Former professional baseball player-turned urban evangelist. Follow this daily blog that chronicles the life and ministry of revivalist preacher William Ashley "Billy" Sunday (1862-1935)
Citation: The South Bend Tribune. Fri, May 02, 1913 ·Page 11
MRS. SUNDAY ARTIST.
Wife of Evangelist Has Done Work in Oils.
Mrs. Sunday is an artist of considerable merit. The evangelist’s wife in years past, has executed scores of oil paintings. Mrs. Sunday studied for several years in Chicago and spent much time at her art work afterwards. Her brother, W. J. Thompson, has a set of seven handsome oil paintings from Mrs. Sunday’s brush, which she presented to him as a wedding present.
The South Bend Tribune. Fri, May 02, 1913 ·Page 11
‘Ma’ Sunday. New York World Pictures. April 8, 1917. Author’s Collection.
Citation: reported in The South Bend Tribune. Thu, May 01, 1913 ·Page 11
TABERNACLE MAY BECOME MARKET
PERMANENT RETENTION OF BUILDING IS URGED.
Disposition of Large Structure When Sunday Campaign Ends, Causes Speculation Among People.
Author’s Collection
The permanent retention of the Billy Sunday Tabernacle as a public market house is one of the latest suggestions made relative to the future of that very large structure.
South Bend has been experimenting for some time with a public market and the interest which it has created makes many feel confident a permanent market in good quarters ought to be established. Those who favor the use of the tabernacle believe that while the location may not be the best, it is probably the best that can be found at the price and under existing conditions. Surrounding the tabernacle is sufficient space for a hay market, while the interior of the building is large enough to accommodate an indoor market for many years to come.
This is only one of a number of suggestions that have been made for utilizing the tabernacle when the Sunday workers are through with it. The possession of a structure as large as this is beginning to be regarded as a great advantage to the city and it is not impossible that before the Sunday campaign ends a movement may be started that will result in the retention of the building for a market or some other purpose.
The South Bend Tribune. Thu, May 01, 1913 ·Page 11
TABERNACLE MAY BE LEASED FOR SUMMER
Business Men Believe Building Can Be Left Standing for Time.
Business men and members of the different political parties in South Bend are still in favor of securing the Billy Sunday tabernacle here at the end of the campaign and using it for public meetings this summer and fall. As a rule the tabernacles are torn down at the end of a campaign but it is thought that if a combined effort is made the building may be left standing for a time at least. The tabernacle belongs to the St. Joseph County Evangelical association and it is probable that some overtures will be made for securing the building for public purposes before Billy Sunday leaves South Bend.
The South Bend Tribune. Wed, May 28, 1913 ·Page 12
So what’s the nature of a revival? He was praying for a revival. As a nation we are facing the danger of the dominance of the material over the spiritual; we are commercially drunk. Take a bushel of nickels and walk down the street of the average town and you can lead the bunch so close to hell that you can smell the sulphur fumes as it belches from the inferno below.
The biggest coward in America today, the biggest coward we have in the profession of christian religion, who is afraid to come out and declare himself in a campaign like this, is the business man. He is afraid that some saloon keeper, some brewer, some black-leg gambler, some madame of the red light district and others of that kind—they’re afraid they’ll lose their trade by it, and by the eternal God they ought to be punished before the moon changes.
[Cont.]
All Kinds of Revivals.
Listen to me. In the economy of nature God provides for an occasional copious downpour of rain. You would be a fool to growl because it didn’t rain all the time. God has arranged His spiritual kingdom so that He has a copious downpour of spiritual blessings. God is rolling in spiritual wealth as well as material. It is not thought unwise to have a revival in business, oh, no—every town has its commercial club. It is not thought unwise to have a revival in politics—on, no.
Some people are scared to death that somebody might be saved from hell by out-of-the-ordinary methods.
Political leaders will hire leaders, newspaper editors, publishers, and will spend money for voters—in order to get those who are indifferent to the political situation interested—that is nothing under heaven but a political revival and you don’t hear anybody growl about it—you didn’t hear anybody growl about it this last election—that is, nobody but the republicans. Well, I am one myself.
In the business world, listen. In the business world men must make the market as well as the goods for the market. He must make the goods, then he goes into the market. He’s got to do both. You’ve got Chambers of Commerce, you’ve got all these institutions to create a demand for the product—these are business revivals—you have auto shows, they are auto revivals—you have county fairs which are nothing but revivals where they show cows, pigs, chickens, bread, butter, horses, and all the products of the farm. Then what the revival is to business, what the election is to politics, the revival is to religion; what health is to the individual the revival is to religion. Martin Luther saved Europe—a spiritual revival under Martin Luther was the cause of the reformation, nothing, but a revival, and why any Lutheran will snap, snarl, growl about a revival when his church was born of a revival I don’t know.
