Church and Community in Days of Pandemic: A Glance Back to 1918

Introduction: The Present Situation, the Present Conversation

As some have said, the last few weeks have certainly been an interesting year! It's seemed as though every day, even every hour, has brought new developments in the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Around March 7, I myself became quite sick – intensely feverish, dry cough which became quite violent, significant aches, etc. – although I was (understandably) unable to get a coronavirus test. (I'm almost better, save for a few lingering after-effects.) Not too long after that, I had to make the difficult decision to suspend all gatherings and meetings of the two congregations I pastor. Perhaps the most challenging part of the process was, for a time, being too sick to have any real involvement with the congregations. (Immediately after starting to show any symptoms of illness, I entered into self-isolation.) Both churches, as of this time, will suspend all gatherings until the public health situation has improved sufficiently to render it advisable to meet again without the need for appreciable social distancing.

The first COVID-19 case confirmed in the United States was in late January, and the first patient to die did so on February 28. On March 13, the United States president officially declared a state of national emergency – a decision that seems an eternity ago. Two days later, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) advised gatherings be limited to fifty people or fewer, during the upcoming eight weeks. The next day, March 16, the president asked citizens to limit gatherings to ten people or fewer, a more radical suggestion.

In my state of Pennsylvania, the same day as the president's suggestion also saw a move by Gov. Tom Wolf – who had declared the state in a disaster emergency on March 6, a week before the national declaration – to ask “non-essential businesses” anywhere in Pennsylvania to “close for at least 14 days to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” while ordering all restaurants and bars to close their dine-in facilities, effective on March 17. By the day after that, as March 18 brought the first Pennsylvanian COVID-19 death, Gov. Wolf was advising Pennsylvanians to “refrain from non-essential travel.” To the extent possible, he added a day later, Pennsylvanians should “stay safe, stay home.”

Later that day – Friday, March 19 – Gov. Wolf issued an executive order requiring the closure of all “non-life-sustaining” businesses in the state: “No person or entity shall operate a place of business in the Commonwealth that is not a life-sustaining business, regardless of whether the business is open to members of the public.” The same executive order warned that enforcement of this order would take place beginning on Saturday, March 21, although it would go into effect the night he issued the order. Over the next several days, the Wolf administration continued to make adjustments to the list of what categories of business do, or do not, constitute a “life-sustaining business.” He also later, in light of substantial public controversy and a high volume of waiver requests, delayed enforcement until Monday, March 23. In each iteration of the business category lists, “religious institutions” such as churches do count as life-sustaining.

On Monday, March 23, Gov. Wolf's Secretary of Health, Dr. Levine, placed seven of Pennsylvania's 67 counties – i.e., Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Monroe, Montgomery, and Philadelphia – under a stay-at-home order, that is, a requirement to “stay at home except as needed to access, support, or provide life-sustaining business, emergency, or government services,” with the order to “remain in full force and effect for a period of two weeks, specifically until April 6, 2020.” (One of the seven counties, Philadelphia, had previously placed itself under a stay-at-home order.) The Pennsylvania Department of Education further placed all schools in Pennsylvania under a closure order, also until at least April 6. The next day, March 24, Gov. Wolf and his Secretary of Health added an eighth county (Erie) to the stay-at-home order. On March 25, two more counties (Lehigh and Northumberland) were added to the stay-at-home order. Two days later, on March 27, Gov. Wolf and Dr. Levine revised the order to include yet another nine counties (Berks, Butler, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Luzerne, Pike, Wayne, Westmoreland, and York) – one of which is my own place of residence. The day after that, they once again added another three counties (Beaver, Centre, and Washington) to the order. On March 29, President Trump extended nationwide guidelines on social distancing until April 30. Then, on March 30, Gov. Wolf and Dr. Levine added four more counties (Carbon, Cumberland, Dauphin, and Schuylkill) to their stay-at-home order and extended its duration to April 30 in accordance with the presidential action. Accordingly, President Trump issued a major disaster declaration for Pennsylvania. 

By April 1, Gov. Wolf had issued a statewide stay-at-home order, covering all 67 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties.  Two days later, in a press briefing, Gov. Wolf “recommended that all Pennsylvanians wear a mask any time they leave their homes for life-sustaining reasons,” and the next day, Gov. Wolf's administration updated the stay-at-home guidance to clarify that, while the stay-at-home order should not be construed to prohibit the activities of religious institutions, “religious leaders are encouraged to find alternatives to in-person gatherings,” as “individuals should not gather in religious buildings or homes for services or celebrations until the stay-at-home order is lifted.” 

Gov. Wolf's approach has seen considerable pushback on the part of some angry citizens, including a few local attorneys, who vocally insist that the state government does not have the authority to temporarily close any private businesses. One lawyer, Marc Scaringi of Harrisburg, contends that no disease can be classified as a 'disaster' under the Emergency Management Services Code, and that “business owners have the right to make their own decisions about closure in the face of the coronavirus, and it's the governor's job to protect and not brazenly override that right.” Influenced by this reasoning, several businesses have sought to sue the Wolf administration. Other legal experts have argued that Gov. Wolf does indeed have the authority he has exercised under the present circumstances.  Should any case be adjudicated in the courts, the question will perhaps be settled.  In the meantime, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted 107-95 on April 14 to lift the closure of businesses that comply with a coronavirus-mitigation plan, a resolution which was also passed 29-21 by the State Senate on April 15.  However, Gov. Wolf has pledged to veto the bill.  Gov. Wolf has, however, since put forward a Plan for Pennsylvania to “build a new commonwealth” through “relief, reopening, and recovery that will keep Pennsylvanians alive and repair the damage this virus has caused across Pennsylvania.” 

Meanwhile, in Christian discourse in the United States, churches have struggled to discern the best ways to respond to the COVID-19 epidemic. Many (though not all) have made the difficult decision to suspend gatherings and other meetings - overall, perhaps 88% have done so. Most voices in the conversation have supported this approach as a valid option, at least in the short term. Russell Moore, a Southern Baptist leader, having acknowledged that “the corporate worship of the people of God is both a vital and fundamental aspect of the Christian life,” nevertheless praises churches that “are voluntarily restricting their gatherings until the crisis is passed because they care about their members, and non-members in their communities,” while encouraging “maximum recognition of the need for clergy and other religious workers to carry out necessary ministry, in the same category as health care workers.” David French, also an Evangelical, argued that “protecting your parents, your grandparents, and your vulnerable neighbor is your moral duty.”

One loud voice to the contrary, however, has been R. R. Reno, Catholic editor of First Things, in a series of controversial articles. In “Questioning the Shutdown” on March 20, Reno complained that “cancelling services and closing churches underlines the irrelevance of institutional Christianity in our technocratic age. … The docility of religious leaders to the cessation of public worship is stunning. It suggests that they more than half believe that secular proposition.” Caricaturing his perceived opponents as believing “that we should save lives 'at any cost,'” Reno argues that “anyone who believes that our earthly existence is worth preserving 'at any cost' will accept slavery,” and that society should weather epidemics confident in the assurance that “society goes on pretty much as before.”

In a follow-up piece three days later, the March 23 article “Say 'No' to Death's Dominion,” Reno censures “the false god of 'saving lives,'” slurring this goal as “a disastrous sentimentalism” and “an ill-conceived crusade against human finitude and the dolorous reality of death.” Reno warns that “there is a demonic side to the sentimentalism of saving lives at any cost,” that “the mass shutdown of society to fight the spread of COVID-19 creates a perverse, even demonic atmosphere.” He fulminates against “religious leaders … suspending the proclamation of the gospel and the distribution of the Bread of Life” by suspending gatherings of worship, for “they signal by their actions that they, too, accept death's dominion.”

In the days ahead, Reno began publishing a daily 'coronavirus diary,' recording himself spitting in the street in public (March 24), asking God's forgiveness “for my ill-tempered words and actions over the past week, for my hasty judgments and sharp words” (March 25), muses again at the problems of “well-intentioned rhetoric of compassion” (March 26), and urges readers not to be afraid of “causing another's death, being a 'killer' by communicating the virus to someone who is in poor health, old, and vulnerable” (March 27). Reno persists in declaring that the 'shutdown' approach to public health “is metaphysically aligned with death – the very enemy we are committed to resisting” (March 28-29).

Numerous Christian writers have (rightly) offered rebuttals – some quite piercing and stinging – to Reno's demonization of pastors and churches who do not lead according to his vision – in other words, to the “hasty judgments” Reno himself knows he has made. Evangelical writer David French incisively ponders whether participating in a church gathering after potentially becoming a COVID-19 carrier – as Reno would encourage – might be a vainglorious form of “performative recklessness” of the sort Satan encouraged in his second temptation of Christ in the wilderness.

Catholic theologian Timothy O'Malley calls out Reno's writing for “the kind of shadowy hermeneutics that ironically delights more in the terror of darkness than the light,” and points out that Reno has utterly neglected the ways faithful church leadership continues to minister to the faithful laity in “sacrificial love” even amid the shutdown, and the prospect for society to see the Church's “consistent ethic of life grounded in a society committed to gratitude.” Catholic medical oncologist Pedro Gabriel, reviewing Reno's second article, observes that “many of his arguments warp the truth, mixing morally correct statements with bioethical blunders,” with logic that is “inhumane and immoral,” and which “grossly misrepresents Catholic, medical, and bioethical principles.” Dr. Gabriel reminds readers that “every death that is due to a lack of medical resources, which could have been avoided with proper safety measures, is indeed a moral failure,” and that “there is no justice, nor beauty, nor honor in artificially maintaining societal functioning at the expense of the death or suffering of thousands of people.”

The Orthodox columnist Rod Dreher, who considers Reno a personal friend, nevertheless disdains Reno's writing on the present topic as “so bloodless and abstract and pious,” objecting to Reno “passing harsh judgment on priests who are not serving mass to congregations today, accusing them of a lack of faith and of moral courage. This is so, so wrong. Nobody – not those priests, not the faithful – wants to be away from church now. We do it not out of fear, but as a temporary sacrifice to save lives. … While we cannot save everyone, we ought to be prepared to bear a great sacrifice to save as many as we reasonably can.” Dreher adds later that “when Reno faults priests who (at their bishop's order) are not able to go visit the sick, he ignores the biological fact that a priest who is infected but doesn't yet know it can spread the virus to the sick, and kill them. That is a fact that no amount of pious rationality can deny.” In the end, Dreher recognizes, Reno is “ignoring epidemiological facts to serve a 'political, social, and spiritual narrative that he prefers.”

Alongside this, Catholic theologian Joseph E. Capizzi and Lutheran theologian H. David Baer likewise replied together to Reno, highlighting how “it is more than a little ironic that a conservative Christian critic of decadent consumerism and liberal individualism like Reno should grow alarmed at the speed with which all those self-absorbed autonomous selves abandoned the comforts of consumerism for the sake of their neighbors.”  Capizzi and Baer further stressed that “temporary suspension of church services does not entail the surrender of the church to the dominion of death,” as Reno thought, since the church remains “bound together in the body of Christ even when they are separated” and compelled to undergo eucharistic fasting.

Welcoming all these fruitful critiques of Reno, I wish to focus on another point, a more narrow one: Reno's treatment of history. In his core articles, Reno repeatedly appeals to questionable characterizations of an earlier era: the Spanish flu pandemic. In “Questioning the Shutdown,” Reno claimed that “during the Spanish flu pandemic..., churches were open.” In “Say 'No' to Death's Dominion,” Reno claims that, when the Spanish flu pandemic took place, Americans' “reaction was vastly different from ours. They continued to worship, go to musical performances, clash on football fields, and gather with friends.” Continuing, Reno adds that the Spanish Flu generation “bowed their head before the storm of disease and endured its punishing blows, but they otherwise stood firm and continued to work, worship, and play, insisting that fear of death would not govern their societies or their lives.”

This is a historical point. Reno makes a sweeping generation toward two generations (or sets of generations): those active in 1918, and those active in 2020. He claims that, as a matter of historical fact, churches remained open for public worship gatherings in 1918 when the Spanish flu epidemic was at its height, and that people did not allow societal institutions to be disrupted at the time. The following historical treatment will make quite clear, in considerable detail, that Reno is far, far more wrong than he is right.

In spite of significant differences between 'Spanish influenza' and COVID-19 (both in terms of the characteristics of the disease and in terms of the medical knowledge of the healthcare systems forced to confront them), the ways in which communities and churches faced the 'Spanish Flu' can be instructive. What follows is a consideration of six cases: six Pennsylvanian communities, glimpsed in the autumn of 1918:

1. Mount Carmel, in Northumberland County, east-central Pennsylvania
2. Lewisburg, in Union County, central Pennsylvania
3. Harrisburg, in Dauphin County, southeast of central Pennsylvania
4. New Castle, in Lawrence County, far-western Pennsylvania
5. Allentown, in Lehigh County, far-eastern Pennsylvania
6. Lancaster, in Lancaster County, southeastern Pennsylvania

Background: Influenza and the Order

When the disease nicknamed 'Spanish Influenza' actually emerged, and where on the globe it originated, remain contentious issues. (In spite of the inapt name, some Americans preferred to scapegoat Germany, their enemy in the World War then taking place – rumors abounded that “the disease represents one of the fantastic methods of the German war-makers, who are supposed to have developed the menace with weird dreams of prostrated armies laid low and surrounded after the disease had been spread by shells charged with it.”¹)

By the latter half of July 1918, Pennsylvanians had begun to wonder whether this 'Spanish Influenza' might spread to the United States Expeditionary Forces or perhaps even their home state – but newspapers assured Pennsylvanians that since “the death rate is very low and the disease lasts only a short period with completely recovery, there is no reason for alarm.”² Within weeks, as hundreds began dying in England, some Pennsylvanians took a more somber tone, granting that “Spanish 'flu' in its symptoms is much like what the Americans call grippe. But it is more severe and often fatal.”³ Even so, other Pennsylvanians mused aloud “whether Spanish influenza” was “really any worse than hay fever,”⁴ with the press still carrying claims that Spanish influenza was “short-lived and of practically no permanent serious results.”⁵ It would take time for the lethal potential of Spanish flu to be more universally appreciated.

