An appeal to the world for a chapel in every home

Front matter

An Appeal to the World

for t

An Appeal to the World

Chapter I — The Message 7 " II— Its Origin 37

" III — Its Reception 49

Chapter i

THE MESSAGE

"And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God." — Rev. xxi, 3.

To All Who Worship God, Irrespective of Creed or Denomination

The Godless home is the menace of the world today. Children are growing up in irreverence. God is daily and universally dishonored — in the home and out of it. Where will it end?

Now comes this appeal to the world, to every man and woman, and for this and all the ages to come, for a Chapel or Sanctuary in every home — impracticable in millions of homes already crowded, practicable in millions of homes which are not — possible in every home that may hereafter be built — and ultimately, a chapel in every home, the tribute of mankind to his Maker.

The home is the foundation of the State. The home and family is the cornerstone on which rests national life and progress. Is this not so? Then any effectual means of strengthening and uplifting home life, of deepening the religious and moral convictions and purity which are the very essence of home life, must have vital effect upon the national life of the human family as a whole. Hence this suggestion that in every home there should be a place for prayer or meditation; a family center for spiritual thought, communion and uplift.

The suggestion is not for an elaborate addition to the house, but to take one room, small or large, as circumstances may permit, if only six feet by four, set it aside, call in your minister and consecrate and dedicate it to Almighty God as the ''closet" for prayer, the chapel in the home, an Audience Chamber for the King of Kings. It would be a potent influence on the child life and a "witness" and a reminder to the parents and to every visitor. The larger the home the larger the chapel. We have enriched our homes from time immemorial with provisions for every physical comfort and luxury, but where is there any visible evidence of religion in the modern home! The weakness of Faith in the present generation has its foundation in the decline of religion in the home, or to put it more forcibly, the absence of it. Children lack the parental spiritual foundation on which to build their Faith. There are so many other gods in the home today, and so little to suggest the presence of the One God.

It is timely that we should make provision for a sanctuary for prayer in every home throughout the land, and by this means strive to build a new spiritual foundation for the world in the home, in the life of the child, by the gradual introduction of the ' ' consecrated room," so that there shall ultimately be a chapel in every home, of the rich and the poor.

Eeligion will be on a surer foundation, beginning with earliest consciousness. Then the nations will be more God-fearing, for the children will grow into men and women, and the sanctity of the home will be reflected in their lives and in all their dealings with their fellow-man.

This cannot be accomplished by any one denomination any more than it can by one individual ; it is a work of labor and love, nay more, it is a duty for us all. The chapel in the home will have its enemies ; it will be called " impracticable," and its path will be thorny, but all must admit that "the things of God must be first or we perish."

There is nothing new in the thought of a chapel in the home. In the days of the Apostle Paul he personally recorded that there were churches in the homes of Nymphas, Priscilla and Aquila, and Apphia. Pagan Rome had household temples for her idol gods. What has Christian America in her homes for the Only Living God? In many homes you could not find a Bible. We expect everything — health, happiness, riches and honors — but we give nothing. Modern religion is more of a Sabbath observance than a recognized daily need. There is little or nothing in our homes, or home life, to remind us of our God. Family prayers are a thing of the past. Grace at meal time is a rarity. There is dust on the family Bible.

The writer hurls this axe at the root of the decay of religion throughout the world — at the Godless homes. We all recognize the menace of the Godless home — we rail at it, are continually calling attention to it, say what will happen if something is not done — but what we require today is a remedy.

No pretense is made that this is an effectual remedy, but it is a message born from earnest prayer, and with God's assistance it will help. It is at least something, and "worthy of the consideration of us all."

Already the message of "A Chapel in Every Home''' has been fervently and eloquently endorsed by three Cardinals, the Primates of the Anglican Church in Scotland, Ireland, Canada, India and Ceylon, the West Indies,' and the Metropolitans of Australia and South Africa; three Archbishops, and one hundred and twenty-one Bishops of the United States and Great Britain, the presidents of twenty-five universities, colleges and seminaries in the United States, leading clergymen of the foremost denominations, and distinguished laymen whose names are household words.

