t of
hard-won battles, the forthrightness of a man stirred by his struggle to
live as a follower of Jesus Christ. He was no respecter of persons but
of personality, saying "We don't dare to be Christians." Some said Frank
Nelson did not preach doctrinal sermons, but if not, then church
doctrine needs another name, for this man preached the Christian faith,
pouring it forth in great bucketfuls. If after hearing him one didn't
know something about the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, then there
is no such thing as doctrine.

The rector was sensitive about his failure to attract larger
congregations, and deprecated his ability as a speaker. He was forever
saying that he could not preach, and that he preached too long, but
jested that he was too old to change! Once in the midst of an
after-dinner speech, he paused to make an aside to his friend, J.
Hollister Lynch, "Am I talking too long?" "Yes," whispered Dr. Lynch,
but he kept right on! Cincinnati is not a church-going city like
Pittsburgh, for instance, but, as one witty observer has remarked,
"Cincinnati has fewer moral lapses!" In making judgments on this point,
one should take into consideration the fact that there was a large Roman
Catholic constituency, and that the predominant German population of
Cincinnati which came in such large numbers during the middle of the
nineteenth century, was definitely anti-religious. Christ Church,
moreover, is a downtown church, and the greater number of the
communicants live in suburbs. His parish took him for granted as was
inevitable over a forty-year period, but when we recall his multiple
civic associations, and the fact that whenever he spoke there was a
religious foundation to his address and in his presence, we perceive
that Mr. Nelson's preaching reached far beyond the bounds of Christ
Church.

The sermons of Frank Nelson were pervaded with a fine ethical
perception. He was in the succession of the ancient Hebrew prophets in
their profound love of justice and concern for humanity. He had a keen,
quick feeling for spiritual values, and succeeded in relating them in
vital fashion to the throbbing stress of daily living. Beyond his
piercing eloquence, captivating as it most certainly was, was the
compelling fact that in his interpretation of the religious significance
of human experience he stood forth like a pine tree towering above
scraggly growth. No one can ever forget that tall, dynamic figure in the
spacious pulpit