By mid-September 1918, confirmed cases of 'Spanish influenza' were on the rise in American metropolitan centers like Boston and New York,⁶ popularly believed to have “been brought over by persons on returning American transports” from Europe.⁷ Pittsburgh's department of public health soon announced that they expected the disease's arrival in their city on September 17,⁸ but it arrived a day ahead of schedule in the person of a 21-year-old sailor named Stewart Eckstein.⁹ The disease promptly appeared in other Pennsylvanian cities like Lancaster¹⁰ and Philadelphia (starting with US Navy facilities).¹¹ September 18 brought the first death from Spanish flu in Philadelphia,¹² and within two days the fatality count had reached fifteen there.¹³ The meeting of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society in Philadelphia in late September 1918 discussed the influenza situation,¹⁴ all while cases spread from military camps to Pennsylvanian civilian communities through soldiers permitted to return home on furlough.¹⁵ Cases were soon confirmed in more and more places.¹⁶ In Philadelphia, “the epidemic has reached such proportions in this locality... that physicians and nurses will be mobilized in a few days, so that they can be used where most needed.”¹⁷ Pennsylvanians soon had good reason to take the disease spread seriously: “Influenza is no joke; no newspaper talk. It is a real disease, of a dangerous character, and the excitement incident to its general outbreak is justified.”¹⁸

At this time, Pennsylvania's Acting Health Commissioner was one Dr. Benjamin Franklin Royer (1870-1961), an 1899 graduate of Philadelphia's Jefferson Medical College¹⁹ who – after becoming chief resident physician at Philadelphia's Municipal Hospital in 1903,²⁰ a state medical inspector in 1908,²¹ associate chief medical inspector in 1909,²² and chief medical inspector in 1910.²³ – was appointed “Acting Health Commissioner, to serve until the Governor appoints a commissioner,” in February 1918 after the death of the prior health commissioner Dr. Samuel Gibson Dixon.²⁴

Faced with the new crisis of Spanish flue, Dr. Royer's initial observation to the media on September 29 was that, although Pennsylvania had numerous confirmed cases, it was merely a resurgence of the same disease outbreak that had troubled the nation in 1889-1890.²⁵ (In fact, the 1889-1890 'Asiatic flu' pandemic is thought to have been type H3N8, whereas the 'Spanish influenza' was type H1N1.²⁶) Dr. Royer's recommendations for the general public were that “this is the time to let sunshine into the houses. I notice many awnings are still up. That is a mistake. Let the sunshine in. Avoid crowded places, entertainments, and churches where there are crowds, and keep in the open air as much as possible. Sunshine is what is needed to keep in good trim.”²⁷ As the disease spread, Dr. Royer closed the month by ordering all district health officers to gather reports of the disease and sent them to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.²⁸

Late in the morning on Thursday, October 3, 1918, Dr. Royer issued an emergency order. Highlighting the evidence that large public gatherings tended to spread disease, he directed each locality that “your board of health is directed to close all public places of entertainment, including theatres, moving picture establishments, saloons, and dance halls, and prohibit all meeting of every description until further notice from this department.”²⁹ However, Dr. Royer shied away from any state-level action regarding two core institutions: schools and churches. This, he left as a decision to be made strictly at the local level: “It will, for the present, and subject to further orders from this department, be left to the judgment of local health authorities as to whether or not public schools, Sunday schools, and churches be closed.”³⁰

Case 1: Mount Carmel, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania

Mount Carmel is a borough in east-central Pennsylvania's Anthracite Coal Region. Although today the population has decreased to about 5,573, at the time of the 'Spanish influenza' outbreak it enjoyed a population over three times that, around 17,500. (It was thus, at the time, more populous than Sunbury, which is presently the county seat, though not quite so populous as Shamokin.) Before the end of September 1918, Mount Carmel had recorded “several dozen cases” of Spanish flu – including local fireman James Latshaw and student Lillian Fisher – and for that reason the local press insisted that “Spanish influenza, which has many victims all over the country and has invaded our midst, should not be treated lightly, but with every effort to avoid it, for it is deadly and is proving fatal to many people.”³¹ Two residents at the nearby town of Kulpmont died from the Spanish flu on September 28 and 29.³² However, “one doctor said he doesn't see any cause of needless alarm. Many regard the epidemic as nothing more than the usual siege of la grippe that usually holds the people in its power about this time of the year.”³³ In nearby Shamokin, meanwhile, there were “dozens of new cases being reported every day,” leading to “several deaths, and the Shamokin health authorities are alarmed over the rapid spread of the disease.”³⁴

Promptly after receiving Dr. Royer's directive, Mount Carmel's borough-level health board – presided over by a local doctor named R. W. Montelius – met and passed a resolution that, effective at midnight on Friday, October 4, not only would theatres and saloons be closed, but so would the community's schools and churches.³⁵ Thus, the newspaper the day after the order went into effect noted that “there will be no services in any of the churches in Mount Carmel borough tomorrow, in obedience to the order issued by the Board of Health, caused by the epidemic of Spanish influenza.”³⁶ Several nearby communities in Northumberland County, such as Sunbury, Shenandoah, Northumberland, Williamsport, Locust Gap, and Mahanoy City were under similar orders; however, a minority of others – such as Ashland and Shamokin – did plan to keep the churches open.³⁷ For Mount Carmel, then, the suspension of church gatherings lasted for several weeks – it applied to Sunday, October 6, as well as the following three Sundays, October 13, 20, and 27.

But around that time, the Mount Carmel health board received an answer from the State Health Department in which Dr. Royer suggested “that, so far as practicable, the resumption of school work should take place about midweek, and of the churches and Sunday schools on the Sunday following,” i.e., on Sunday, November 3.³⁸ As the date drew nearer but without as much reduction in the spread of influenza as had been hoped, the health board approached the matter cautiously, considering the prospect of opening churches for one service per Sunday but keeping the Sunday schools closed.³⁹ As a turning point was reached in which “the plague has almost entirely disappeared in Mount Carmel,” the plan was for churches to hold services limited to one hour in length – though some feared that the time limit would result in the consolidation of services and hence a greater risk from heavy crowding in the churches than if more services were permitted.⁴⁰ So on the evening of Friday, November 1, the health board directed the full lifting of “the quarantine on stores, churches, and schools.”⁴¹ By the following Sunday, November 10, the churches were fully open, with service times announced in the local newspaper the day prior.⁴²

Mount Carmel shows us a functional template for the implementation of public health measures. The local churches had their meetings suspended, by health board order, for four consecutive Sundays, with consideration given to a lesser restriction for a fifth Sunday in the interest of public health.

Case 2: Lewisburg, Union County, Pennsylvania

Even closer to the center of the state than Mount Carmel, the borough of Lewisburg is the seat of Union County and the home of Bucknell University. By 1918, the population was nearly 3,200. Bucknell University, at the time, was functioning as a post for the Student Army Training Corps, with plans to make it a “minor West Point” for seven hundred student-soldiers alongside the civilian students.⁴³ But Spanish influenza beat the student body to Lewisburg. Among the first casualties of the disease was 18-year-old Earl Vincent Sherman, a member of the local United Evangelical church: Having enlisted in the Merchant Marine Service and traveled to Boston at the start of September, he – and a number of other young Lewisburg men – found the barracks there under quarantine due to the Spanish influenza outbreak therein. Sent home, Sherman soon developed symptoms of Spanish flu and the consequent lethal pneumonia: he died on Tuesday, September 24.⁴⁴

Several days later, on the evening of Saturday, September 28, the town of Lewisburg held a large-scale parade to initiate their fundraising drive for the Liberty Loan program.⁴⁵ A day later, 27-year-old Blanche Lenhart, living west of Lewisburg but a member of the same United Evangelical church as Sherman, likewise died as he had.⁴⁶ A somewhat growing awareness was undoubtedly growing locally of “the new disease, Spanish 'flu.'”⁴⁷ By the time Dr. Royer issued his state-wide quarantine order, “the so-called Spanish 'flu' was rather severe on several of Lewisburg's business places, on account of the working force suffering from attacks. Some stores had their staffs of clerks so depleted that trade with customs was greatly interfered with.”⁴⁸

In answer to Dr. Royer's order, “the Lewisburg Board of Health has decided all churches shall be closed on Sunday and to continue until further notice,” along with other public places like theaters.⁴⁹ There were therefore no church gatherings in Lewisburg on Sunday, October 6. In lieu of church gatherings, many residents went hiking to collect chestnuts.⁵⁰ Two days later, a 28-year-old rural mail carrier, Frank Alleman, also a member of the United Evangelical church, died as yet another victim of the Spanish flu.⁵¹

By the close of the week, it was painfully evident no church services would be held on Sunday, October 13, either: “The state-wide quarantine, closing churches, schools, and public amusement places because of the influenza epidemic, has not yet been lifted,” printed The Lewisburg Journal on October 11, “and hence all church services on Sunday are still off. Public announcement of the resumption of such services will be made through the daily and local press, the local Board of Health having promised to notify the pastors as soon as word is received from Harrisburg. The outlook at present is not very encouraging, the crest of the epidemic having hardly been reached in this section of the state, and therefore it is not likely any services will be held next Sabbath or next Wednesday evening.”⁵² Accordingly, some local churches began preparing to delay any special services such as rally days,⁵³ and the upcoming county fair was canceled.⁵⁴ The local press urged residents to “take every precaution regarding the spread of the Spanish influenza.”⁵⁵ However, caution flew out the window in the early hours of Sunday morning, as news of progress toward ending the World War reached town burgess Frank Catherman in the dark morning hours, resulting in fire alarms and church bells calling the slumbering citizens to an impromptu parade through the darkened mists, gathering them in the downtown by the hundreds – until one parader was fatally mowed down by a reckless driver at three o'clock AM.⁵⁶ Perhaps equally troubling was the potential for disease transmission in the crowded streets.

Over the coming week, as more and more locals were killed by the Spanish flu (including Frank Alleman's widow),⁵⁷ announcement went out that “the churches of the town will still be closed another Sunday,” October 20.⁵⁸ The United Evangelical church accordingly delayed their scheduled Joash-Chest Rally.⁵⁹ One local family lost five members to influenza,⁶⁰ and in another family eight children were orphaned due to the disease.⁶¹ Lewisburg residents were strongly encouraged to fight influenza by “keep[ing] their windows open day and night, allowing all the fresh air possible to circulate freely through every room of the house.”⁶² With church buildings still closed down on Sunday, October 27, some local pastors began to plan substitutes for church services – for instance, Methodist pastor J. B. Brenneman called on his congregation to “give at least one hour on next Sunday to special scripture reading and prayers in your home, asking our Father's blessing and help upon and for all who are ill and in sorrow for our community, and for blessings upon our nation and all the Allied armies. Your pastor will join you in this from 11am until noon.”⁶³

As Lewisburg health authorities like borough health officer Dr. Thomas C. Thornton were waiting for cues from Harrisburg authorities to lift the quarantine locally (even as the case load in Lewisburg lightened while adjacent rural areas worsened), “it is thought that it will be two weeks before … re-opening of the schools and churches.”⁶⁴ Shortly after that notice was given, a turning point was reached in Union County,⁶⁵ and Lewisburg health authorities lifted the local quarantine at noon on Wednesday, November 6.⁶⁶ This cleared the way for church services to resume on Sunday, November 10, after five consecutive Sundays missed.⁶⁷ United Evangelical pastor Edgar Crumbling planned to preach that morning on “The Triumph of Christianity Over Death” and that evening on “It Is Time to Seek the Lord,”⁶⁸ whereas the Lutheran, Presbyterian, Reformed churches of the town did not announce the topics of their morning and evening messages (the Presbyterian church would have no evening services due to illness in the pastor's family).⁶⁹

Reflecting on the five-week suspension of services, The Lewisburg Journal remarked that “while there may be some financial losses in the closing, yet the modern church has such excellent financial systems that it will not likely be serious, especially if church-members follow the well-given advice the next Sabbath, all give a substantial thank-offering in the loose offering for spared lives and renewed opportunities for service. The Peace News of this week only brings greater cause for worship.”⁷⁰ By the community Thanksgiving service held in Lewisburg's Lutheran church, there was much rejoicing, and yet “with the influenza pandemic still raging in many places and reappearing in others, there is a sterner call than ever for humiliation and confession before God that any further serious ravages of this dread disease may be stayed.”⁷¹

Case 3: Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

Perhaps few cities in Pennsylvania are as iconic as Harrisburg, not only the county seat of Dauphin County but also the state capital. A significant metropolitan area even then, in 1918 it boasted a population of nearly 75,000 people. In addition to being an industrial center, the city is anchored by the Pennsylvania State Capitol (though most of the surrounding complex has been constructed since 1918), with a dome inspired by St. Peter's Basilica. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg celebrated its golden jubilee (fiftieth anniversary) with a procession just after Spanish influenza made an entrance into the city.⁷²

On Friday, September 20, a local Harrisburg resident, 30-year-old bindery foreman Edward H. Ripper, a member of Harrisburg's Redeemer Lutheran Church, began displaying symptoms. The same became true of a visiting Philadelphian named John Goodman, who on Monday, September 23, was taken to the Harrisburg hospital for treatment. Ripper died early the following Saturday morning, September 28,⁷³ by which time other cases were diagnosed, such as those of Clayton Bausman, Felix Schraedley, and Shannon McCord.⁷⁴ A few days later, on Monday, September 30, Harrisburg's hospital admitted another Spanish flu patient, a 75-year-old Italian Catholic resident of Middletown named Nicholas Negro, who died later that night.⁷⁵

The morning after Dr. Royer's order was issued, the city health bureau office was the site of a meeting between local health officials and several prominent Harrisburg pastors to discuss whether the churches would continue their meetings. By noon, the city health board had issued a directive that, in addition to the venues mandated by Dr. Royer's order, also closed churches and Sunday schools until further notice would be given by the health board.⁷⁶ The local press noted that “doors of all Harrisburg churches will be shut tight tomorrow” on Sunday, October 6, and that “clergymen of the city, when they heard the new ruling, were quick in cancelling all meetings held in their churches on Sunday.”⁷⁷ That Sunday, the bells of the churches were silent, signifying a lack of meeting “because of the strict quarantine measures which have been adopted by city and state departments of health in an effort to check the spread of the influenza epidemic.”⁷⁸ By this point, Harrisburg had about two thousand identified cases of the Spanish flu.⁷⁹ By the following week, liquor sellers were becoming anxious to get back to business. Dr. Royer rejected their appeal to re-open, noting that “the churches, schools, moving picture people, and theatrical people – all greatly inconvenienced – are not complaining.”⁸⁰ One local church member wrote his prayer in a letter to the editor, asking for God to “free us from the perils which enshroud us in death” and to “be... with all who suffer and give them aid.”⁸¹

Church services continued to be suspended, but Harrisburg pastors found ways to encourage their congregants to remain spiritually lively during the hiatus. For instance, local Episcopal priest W. C. Heilman mailed his congregation a letter of encouragement, asking them to hold worship services at home at the same time he did in the otherwise-vacant church building:

It is to be regretted that, during this time of distress, circumstances compel the closing of the churches for the time being. I beg of you, however, that you do not let this fact keep you from your worship, for, though the church doors be locked, your rector will at the regular hours of service be at the altar commemorating, in the service our Master himself gave us, the great sacrifice of the Son of God upon the cross. At the regular hour of service, then, will you not take your prayerbook and go through the service in your own home, remembering that at that moment prayers are being offered on your behalf before the altar of God.⁸²