It has made more than an impression, it has taken a strong hold of their convictions. What they say on the subject indicates that not one of these leaders in religion, science, art, finance and industry, considers it impracticable of performance. In their weighty arguments for its universal adoption (which appear in this book), while they recognize the difficulty of creating a sanctuary or chapel in many homes of today, they find a broad foundation to build on in the many homes throughout the world in which the vacant room or the " closet " is awaiting consecration. There are many homes, however, in which there is neither closet nor room for a closet, for they are crowded even beyond their capacity; but some day every home, small or large, will have its sanctuary, closet, chapel, church in the house — whatever name will give God the most Glory — dedicated to Him and the uplift of man; where the little children will learn from their parents respect and love for God the Father and, in the writer's belief, for J esus Christ the Saviour. Some day, a house without its sanctuary will be looked upon as an unfit habitation for a human being.

No thought is advanced that the sanctuary in the home mil be a panacea for all human ills, but its influence for good, visible and invisible, will exceed human comprehension. We can make this the heritage of future generations if we begin now with pure and undented religion in the home — with the children, and we can make our own generation faithful servants of God.

With the home resting on the family altar, a new religious life will come to the world; wholesome, unwavering. The world will learn by experience to rely on prayer. We shall believe that there is more good in the world than evil; more truth than falsehood; more love, mercy and forgiveness in God, than condemnation and punishment. We shall realize that prayer is the only weapon with which the world can overcome evil.

Among the earliest to recognize the full value of a chapel in every home was Bishop Paddock of Eastern Oregon. In writing on the subject he said:

"The suggestion that in every home there should be a place for prayer and meditation; a family center for spiritual thought, communion and uplift, is excellent; it would make us more loyal and loving in the family, it would increase the attendance and spiritual atmosphere in our churches ; it would help to bind together the whole world as children of the one Father, and would inspire us to make them conscientious members of one family in Christ. Then there would be no more selfishness, no more sin; hatred and hostilities would cease. We would love God and love our neighbor also, and the heavenly life would begin. May God show each one of us how we may hasten this day, and give us the will and the power to make our dreams real."

When parents read the Bible as the Word of God, and expound it as such to their children, the decline of religion in the home will be stayed. Ignorance of the Bible to those who have eyesight and can read, is inexcusable, but to parents, it is a continuing offence against the Almighty God.

Accentuating the great responsibility of parents, and to suggest a means whereby they may enrich their own Faith and lives by a closer daily walk with God and their influence on the child's life, comes the message of the chapel in the home, the place for prayer. Is it possible! Is it practicable? Will it accomplish its purpose! .

From the viewpoint of the architect, it is both practicable and desirable. Dr. Warren Powers Laird, Dean of the Department of Architecture, University of Pennsylvania, adds this contribution :

"To the architect, whose created works are not only the seat but the symbol of the life to be lived within them, the opportunity to incorporate a chapel in the home must bring peculiar satisfaction, for it would enable him to complete the practical provisions for the various functions of the home life, now too universally confined to the physical and social sides."

A century ago the bathroom was impracticable. The art of building has not only eliminated the "impracticability, ' ' but the world now recognizes the necessity of the bathroom for cleanliness — and if a bathroom for the cleanliness of the body, then, why not a sanctuary in the home for the cleanliness of the soul, a sanctuary in the home of the workingman, as well as his employer?

Difficulties bristle on every side ; in the hovels, crowded tenements, apartments, and in houses of many types, but in this era of building, what the past century has done for the cleansing of the body in the home, the next century will do for the cleansing of the soul. Architects and builders will make provision for the sanctuary in the homes of the future, whether they be houses, apartments or tenements, and for the poor as well as the rich.

"If Pagan Eome had domestic shrines for household gods, surely Christian America ought to have domestic shrines for the One God."

