon 
 on the mount, "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit 
 the earth." 
 
 He was scholarly to a high degree, a constant reader 
 of the best literature, never failing to preach Jesus and 
 His Gospel with great power and forcefulness, always car- 
 rying his hearers to some definite point or useful lesson. 
 
 Of his great concern for the salvation of all the people 
 and the winning of souls for Christ, his success in the many 
 revival services which he conducted bear ample testimony, 
 as about two thousand five hundred of his converts have 
 united with the Bloomington churches alone. He loved 
 the church and was among the first of her counselors, for 
 all that was noble, wise and just. To such a mind at his, 
 heaven with its wider knowledge and clearer vision must 
 be a state of unspeakable glory and delight. 
 
 For twenty-five years, in succession, he served these 
 four churches as their minister, with such energy, zeal and 
 foresight; singleness of purpose; and eminent success, as 
 would be an honor to any man. 
 
 To his bereaved wife, daughter and mother, and to all 
 other members of his family, we extend our profoundest 
 sympathy in this loss which we all feel as a personal be- 
 reavement.
 
 53 
 
 As congregations we sincerely and in much sorrow 
 mourn his death, realizing that he has finished his work 
 in the middle of the day, being suddenly called home. To 
 the brethren here and everywhere we commend his noble 
 example and indomitable spirit. He was a tireless worker 
 in the vineyard of the Master. A complete review of his 
 life work would be impossible at this time but may be 
 summed up in the familiar declaration of St. Paul : He 
 has fought the good fight, he has finished the course, he has 
 kept the faith ; henceforth there is laid up for him a crown 
 of righteousness which the L,ord, the righteous judge, shall 
 give him that day, and not to him only, but to all them 
 also that love his appearing. 
 
 GEO. D. SITHERWOOD, First Christian Church. 
 T. T. HOI/TON, Second Christian Church. 
 HARVEY HART, Centennial Christian Church. 
 IRA C. SIMPSON, First Christian Church, Normal.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 289 2G41T C001 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF RELIGIOUS LIFE IN B 
 
 30112025278992