In the week that followed, rumors – no doubt driven by vain hopes – circulated that the quarantine would soon be lifted; but Dr. Raumick insisted that there was no term limit decided upon, and that “the quarantine orders will be enforced indefinitely” until the public health situation had sufficiently been altered.⁸³ Letters to the editor during this time urged businesses to be more civic-minded rather than profiteering through “their exorbitant prices they charge the afflicted citizens.”⁸⁴

As the churches in Harrisburg neared their fourth Sunday without meeting, the newspaper presented suggestions from various pastors, including one in an adjacent county who encouraged a program of home-based worship geared toward intercessory prayer.⁸⁵ By this point, many of the city's pastors had begun to chafe under the closure order, believing that the health department had overstepped its bounds or made a miscalculation, wondering “whether the closing of the houses of prayer was a greater safeguard against influenza than permitting them to remain open and have the members pray for the relief of the community from the scourge.”⁸⁶ One newspaper interviewed six Harrisburg pastors under condition of anonymity, finding a mixture of submission to scientific wisdom and pain at the loss:

1. One pastor said: “I have two opinions about the closing order. The health authorities certainly know more about this epidemic than we do, and if from a scientific standpoint they feel justified in closing the churches, we cannot but cooperate. On the other hand, they are losing a big ally. I think meetings should be held under restrictions. The services could be short, with only one a day, devoted entirely to prayer.”
2. A second pastor said: “It is certainly a great mistake to close the churches. They have a steadying effect on people and would have been of much help at this time. Then, too, to close them together with other places tends to promote a panic among the people.”
3. A third pastor said: “It was not right to close the churches. I can appreciate the task of the health officials to guard the public, but they should not have been classified on the same level with theaters and saloons. The church stands as an institution to itself. I believe prayer, worship, and devotion would have been a great help in meeting this trouble.”
4. A fourth pastor said: “While I don't think the churches should be closed, it would have certainly been advisable to curtail the services and have them as short as possible. But we must obey the law and submit to the order. We should pray and have more faith and confidence in God. There are crowds congregating in other ways, as in street cars or markets. It would do no harm to have a brief service, and I am sure every clergyman could arrange to meet such a condition easily.”
5. A fifth pastor said: “It has been a big problem in my mind. All of us are trying to be loyal now to the hundredth degree. If some folks spread the contagion, it would be exceedingly bad to have the churches open. The other thought is that only under exceptional circumstances should such an action be taken. Will the local situation justify closing the churches? I have not read an accurate report of the epidemic situation in Harrisburg.”
6. A sixth pastor, quoting another colleague, said: “It would be a great deprivation for the city. I think under any possible circumstances, the churches should remain open. I am observing the closing order, because if the medical authorities think it dangerous to assemble, it would balk their plans to not close. May I voice the opinion of an older colleague of mine who said: 'I should regard my ministry a failure if I thought that the religion of my people would be lost or jeopardized by their abstaining from divine services for a few weeks, especially when such abstinence is necessitated by consideration of the public health.' The sorrows and sufferings that the present scourge visited upon thousands of our people fully warranted the churches to close so that all would cooperate with the health authorities and strive with all their might to relieve our city from the pall of its present epidemic. It is not a question at such a critical time that merely a few affected directly or indirectly gather in their respective houses of worship, but that each and every man, woman, and child turn with eyes heavenward and invoke God in their own homes, upon their own hearths, that he stay the ravages of this dread epidemic. The gatherings together of large groups of people at such a critical time should certainly have been averted, and it was a very wise and safest measure to take under these circumstances.”⁸⁷

A few days later, health officer Dr. Raunick speculated that, if the disease spread slowed enough, then in just a few days, “the ban on churches, Sunday schools, public and private schools, soda fountains, pool rooms and bowling alleys, and all other public gatherings may be lifted before next Tuesday,” i.e., before November 5.⁸⁸ However, the following day – Friday, November 1 – Dr. Raunick clarified that the time was not yet right for churches to resume meeting, and “for this reason, ministers are asked not to conduct services of any kind.”⁸⁹ Churches remained closed on Sunday, November 3, while “all stores and business places except restaurants and drug-stores will close at 6:30 o'clock.”⁹⁰

The next day, the newspapers reported that noon on Tuesday, November 5, would see the cessation of all quarantine measures in Harrisburg, and Dr. Raunick expressed thanks to the general public for their cooperation. The press noted that “on Saturday evening [November 2], merchants and other businessmen in the city cooperated with the health bureau and closed promptly at 6:30 o'clock. It was the fourth Saturday night that the stores were closed, only druggists and restaurant proprietors being permitted to remain open. Churches and Sunday schools also were not permitted to hold services. They will resume again next Sunday, after being closed for five weeks.”⁹¹ Many Harrisburg churches in fact opened on Wednesday, November 6, for midweek prayer services, which in many cases would function as “services of thanksgiving and praise because the influenza epidemic with its attendant dangers has been practically stamped out in Harrisburg.”⁹² By this point, “religious workers throughout the city have made preparations to undertake their work again with renewed energy after the period of the quarantine. … It is generally expected that the services throughout the city tonight will have large congregations in attendance.”⁹³ By Sunday, November 10, “after more than a month of closed doors, the churches of Harrisburg will be opened today for services. In many churches, there will be special rally meetings and services of thanksgiving.”⁹⁴ It was “the first Sunday since September that services were held,” which “led to the assembling of audiences larger than ordinarily gather in the city sanctuaries,” so “hundreds of worshippers made their way to the favorite places of prayer.”⁹⁵ The end of the World War overshadowed all thought of the epidemic and its cessation.

Case 4: New Castle, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania

New Castle, situated about fifty miles north of Pittsburgh, is the county seat of Lawrence County, located at Pennsylvania's western edge, at the border with Ohio. Eight miles southeast is the county-bridging borough of Ellwood City, which extends slightly into Beaver County. In 1918, New Castle's population was about 43,000. In that year, before the epidemic had even reached the city, New Castle's local health officer Dr. William Lewis Steen (1874-1943) had “been studying reports of the disease” and passed along suggestions for the public from Pittsburgh's Dr. Philip Marks:

The best treatment is to go to bed, observe a light diet, and keep the bowels open. The spread of this infection would be materially limited if the public would exercise care to avoid spitting in public places and to invariably cover the mouth and nose with a handkerchief when forced to cough and sneeze. Any member of the family developing a cold should be isolated. Crowded street cars, poorly-ventilated offices, and close rooms at home should be avoided.⁹⁶

By October 2, Ellwood City was beginning to report “several cases of Spanish influenza.”⁹⁷ In the wake of Dr. Royer's October 3 order, Dr. Steen promptly issued notice to the “proprietors of all theatres, moving picture houses, saloons, pool rooms, and dance halls to close these places and keep them closed until such time as the quarantine against the spread of the Spanish influenza is lifted by the state authorities,” but more time was taken to deliberate on the question of the local schools and churches.⁹⁸ As in other locations, the New Castle health board did make the decision to impose a closure on local churches, which prevented services from being held on Sunday, October 6: “The churches will remain dark until orders from the State Health Department at Harrisburg permit the quarantine to be lifted.”⁹⁹ One local newspaper stressed that “the regulations apply to religious meetings in private homes” as well as in church buildings.¹⁰⁰ So on Sunday, October 6, the town's Catholic church held private masses without the presence of the laity, and the Protestant churches also had closed doors.¹⁰¹

On the third Saturday of the quarantine, New Castle's pastors held a morning meeting to develop a plan for the spiritual sustenance of the city's Christians – namely, “to urge their people to join with them spiritually in prayer at the usual hour of morning services on Sunday. According to this plan, each pastor will be in his church at eleven o'clock Sunday morning and will there engage for some time in private devotion while the members of his congregation in their several homes join similar devotion. It is suggested that such devotion be opened with a hymn, if possible, and the reading of a passage of scripture. … Prayers should also be made for the abatement of the epidemic and for the sick and dying.”¹⁰² This plan included Roman Catholics, who would “naturally say the mass prayers together with such other devotions as may be thought fitting.”¹⁰³ The nearby town of New Bedford, however, had still been untouched by the Spanish influenza, and accordingly, in that place, “schools and churches are still holding their regular sessions and, except for the quarantine established by the state, no other measures of quarantine have been put in force.”¹⁰⁴ By the following week, just one section of the county – East New Castle – remained influenza-free, but even there, as a precaution, “the schools and churches are closed, and rigorous regulations are being observed.”¹⁰⁵

For some people, the quarantine was perceived as a greater menace than the disease itself. This was especially so for one New Castle city councilman, William C. Shanafelt (1880-1950). When the city council met on the morning of Tuesday, October 29, Shanafelt urged that the churches should be allowed to reopen for half-hour church services “for the benefit of the religiously inclined of the city during the quarantine,” since “short meetings in the well-ventilated churches should not be productive of disease-breeding, he said.” Since Dr. Steen was not in attendance at the meeting, the council took no action on Shanafelt's suggestion.¹⁰⁶

On Sunday, November 3, nearby Ellwood City – which had likewise suspended meetings of its churches – called on members of one key church there to take the church bell's ring as a cue for families to hold household worship services in their homes, with “a special prayer for the sick [and] for those who minister to them.” The church building itself would be open for people to pick up Sunday school literature and drop off donations, while the pastor would visit the sick upon request.¹⁰⁷

During the coming week, the hope formed early that the order closing churches and schools, if not the rest of the quarantine, would be lifted by Friday, November 8.¹⁰⁸ Soon, this order was in fact given, that on noon Friday the quarantine would be fully lifted, so that “on Sunday, the churches will all resume their services.”¹⁰⁹ The newspaper quipped that “it's funny, but there is more demand for the opening of churches and saloons on account of the flu epidemic than anything else.”¹¹⁰

So went the announcement. Before Friday, however, report of seventy-three new cases in town “caused some apprehension in the city.” Nonetheless, the churches continued to plan for Sunday services, “hoping that the local situation will not necessitate a special ruling to continue the quarantine.”¹¹¹ No special ruling was given: Dr. Steen assured the New Castle public that the ban was no longer necessary, although “individual precautions should be continued, and people should not become reckless because the public enforcement of rules to stop the spread of the disease has ceased.”¹¹² And so, on Sunday, November 10, “after five weeks' interruption, the churches of the city will resume public services.”¹¹³ One local newspaper reviewed the course of the five-week closure and how it was handled:

The closing of the churches, along with other public meetings, was thought necessary by the health authorities to hold in check the epidemic. The comparative lightness of the attack here is due no doubt in no small measure to the promptness and thoroughness with which our health department acted. Any inconvenience that the churches may have suffered is secondary to the health and welfare of the community. This enforced closing of the churches is without precedent, it would seem, in all the history of the city. Previous to this, there never was a Sabbath when the worshiper might not enter the church door and join his brethren in public worship. These opportunities have been afforded with little thought of what it would mean if they were withheld. During this time, many people have said that they did not realize how much the church meant to them till they were deprived of it. If this lesson is remembered, it will be worthwhile to have learned it, even in this way. We trust that the opening of church doors tomorrow morning will be greeted with a hearty response by the people of the community. The churches have not been idle during this time. A concert of prayer has been observed at the 11 o'clock hour on the Lord's day. Sermonettes and other religious literature have been distributed. Many calls have been made by pastors and the church workers. The ministers have been called many times to the homes saddened by death. Many earnest prayers have been offered for the protection of our city, the welfare of our land, and the safety of the men in the camps and far across the sea. Many realize as never before that 'except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain' [Psalm 127:1].¹¹⁴

Although services resumed on November 10 in New Castle, this was not the case in Ellwood City, which did decide to retain certain restrictions.¹¹⁵ It was not until Sunday, November 17, that public worship services resumed in Ellwood City, with the pastors urging everyone to be in attendance.¹¹⁶ Their request was answered, as after four weeks of no church meetings in Ellwood City, the first Sunday back saw “large crowds were present at all the services, and prayers of thanksgiving were offered for the safety of those present and the boys overseas.”¹¹⁷

Whether these moves were advisable may be questioned, as since the lifting of the quarantine, about 37 new cases appeared in New Castle daily,¹¹⁸ while Sunday, November 17, saw twenty-six new cases reported in Ellwood City, though the health board doubted whether the cessation of the quarantine was to blame.¹¹⁹ By November 19, the New Castle city council was already deliberating the prospect of reintroducing quarantine measures to New Castle, but not yet implemented: noteworthily, when asked, acting health officer Dr. J. K. Pollock expressed his belief that asymptomatic carriers could not spread the disease.¹²⁰ Meanwhile, the Ellwood City council gave similar thought to the prospect of reinstituting quarantine measures.¹²¹ As the spread increased in New Castle, the press urged that “this is no time for the people to become frightened, but it is time for the people to take cognization of the situation and utilize the methods of prevention, such as remaining home nights and away from crowds of all kinds and taking every precaution to keep themselves in the best of health.”¹²²

By the morning of Friday, November 22, the State Health Department had directed the New Castle city council to “place a ban on movies, theatres, saloons, and clubs.”¹²³ That night, local district attorney George Muse suggested that the quarantine be extended to schools and churches again, and local United Presbyterian pastor J. Elmer Campbell “stated that the ministers were glad to cooperate and would welcome an order which would close the churches until the curse of the epidemic had passed.”¹²⁴ On this voluntary basis, public worship services were held in New Castle's churches, therefore, on Sunday, November 24 – and so, the following day's newspaper remarked, “the city is now in virtually the same condition as it was during the other quarantine – no place to go and nothing to do these evenings but read or watch the second hand tick away the dreary minutes.”¹²⁵

The following Saturday, November 30, acting health officer Dr. Pollock issued a proclamation in which he directed that “all churches, meeting places, public, private, parochial, Sunday and other schools, theatres, opera houses, billiard halls, pool rooms, picture shows, dance halls, saloons, wholesale and retail liquor places, places of amusement, and all gatherings and meetings whatsoever are hereby directed to be closed, and to be kept closed so long as shall be necessary to prevent the spread of Spanish Influenza and until further order of the Council.”¹²⁶ Hence, the churches did not gather for corporate worship on Sunday, December 1.