When Revival is Needed.
A revival is needed when the worldly spirit is in the church of God. It isn’t necessary to do something grossly inconsistent. A ship is all right in the sea, but all wrong when the sea is in her. The church of God is all right in the world, but all wrong when the world is in the church. Some people come to church on Sunday morning and on Monday morning they take a header into the world and the church never sees them again until Sunday morning. They squat and take up a little space in the pew and stay there and put a little money on the plate, but you never see them again until Sunday morning. I tell you, I believe half of the church members could die and the church wouldn’t lose anything of its spiritual force; it would lose them in numbers, but it wouldn’t lose anything in spiritual power. I tell you, my friends, we need a panic in religion, the world don’t need informing, it needs reforming. We are going to the devil over culture clubs, as if the world needed informing. It don’t need anything of the kind. There are people who go to church and go to a certain denomination because their wife goes there. They got their religion and their property in their name. They go to that church.
Must Have Revival.
“I want to say if a public school teacher knew no more about the work and methods of teaching than the average Sunday school teacher knows about the will of God, she would not be on the pay roll 16 minutes.
“Go down to the dance halls, the nickelodeans, the picture shows, the cheap-skate dance halls — there you will find young girls with dresses to their shoe tops. I ask you, why? I’ll tell you: the spiritual destitution of the multitude. Thousands never darken the church doors. A revival is needed when sinners are careless, licentious. * * * A general revival of religion has got to sweep over this country or it will mean the dissolution of the church, the home and of the nation. I don’t care a rap how you fortify your shores; how many ships you build; America has got to have a revival or it means the end of your religion. Wealth and culture never saved Rome, Babylon or Nineveh, and if you have the sins of Babylon, you will have the judgment of Babylon.
“What is a revival? It is a campaign in the name of God against the world, the flesh, and the devil, and against a revival you will find every brewer in this valley; every whiskey seller in this valley; every saloon-keeper in this valley; every black-leg gambler in this valley; every she madam of the red light district; every man and woman that feeds and fattens and gormandizes upon the virtue of men and women so if you want to line up with a bunch like that, God pity you; that is the best compliment on God’s earth.
“Men say the day of the revival is over. Fellows harp on that in the Methodist conferences, in the Presbyterian meetings, in the Baptist associations. In the Congregational associations,—the day of the revival is over. No, it is not. No, only with the fellow who vomits out the sentiment; but it is not over with God.
The day of the revival is over. God Almighty leaned over the battlements of heaven and looked down into the coal mines of Wales and said, ‘Oh, Roberts!’ and out of the depths of the coal mine came that grimy, soiled man, with dirty face, with a little lamp in his cap, and he said, ‘what is it, God?’ And God said, ‘I want you to go and shake up Wales,’ and he gave Wales the greatest revival that ever swept over this land since the days of Pentecost. There was not a college professor or preacher in Wales that God would trust with the job.
Citation (excerpted): The South Bend Tribune. Wed, Apr 30, 1913 ·Page 14, 16
The South Bend Tribune. Wed, Apr 30, 1913 ·Page 14
FEW HOME RUNS BY BILLY
“You always get what you’re looking for in this world.”
“Gossips have tongues so long that they can sit in the parlor and lick skillets in the kitchen.”
“Lots of people join church for the same motive that a man blows a safe, for what they can get out of it.”
“If I should start with a wagon load of Bibles to-day and offer one to every person I met, who would quote for me 10 verses of scripture and tell me where they were in the Bible I would have a big bunch of the books left when I got to New York.”
“The ordinances of the church don’t save anybody.”
C 1908. Author’s Collection.
“I don’t believe that half the people in the churches of South Bend have been converted.”
“I thank God for the mutts in this world that hate me.”
“I have more good, true, loyal friends and more loyal enemies than any man that ever came to South Bend.”
“Some of you people go to church on Sunday morning; go to a ball game in the afternoon; and keep a case of beer in your cellar that the booze man slips in while your neighbors are away.”
“Some ministers say that I am too sensational. Well, I would be anything to save souls.”
“Every denomination today has a clique that bosses the minister.”
“Some people carry all their piety in their collar, plug hat and their cane.”
“If there is any one in the world that I pity it is the pastor of the average church.”
“You ring the church bell on Sunday morning, put a duffer up to a little stunt and all the time the old world is going straight to hell so fast that it is breaking the speed limit.”