It was in these immortal words that the Rev. George Dana Boardman, D. D., LL, D., pastor of the First Baptist Church, Philadelphia, and now long gathered with the saints, received the message of "A Chapel in Every Home" nearly twenty-four years ago. He read it aright. His soul immediately caught its inspiration. The Christian world was behind the heathen in its attitude toward its God. Then he concluded by saying* :

"Were the idea carried out, it would tend to make every home a sacred establishment ; it would make worship a daily privilege instead of a weekly; it would make worship more intensely personal; it would help us obey our Master's precept of unostentation in worship — 'when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, , and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who sees in secret. ' ' '

Josiah H. Penniman, Provost, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, in writing on "A Chapel in Every Home, " nearly a quarter of a century later, said :

"The thought that we should set apart a portion of each day for religious meditation and worship is, of course, a generally accepted one, but your thought that there should not only be a time, but also a special place in every home, however great, or however humble, which should be set apart as a place of worship — is of importance, for it emphasizes the necessity for religion in the life, and in the home. Moreover, the fact that there is such a place in the house is likely to keep ever in the minds of its occupants, the necessity of having also a time for worship.

"Of course, God may be worshipped acceptably in any place, but, in a special place, the worship is less apt to be interfered with by the encroachments of worldly thought and worldly things. If your idea could be realized in every home where men profess and believe in and worship God, the effect on those who do not make such professions would be incalculably great for good.

"May your devotion to a great cause, the greatest of all causes, be rewarded by the setting apart of innumerable places of worship sacred to God whom we profess to serve. ' '

The words, "a chapel in every home," express the whole thought ; one room in every home disassociated with eating, sleeping, and the worldly things of this life, dedicated and consecrated to Almighty God as the sanctuary into which the members of the family may go together or alone, in times of health, in times of sickness, in times of happiness and prosperity, in times of desolation and adversity, and pray in secret to our Heavenly Father in His Holy Temple.

Fellow-laborers of St. Paul were the first Christians to have a church in their houses.

"Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house. ' ' — Colossians 4 : v. 15.

"Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus : who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.

"Likewise greet the church that is in their house." — Romans 16 :v. 3-5.

"The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house." — I Corinthians 16 : v. 19.

' ' Paul, a prisoner of J esus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon, our dearly beloved and fellow-labourer,

"And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in thy house. ' ' : — Philemon 1 : v. 2.

What a sincere tribute to the teaching of Jesus Christ would such a room be in any house. In His Sermon on the Mount He said :

' ' But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet; and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." — ■ Matthew 6 : v. 6.

One of the pleas for a chapel in the home, which will find many sympathizers, is for the secret chamber for prayer. There are times when we cannot pray with satisfaction when others are around, not even the most loved members of our family. We want to be alone, to be able to utter our thoughts aloud, unheard by the world, to cry out in agony of spirit, or to offer up our thanks for His manifold blessings. We just want to enter that "closet," close the door, and be alone with

Him. How often do we hunger for this rare privilege of being alone with God in our own home? What a joy it will be when in every home, whether we be a guest or inmate, we can turn to this consecrated spot and fall on our knees in His presence and pour out our hearts. Communion such as this would produce a faith strong as "the rock of ages," a soul "as a watered garden." Prayer would lose all formality. We would talk to God as our Father in heaven.

In the Sunday schools the little ones learn the history of religion. The development of their minds is more or less intellectual. This is said with fervent appreciation of the great and good work Sunday schools are doing the world over, but the real, spiritual inspiration must come in the home, from the parents, and the environment of the child must reflect their reverential attitude toward God — and the acknowledgment of the supreme value of religion in their daily life. When we can show our children that we, the parents, love the Lord, our God, with all our hearts, and approach His holy altar with joy and gladness, with perfect Faith, then will the child go to Sunday School and Church with love and rejoicing, because it will feel that God is near it, always, and not making a weekly corrective visitation. The spiritual attitude of the child must be created in the home, and once imbued with the thought that God is the great invisible friend, everything taught thereafter in the Sunday schools about Him will fall on willing, attentive ears. Companionship with God must be the child's daily, loving thought, and no one can give a child this thought like its mother. Mother love is next to God love. Motherhood is the noblest institution under heaven.

The weekly half -hour lesson in the Sunday School can never take the place of religious instruction in the home. Parents who lean entirely on the Sunday School and absolve themselves from greater responsibility in

A CHAPEL IN EVER"S HOME laying' the foundation of the spiritual life of the child, must assume accountability for its weakness in the Faith. When parents realize their personal responsibility for the building- up of the Faith of the child, it will become a serious duty to them, calling for prayer for guidance and direction. In the home, parents by correct living, truth, and a reverential attitude toward God, could exercise a profound influence on the impres sionable mind of the child, and the sanctuary in the home would have a direct bearing on the result. The greatest joy that could come to a parent would be to feel that his or her child had grown up clean in mind, body and soul.

