THE PURCHASE OF A CHURCH BUILDING FOR NASHVILLE, TENN.
By Geo. I. Butler
IN the recent recommendations of the General Conference Committee, made since the last General Conference, we have the following:
"That we encourage the Nashville church to purchase the Baptist meeting-house now offered to them for five thousand dollars, and that calls be issued in the Review, Watchman, and SIGNS for gifts to assist in the payment of same."
There are certain facts which came to the knowledge of the General Conference Committee which caused them to make this recommendation that may be of interest to the readers of the SIGNS.
Nashville was chosen by our denomination to be the headquarters of the Southern Union Conference, and the leading center of the work in the great Southern field. As such, the Southern Publishing Association was established for the publication of our books, pamphlets, and tracts, and the Watchman, the organ of the Southern field.
The Memorial Church at Nashville, Tenn.
The Sanitarium, also, is established here, which, of course, is growing up from a small affair to fill an important place in the work.
Nashville is one of the oldest, most influential, and leading cities of the South. It has quite a history in the past, and is the capital city of the state of Tennessee, which furnished two Presidents of the Union, Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk. Nashville is an important educational center, going forward with a steady growth, and contains many of the old substantial families of the past generation. It is the seat of the great Vanderbilt University, one of the
most important educational institutions in the South, and also the famous Fisk University for the colored people, which has obtained quite a high position among the schools of that class. It has, also, many other educational institutions of varying rank and importance.
There is less racial animosity in Nashville than in many of the southern cities. The two classes seem to be getting along on very friendly terms. There is a colored bank in the city, and a very large Baptist publishing house of that race, probably the largest in the country.
There are many facts of this character which show the wisdom of our establishing our headquarters here.
Our people have been treated very kindly and courteously by the citizens of Nashville, tho, of course, we are not a popular people.
Our church in Nashville is not large, and its members are generally poor. Many of them are sisters whose husbands are not in the truth, or single women, laboring in the office at small pay. We have no wealthy men in the church, and hence it would be impossible for the local church to erect such a building as would really be needed in an important center like this. We have thus far had no church building suitable for calling in citizens of the place to listen to the truths of the message. Our only chapel is located on the second floor of our office building, with an entrance on a back street, with small space for anything like a large attendance.
The general public have never attended meetings here, and it never could be expected of them, because it is in no sense a church as commonly understood by the citizens of such a city. It is a mere chapel, mainly to convoke the office workers, and enlarged sufficiently so that our small membership could attend meetings on the Sabbath. Our general meetings have been conducted here, also.
We have all felt that the time had come when we must have a more commodious church building.
A course of lectures in the large tent is about to be commenced. Probably the effort will be continued until cold weather shall come, in the fall. Then we shall greatly need a church building, when the tent comes down, to accommodate those who will be interested, so that the meetings can be carried on through the winter.
Previous to the General Conference steps had been taken by the church to see if we could not, in some way, secure a church building sufficient to meet the wants of the cause in this southern center. Some pledges have been made.
About this time our Baptist friends in the city, who had a very commodious church in which their services had been held for years in the past, concluded that it was necessary, because of the growth of their membership, to have a new and larger building. They had really outgrown the present building, and were anxious to dispose of their church. When they learned that we desired to secure a proper building, they made us very favorable offers.
Their church auditorium will seat from three hundred and fifty to four hundred people, comfortably. It is a brick building. Everything is substantial, and it is in very good repair, only it needs papering, and painting, and brightening up, to be in first-class condition. It has an organ back of the pulpit, which cost two thousand dollars some few years since, and really made to fit into a reasonably small space, and a carpet which cost five hundred dollars, a year or two since. The seats are well cushioned, and very comfortable.
The vestry below is also seated, and will accommodate two hundred and fifty or more people. There prayer-meetings, Sabbath-schools, and other gatherings could be held.
It also had a very good piano that would go with the building. They offered all of this for five thousand dollars. It cost, with all its furniture, etc., nearly twenty thousand dollars.
The locality of the building is very favorable, surrounded by fine dwellings, and evidently a good class of people. It is situated on the corner of Seventh and Fatherland Streets, with the street-cars running by the door. The lower part would be excellent for a church school, or anything else of that kind. It opens at a side entrance.
Men of property, land agents, and others have said there was no such bargain ever offered in the city. We all felt that it was providential.
The main facts above stated were brought before the General Conference Committee, and they have made the foregoing recommendation. They have considered the matter of sufficient importance to promise the help of the Review and Watchman, and they ask for the co-operation of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, in securing subscriptions from our people generally.
The matter stands on the same basis of principle as the Memorial Church in Washington, purchased a year or two since, to which our people contributed liberally.
Interior of Nashville Memorial Church,
Indeed, our church will accommodate more people than the Washington church, and its surroundings are still more favorable, as it has a lot by itself with a nice plot of grass surrounding the building, while the Washington church stands right in close connection with other buildings. That church was thought to be very cheap at a cost of twelve thousand dollars. This costs less than half as much.
We present these facts before the readers of the SIGNS in harmony with this recommendation of the leading committee of our denomination, asking them to kindly help the poor, needy church of Nashville to a building that will suitably entertain the citizens of that place in coming to hear the truths of the glorious message which God has given us to proclaim in these last days. The matter, to those of us on the ground, seems an absolute necessity, in order that the cause here should be properly represented, and we believe our people, when they consider these facts, will esteem it a privilege to help us at once to secure the funds for the payment due on the church. The General Conference Committee kindly loaned us the sum of one thousand dollars for the first payment on the church—so the building is really open for our use. This one thousand dollars has been paid, and the church has been deeded to our board of trustees, on condition that the other four thousand dollars is paid by the first of October. We can use it for Sabbath meetings during the present summer, while our Baptist friends hold their meetings in it on Sunday until that time, when they hope to get into their larger building.
Will not our brethren and sisters who may read this notice in the SIGNS feel it a privilege to assist us in this good work? We could not erect such a church, and obtain the valuable things that come to us with it for twice the sum that this will cost us. All who have seen the building feel that it is a great bargain; a most remarkable opportunity to secure what we need at small expense. We lay this matter before our friends through the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, and ask for their generous assistance.
GEO. I. BUTLER,
President Southern Union Conference.