By Friday morning, December 6, entertainment and liquor providers were thronging the council's chambers, urging that something be done. Councilman W. C. Shanafelt, as usual, pressed for a prompt lift of the quarantine, to allow the churches to resume meeting (as well as pool rooms, bowling alleys, and all other venues), stressing that he did not believe a partial quarantine was at all effective. New Castle's mayor Archibald D. Newell (1858-1922) voiced his support for a more all-or-nothing approach: either lift the ban, or extend it also to the nickel-and-dime stores.¹²⁷ The next day, an order went into effect to have stores and banks close by 6:00 PM, and Dr. Pollock noted that “in another week..., it may prove advisable to pry off the lid to the extent of allowing churches and schools to open.”¹²⁸ The local ministerial association, represented to the council this time by Reformed Presbyterian pastor Edgar A. Crooks, supported the continued ban on church meetings: “the ministers were not clamoring for the lifting of the ban and would be pleased to see it remain on as long as the public health demanded.”¹²⁹ Nevertheless, for local believers like city councilman W. T. Burns, there was considerable suffering felt in the absence of church services, “as his spiritual growth is as important to him as dollars are to the business people whose places have been closed.”¹³⁰ Several days later, on Friday, December 13, several motions relating to adjusting the quarantine all failed, and local Presbyterian pastor Robert Little, on behalf of at least some of New Castle's churches, declared that those churches had agreed not to hold services on December 15, regardless what the council decided, as they believed it was still in the interest of public health not to meet.¹³¹ Accordingly, that Sunday, Methodist pastor J. Austin Rinker declared that he would be praying in his closed church's pulpit, and encouraged his members in their homes to “engage in scripture reading and prayer at the same hour, reading especially the Psalms 91 and 103. Special prayer is to be offered for the sick, the sorrowing, and the overburdened, the stay of the plague, and that divine wisdom may be given those in authority in the city and in the nation...”¹³² New Castle's churches opened again for midweek prayer services on Wednesday, December 17, which was “welcome news to churchgoers here.”¹³³

Case 5: Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's Lehigh County, not far from Philadelphia, is itself dominated by two prominent cities: Allentown (currently the third-largest city in the state), the county seat, and Bethlehem, which – although mostly located in Northampton County – straddles the county line and makes its presence felt in Lehigh County. It is the home of Bethlehem Steel, a significant manufacturing company, which was heavily active in producing munitions for the war effort during the World War. The city of Bethlehem as such was formed in 1917 from the merger of two boroughs, and had a burgeoning population fast approaching 50,000. Allentown, though it had a background in iron production and a long-lasting brick industry, by the World War had become dotted with several dozen silk mills, in addition to being the center of production for Mack Trucks, a prominent contribution to the war effort in its own right. In 1918, Allentown's population hovered around 70,000. Between Bethlehem Steel's munitions and Allentown's trucks, this stretch of the Lehigh Valley had assumed a national important in the war.

Before the Spanish flu ever struck, Allentown had already undergone a recent quarantine procedure – not for Spanish flu, but due to a measles outbreak. By mid-June 1918, the measles epidemic had reached “enormous proportions.”¹³⁴ In consequence, the prospect of quarantine was soon being discussed in the press,¹³⁵ and at the outset of July, health officer Dr. J. Treichler Butz “announced a general quarantine for children sixteen years of age and younger. The quarantine was placed indefinitely and closes all churches, theatres, moving picture places, public places, schools, parks, and playgrounds to the children.”¹³⁶ The following Sunday, July 7, found the local Sunday schools “very badly crippled … as a result of the quarantine for measles. Very few children presented themselves to the schools through ignorance of the regulations which have made it impossible for them to attend any public gathering. Those who did, of course, were promptly turned away.”¹³⁷ The measles quarantine on children was lifted on the morning of Monday, July 22,¹³⁸ and thousands of children promptly swarmed the local playgrounds.¹³⁹ And so life resumed, more or less as usual.

As Spanish flu began spreading throughout the state, it became a matter of key concern in the vicinity of Allentown and Bethlehem before any case appeared, given the area's production of munitions and transports used by Allied forces in the World War. Consequently, on Friday, September 27, Bethlehem mayor Archibald Johnston called a meeting with local health officers and state department representatives to discuss precautionary measures.¹⁴⁰ The following day, Allentown's city council presented an ordinance “that action be immediately taken in the matter to prevent its appearance here and to use all precautionary measures to safeguard the public's health. It was also urged that suspicious cases that might border on that disease be immediately reported to the health authorities for investigation.”¹⁴¹

Try as they might, not only did Allentown soon see cases of Spanish flu, but it began losing citizens to it, as in the deaths of 68-year-old John L. Keiser on Sunday, September 29, and of 29-year-old Harvey S. Diehl (who contracted the illness at Camp Dix) on Monday, September 30.¹⁴² The next day, Dr. A. J. Lanza of the United States Public Health Service met with the Allentown city council to recommend “an absolute quarantine to be enforced in this city in order to guard against the danger of a Spanish influenza epidemic which the government fears would cripple the industrial centres hereabouts that are turning out war products and thereby hamper the carrying on of the war abroad. Literally, the recommendation and desires of Dr. Lanza, as expressed in a letter from Brigadier General T. C. Dickson in charge of the government work at Bethlehem, would mean the prohibition of all public gatherings in this city, the closing of all schools, theatres, saloons, pool rooms, soda fountains, and churches for an indefinite period or until the epidemic and the danger from it had been gotten under control.”¹⁴³ While some on the city council such as Robert Wheeler favored the drastic measures given the military importance of the local munition industries, Allentown's mayor Alfred L. Reichenbach demurred, denying that such radical action was required, and the city council opted to defer action until they saw what Bethlehem and Easton would do.¹⁴⁴ The local health board did, in the meantime, take out advertising in the local press, calling on residents to “prevent the spreading of grippe (Spanish influenza) by using your handkerchief if you have to sneeze, cough, or spit. Stay at home, go to bed, and call in the doctor if you have Spanish influenza.”¹⁴⁵

Where officials like Dickson and Lanza called for drastic measures that included the statewide closing of schools and churches, Dr. Royer insisted this remain a local decision: “He contended that with small supplies of coal on hand in most homes, it is better to have the children attending school than housed in damp homes.”¹⁴⁶ Subsequently, however, Dr. Royer did issue his order that “every place of public amusement and every saloon in Pennsylvania was ordered closed forthwith... as a means of preventing further spread of influenza.”¹⁴⁷ Applied locally, “while the order was not welcome by any means either to the owners of these places or to the patrons, steps were taken to put the order into operation at once.”¹⁴⁸ Or so, at least, the local press claimed.

After receiving Dr. Royer's order, the Allentown City Council met on Friday, October 4, and directed that the quarantine order would become effective after it could be suitably published to the general public.¹⁴⁹ (Many in Allentown detested the order, and Mayor Reichenbach blamed Bethlehem for provoking the state action.¹⁵⁰) But the city council declared that conditions did not yet warrant closing churches or schools until so advised by the State Health Department.¹⁵¹ Accordingly, unlike in many localities, many churches did hold services on Sunday, October 6.¹⁵² The same was true in the neighboring city of Bethlehem, where “several of the clergy made reference to the [quarantine] order from the pulpit... and indicated by their remarks the feeling there is against the ruling.”¹⁵³ (The populace of Bethlehem reacted “with poor grace in many quarters,” with numerous businesses flouting the order to sell their remaining stock.¹⁵⁴) And the nearby borough of Northampton issued an order that would close churches and other venues, but not until after October 6.¹⁵⁵

Editorially, The Morning Call granted that the state-wide quarantine was a divisive issue, but encouraged community members to comply so that the quarantine would be done sooner: “It will end quickly if its spirit be obeyed and the results be obtained. Therefore, there ought to be complete cooperation by all, that these results may be attained and the business and social life of the community be speedily restored to its former conditions.”¹⁵⁶

Allentown's failure to implement the State Health Department's orders in a timely fashion – it was only placed into real effect at midnight on Saturday, rather than Friday morning as in other places, thus allowing Allentown businesses to do two extra days of commerce – were not received well by the state government, which sent state police to Allentown to investigate. When the order was finally implemented in Allentown on a business day – Monday, October 7 – wholesale liquor distributors still defied the order and did business at first, until local authorities put a stop to it by noon. In the evening, other than a small crowd gathering in the square for a Liberty Loan meeting, “people remained home, for, the theatres being closed, there was little reason to be out.”¹⁵⁷ The theater owners, however, insisted that the government treat them as an essential business, given their status as a key source for information about the Liberty Loan program as well as a great support for public morale.¹⁵⁸

After the nearby town of Coplay's city council met on the evening of October 7 to issue an order banning all church meetings for the duration of the emergency, Allentown was a bit slower to reach that point.¹⁵⁹ Whereas the school board decided on the night of October 8 to close the public schools,¹⁶⁰ no action was yet taken on churches. Several churches in the broader area reached the decision before it was forced upon them, such as Fullerton's St. John's Lutheran Church, which independently decided to “discontinue services until after the quarantine.”¹⁶¹ However, Allentown's own ministerium met on October 9 and offered their vote of “confidence in the health authorities of the state and city, and the willingness on the part of every congregation to suspend services, should the health of the community and the judgment of the officials deem it advisable.”¹⁶² They further offered the use of church buildings as makeshift hospital space, if Allentown's leadership would find that useful.¹⁶³

Even so, some citizens began to grumble criticisms of quarantine orders that failed to apply to the community's churches. Yet even “without an order, it is known that a number of clergymen are considering the advisability of closing the churches and Sunday schools on Sunday,” October 13 – for instance, St. Luke's Lutheran Church had already declared it would close, while St. Michael's Lutheran Church had decided to hold services in an outdoor pavilion.¹⁶⁴ The afternoon after those voluntary decisions were published, Allentown's city council resolved to suspend all church services and Sunday school classes in the city until further notice, and to notify all churches that they were not to meet.¹⁶⁵

In lieu of indoor church meetings, though, the churches of Allentown planned large outdoor meetings, “held outdoors beneath God's open sky because the churches have been closed by the quarantine regulations.”¹⁶⁶ On the same page as the notice suspending church services, the city's Catholic churches declared their intention to celebrate outdoor masses,¹⁶⁷ while the city's Protestant churches made plans for “a great Community Service on Centre Square for Sunday morning at 11 o'clock in which it is hoped all the religious forces of the city will join. … The purpose of these services is to provide an opportunity for worship during the period of the quarantine.”¹⁶⁸

Both Protestant and Catholic events drew large crowds. In front of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, an altar was set up across from the church building at the parochial school, and three morning masses were celebrated while “the people heard the devotions from the pavements on both sides of the streets.” At the Church of the Sacred Heart, an altar was set up on the plaza and masses were said with the congregation “grouped about and standing.” And in Centre Square, the Protestant service “brought out the faithful in numbers exceeding all expectation, and those who were unable to attend their regular indoor church services found a pleasant hour of prayer, music, and sermon.” The pastors involved represented at least five denominations, and an announcement was made that “the service will be continued every Sunday until the quarantine is lifted.”¹⁶⁹ During this inaugural outdoor service, however, “there were quite a few thoughtless men who stood in the crowd and smoked and spat upon the pavement or upon those about them,” particularly troublesome not merely for its lack of decorum but because “spitting is one of the ways in which the disease is most easily transmitted. If there be groups of men in the gatherings on the Square at the religious services who smoke and spit, there will be the undoing of the very things for which the quarantine was established and a lowering of the standards of the services themselves.”¹⁷⁰

By Monday, October 14, the rate of the epidemic's spread was increasing, bringing the total number of cases over a thousand in the city.¹⁷¹ Day by day, over a hundred new cases would be added,¹⁷² and the churches remained closed for services – although at least one pastor did perform several private baptisms.¹⁷³ Plans were set for a second general outdoor worship service in Centre Square on Sunday, October 20: “Enthusiastic congregational singing will be a strong feature of the service. An inspiring hour of worship is certain, and everybody is invited to join. All ministers are requested to take a place on the platform.”¹⁷⁴ In addition to the open-air masses at Allentown's Catholic churches, this Protestant gathering drew an estimated 2,500 people to participate and to hear a sermon on Haggai 2:7-9.¹⁷⁵

By this juncture, Allentown's hospitals had become “woefully overcrowded.”¹⁷⁶ Over the next several days, the “plague” kept spreading in the city, such that “there is not the slightest hope” for “those who wish to see the epidemic end and the quarantine lifted,” as Allentown's case load soared above two thousand.¹⁷⁷ Meanwhile, at least one local church – Grace Lutheran Church – began to plan its own open-air services for the following Sunday, October 27.¹⁷⁸ And even as warmer and damper weather worsened the epidemic,¹⁷⁹ city-wide public worship services were likewise planned for Centre Square, with United Evangelical bishop William F. Heil selected to preach the sermon: “The hearty cooperation of all members of the community in this hour of prayer and worship is invited.”¹⁸⁰ This time, the open-air worship service was attended by three thousand people, with various pastors reading Psalms 46 and 91 and Bishop Heil preaching from Acts 27:23.¹⁸¹

The day prior to the service, Allentown's city council had met and petitioned Dr. Royer “for information as to the probable date when the influenza quarantine ban will be removed, and also asked him for authority to withdraw the ban entirely should any other city in this state be granted the privilege this week. Members of Council said that reports published in newspapers indicate that several cities in Pennsylvania, particularly Philadelphia and Chester, have announced the intention of removing the closing order about the middle of the week.”¹⁸² Allentown meanwhile exceeded three thousand cases, with “a big report of cases accumulating over Sunday.”¹⁸³ Even so, representatives of alcohol sellers and entertainment venues were present at the city council's meeting two days later – on Tuesday, October 29 – and pressed the city council to defy Dr. Royer's orders and revoke the quarantine. “Councilman Allen, who declared that the quarantine is 'only a scheme of the doctors,' introduced a resolution to remove the quarantine and defy the state authorities, but could not get a signer to it. Councilman Kohler, who had been opposed to the quarantine in the beginning” now “refused to take a positive stand in defiance of the state, as did Councilman Wheeler.”¹⁸⁴ The following day, the county's district attorney, Warren K. Miller, died from the Spanish flu.¹⁸⁵

After receiving permission from Dr. Royer, the city council met on Thursday, October 31, and issued an order that “the quarantine upon this city with respect to theatres, moving picture establishments, dance halls, and all meetings and on the sale of alcoholic beverages will be lifted in this city on Wednesday noon next, November 6,” and that the churches could reopen even sooner, on Sunday, November 3.¹⁸⁶ (This over the objections of Councilman Wheeler and also Dr. Thomas H. Weaber.¹⁸⁷) Following the order, the executive committee of the Allentown Ministerial League approved of opening churches again on November 3.¹⁸⁸ Except for the city's sixth ward, Allentown showed a decrease the numbers of new influenza cases by this time.¹⁸⁹ Most churches in Allentown resumed services for November 3,¹⁹⁰ and among those that did, “the attendances were large, indicating that the churchgoers welcomed the return of the old order and the opportunity for church worship.”¹⁹¹ A few churches – for instance, St. Luke's Lutheran Church¹⁹² and Christ Reformed Church¹⁹³ – opted to wait until the following Sunday, November 10, before resuming public services.