"And thou shaft love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

"And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart :

"And 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 ivhen thou risest up." — Deuteronomy 6 : v. 5-7.

"And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates ;

"That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children. ' ' : — Deuteronomy 11 : v. 20- 21.

Moses so instructed the fathers of the children of Israel.

, For many years the work of striving- to build up this thought in the world has been going on. The sanctuary or chapel in every home has been viewed from almost every angle by leaders of nearly all the great religious denominations and, like every permanent and lasting reformation, it moves slowly but surely toward world-wide adoption.

The first presentation of it was made on October 30, 1898, in The New York Herald and The Philadelphia Press, with commendations by a few of the leading churchmen, including Bishops Potter, of New York; Neely, of Maine ; Coleman, of Delaware ; Scarborough, of New Jersey and Graves, of Laramie. In 1909 the first book on the subject was printed and distributed, and the following appears in it:

"The words, 'a chapel in every home/ have been beckoning the writer on — in the daylight, in the darkness, on the street, in his office and in his home. At the last named place it has long existed as a reality, the most loved spot in the household, consecrated by the 'Church and used daily by the members of his family for their devotions. 'A chapel in every home* rings in his ears like the' voice of God calling him to deliver His message to His people, — in the homes of the rich, in the homes of the poor — a place for prayer, dedicated to Him."

Much has been written and said on the subject since that time until it has become like the cool of the morning, the fragrance of the garden, the scent of the woods, and the breezes of ocean.

George H. Stuart, Jr., President, The Home Missionary Society of the City of Philadelphia, and Vice- President of The Philadelphia Bible Society, pays it this tribute:

"The message of 'A Chapel in Every Home' brings a new light to the world. It is a challenge to the faith of us all. A Christian household is the unit upon whose foundation is built the structure of an enduring national life, and the influence of this message shall be recorded upon the pages of history. The title, so well chosen by the author, clearly indicates the intimate connection between worship and family reverence for those objects which- transcend the grosser elements of our physical being.

"If ever there was a time when the chapel in the home would throw its beacon light upon a world, sin-tossed and struggling with passions and doubts, surely it is now. It would shine out over the raging sea of wavering faith, and pilot us into the haven of prayer, to find sweet comfort and Divine guidance in the sanctuary of the Most High. Within its portals we could lay our weakness, our sorrow and our perplexity before our 'God, in secret communion in our own home, day or night. The banner of our sanctuary would ever proclaim to our fellow-man our allegiance to the King of Kings and our brotherhood with humanity. The thought is a noble one in its conception, and wholly practicable of execution.

' ' May this chapel therefore be set up in every home throughout our land and in every land, that by its sacred influence, admission, and teachings, the youth and manhood of the world may find, enjoy, and transmit to succeeding generations, the blessings alike of true religion, and civil and political liberty."

Here we have the expression of one whose experience is founded on many years of intimate association with the development of the spiritual atmosphere of living.

Though churches may differ on creed and ritual, they have proved that they stand together to welcome anything that will tend to bring back religion to the home, the return of family prayer, the searching of the Scriptures for knowledge, grace at meals, and once again those sweet morning and evening prayers at our mother's knee, or beside our little beds. The home can again be made a powerful influence in the spiritual life of nations. What the home requires now is greater reverence for the things of God, the Bible and prayer; and the setting apart of a room to the Almighty God as a sanctuary for prayer, a holy spot in the house, would go a long way toward creating in the hearts of

A CHAPEL IN EVEEY HOME children a proper appreciation of the reverential attitude of the parent toward God. The home would be more of a home ; it would have greater dignity — there would be a closer relation between parent and child.

The present crowded tenements, apartments and houses in which there is no room, cannot last forever. New and modern structures for all classes are being built everywhere, affording the opportunity for owner and architect to combine investment and utility with work for the Master, for "where God has given a roof, there he expects an altar."

