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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1920)
VOL. XXXIX. PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 21, 1920 NO. 47 oli and i US. IMS S , - flST-ti . If.--. : , 1 . . i. - .- . &C& t'- m - J i7vT BT DE WITT HARRY. ! ' .Ajm: 'AiaaiiaiiiamaCT gwt 1 1: r'"""Wg?,wr'tajuiiiWW ."7 j . w EBSTER calls a blejjop a epir hum overseer, dui iaai aeiin tlon falls far short of the ac tuality today. Possibly In days of not so long- ago the hih church dig nitary's main efforts were bent to the proper care of his religious flock" by the. sole means of presiding and direr' ng the sacred side of his church's efforts. Today the secular angle would seem to predominate, for the modern church has expanded tre mendously along with all other things In this rapidly growing civilization of ours, and manifold interests of the many denominations call for an over seer who not only has the qualifica tions of being a religious leader but of being a big business man as well. Possibly in this section of America there Is no better Illustration of this than the case of' Bishop William O. Shepard IL. r., D. .. newly. installed head of the lethodist church for the Portland area, which embraces Ore gon. Washington, Alaska and part of Idaho thousands of square miles of territory. In which this denomination has millions of dollars invested. The Methodist church is one of the largest business concerns in the northwest. It is managed as efficiently, judging from externals and financial reports, as the majority of the great corpora tions. Headquarters are in an office block the Artisans' building in which they occupy most of one floor, and here are the superintendents and corps of secretaries and stenogra phers, just as would be found in the offices of any great firm carrying on the volume of business that this one does. Rellslou Is Business Today. For It Is a great business, this mat ter of saving and guarding souls to day, a business that calls for the can niest of management with its many ramifications. In their area the llethodists here have some 60,000 ac tual members, while their constitu ents will easily reach tbree times that number. Each of these 60,000 church members must be treated as a stockholder in the corporation, which' is a wealthy one with its congrega tion properties and the many assets belonging to the different branches. Then there is the Methodist Book concern, the greatest religious book publishers in th world, doing a busi ness of more than $6,000,000 annu ally from nine depositaries, with its great branch in Portland started three years ago. This publishing bouse here is growing rapidly and they have their agents throughout the country, with the result that their sales are increasing by leaps and bounds, and yet they estimate that they have but half of the available business. This book publishing company ia just a concrete example of the Meth odUt manner of serving those of their faith, for it is a religious institution, no- matter how much it may sound like mere business. It must have been in the far distant past when one of the leaders of the church asked himself why they should pay out their hard earned money to some other fellow for producing Bibles and many other books that they found essential. Result, the formation of the book concern, on a real helpful basis, and it Is one of the greatest assets of the church today. Well managed, with a full trained staff, they put their pub lications in the field and compete with anyone, until they reign supreme at the present day. And alt of this Is run at a profit. In 1918 they cleared (400.000, every cent of which went to the support of the widows and orphans of the church. Here's the real thing In religion. And In this territory Bishop Shep ard is the head of the book concern among his other activities. Just one! sample of what he has to do. Pos-1 sibly at the start of this article many may ha gathered the impression that the secular side of the bishop's activities was getting the upper hand, that he was devoting more of hli time to business than to the re ligious side of his work. The con trary is .the case, for the many who have had an opportunity of meeting the bishop since tis arrival in Port land unite in rendering him the greatest tribute as a factor In re ligious life. What Is emphasized Is that manners of spreading the gospel have changed. The viewpoint has broadened, the church has not been content to loiter while other move ments were pushing ahead. Men who had their souls in the work of sal vation realized that they must be progressive or fall out of the proces sion. Result was the inception of such activities that some few years back would have been considered out- bide the province of the church. During 1918 Bishop Shepard made an extended trip through the west and presided at a number of confer enees. - It was at this -time that the men who lived in this big section of the nation realized that they would like to have this man from Texas with . them. w hen he presided In Montana one of the speakers at that meeting paid him the following tribute: - "Can anyone imagine a president who would better fit into this Mon tana atmosphere than Bishop Shep ard? Sweet-spirited, humble, devoted to th,e interests of the men ana of. Bishop Shepard, Methodist, Combines Religious Leadership With Great the church of Christ. His great heart seemed to envelop the whole conference and every man