Case 6: Lancaster, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Lancaster County, and its county seat of Lancaster, is an utterly remarkable region of Pennsylvania – but, as a son of its native soil, I'm certainly biased! Having formerly served as the state capital during earlier times, by 1918 Lancaster itself had a population of about 50,000.

The 'Spanish influenza' reached Lancaster in mid-September, and by September 17, “our physicians report quite a good many cases.”¹⁹⁴ Lancaster's first Spanish flu fatality was 32-year-old J. H. Herchelroth, a member of Christ Lutheran Church, who died on September 26, and of the hundred or so other cases in the city at the time, one was local barber Abe Bonham, who was thought to have “contracted the germ while shaving visiting soldiers from the training camps.”¹⁹⁵ Soon thereafter, numerous families in nearby Quarryville were infected – “scarcely a house in the borough does not contain at least one case of the disease, while many have three or four, and in a number of families every member is suffering from it”¹⁹⁶ – and a local Army Medical Corps officer, Lt. Thomas R. Ferguson of Colerain Township, died at the Lancaster General Hospital on October 2, having contracted the Spanish flu in late September.¹⁹⁷ In these early stages, Lancaster's board of health speculated that perhaps the disease's early introduction to Lancaster was the result of local residents employed at “the ship-building plants at Hog Island and Chester,” who contracted the disease there and brought it back to the community during weekend visits home.¹⁹⁸ (Later, a Lancaster doctor would propose that the influenza germs had been brought back from the battlefield on souvenirs, i.e., German relics.¹⁹⁹)

One local doctor sounded the note of warning that “this thing is serious. … If you see anyone in a crowd sneeze, take him by the back of the neck and throw him out. That's putting it strongly, but it is none too strong. The thing is both infectious and contagious. Citizens cannot take enough care of themselves at present.”²⁰⁰ Concern over the spread of the epidemic, however, did not dissuade Lancaster County residents from gathering by the thousands at their annual county fair in the first week of October.²⁰¹

By that week, cases of Spanish influenza were on the rise in Lancaster city, Quarryville, and southern Lancaster County; and in nearby Columbia, the town's small hospital was placed under quarantine, since three nurses there had caught the disease.²⁰² (One of the other Columbia patients, 30-year-old railroad fireman John Donohue, died there on October 3, the same day that 70-year-old John Shopf died of Spanish flu in the Lancaster General Hospital.²⁰³) Lancaster's Reformed Theological Seminary suspended classes on October 1, since nearly fifty percent of its small student body (29 students) had become infected.²⁰⁴ Medical authorities suspected, even at this early stage, that “Lancaster and vicinity will be compelled to endure the disease for five or six weeks yet.”²⁰⁵

After Dr. Royer issued his October 3 order, Lancaster and several other nearby towns began to implement it. On the afternoon of Friday, October 4, the Lancaster Board of Health, presided over by James Shand, met and read Dr. Royer's message.²⁰⁶ The relevance to their community was no mystery: one board member, Dr. Walter Blankenship, was treating four children whose father had brought Spanish flu home to his family from Hog Island. But it was Charles G. Baker, a lay member of the board, who most assertively pressedfor “drastic action,” as he “believed that the schools, churches, and places of amusement should be closed for a short time at least until further action is taken.”²⁰⁷ Baker's uncontested view won the day, and the Lancaster Board of Healh ordered the closure of “all public places of entertainment including theatres, moving picture establishments, saloons, dance halls, and all meetings of every description,” and additionally “all schools, public and private, churches, Sunday-schools, pool rooms, bowling alleys, boxing exhibitions, and all public gatherings.”²⁰⁸ This order, however, did not affect “hotels, dining rooms, stores, and barber shops.”²⁰⁹

By Friday night, after the afternoon's health directive went into effect, “people who were on the streets... looked lonesome, being 'all dressed up and nowhere to go.' The influenza has effectively bottled up everything in the amusement line. … Churches and Sunday-schools of all kinds will close until further notice, as a matter of course.”²¹⁰ In Quarryville, the story was the same, with “all the hotels, schools, churches, and lodges of Quarryville... closed for an indefinite period.”²¹¹ The same was true in the nearby town of Mount Joy, which issued a directive banning public sneezing, coughing, and spitting even before the telegram with the state orders arrived; and once it did, they closed “all saloons, dance halls, moving picture places, or any other place of amusement until the epidemic is checked. It is quite probable that Sunday schools and churches may be closed.”²¹² In Lititz, “the schools are closed indefinitely on account of the influenza … All the churches were closed on Sunday [October 6], and the town was as quiet as a graveyard. Only the restaurants and the confectionaries were open...”²¹³

Likewise, in Ephrata (my own hometown), the board of health met on the morning of Saturday, October 5, and ordered “the closing of all the churches and Sunday-schools temporarily, also the public schools of the borough for at least one week. The hotels and pool rooms, theatres and other public gathering places in town were closed indefinitely on Friday.”²¹⁴ The result was “an amusementless Saturday and a churchless Sunday.”²¹⁵ In New Holland, too, the “rapid spread... of Spanish influenza” resulted in orders given on October 4 to close churches among other venues, which “brought about the most quiet Sunday experienced by the present generation. With very few automobiles allowed to be run so as to conserve gasoline, and with no church bells ringing, no Sunday school or church services to go to, and no other meetings, there were few persons to be seen outdoors, making it truly a day of rest – a day for reading and meditation.”²¹⁶ Smaller rural communities toward the county's eastern end, such as Goodville, California, Spring Garden, and even Denver, likewise suspended church services.²¹⁷ Columbia stood out in ordering the closure of “all saloons, clubs, pool rooms, motion picture houses, the opera house, and all other places of amusement and entertainment, including dance halls,” but did not close the churches; however, they did notify all the town's pastors to insist that “members or others suffering from colds must remain away from both church and Sunday-school services.”²¹⁸ It consequently was one of the few Lancaster County communities whose churches did meet on Sunday, October 6.

In these places, naturally some people questioned whether church closures were really warranted: “To many persons, the restrictions placed on public gatherings, especially the holding of church services and the sessions of Sunday-school tomorrow, may seem most too severe.”²¹⁹ Others saw it as the sort of extreme measure to which years of war had made them accustomed, and felt that “if the rule is made drastic now and the spread of the epidemic is checked, the lifting of the ban will come that much sooner.”²²⁰

By October 7, with over three thousand cases of Spanish flu in Lancaster city, the board of health had decided that “churches must remain closed till Saturday evening; further notice will be given by that time.²²¹ (Lancaster had seen several Spanish flu deaths by then, including 41-year-old railroad engineer William Lindley,²²² 19-year-old college student Harvey Myers,²²³ 60-year-old doctor John Kinard,²²⁴ 20-year-old moulder Paul Berkheiser,²²⁵ 53-year-old cigarmaker James Stark,²²⁶ 35-year-old motorman Charles Rehm,²²⁷ 21-year-old watch factory employee Catharine Wilson,²²⁸ and others.)

The following afternoon – Tuesday, October 8 – the Lancaster Board of Health met again to discuss the possible need for further strong measures to stem hundreds of newly confirmed Spanish flu cases.²²⁹ They urged the population to stem their excessive “shopping, traveling, and visiting more than is absolutely necessary.”²³⁰ (This day saw the Spanish-flu-caused death of two Lititz residents, 29-year-old Paul Petry, a member of the local United Evangelical Church, and 31-year-old newspaper associate editor Chester Spickler; the following day, a third victim would fall, 41-year-old electric company superintendent Charles Loercher.²³¹) By October 9, “the schools as well as churches are to remain closed until further notice from the board,”²³² but the board expressed confidence that Lancastrians were “cheerfully bearing the measures taken for their protection and have a wide appreciation of the Board's efforts.”²³³ Meanwhile, with thousands of Spanish flu cases in Lancaster city amid rising fatality rates,²³⁴ several other nearby communities had several hundred of their own, such as Ephrata,²³⁵ Lititz,²³⁶ and Quarryville.²³⁷ In Columbia, one resident grumbled that the 'Spanish flu' was really “German influence.”²³⁸

By Thursday, October 10, the Lancaster Board of Health had determined to continue “the city quarantine as now existing... over Sunday, at least.”²³⁹ The following day, October 11, the health board ruled that “all stores must close tomorrow evening at six o'clock except stores selling foodstuffs,” and asked Lancastrians to “keep off the streets tomorrow evening and Sunday as much as possible.”²⁴⁰ Additionally, county medical inspector Dr. J. L. Mowery issued a county-wide order for “all public gatherings [to be] discontinued, and Sunday-schools and other schools closed for one week, beginning Monday, October 14. This applies to churches as well as to other gatherings.”²⁴¹ They called it a move for a “Stay at Home Sunday.”²⁴² One Lancaster doctor soon suggested that kissing should be banned for the duration of the epidemic!²⁴³ On October 12, when the Lancaster Board of Health met again and expanded their ruling to include ice cream shops, one Catholic priest – Msgr. Anthony F. Kaul, of St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Lancaster – requested permission to enter his church to celebrate Mass privately, on behalf of his parishioners; but the board of health “refused, as there may be no services in any church.”²⁴⁴

Nearby, Ephrata's board of health likewise voted unanimously “to keep the borough public schools, as well as the churches and Sunday-schools, closed for another week at least,” given the still-increasing spread of the Spanish flu.²⁴⁵ Even the smaller town of Akron south of Ephrata ruled that “schools are closed, churches likewise, hotels, post-office, and restaurant have notices posted: 'No loafing.'”²⁴⁶ In some places, local school boards had to function as boards of health and order the “cessation of church services and Sunday schools and public funerals.”²⁴⁷ As trends led to health authorities suspending “even open-air gatherings in many places,” sports – that true American religion – at last began to suffer in Lancaster County.²⁴⁸ By Saturday, October 12, even smaller towns such as New Holland could mention up to forty cases of Spanish flu (though with few or no casualties yet),²⁴⁹ while in the larger city, Lancaster newspapers could list the names of 52 young and middle-aged victims (some residing outside the county) killed by Spanish flu,²⁵⁰ and write:

The sudden and almost terrifying sweep of Spanish influenza, a disease whose name was almost unknown in America a month ago, has covered Lancaster County as well as the rest of the country, almost one might say the world. There are said to be 3600 or more cases in Lancaster city, and every town and hamlet has its quota. Physicians are almost worked to the limit of endurance. … Bar-rooms continue to be shut up. Schools and churches and lodges are adjourned also. Fairs and festivals and spelling bees are postponed; all funerals must be held privately. The death rate is not high. Scarcely one victim in a hundred dies. It is, of course, possible that many, many cases of the influenza are only cases of severe colds. “It's fashionable to have the grip” was said 25 years ago. It is probably just as fashionable to be an influenza victim now.²⁵¹

The extent of the 'terrifying sweep' of Spanish influenza was plainly laid bare by reports of coffin shortages in Lancaster,²⁵² while both of Lancaster's hospitals were “filled with patients to overflowing.”²⁵³ Still, one city newspaper, The Lancaster Examiner, insisted that, more than the disease itself, “it is the near panic which has resulted from the wide spread of the disease which is now dangerous. … It is no use to worry over the situation, which we know is well in hand.”²⁵⁴ Looking toward the prospect of another “Churchless Sunday,” another city newspaper, The Daily New Era, printed a set of suggestions by local Presbyterian pastor John T. Reeve on how the area's Christians might still worship:

Although our Board of Health, in obedience to all wisdom and prudence, felt compelled to close the churches, let us not close our hearts to God. This is no time for a “closed season in religion. With three-fourths of the world writhing in the agonies of war, with one-and-a-half millions of our own boys away from home, some never to return, with our country stricken from end to end with the worst plague that ever afflicted us, with the Fourth Liberty Loan dragging heavily when it ought to be going by leaps and bounds – this is no time for America to forget her God. It would be incredible if, in such an hour, we should “take a day off.” Because our incomparable soldiers and sailors and Allies are pressing on to a glorious victory, we must not think that we do not need to pray. How can we expect the Divine Favor if, in this solemn and fateful hour, it can be said of us, “God is not in all their thoughts”?

So let us set up the family altar. At some appointed hour, say 11 o'clock, let all the family gather together in one room. If you have an instrument and hymn books, sing a hymn. Then, let the father or mother read a chapter from the Bible, or, better still, let each have a Bible and read a verse aloud. Read the Sunday-school lesson about “Abram Helping Lot,” Genesis 13, or Nehemiah 9, or Luke 15, or Hebrews 11.

Then let someone lead in prayer, all kneeling down. May I suggest some of the elements?

• Remember to thank God for his mercies in Jesus Christ; for the Church and the Bible; for the glorious success he is giving to our arms in France; for the splendid young men in the service.
• Confession of sin, both national and private, asking God's forgiveness. Prayer for the removal of the dreadful scourge of influenza that is now upon us, and that the many homes bereaved may be comforted.
• Prayer for our President and his associates, and for the success of the Fourth Liberty Loan, that our country may have money to properly back and protect our boys.
• Remembrance of the suffering peoples of the earth, that their trials may soon be over, and prayer for a lasting peace founded upon justice, righteousness, and truth.