In the book already referred to, printed in 1909, the writer also said :

''My own little chapel is less than six feet square, yet so far it has been large enough for all our needs. When I moved into my present home some years ago, there it awaited me already built, at the head of the stairway on the second floor, with a colored glass window in it, just as if I had designed it. It was probably intended for a sewing room or some other domestic purpose. I accepted the mute invitation and it at once became the chapel. "We fitted it up, had it consecrated by our minister and have used it daily ever since. There are similar rooms in many homes all over the world waiting their consecration and dedication to Almighty God.

"The chapel in every home must come in time; and its effect will be to bring the presence of God into thousands of homes in which he would otherwise be unknown. The late Bishop Potter wrote me, 'a place for prayer implies a time for it,' and since he sent me that message I have learned its truth by experience, and can add that in addition to the place and the time, my own little chapel has proved an invitation so irresistible that I have found myself on my knees within its portals as many times outside the regular hours for prayer as within them.

"A row of houses for workingmen will be built by some pioneer with a little chapel, six feet long and four wide, in each house ; with a colored glass window at the end to suggest an atmosphere of sanctity, the sill of which may constitute the altar. Some may use it as a store room or for any other domestic purpose, but someone in the row will use the little chapel in the home as a place for prayer and others will copy. It may take hundreds of years to bring' man to a realization that he is behind the pagans in his attitude toward his God; but again I predict that the time will come when people, in looking for a house to rent or buy, will ask, 'What kind of a chapel has it!' and the chapel in every home will be sweet in the eyes of the Lord.

"I cannot let this thought die — I could not if I would, for it must henceforth reverberate down the avenue of time, the closer relation of man with his Maker in his everyday rife, the invitation to God to dwell in the household, the chapel in the home — every home- — henceforth and forever.

"When the hot blood of anger surges through the veins and the words which cut like a knife accompany the cruel blow; when husband and wife forget their vows made at the altar and in the presence of their little ones turn on each other like wild beasts — in the tumult and agony of human weakness and suffering, the open door of that little room sacred to God will utter 'peace.' Many a harsh word will be suppressed by a sight of that open door and the feeling of the invisible presence of God within. Many a one bowed down in grief and tribulation will find comfort there — - kneeling alone with Him who will help if we will only let Him, and a great joy will be born to man from a closer personal communion with his God.

"It has been born to me, and often on my knees in that sacred spot in my home I have prayed alone against despair and death, and though death prevailed and took my loved ones, I understood— it was all right ■ — and peace came over my soul so sweet that I would, if I could, give it to all my fellow-men. And in the daily battle of life I have found my strength and inspiration from a brief communion in the morning with my Heavenly Father. The day's toil has been lightened and the shadows have dissolved before the bright confidence I carried out with me from that brief communion.

"What has been the effect of the Chapel in the Home on the attendance of my family at Church? It has been to intensify the desire for congregational worship, to create a joyous anticipation of the Sabbath when the worship in the home expands into worship with all the people in the greater houses of God.

"If I could tell all that Chapel has done for me and my loved ones, there is not a man who believes in God who would allow another day to pass without planning one for his home.

"Some of the great and good men, whose letters on this subject I have had reproduced for the benefit of the world, have passed beyond the Great Divide, but their words of encouragement and approval are already cemented into the foundation of this movement for all times. Others, whose letters are reproduced, still live to help in the work of making the chapel in every home practical and universal. Let the Bishops, High Priests and Elders of the world, unite with the Clergy to bring the thought home to every congregation, and by this means it will have the spiritual force through human channels which will hasten that day which the Almighty God intends to come, when a habitation will be provided for Him in every home.

"All humanity is hungering for religion. The hand of sickness, sorrow and death is leaning heavily on many households, and it is at such times that eyes are cast heavenward for comfort. If our eyes were as often cast heavenward in times of health and prosperity as they are in times of sickness, we would be better men and women, and there would be more charity in the world. If we had God in our hearts as much as in our heads, domestic devotion would not be dying out, but would be a loving daily communion with our Father in Heaven. Again, I refer to that sentence in Bishop Potter's letter, 'a place for prayer implies a time for it. ' Let us consecrate one room in our home, no matter how small, to the worship of God, and make provision hereafter for the chapel in every home.