“You back the church of God in on a siding, lock the switch, and let hell come rushing down the main line.”
“The man who seduces a girl should be shot and if I was on the jury in his trial he would never get away unless the ants should carry him through the keyhole.”
“I have as much respect for the man who knocks revivals as I would have if he should spit in the face of Jesus Christ.”
“One reason why the world doesn’t join the church is because the church has joined the world.”
“I have as much respect for the man who knocks revivals as I would have if he should spit in the face of Jesus Christ.”
“You come up here and prove the things that are said about me and I will go to the penitentiary. But if you come up here and can’t prove them you go to the penitentiary.”
“If you want to elevate people then have got to live better than they do. Away with this 20th century doctrine of living as they do.”
“The difference between a grave and a rut is that a grave is a little deeper. There are two gangs in every church, the ruts and the anti-ruts.”
“I despise men who trim their sails to catch the passing breeze of popularity.”
“A boy can throw stones and break a window, but it takes a skilled mechanic to make one. Any fool can sneer at a revival—and you’re a fool if you do.”
“You might as well expect a mummy to bear children, and the children of hell to sing hymns, as to expect an awakening that doesn’t begin in the church.”
“The measure of preparedness determines your success.”
“Half the members of almost any church could die and the church not lose any of its spiritual force.”
“We are going daffy over culture clubs. The world doesn’t need informing, but reforming.”
“The less brains a man has the greater trouble he exercises to show what he has got.”
“You can not scald a hog in ice water.”
The South Bend Tribune. Wed, Apr 30, 1913 ·Page 14
“Angels Hid Rail Splitter Where He Was Undiscovered for Years,” Says Leader of Revivals.
Billy Sunday has written many beautiful things which have attracted widespread attention, among them being his tribute to Abraham Lincoln. This was written and published for the first time about a year ago.
The tribute follows:
“The angels said, ‘Let us hide Abraham Lincoln where the world will never find him,’ and they hid his big kind, generous, humanitarian, sympathetic God-fearing soul in that long, lean, lank, homely, gaunt, ungainly body. They bronzed his cheeks until he looked like an Indian. They hardened his hands with toil. For employment they gave him common work, like poling a flatboat on the Ohio river and clerking in a country store.
“But, while drifting down the stream he was solving problems that would help him up the stream. And while clerking in the country store he was learning whole chapters from the book of human experience which became golden rounds in the ladder of fame up which he climbed to the top.
“For parents, they gave him common people whose names were unknown five miles away for a home, a log cabin in the wilderness. The battle would grow hard. He would grit his teeth, buckle up his yarn galluses a little tighter and determine that he would be somebody, anyway. He would spread the ashes thin on the dirt floor of his log cabin home and, with a hickory log in the fireplace for a light and a hickory stick for a pencil, he solved problems from Euclid and read the life of Washington and other great men.
“Finally, the angels could keep him hid no longer, and so one morning this old sleepy, dreamy, drowsy world rolled out of bed, rubbed her eyes and started on a still hunt for a great man. She struck a new scent and a new trail that led out through the woods into the wilderness and up a hill to a log cabin. She rapped at the door and Lincoln arose—so big, so high, so tall that the logs rolled down the roof and fell off and he stepped forth—a giant among men. Fame has placed him upon a pinnacle so lofty that he looks down upon all who attempt to reach his side.”
The South Bend Tribune published the following about the role of ushers at the South Bend revival. (The South Bend Tribune. Mon, Apr 28, 1913 ·Page 9)
An authentic Billy Sunday usher lapel flag.
The work of the ushers in the South Bend campaign is to be under the direction of Col. Charles Arthur Carlisle, chairman of that committee, and W. Raymond Smith, chief usher, together with C. B. Alberts, of Mishawaka, vice chairman of the committee.
Do not think for a minute that this phase of the campaign is not thoroughly mapped out and systematically, cared for.
The following list of instructions have been put in the hands of each of the 250 men who will be on duty in this city and must be carried out to the very letter.
List of Instructions.
Ushers will enter the tabernacle by the east door of the building near northeast corner.
Upon entering report immediately at the chief usher’s desk and receive assignment.
Upon assignment proceed at once to the section to which assigned, and report to chief of section, securing also the seat reserved for him.
The front seats will be filled first, and as soon as the front section are occupied, then the next in rear will be filled; so on to the rear of the building. As soon as a section is occupied, ushers will not permit any in charge, to pass their station, except by permission of the chief usher.
5. When reservations are made, special instructions will be given in each case.
6. In taking collections or distributing cards, ushers will work from the front toward the rear of their respective sections.