Then let all join in repeating the Lord's Prayer, and close with another hymn.²⁵⁵

The churches of Lancaster County did not physically gather on Sunday, October 13.²⁵⁶ That afternoon, the Board of Health met and – finding that many doctors were so busy that they didn't even have time to fill out reports on all the Spanish flu patients they found – decided that “the situation demanded more drastic action than the Board had yet adopted in order to safeguard the public health,” namely, “the strictest quarantine measures” – and so the Board of Health “issued an order closing today all commercial and industrial establishments. Today [i.e., Monday, October 14], Lancaster, from a business standpoint, was closed up tight. The food shops, hotels, drug stores, banks, and newspapers are the only places doing business today.”²⁵⁷ They furthermore banned all social home-to-home visiting and threatened violators with legal prosecution.²⁵⁸ (Sunday night, one of the churches I pastor lost its Sunday school teacher, 28-year-old Amy Althea Baxter, after ten days of sickness from the Spanish flu,²⁵⁹ while other members of her family were likewise ill.²⁶⁰)

On October 14, the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce's board of directors assembled to “thoroughly approve the action of the Lancaster Board of Health in closing the mercantile and industrial establishments of the city until such time as the situation is believed to be under control.”²⁶¹ As of this time, it was the case that “2,000 Lancaster homes are affected by the epidemic, 6,000 persons are stricken, the death list is increasing, and the city is approaching the limit of its resources. Not one cheering note can be heard throughout the city. Everywhere death and illness have usurped everything.”²⁶²

That afternoon, pleased with the Chamber of Commerce's cooperation, the Board of Health met again and expressed hope that businesses could reopen on Wednesday after being suitably “fumigated and aired,” provided that things would not worsen.²⁶³ Even so, they sent a telegram to Harrisburg asking for advice about a proposal to fully bar travel in and out of the city for 24 hours.²⁶⁴

The local press commended the Board of Health's actions as “fully justified,” saying that “we may all suffer some inconvenience by the orders, but we must bear it with the thought that it is done for the good of the entire citizenship, as well as for the individual.”²⁶⁵ State authorities, meanwhile, warned that Pennsylvanians could expect to be in it for the long haul, as “all reports from afflicted districts indicate that conditions will become worse before they become better. … Citizens of Pennsylvania, the call for immediate personal service is imperative. The only solution of the problem is by free community service, tending the sick, feeding the hungry, and bearing the burdens of the weak. Both men and women are needed and should report for duty to their local health authorities or Red Cross chapter.”²⁶⁶ That night, the president of the Lancaster City and County Medical Society, Dr. W. H. Daniels, died as yet another Spanish flu casualty.²⁶⁷

On Tuesday afternoon, October 15, the Board of Health met and resolved to “lift the ban on commercial and industrial business, and all places will be allowed to be open as usual, beginning Wednesday morning. The ban on public places, amusements, saloons, churches, etc., is still in force.”²⁶⁸ This was so even though “the Lancaster General Hospital is crowded almost to capacity with influenza and pneumonia patients, with no let-up today in the number of cases being received..., nor do indications point to an abatement in short order, as new patients are being received continuously.”²⁶⁹ Meanwhile, the businesses in New Holland had reopened that very morning,²⁷⁰ but Columbia saw enough new cases that “until conditions are greatly improved, the drastic measures adopted by the Department of Health will be enforced.”²⁷¹ Amid all this, the Lancaster Ministerial Association issued two separate statements through the newspapers – the first, to reassure the people of Lancaster that spiritual help would still be available for the sick and dying:

It has always been the spirit and policy of the ministers of the gospel, of this city, represented by the Lancaster Ministerial Association, to respond willingly and gladly to any form of ministerial service to which they have been called by the people of the community, both in and out of the churches, and both rich and poor, as well as by their Master. At this particular time and in the midst of the present epidemic, when so many of the homes of this city are stricken with sickness and sorrow, the Ministerial Association, in behalf of the ministers of the city, hereby reassures the people of this community that, while gladly complying with the requests and regulations of the Board of Health as to general visitation, the ministers of the city are ready and willing to respond to calls for their services in all emergencies.²⁷²

The second statement by the Lancaster Ministerial Association encouraged Lancastrians to turn toward God:

Our city, in common with many other communities, confronts at this time an epidemic of sickness hardly paralleled in the experience of this nation. On every hand, we find homes where sickness and sorrow have made their entrance. The hearts of our people are asking now the everlasting “why” with which our humankind have always faced sickness, sorrow, and death. Our spirits cry out for solace and comfort. In such an hour, there is one supreme place of refuge – “The secret place of the Most High;” one unfailing source of comfort in the words and fellowship of Him who said, “Lo, I am with you always;” one Helper who has said, “My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” We beg all the suffering, sorrowing children of our heavenly Father to turn to His Word for counsel, to His loving heart for comfort, and to His almighty arm for help. And to those men and women in our midst who are strangers to our God and have not learned the blessedness of trust in Christ, we say, with all earnest and love, that this hour of trial and need is calling them, with us, to turn to God with repentance and faith.

If in this time of trial we shall one and all learn the way to the heart of our Father-God and enter into fellowship with His Son, our Saviour and Elder Brother, through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, then will even these afflictions be turned into blessings. May God in His mercy and love sustain, support, and save us in this hour.²⁷³

By Wednesday, although the morning saw the death of Catholic priest Fr. Henry Ludes, chaplain at St. Joseph's Hospital in Lancaster,²⁷⁴ “our streets have lost their Sabbath-like appearance, a condition that was brought about by the Spanish influenza. The enforced idleness of thousands of our people was regarded in anything but a holiday light by them, and there are few who did not return to their interrupted occupations with extreme satisfaction. Absence from work meant loss of income to most of them, as it meant loss to their employers. And yet there are few people who did not approve the closing order of our Board of Health. People are today going about their usual business with a more cheerful air than they have for a week...”²⁷⁵ The mayor, meanwhile, suggested to businesses that they no longer accept returns of sold goods.²⁷⁶

As Lancaster's business sector reopened, the Board of Health was convinced, based on the reports they saw, that the influenza epidemic was slowing down in Lancaster city (in terms of mortality, if not the appearance of new mild cases of the flu), even though it was still rising in the more rural regions of the county.²⁷⁷ The board did nevertheless instruct all pastors “that clergymen conducting religious services in influenza-infected houses must wear the masks provided by the health authorities.”²⁷⁸ In the midst of this, one Lancaster newpaper minimized the severity of the epidemic, editorializing that it was milder than the 1889-1890 pandemic and asserting that “more than one-fourth of the ailing now have been frightened largely into catching the disease.”²⁷⁹ Yet another of Lancaster's newspapers – even while criticizing the closing of businesses for its psychological impact in stoking panic²⁸⁰ – nevertheless editorialized firmly in favor of church closures:

Invariably, any restrictions placed upon public gatherings which include the churches brings forth the plaint that man is running counter to God and interfering with the plans and desires of Jehovah. The order to close the churches was received in this community in a sensible way and obeyed willingly. In fact, most of the local churches, if not all, had arranged to close before the order was issued and when only the suggestion had been made that it would be the wise thing to do. In some other localities, however, overzealous religionists have bitterly protested the order, and, following the example set by the Kaiser, assumed to hold a brief for God. One, Samuel Upjohn, wrote a letter to a Philadelphia paper demanding that the churches be kept open at all costs, and complaining that the Board of Health by its closing order does not allow the people to get near God. Another, S. P. Finner, replying to Mr. Upjohn, said:

May I suggest that Mr. Upjohn's God is a poor creature if He cannot be reached through prayer at any place, regardless of whether it is in a church or not? Does his God dwell only in the churches? If so, what could He do before man built those churches? How could He make the world, the universe, and man himself? Really, this plea is a relic of the dark ages, and quite surprising in these days of presumed enlightenment.

Peter at Caesarea said, “Of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” [Acts 10:34], and again Jesus said: “For He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and unjust” [Matthew 5:45].

Neither the roaring flood nor the devouring fire, the rending of the earthquake nor the lightning's bolt show any more mercy to the church building than is given to the saloon or the brothel. Nature, which is the only visible evidence of a God, gives no indication of hesitation when engaged in any one form of its innumerable destructive agencies of venting its anger on the church if the building is in the line of its effort. Mr. Upjohn's plaint that a closed church or a destroyed one prevents the people from getting near to God, if true, would put God through his hand agent of Nature in the position of intentionally keeping a certain portion of mankind at a distance, for at all times, some place or other, church edifices are closed as a result of accidental destruction, or, as the legal fraternity in drawing up a protecting proviso in a contract would say, by an act of Providence.

If it be true that God has a good reason for all that is wrought in the name of nature, then it is obvious that there must be the imminence of a greater evil when the closing of a church building through its destruction is brought about through natural causes.

But as Christ and Peter said, God makes no distinction between the just and unjust. Smallpox and influenza are as contagious or infectious, whichever way the disputing physicians may elect to hold, in the church as they are in any other assemblage of mankind. Disease germs are no respecter of persons. The question of whether their victims are engaged in worshiping God or paying homage to the demon rum never enters into the matter of human lodgment. Closing the churches was the right think to do, as all sensible church people admit. It is only the Upjohns who, if they cannot praise God from the housetops seen by all men, cannot praise Him at all, enter foolish protest.

Gradually but surely, the endeavor of the church as a whole is taking a new trend. Less is heard of the old claim of close association with heaven and an aloofness from earth. The work of the church is here, and more and more its principal function is being directed in the channel of bringing more heaven to earth. Again, in the eyes of the law, the church is a human institution. Its members are free to hold any theological beliefs they may choose, but in the practice of them they cannot trespass on the rights of others, and among these rights of the others is one of governmental protection, as, for instance, the Board of Health order in question. The public will no more submit to a dissemination of a disease, and especially one entailing so large a portion of fatalities as the present epidemic of influenza, by the church than by the brothel. When the point is reached where any organization or association becomes a common peril when it becomes a medium for the transmitting of disease, the purpose of its being must be ignored in the matter of public safety. If God is no respecter of persons, public safety can be no respecter of assemblages.²⁸¹

By Thursday, October 17, both of Lancaster's regular hospitals had become too full to accommodate any other patients, requiring the opening of an additional emergency hospital in the Moose Home.²⁸² Meanwhile, whereas Lititz and Columbia were still heavily afflicted by influenza,²⁸³ Ephrata's board of health planned to meet that evening to consider “the question of the re-opening of the Ephrata public schools and churches,”²⁸⁴ but – the next night – “unanimously decided to keep the public and Sunday-schools and churches closed for another week at least.”²⁸⁵ Meanwhile, three pastors from the town of Paradise submitted the following public message through the press:

In view of the prevalence of the epidemic, the many cases of illness in the homes of our community, and the bereavement by death, as Christian ministers and “servants unto men,” not having the privilege at present of speaking from our pulpits, we desire by the courtesy of the public press to extend to you who are afflicted our sympathy, the assurance of our daily intercessions in your behalf, and our willingness to serve you by day or by night. We also wish to call the attention of all Christian people to the opportunity they now have, in unusual number, of showing forth the spirit of our Lord by acts of kindness and helpfulness to the many who lack the assistance their illness calls for.²⁸⁶

The people of some Lancaster County towns, such as Marietta, were indeed reportedly, “like thousands of others elsewhere, scared and imagine themselves worse than they really are. In the long run, however,” as one newspaper opined, “it is a good thing for some people to be scared, because in no other way can they be prevailed upon to take proper care of themselves.”²⁸⁷ By this time, Lancaster County had perhaps seen ten thousands of its residents infected by 'Spanish influenza,' and “churches and schools... are out of business temporarily.”²⁸⁸ (In the rest of the county, the disease was still on the rise: New Holland had 200 active cases by October 18, though with only one death; still, 30% of silk mill employees and 10% of machine works employees were unable to work due to their degree of illness.²⁸⁹) On Saturday, October 19, businesses once again closed early at 6:00 PM at the order of Lancaster's Board of Health, with most to remain closed on Sunday, October 20.²⁹⁰ At the same time, they received notice from acting health commissioner Dr. B. Franklin Royer that the matter of school closures was no longer a local matter – he ordered “that no schools be opened in Lancaster county until further order.”²⁹¹

Some Lancaster residents were by this point beginning to tire of “drastic rules” which they believed to be “absolutely unnecessary” and even “nonsense,” particularly in light of the risk of “financial injury or ruin,” and one opinion-writer remarked that “the public is rapidly coming to the conclusion that a police power which places the business and industries of the State at the mercy of one man,” i.e., acting health commissioner Dr. B. Franklin Royer, “is too dangerous to continue unrestricted. … Men are gregarious, and no law or order will prevent them from social gathering.”²⁹² Others, however, granted that the “financial loss to many was unfortunate,” but suggested that “a real good civic lesson has been taught by the circumstance, viz., that power to promote and conserve the general weal, in measure equal to any emergency, always abide with some branch of the civic administration.”²⁹³

Since the church buildings were to remain closed for Sunday, October 20, the Lancaster Ministerial Association released yet another open letter to Lancaster residents, providing spiritual reflections:

Again, we, as representatives of the Churches and Christian Ministry of our city, on the eve of another Sunday of abandoned public worship, desire most profoundly to give our people, unitedly, a message of spiritual help and triumph.

The supreme assurance of our holy faith is the message of the cross, that love conquers all things. It is the message of our Master and our Father, the same as of old. God our Father loves us all in life and in death, in sickness and in health; none of these can prevent, all of them ought to help our fellowship with Him. Every experience which may come to us in this mortal life can be made a stepping stone nearer the joy of His life, unquenchable and eternal.

“God is our Refuge and Strength, a very present Help in trouble.” This is eternally true for nations and for individuals. Our own dear nation is finding it so; so are countless homes and our soldiers at the front. His voice reassures us in every struggle and trial. His message is our hope. He abides when all else seems to fail. Back of every need in life is our need of Him. None other can answer or satisfy. More than ever before, our hearts cry out to the living God.

The whole world is learning again the blessedness and need of prayer. Let us not pray for ourselves only, but for others, too. Some cities are regularly using the noontide moment for offering up silent but earnest prayer to the Giver of all good, that He will guard and guide our nation, our armies and our allies. Shall not we somehow join in this great river of intercession? God asks us to pray. Sickness and death are not always the punishment for sin, but in sin and in forgetfulness of Him, alone lies their sting. “Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth,” and yet His love for us is so unutterable that He gave His own Son to die for our sins, to save us from our sins, to win us back to love, the Love that triumphs over all things, and awaits us at the moment of death....

When we or our loved ones recover from our sickness, let us not fail to render thanks for His mercy; when they are taken from us, let us use the words of old, “Father, into Thy hands we commend their spirits,” remembering, too, Him who said, “I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am there ye may be also.”