felt per fectly at ease and liberty in his presence. But w must not get me impression from this that he s not mans man. He is the more so because of these qualities. Gentle, yet firm; humble, but absolutely fearless in the presence of wrong or of his duties. His sermons and ad dresses are strong, sympathetic. eloquent The impression left is that .he has a very exalted' Idea of the Christian ministry and a love for Christ and his children that will brook any obstacle to serve them. His administration of the conference was very satisfying and he will be welcomed any time he eomes to Mon tana." Bishop Gets Wide Experience. Somewhat in the nature of an in troduction it might be well here. to look back and see how our new btehop got his training, what has been his experience to produce such a man as has charge of ' this large and Im portant field today. Bishop Shepard was born in Whiteside county, Illi nois, April 11. 1862. and was educated at Jennings' Seminary, De Pauw, Northwestern and Syracuse universi ties and then was pastor of Elgin, Rockford, Evanston and ' Chicago churches. He then took charge of the northern district of Chicago as su perintendent and had charge of the Rock river conference when elected to the Episcopacy at Minneapolis in 1912. He took charge of the Wichita area, consisting of the states of Kan sas, Oklahoma and -Texas, and made such a success here that he was re tained for eight years, coming here direct from the big. open south. - So it can be seen that he has seen a,lmost Executive Ability. every phase of life, from the ' close quartered existence In crowded cities to the virile living in the great open. During 1918 Bishop Shepard pre sided at a number of northwest con ferences, those of northern Montana, Montana, Idaho, western Norwegian Danish, Oregon and North Dakota. It was cn this trip that he discovered the west and he was delighted when he was chosen last summer to take charge of the Portland area. "I have been here over five months and I feel right at home," said- he last week. "The country is my own, and I have adopted It It feels right to me and I like the people." - Mntnal Esteem Revealed. And from all Indications the gen eral liking for the new head of the Methodist movement in this section of the country is not restricted to his own denomination. Rev. C. C. Cline, D. D., president of the Methodist His torical society, in extending a greet ing to the new chief explained that the men who labored in this field were good lovers, good eaters, fond of butchers' meat and. sound sleep." He told their new leader that they were an unmuzzled , lot. free with their opinions and generally expressed what' they thought and were self reliant And then Rev. Mr. Cline went further and stated that the preach ers were not the whole thing, but that the churchwomen and the rest of the congregations backed up their partors to the utmost One of the noted achievements of the Methodists in America is their centenary movement, destined for the furtherance of church activities. In this Immense fund, which was put over in record time,- they call for $115,000,000 from their constituents during the next five years, or at the rate of S23,000.p00 each year. All of this money is meant for the further ance of church work, both at home and- abroad, for the development of the foreign missionary field as well as the home missions, and the notable thing about this movement is that It is an actuality, every cent of the lm mense sum is pledged even in these days when drives are usually falling by the wayside. In this area it la just one of Bishop Shepard's many duties to care for the raising of their quota and for the expenditure of the allotment for Portland. There is lit tle question' but that this sum will Insure the future of the church and that it will emerge a greater one at the 'end of the next five years. Quot ing from a recent ' address of the bishop's, we find his principles well set forth and can judge to some ex tent what manner of man he is. Character of Mas Revealed. "I do not want narrow sectarian ism," said Bishop Shepard. "I have no secretarianism in my veins and I do not want any there. But we must have a sense of our denomination and we must realize that we belong to one church. We shall not get far If we do not pull together. I earnestly hope for a full understanding among clergy and laity of our oneness in -the great task we have to do." "The problems are many and dif- ifcult. They are too many and too difficult for any one man. They are far too big for all of us. But we must strive to solve what we can. ' I have come from a series of campaigns that resulted in the building of four col leges and two hospitals and in the financial organization of seven con ferences. Sometimes I have felt that I should like -to go where no more campaigns would be attempted for a while. But on second thought I do sot want to rest. I want to put my shoulder to the wheel with you people of the northwest and build these institutions lastingly. I want to see that this work goes straight ahead to a splendid conclusion." Of the Methodist centenary. Bishop Shepard said: . "The centenary was not and is not, a matter of raising money. It is rather a matter of build ing churches and institutions. When we give money we are not paying for things In Portland, but under our principle of connectlonalism we are putting money into a pool to build up Methodism throughout our area." La Tinea Set Pace. . ."The