7. As soon as the usher has completed the collection he will return to his station, face toward the center of the aisle and remain standing until he had delivered his collection to the general collector. He will then take his seat and remain there throughout the service.
8. Ushers will keep watch over their sections, and should any person be overcome or faint, they will quietly be removed by the usher to a place provided.
9. Ushers must see that the aisles are kept clear of chairs, and no person will be allowed to sit or stand in the aisles. (This is against the state law, and subjects the offender to a fine of $1,000).
10. Ushers in charge of exits will remain constantly at the exit during the service and at its close will see that the doors are properly thrown open. In case of fire or panic, the doors will be at once thrown open.
11. When all seats are occupied, the entrance doors will be closed, and no person will be allowed to enter the building thereafter except by special permission.
12. Should any usher desire to retire, he will report to his chief of section, delivering to him his card for
13. All ushers, whether on duty or not, are requested to wear their badge during the service. This is necessary so that they may be recognized at once if needed for any duty or assistance or overflow meetings.
Assigned by Card.
14. Ushers will be assigned by card for each service. They will receive their assignment cards at the chief usher’s desk. The first come will be first served, until all stations are filled.
15. Each ushers will have a seat reserved for himself and one other person, and in no case will he give up his seat to any person for any reason whatever.
16. Chiefs of sections will see that these provisions are carried out in their respective sections.
17. The committee on ushers from each church are requested to arrange to have at least 40 per cent of those named by them as ushers present at each service.
18. Ushers will return their assignment card and badge at the close of each meeting to chief usher.
19. Ushers are enjoined to be firm in the enforcement of rules, but will refrain from any controversy with anyone; yet they will quietly insist upon all persons obeying the rules.
The division ushers, those in charge of the various sections into which the large tabernacle has been divided, who will serve during the local campaign and who started their duties yesterday morning include the following:
O. G. Huff, L. B. Finch, G. M. Urey; I. Jackson, H. I. Reddick, Fred Sweitzer, M. C. Price, Harry H. Weiss, Rollo E. Bunce, W. M. Knell, Edward Schubert, George Koenig, William G. Garten, A. D. Young, W. T. Anders, H. L. Kingsley, W. S. Bassett, William H. Swintz, Frank Boone, H. A. Thulka, Oscar Wise, Albert M. Stamm, E. H. Cornish, J. A. McEndorfer, Wesley Miller, E. B. Zehring, Myron Campbell, E. S. Webster.
The South Bend Tribune Tue, Apr 29, 1913 ·Page 7
MAN WHO WILL DIRECT SEATING OF THOUSANDS IN TABERNACLE CHARLES ARTHUR CARLISLE
Here is the man who will have charge of the handling of the thousands of people attending the meetings at the Billy Sunday tabernacle during the next few weeks.
Col. Charles A. Carlisle is chairman of the usher committee and has about 250 men working under him who have charge of seating the crowds during the Billy Sunday meeting. The men have been trained well in their various duties and no difficulty has been experienced as yet in taking care of the people at the tabernacle,
Individual contributions to the collections at the Sunday tabernacle yesterday were rather meager, comparing them with those of the usual opening Sundays of the evangelist’s meetings. There was not a coin of a larger denomination than $1 in the collection, which ranged all the way down to pennies.
It was estimated by “Joe” Spiece, the tabernacle builder, 19,000 people attended the three meetings yesterday. A collection of $421.51 was contributed, making an average of 2.2 cents per capita for the entire day.
Source: The South Bend Tribune. Mon, Apr 28, 1913 ·Page 1
Excerpt from: The South Bend Tribune. Sat, Apr 19, 1913 · Page 1
The character of Billy Sunday as an evangelist is well known generally. His methods although they do not conform to the ideas of many people, are energetic and forceful, and have proven to be productive. His fearlessness in denouncing evil and his portrayal of the sins of the world are his strongest assets on the platform. In nearly every city in which Billy Sunday campaigns he receives threatening letters from fanatics and from persons opposed to his almost militant methods. Wilkes-Barre, Pa., where he has just closed a very successful campaign was one of the exceptions to this, much to the surprise of Sunday and his party. It is not known as yet whether there will be any such persons brought from under cover in South Bend but the religious people here hope not.
In Columbus, O., a woman threatened to “cut his heart out”. She was laboring under the impression that Sunday had seriously harmed her. It is to protect himself from scandal that Mr. Sunday never allows women to call upon him and he never calls at a person’s house unless accompanied by some member of his party.
Evangelist Billy Sunday (1862-1935) 