When the restrictions are removed, let us throng our churches and there, as in our secret closets, lift up holy hands in prayer with contrite hearts and dauntless spirits to plead for mercy on the world. Life is a war, a ceaseless battle, but the victory of good is eternally sure. Let us gladly fight, die if need be, suffer, sorrow, and serve the cause of our transcendent Master who set us the one perfect example. In this spirit, let the Churches of Lancaster, in a new and higher sense, live, work, and pray together, and each member of them feel the joy of true comradeship in the work and service of Christ. So will the lesson of this experience bear good fruit until life eternal.²⁹⁴

Additionally, at least two Lancaster churches – Trinity Lutheran and First Methodist – chimed their church bells in the morning and evening to invite people to participate in household worship services: “It was the beautiful custom of our ancestors, when they could not go to church, to take their Book of Worship and go through the entire service while the congregation were at public worship. The present closing of our churches should lead to the revival of this practice. If such should be the result, the enforced intermission of our Sunday services will not have been in vain.”²⁹⁵ Trinity Lutheran Church, in particular, chimed out the tune to the hymn “Sweet Hour of Prayer.”²⁹⁶ “As the city sits in ashes, so many of her homes made desolate,” one writer remarked, “the sound of the church bells, ringing the old familiar tune in solemn measure, must have stirred up precious memories and filled with comfort and peace the darkened chamber of many a 'prisoner of hope.'”²⁹⁷

At a third church – St. John's Episcopal Church – the rector, Rev. George Israel Browne, celebrated a private eucharistic prayer service in his church with the assistance of two servers, and asked “all the absent ones” to “silently, separately, and secretly join with us in that Supreme Act of Intercession.”²⁹⁸ Rev. Browne added a plea for all Lancaster pastors to realize “that there is nothing either in the letter or spirit of the request of the Board of Health (which we have all loyally obeyed) to prevent us from saying our prayers alone in our churches at any given moment and to invite all our people to join with us at that time and in that Act of Prayer for our City, our Sick, our Nation, our Army, our Allies; for God's Mercy on the World; for a new turning of all our hearts and lives to Him.”²⁹⁹

(This, in spite of the Lancaster Board of Health's denial of permission for Msgr. Kaul to do precisely that on behalf of Lancaster's Roman Catholics!³⁰⁰ Further, the undoubtedly sincere request by pastors to pray for the American cause in the World War cannot be separated from the hounding of Lancaster County pastors accused of insufficient patriotism: Lutheran pastor Paul Schmieder, accused of unpatriotic remarks, was forced to kiss an American flag and surrender nearly five months' salary, and was then directed by police to leave the city, whereupon he resigned his pastorate and fled to Philadelphia;³⁰¹ Reformed pastor George Seibel had his home defaced and rumors spread that he defended the German cause in his sermons, despite his financial contributions toward the American war effort and the enlistment of his own son in the US Army;³⁰² and Mennonite pastors Joseph and John Boll, living north of Manheim, were threatened with violence and had their homes defaced.³⁰³ Some of these acts of mob action were alleged to be connected to the rise of a group, the Li Lo Cos, which various sources compared to “a modern Ku Klux Klan in Lancaster County.”³⁰⁴ The county branch of the Pennsylvania Council of National Defense declared they were “satisfied that no such organization exists,” but admitted that “unthinking citizens, from a misdirected excess of patriotic zeal, have adopted methods for obtaining subscriptions to the Fourth Liberty Loan that cannot be commended.”³⁰⁵)

Monday, October 21, brought the welcome news that the rate of increase in influenza diagnoses had dropped sharply over the weekend, and that both St. Joseph's Hospital and the Lancaster General Hospital were now able to accept a few new patients again.³⁰⁶ The Board of Health debated whether trolley windows should be kept open or closed – the point was so contentious that the mayor walked out of the meeting, after Dr. E. S. Snyder objected to citizens making suggestions at the meetings – but kept them open.³⁰⁷ Quarryville and Ephrata by this time were also seeing some recovery from the epidemic.³⁰⁸ On Tuesday, October 22, the priests of St. Mary's Catholic Church submitted a request to the Board of Health for permission to open a side door to the church, allowing individuals to enter for private worship.³⁰⁹ The Board of Health declined to give permission but promised to pass this request to Dr. Royer.³¹⁰ The board's discussion turned to the matter of reopening churches and schools, a suggestion strongly opposed by Dr. Snyder. The board delegated one of its members, Charles G. Baker, to speak with Dr. Royer.³¹¹ When he did so later in the afternoon, Dr. Royer “congratulated the Lancaster Board on its efficient handling of the epidemic in this city,” but directed that churches “must be kept closed over next Sunday.”³¹²

On Wednesday, October 23, in spite of not having received the Board of Health's blessing, St. Mary's Catholic Church advertised in the morning newspaper that “the first side door of St. Mary's Catholic church will be open to the members of St. Mary's parish for the purpose of short visits to the Blessed Sacrament and to secure the Sunday Visitor and Messenger and monthly envelopes. Door will be open from 7am to 8pm.”³¹³ Noting this defiance of the Board's order, a local health officer went to the church and ordered personnel to comply by locking up the church. The Board, in commenting on the defiant move, “added that if the door was not closed, this violation of a plain health measure would be reported to the State Health, with possible prosecution.”³¹⁴ Beyond just the local Catholic scene, “school and church authorities are now clamoring for permission to open.”³¹⁵ The epidemic continued to lighten by this point, such that “most of the factories were running above 75 percent normal” and “the stores are doing more business, showing that the people are beginning to appreciate that the epidemic is under control in this city.”³¹⁶ (The petition of the Chamber of Commerce's Mercantile Trade Bureau to allow businesses to stay open until nine o'clock in the evening on Saturdays, however, did not win.³¹⁷)

Thursday, October 24, suggested that perhaps the relaxed restrictions had been premature, as “the 'flu' situation was anything but satisfactory today. Seemingly it has taken a slightly new grip. The city seems to have the epidemic under control very much better than some of the county districts.”³¹⁸ The Board of Health was convinced that “the influenza epidemic is fast running its course.”³¹⁹ (Ephrata and Columbia also saw similar improvement,³²⁰ though the same was not true for other Lancaster County towns like Terre Hill and Marietta.³²¹ The county's farming communities in particular were by this juncture heavily afflicted by the Spanish flu.³²²) By Friday, the death rate in Lancaster remained high, and so – after considerable debate – the majority of the Board of Health elected to continue pursuing the same policies as before, regarding Saturday business closures.³²³ (One lay board member, Henry B. Cochran, argued strongly in favor of letting businesses stay open, and suggested that the doctors were insufficiently attentive to economic realities. He was thoroughly outvoted.³²⁴)

On Saturday, October 26, the Board of Health met again and read a message from Dr. Royer, which gave permission for Pennsylvanian schools to reopen on October 30. In light of that deadline, Charles Baker moved that churches be permitted to resume meeting on the same date. “As there is church every day in the Catholic churches and midweek services in all the others, church members are glad that the ban is lifted.”³²⁵ Later that night, most businesses in the city closed early at six o'clock.³²⁶ By this point, it could already be said that “everybody seems more optimistic and cheerful than for some weeks past.”³²⁷ In advance of the coming Sunday, the Lancaster Ministerial Association invited churches to ring their bells, and issued another public letter:

The churches remain closed, but their voice is not silenced, neither is their fellowship broken. The bonds of sympathy and service, of hope and love, are stronger than ever. More than ever before are we conscious of our deep need of the church. Chastened and subdued by affliction and sorrow, our souls long for the courts of the Lord and our hearts cry out unto the living God.

All life has a deeper meaning since Jesus lived and died. By his sorrow we have rest, and through his death abundant life has come to all. Sickness and death have lost their gruesome dread and power, and in the dark and mystic valley shines the light of an ineffable day. His words are our comfort and cheer, and his gracious presence dispels the gloom and loneliness of our broken companionships. “Be of good cheer!” This brief word was thrice spoken by our great Friend. It is a light in a dark place. It is the song of hope in the night. In each of these three records, this word meets the soul in the great moments of life as it stands at the parting of the ways – when the guilt of sin burdens the soul, Matthew 9:2; in afflictions' waves, Matthew 14:27; as the shadows of death gather, John 16:33.

Sin is the great barrier to peace. It is the ultimate cause of all suffering. Until sin is death with, life has no assuring outlook. And so our Lord prepares the foundations of an abiding peace by his word of pardon. The divine method of dealing with sin is to forgive it. But forgiveness of sin is costly. It is no trifling matter. The death of Christ on the cross is the price. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins.” To every honest suppliant who confesses and believes from the heart, he says: “Be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven.”

But what of our sufferings? Sickness, sorrow, discipline, war, death! “Thy billows are gone over me.” In this unprecedented hour of gloom, is there any word to cheer? Yes. In all suffering, God draws nigh. The love of our heavenly Father is never more real than in the afflictions of his children. “The eternal stars shine out as soon as it is dark enough.” Afflictions often sweep away the false and deceiving and lead us to the surer foundations. In the midst of it all it is He, unchanging and true. The very waves that threaten are the path in which he meets us. “It is I: be not afraid.” Jesus Christ is real, and the message of his evangel is profoundly real. He abides when all else fades. And he gives us peace.

An anxious mother wrote the other day out of her loneliness and sorrow: “Tell me, shall I see my loved one again? If I were quite sure, I should not grieve.” Hundreds of others in our city today know the deep sorrow of that question. Beyond their usual wont, our aching hearts and heavy feet are anxiously pressing the farther shores. Our homes are broken and bereft. Our hearts feel the strange thrill in the mystic arch as loved ones pass out. What does it all mean? Does death end all? Is there a light upon the dark horizon? “If a man die, shall he live again?” Listen! One stands on yonder side of the grave; the crown of a fadeless life is on his brow, and he answers: “Because I live, ye shall live also.” Death does not end all. It is only a bend in the road. Beyond are the Father's home, the loved reunions, and life forevermore. In the deep shadows, Jesus meet us: “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

These three words he speaks to us. They are meaningful and moving words: Pardon, Peace, Power. Take them and make them thine. Back of these words is Jesus. They have meaning through what he did. To each one, he brings a great service. If we too shall be led out of self into service, then shall we walk in his ways and be his disciples indeed. “Be of good cheer.”³²⁸

For his part, United Evangelical pastor G. R. Mergenthaler addressed his congregation (Bethany UE Church) in the newspaper as well:

Greetings to Bethany United Evangelical Church, which is scattered but not lost. We hope that this epidemic which has prevented your mutual fellowship and communion has driven you close to God and kindled your enthusiasm in devotion to Him.

In this epoch of the world's life, maintain your faith in God. While the loyal “Sons of Freedom” are turning the tide of barbarism and carrying the evangel of liberty into a benighted land, let us keep our communion with God intact. Pray unceasingly that our hands may not be stained with the bloody deeds of barbarism. We are anxious that you keep in mind our coming communion service. If the quarantine is lifted, we will observe the above service on the 10th of November.³²⁹

On Sunday, October 27, Lancaster's churches again did not convene any gatherings. (Nor did churches meet in Mount Joy, Terre Hill, New Holland, or other county towns.³³⁰) But, as on the Sunday previous, First Methodist Church rang their chimes at 10:45am, Trinity Lutheran Church rang their chimes at 11:00am,³³¹ and thereafter St. John's Episcopal Church celebrated Holy Communion with its priest and two servers at 11:30am, rang its bells at the time for receiving the sacrament, and invited all its members to “join in spirit with this united intercession and with such prayers in the family circle as they may choose or alone if nothing else may be convenient.”³³² The Lutheran Pastoral Association explained the reasoning for the ringing of the chimes:

...so that there may be a unanimity of prayer, praise, and thanksgiving within the homes of the people. It is hoped that, as those who have been unable to attend services have always been accustomed to unite with the congregation each Sunday in the Lord's Prayer at the ringing of the bells, so now one and all may unite in fervent petitions to the throne of grace that soon this awful visitation resting upon our people may cease and that again, by the grace of God, we may assemble in His house for the glory of His name, the furtherance of His kingdom, and the sanctification of our never-dying souls. As the hearts of our people are weighed down with many forms of grief and bereavement, may this coming Lord's Day [i.e., Sunday, October 27] be a call for united prayer that God may also “protect and prosper our beloved country in this time of war, making us, by His grace, a people worthy to be entrusted with victory, and that He may use, direct, and bless our Army and Navy that they may become His chosen instruments in overcoming wrong and establishing liberty, truth, and righteousness in all the earth.”³³³

As Monday, October 28 arrived, news of Philadelphia's unilateral decision to defy the State Health Department's orders and reopen entertainment venues and bars led to Charles Baker placing a morning telephone call to Dr. Royer to inquire whether this set a precedent they themselves might employ – the answer was a firm no, asserting that local health boards were required to enforce state-wide orders “until you are officially authorized by this office to rescind them.”³³⁴ Still, that afternoon, two lawyers representing “the liquor and amusement resort interests” met with the Lancaster Board of Health to petition for the lifting of the ban on their business activities.³³⁵ (For weeks, the liquor sellers of the city had been eager to find ways around the restrictions: “a few saloons are selling liquor quietly” from their side doors – and the Board of Health threatened that “saloon-keepers will be held responsible for violating the law.”³³⁶ No doubt the liquor sellers had received some encouragement from Judge Charles Landis' repeated expressions of his opinion that “the Board of Health had no right to close the saloons, and that the order was without sanction of the law.”³³⁷) This time, the Lancaster Board of Health was inclined to listen, though mostly out of irritation with Dr. Royer's approach, to which they objected in a formal resolution.³³⁸ (They believed that it was unfair to let Philadelphia off the hook but not give Lancaster the same consideration.³³⁹) Several representatives planned to go petition Dr. Royer to change his mind in person, but Dr. Royer informed them it would be pointless, as his mind would not be changed.³⁴⁰ In consequence, the Lancaster Board of Health met again on Monday evening and issued an order that would lift the quarantine entirely on Wednesday morning.³⁴¹

The following morning – Tuesday, October 29 – Dr. Royer telephoned Lancaster mayor Harry L. Trout, warning him that if Lancaster did not promise by noon to obey the state health directive, he would have it enforced by police. After conferring with the city's lawyer B. J. Myers, who claimed that Dr. Royer (apart from a meeting of the State Board of Health) had no legal authority to keep Lancaster businesses closed, Mayor Trout sent a reply via telegram, deferring to the Lancaster Board of Health and asserting that he would not permit any Lancaster city police officers to cooperate with Dr. Royer's orders.³⁴² That afternoon, Dr. Royer issued a public statement to the press that “the ban will positively not be lifted in Lancaster tomorrow, and he is prepared to take drastic action if the local authorities make any attempt to defy his authority.”³⁴³ In a telephone call with Lancaster theatre manager Charles Howell, Dr. Royer released the information that the ban would officially be lifted, not on October 30, but at noon on November 5.³⁴⁴ And that night, health board president James Shand received a letter from Dr. Royer asserting that he was revoking the portion of the Lancaster Board of Health's resolution “affecting theatres, moving picture establishments, dance halls, public meetings, saloons, and wholesale and retail sale of alcoholic stimulants.”³⁴⁵

The decisive day arrived: Wednesday, October 30, 1918. Lancaster's theatres, hesitant to transgress the state health order, chose voluntarily to remain closed.³⁴⁶ But to ensure the compliance of the saloons and other liquor sellers, ten health officers arrived in town that morning to serve papers to each alcohol seller in Lancaster, notifying them of their legal orders to remain closed. In spite of their efforts, “quite a number of liquor places opened for business this morning, while the proprietors of others considered it the part of wisdom to await further developments.” At noon, the Board of Health met again and chose to stick to their guns, refusing to assist in the enforcement of Dr. Royer's orders, such that “the matter now rests entirely with the State health authorities.”³⁴⁷

