is conception of the
place and function of the modern church in the new age, as just
outlined. It has been the reproach of the Protestant Churches that they
have too largely attracted only the well-to-do and middle classes. Frank
Nelson made Christ Church a place where rich and poor met on equal
footing. Drawn by his personality, both responded to his vision. There
was something about working in his parish that gave people a peculiar
zest and joy in living. There was, for instance, a Jewish lad in the
Sunday School, (Mr. Nelson never liked the term Church School) who after
his marriage came every Christmas to Christ Church with his wife and two
children. He proudly introduced them to Mr. Nelson, saying, "Though I am
a Jew, this is my church!"

On the other hand, Mr. Nelson's special gifts as a rector were developed
and brought into full flower in Christ Church because of the many
remarkable people who formed the backbone of his parish. In point of
numbers and in ability, they were an unusual group, a group
characterized by breadth of vision, and by a faith sufficient for them
to carry through the bold projects outlined by their leader. Many were
blessed with abundant means, and, above all, were filled with a
consummate loyalty and affection for their church. In this happy
partnership of pastor and parish, each inspired the other to great
accomplishment. The older members who were in the parish at the
beginning of Mr. Nelson's rectorship were vigorous, strong-minded people
accustomed to having their own way. They hewed to the old lines,
suspicious of change. With his deep sense of loyalty, Mr. Nelson felt
bound to maintain the sort of practices and low-church ceremony which
prevailed when he took over, but such was his adroitness, skill and tact
in leading them that he won their complete confidence and trust, and
they gave him an unreserved support as well as a free hand in many
things. This unbounded support of his early work he never forgot; nor
did he let his appreciation diminish with the success of later years. In
the course of the observances that marked his forty years as rector, he
said of them:

We found here, as the days went on, a group of people that I
think have never been equaled. Not a very large group of people,
but a group of people who gave us freedom--freedom to speak the
thing that was in our minds: to do the things that we believed
the Church ought to do and to stand for in the heart of a