great
city.

A new parish house had been erected as Alexis Stein's rectorship closed,
and Mr. Nelson's organizing abilities made it hum. With the assistance
of the Rev. J. Howard Melish, the most competent of all his clerical
assistants, a Men's Club was organized, and became a mecca for the young
men of the city. For those of small means, it was the only sort of club
available, and was thrown open to every race and creed. In 1901 the
yearly attendance was 7,000, and by 1903 it had grown to 16,973. In line
with the policy of a community center, the Club included members of all
faiths, Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic. The Roman priest was always
notified of Catholics joining the club and informed that no proselyting
was intended, but rather that it was hoped these young men would become
better members of their own church. Athletic grounds were secured
together with a field-house, and Christ Church teams won an enviable
reputation for high standards of sportsmanship. Their spirit may be
judged by the story of a football player who waxed into colorful
profanity in the heat of a game and was bawled out by a Roman Catholic
teammate in terse words: "Don't you know who you represent?" During an
interim when another parish house was being built, Christ Church
basketball teams used the Holy Cross Monastery Hall for an entire year,
with the full approval of the Roman authorities and the gratitude of Mr.
Nelson. At that time, the captain of the Christ Church team, John M.
Cronin, was a prefect of the St. Xavier Sodality and also the secretary
of the Christ Church Men's Club. By 1911 it was necessary to limit the
Club's membership to six hundred, and there was always a long waiting
list. The social atmosphere, the entertainments, the athletic record,
the camp established by the church on the Miami River made this club one
of the most popular in the city. Mr. Nelson and Mr. Melish spent untold
hours in the work and gained an intimate knowledge of the individual
members and their views, particularly on labor questions. The men
expressed themselves freely, and at the close of an evening's discussion
Mr. Nelson would gather up the points of argument into a clear and
effective summary easily understood and remembered. It was in this club
that a small group once earnestly discussed how they might best help a
member when he should be released from a prison term which he was
serving. Nothing gratified the rector more than this sort of