Monday, October 22, 2012

Another Methodist controversey -- chewing

 At Foundry I am not allowed to spit tobacco juice in the pulpit. The following is a quote from Foundry's history: 
On March 16, 1831, the Baltimore Annual Conference opened its sessions at Foundry Church. Six days later, a memorial on the use of tobacco was presented and read...."The practice of chewing tobacco has grown to such an extent amongst our members, and others who regularly attend our houses of worship, and has become so great a nuisance in the house of God as to require serious attention." ...
The floor, the benches, and the walls were often "besmeared and stained in a manner so filthy, as to disgust and even sicken..."
On March 17, the Conference voted unanimously to disprove the practice of spitting tobacco juice "on the floors and in the Pulpits of our Church."
From Homer L. Calkin, Castings from the Foundry Mold: A History of Foundry Church Washington, D.C. 1814-1964, pp. 79-80.

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