History of Oakland County Michigan a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, its principal interests / compiled from the official records of the county, the newspapers and data of personal interviews, under the editorial supervision of Thaddeus D. Seeley.

346

HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY

year the annual conference appointed Rev. D. D. Idle as pastor. The
work prospered during his pastorate and plans for a new chucrh were
agreed upon. In September, I909, Rev. D. H. Glass, the present pastor
of Central church, was appointed to the church by the annual conference. The matter of a new church was revived and definite steps taken
to begin building when a movement to unite the two churches and build
a central church was started. The movement failed, and the Oakland
avenue congregation, augmented by a considerable number who felt
committed to the central project, purchased the present site and started
building operations late in the summer of I9I0. The basement story
is now completed and affords a comfortable auditorium with a seating
capacity of six hundred. A large parsonage adjacent to the church
building gives the pastor's family a comfortable home. The entire property has a valuation of $35,000.
The spirit and aim of Central church are incorporated in the architecture of the building. Pontiac has no auditorium where great religious conventions may be held. Central church proposes to meet this need
by erecting an auditorium which will seat 1,500 people. The young
people of the city have no adequate place for healthful recreation. Central church has provided one of the most attractive gynasiums in the
state where a large number of young people meet for athletic games.
The plant is provided with a modern fan system of heating and ventilating.
Among the activities of the church are the Boy Scouts with a membership of about forty, and the Junior church for the practical instruction of boys and girls in the principles of the Christian religion, by the pastor and his wife; a men's bible class numbering nearly 150; and all other
lines of activity usually followed by modern, aggressive churches. The
present membership of the church is 500 and the school has an equal
enrolment.
The most interesting feature of the church life is the combination
plan of service. By this plan the morning preaching and Sunday-school
exercises are united into a single service occupying about the same
time usually taken by the preaching service alone. It brings the entire
Sunday-school into the preaching service and the entire congregation
into the Sunday-school. The plan was originated by the pastor and is
attracting wide attention. "The Open Church is our working theory,"
says Mr. Glass, "and we aim to keep the church open every day in the
year. We try to avoid hobbies, both in faith and in practice, taking the
life and example of Jesus Christ as our example and guide. Like
Him, we would 'Come not to be ministered unto, but to minister.' And
we seek to minister to the whole man-to the mental by placing due
emphasis upon the teaching function of the pulpit; to the physical by
encouraging athletics in the gynasium and in the open air; to the spiritual by stimulating wholesome atmosphere and maintaining the highest
New Testament standard of experience and life."
A chorus choir of thirty voices, soon to be increased to forty furnishes special high-grade music for all public services and is enthusiastically supported by the congregation. George A. Horner, the director, is a man of pronounced ability in conducting choruses.