laymen have set the pace far the pastors. In my eight years as a bishop I have never asked for finan- 1 cial support for., a good work without tt ' -' .VV getting as much money as I asked for. The results were due in most cases almost entirely to the work of the laymen. . "As- far as I am concerned I am In favor of giving the laymen the right to have everything to say about the selection of their pastors. I am will ing to leave to the church members the choice of their minister, insofar as tbey have knowledge which justi fies that choice. "While I shall he at the head of this area there shall be no secret cabinet meetings for the making of ! appointments or for transacting other church affairs. - Everything shall be open and above board. "As I have said, we are eaders In the Protestant . movement In this country whether we like it or not We have churches to build. .. We have hospitals and institutions to estab lish. Let us build them strong and lasting and with it all let us have them beautiful. Let us not have churches unattractive to the extent that they repel the young people we wish to bring Into our neighborhood. Let us make our churches as beau tiful as our high schools. There is a certain deterioration that the war has brought to some of our young men. That deterioration we must labor to overcome with churches as attrac tive as we can make them. "I amlai to be in the northwest and I hope to work here to the bet terment of the church." ' '- Natural Leadership Shown. : Admittedly one of Bishop Shepard's greatest assets is his unfailing tech nique in making appointments. This was a notable item In making his great success for the past eight years in the Wichita area and he has al ready made this ability tell here. It is not a far-fetched simile to try and imagine him as a great general In an army, for he is undoubtedly a natural leader and no matter what walk in life he might have been cast he would have certainly made his force felt The day by day routine of administra tion that would pall on many men of less grit holds no terrors for him and he consumes immense quantities of work with telling effect. Another of his duties Is to lead In the evangelism work in his area. The educational phase of the Meth odist church work must not be over looked. They have three really fine colleges in this area, Willamette uni versity at Salem, the College of Pnget Sound at Tacoma and the Kimball School of Theology at Salem. These also are under the direct supervision of the bishop and it Is understood that the church is contemplating the establishment of a new college in the near future. In addition to these, major institutions they have many smaller schools of lesser magnitude. Area Takes to Bishop. ' The Pacific Christian Advocate Is possibly the church paper with the largest circulation in the northwest, and this also is under the jurisdiction of Bishop Shepard. It Is a news weekly and has been published for over a half century. In Portland these is also a retail branch of the Methodist Book concern that is in a flourishing condition. When the next general conference meets, nearly four years hence, the bishops will again be assigned terri tories, and. though Bishop Shepard has been with the Portland area but a few months, they are already hop lng that he may be returned to them for at least four years more. Bishop Shepard holds his rank and title throughout the world, and not just iu the Portland area, and, while he has not committed himself, and there may be a change of heart, it is pretty well understood that the Methodist church in the northwest has found a leader to its liking, and that the liking is mutual. All is set for a flourishing reign of at least four years, and possibly 8 or 12. ' Suicide of Renowned Paris Singer Opportune. While Body Awaits Police CaUer Comes to Kent Flat. PARIS, Nov. 20. One thousand francs only remaining or her for mer wealth, Madeleine Moreno, who was a renowned singer in gay Paris theaters before she married Joseph O'Brien, a coachman for one of the wealthiest residents of the Champs Elysees, invited her husband out to dinner a short time ago. 1 To one of the most expensive restaurants in Paris, the scene of Mademoiselle Moreno's former splen dor, they went. They returned home about 2 o'clock In the morning, minus the 1000 francs. An hour later Mrs. O'Brien cut her husband's throat with a razor, then committed suicide. The concierge, of the apartment, where the couple occupied a hand somely furnished flat in a street lead ing from the Champs Elysees, report ed the matter to the police and in a few minutes a distinguished-looking man called. . He made many inquiries concerning the affair. which the concierge answered. "Mr. Police Commissioner," she ended, "please hurry and have the bodies removed from the flat" . "I am not the police commissioner," replied the visitor, "but you admit the flat is. vacant, that the price is So much; then I will rent the apart ment. I have been looking for one for over a year." Habits of Teredo Studied. SAN FRANCISCO. The teredo, a worm which eats, into piles of wharves and ship bottoms, is being given a scientific study by repre sentatives of the United States gov ernment and others Interested in the problem. Paul G. Redington, district forester; C. L. Hill of the United States forest service, and T. G. Town send from the forest products lab oratory at Madison, Wis., have been making a study of the teredoes arsiuid Saa fraacisco bay.