In the afternoon, the state health officers sent by Dr. Royer posted placards on any open liquor dealer, proclaiming the venue “Closed by order of the Commissioner of Health of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” and his representative Dr. T. H. A. Stites announced that Dr. Royer had consulted the state's attorney general about bringing lawsuits against any sellers not in compliance with state orders.³⁴⁸ That evening, many churches celebrated by holding midweek prayer services, as did First Presbyterian Church, Grace Lutheran Church, Bethany United Evangelical Church, Grace United Evangelical Church, St. John's Reformed Church,³⁴⁹ and the Church of God.³⁵⁰ Also that night, Dr. Royer issued a warning that open liquor sellers in Lancaster the following morning would be risking arrest.³⁵¹ (Dr. Stites pledged that the same procedure would be followed in Ephrata,³⁵² which was rumored to have followed Lancaster's example in lifting the state restrictions without state authorization,³⁵³ though Ephrata's board of health subsequently denied these reports.³⁵⁴) Overall, of seventy places licensed to sell alcohol, only thirty were initially in compliance with Dr. Royer's order, and another eight fell into compliance after being warned, leaving thirty-two open in defiance of the regulations, with some even removing the 'Closed' placards placed there by the state health officers.³⁵⁵

On Thursday, October 31, as the Lancaster Public Library at last reopened,³⁵⁶ the morning found that most of the prior day's defiant liquor dealers had fallen into compliance after being warned that thirty days in prison could be the cost of continued defiance.³⁵⁷ Seventeen saloon-keepers persisted, however – mainly smaller ones outside the business district – and were referred to state lawyer John Coyle for prosecution.³⁵⁸

In the afternoon, the Lancaster Board of Health issued a statement denying Dr. Royer's public accusation that they were beholden to the liquor industry.³⁵⁹ During the course of the day, several additional saloons opened, as their “proprietors mustered courage enough to throw open the doors of their establishments to customers.”³⁶⁰

Ordinarily, a Halloween festival would have been celebrated through the streets of the city, but orders to cancel all Halloween celebrations on account of the Spanish influenza had been given over a week earlier,³⁶¹ and were still followed even after the Lancaster Board of Health declared other restrictive measures to be lifted.³⁶² The result, by one account, entailed “darkened, almost deserted streets..., strange quiet, the absence of funsters..., even the pumpkin in the window was strangely missing. Doorbells remained unrung, steps were stationary, and confetti, corn, and ticklers were conspicuous by their absence,” which all “brought home... forcibly... the seriousness of the situation to young America. Similar conditions held true in every borough and hamlet in Lancaster county.”³⁶³ Others thought things less quiet, griping that beyond the limits of downtown Lancaster, youngsters “were loose, just as usual, smashing doors with cabbage butts and stuffed clubs, ringing doorbells and throwing corn and confetti. And they exercised their lungs pretty well with tin horns. They indulged in pranks usual to kiddies and had a bully time, the police making no attempt to disturb them...”³⁶⁴ There were, however, prayer services at 7:45 PM in the city's Christian and Missionary Alliance church.³⁶⁵ (This was so even though one Lancaster doctor urged the public “to stay away from all public gatherings or assemblies, such as churches, schools, places of amusement, etc., until the present epidemic is practically over.”³⁶⁶) And so October closed, with Lancaster having had 7,550 cases of Spanish flu, leaving 301 residents dead – countywide, over a thousand dead.³⁶⁷

The next day – Friday, November 1 – a few additional saloons chose to re-open, seeing no sign of prosecutions being initiated as of yet. One saloon-keeper was quoted as remarking, “We have called Royer's bluff, and he has backed down.”³⁶⁸ “There is no trouble getting a drink in Lancaster,” one writer quipped. “Indeed, there was little trouble getting liquor any time during the closed (?) period proclaimed on account of the flu. And it is known that the 'stuff' went to other places from Lancaster in actual wholesale quantities.”³⁶⁹ John Coyle refused to take any action in the matter.³⁷⁰ St. Mary's Catholic Church reopened with three masses to mark the Feast of All Saints.³⁷¹ St. John's Episcopal Church likewise celebrated the eucharist twice that morning and gathered again in the evening,³⁷² and Memorial Presbyterian Church's choir resumed holding rehearsals.³⁷³

However, Friday night – with first news arriving before the churches held their evening worship – brought a far greater shock: an order by Dr. Royer imposing a quarantine of the entire city of Lancaster: “Whereas every other available process for securing an observance of the orders of the Commissioner of Health in the City of Lancaster has been exhausted, therefore I, Benjamin Franklin Royer, Acting Commissioner of Health, have... declared the City of Lancaster to be under quarantine and have directed the railway companies, the street railway companies, and other common carriers to discontinue after twelve o'clock midnight this day the carrying of passengers to and from the City of Lancaster except Federal and State officials and representatives on official business … This action is taken for the purpose of protecting the people living outside of the City of Lancaster from any further possible dissemination of influenza due to premature relaxing of restrictions; for the purpose of protecting other municipalities from similar lawlessness under the protection of duly constituted authorities which might result from the precedent which the City of Lancaster would establish; and for the purpose of preserving the dignity and efficiency of the laws which have been adopted by this Commonwealth for the protection of the lives and health of its people.”³⁷⁴

What this meant, given its timing on a Friday night, was extreme: “Farmers coming to the city markets” – for Saturday was to be market day – “will not be allowed to cross the city line. Farmers who entered the city... before midnight will not be allowed to depart for their homes in the county. Iron workers, munition workers, and all other war laborers who are employed in plants outside the city will be prohibited from returning to their homes in the city. Employees of industrial and mercantile establishments located within the city, who reside outside of Lancaster, will not be allowed to enter the city to go to work.”³⁷⁵ This would “mean the loss of thousands of dollars to merchants and farmers and others.”³⁷⁶ To secure the quarantine, the State Department of Health directed that detour signs be placed at all roads leading into the city,³⁷⁷ with guards also stationed there to ensure the full lockdown of Lancaster.³⁷⁸ This would take place for at last three major roads by 2:15 AM on Saturday morning.³⁷⁹

Lancaster was promptly thrown into an uproar, for “the announcement of the quarantine was like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.”³⁸⁰ Late into the night, Lancaster's mayor and assorted business and civic leaders met at the Hamilton Club to discuss the situation in whispered tones, but dispersed at 11:15 PM without comment.³⁸¹ As Friday faded into the early hours of Saturday, the local train station was still selling tickets by one o'clock AM, as the official text of Dr. Royer's order had not yet reached them.³⁸² At two o'clock in the morning, health board president James Shand fulminated against Dr. Royer: “He cannot close this city. It's all humbug. He does not have the authority.”³⁸³ Once the train station did receive Dr. Royer's order and start following it, a riot started there in the early hours, as “several hundred government employees waited for trains to take them to Coatesville and Middletown.” Upon being informed by railroad police what had happened, “the workers made speeches condemning the order and angrily loitered about the station. They finally boarded cars of the Conestoga Traction Company and took the slower and longer routes to their places of employment.” The traction company “apparently regarded the Royer proclamation as a joke, and continued to haul passengers into and out of the city in direct violation of the quarantine ruling.”³⁸⁴ (Shortly after noon, Dr. Royer would give an order exempting all Lancaster munitions workers from the lockdown.³⁸⁵) Furthermore, Franklin & Marshall College president H. H. Apple telephoned Dr. Royer to object to the prohibition against their college football team leaving the city to play an away game against Ursinus College.³⁸⁶

When news reached the farmers' market, there was considerable panic, and many farmers began packing up their produce in hopes of hurrying out of the city before all obstacles were in place, requiring the chief of police to assure them that there would be no problems.³⁸⁷ Throughout the morning, “telephones of Mayor Trout's office and the newspaper offices... were kept busy answering inquiries from all parts of the county,” to which the reply was given not to worry, because “Lancaster is paying no attention to Royer's orders.”³⁸⁸ Later that morning, while the Chamber of Commerce hoped to pressure local saloon-keepers into obeying the closure order so as to appease Dr. Royer,³⁸⁹ the Board of Health met in special session, passing resolutions condemning Dr. Royer's actions as done in “a spirit of vindictiveness,” and so “unwarranted, unfair, and arbitrary and not founded upon the true health conditions” in Lancaster.³⁹⁰ By this point, at least two state troopers had already arrived in Lancaster's Penn Square to assist in enforcing the lockdown,³⁹¹ while other armed guards arrived to guard the ropes crossing the turnpikes at ten and eleven o'clock.³⁹² (These men were, however, evidently quite happy to give people directions for circumventing the roadblocks and making it in and out of the city.³⁹³)

At noon, shortly before Lancaster County's medical inspector Dr. J. L. Mowery would resign his position out of rage at Dr. Royer,³⁹⁴ Mayor Trout gathered the city council, which unanimously voted to sue in court for an injunction against the lockdown order.³⁹⁵ At the meeting, Dr. Snyder of the health board was heard to declare that, since Gov. Martin G. Brumbaugh had first appointed Dr. Royer as Acting Health Commissioner while the state legislature had been in recess, they now regarded Dr. Royer as an “illegal officer” rather than the true head of the State Health Department.³⁹⁶

The mayor and the city's lawyer knew that their case would receive a favorable hearing from Judge Charles I. Landis (whose vocal opinion limiting Dr. Royer's authority was one of the reasons for Dr. Royer's quarantine order in the first place³⁹⁷). However, the judge was temporarily at Millersville, outside the limits of the city. With all major roads blocked off, Trout and Myers had to slip covertly out of town and take the back roads through the countryside. (At least six roads out of the city remained still unblocked.³⁹⁸) Reaching Millersville at three o'clock in the afternoon, they handed him the council's bill of equity and informed him of the roadblocks on all the turnpikes.³⁹⁹ Their request received its expectedly warm reception, and Judge Landis granted the injunction, to no one's surprise.⁴⁰⁰

Reception of the matter in the press was a bit varied – the Democrat-leaning Lancaster Intelligencer found fault evenly distributed among “the 'lawless' Republican State Machine,” represented by Dr. Royer, “appointee of Governor Brumbaugh, protege first of the Penrose machine and now of the Vare machine,” and “the 'lawless' Republican County 'Machine,'” represented by municipal authorities who months earlier had “turned loose on the community a string of desperate criminals to wreak their vengeance of ravishment and murder” and whose aims aligned with the Li Lo Cos.⁴⁰¹ Likewise, The Lancaster Examiner declared that both the local health board and the state health department were afflicted with 'Mars-itis,' war fever – that both were “succumbing to the fighting blood surging through their veins.” They did, however, tend to favor the health board's position as the “exhibition of common sense,” observing that “many citizens of Lancaster have felt from the beginning that certain of the regulations and restrictions were inaugurated and enforced more from a love of exhibition of power than for the sanitary benefits to be derived,” and so “feel resentful against further observance when one set of health officials approves and another condemns.” Comparing Dr. Royer to Kaiser Wilhelm (against whom the United States was at war!) and gripped in “the delirium of supposed autocratic authority,” they granted that the State Health Department did legally have wide police powers but complained that “its powers have been carried to an extent where it has gathered to itself the idea it can do and act without respect to or consideration of either the law or public opinion.”⁴⁰²

But other Lancaster press organizations put the blame even more squarely on Dr. Royer, and him alone. The News-Journal viewed Dr. Royer's actions through the lens of “vindictiveness and petty personal spite,” saying that “like a child with a new whip, he spoiled for an opportunity to apply the lash, and again like a child he timidly overlooked the big offenders, like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and made his attack on the little fellow,” i.e., Lancaster.⁴⁰³ Going further, the Republican-leaning Daily New Era slurred Dr. Royer as “a new Dictator,”⁴⁰⁴ mocked him as “Czar Royer,”⁴⁰⁵ declared that “it is time for the people to rebel,” and called on Gov. Brumbaugh to either rebuke Royer or remove him from office.⁴⁰⁶ (Where the Democratic papers saw Dr. Royer as part of a corrupt Republican machine and thus told people that the best way to oppose Royer was to “go to the polls next Tuesday and vote the Democratic ticket,”⁴⁰⁷ this Republican paper saw Dr. Royer's actions as a political ploy to manipulate the Lancaster Board of Health into angering Anti-Prohibitionists and somehow inciting people to angrily “vote against the Republican ticket” – for which they saw the rightful way to oppose Royer being for Lancastrians to “go to the polls on Tuesday next and vote for the Republican ticket.”⁴⁰⁸)

Once Judge Landis had given his ruling, the court order was delivered to Lancaster sheriff Christian G. Garber, who sent a copy to Dr. Royer via telegram and communicated to the local railroad companies, being served to the railroad agent at 4:40 PM.⁴⁰⁹ Thirty minutes later, at the Stevens House, the mayor and his party served the order to state health agent E. O. Zealy and to state police sergeant Ely, while Sheriff Garber's deputies traveled around to serve the same order to the men brought in to guard the roads. All acquiesced promptly; Sgt. Ely in particular expressed relief.⁴¹⁰ By six o'clock, the train station had again begun selling tickets. The press opined that the city's lockdown, however brief, had “hurt the business badly on Saturday because so many people throughout the county believed that, if they came into the city, they could not leave it.”⁴¹¹

On Sunday, November 3, as Dr. Royer's local representatives slipped out of the city,⁴¹² Lancaster's churches were all able to resume their services, including four Roman Catholic churches (Sacred Heart, St. Joseph's, St. Mary's, and St. Anthony's), two Mennonite churches (East Chestnut Street and East Vine Street), three Methodist churches (First, Broad Street, Lancaster Avenue, and St. Paul's), three Presbyterian churches (First, Memorial, and Bethany), ten Lutheran and Evangelical Lutheran churches (Emmanuel, Advent, Grace, Christ, St. Mark's, St. John's, St. Stephen's, Trinity, Mt. Calvary, and Church of the Redeemer), six Reformed churches (First, Faith, St. Peter's, St. Paul's, St. Andrew's, and St. Stephen's), an Episcopalian church (St. John's), a Baptist church (Olivet), an Evangelical church (Pearl Street), two United Evangelical churches (Bethany and Grace), a Church of the Brethren (Charlotte Street), and a United Brethren church (Laurel Street), as well as Moravian, Church of God, and Church of Christ congregations, plus Unitarian and Spiritualist pseudo-churches.⁴¹³

Moravian pastor H. A. Gerdsen pledged to preach in the morning on “The Epidemic” and in the evening on “Jesus' Statement Concerning the Departed,” perhaps the most apt selections for the age of influenza.⁴¹⁴ Other churches also advertised the sermon titles for November 3: at St. John's Lutheran Church, the pastor would preach on “Gratitude and Thanksgiving for Deliverance From the Pneumonia Epidemic”; at Lancaster Avenue Methodist Church, Rev. Samuel Johnson would preach first on “The Christian's Glorious Hope, or Leaving the Tent and Moving into the Mansion,” and later on “God's Appeal to the Undecided”; at St. James Church, Rev. Twombly would preach first on “The New Death,” and later on “The Epidemic and God's Message to Us”; at Memorial Presbyterian Church, Rev. H. W. Haring would preach first on “The Church in a World of War,” and later on “The Church in a World of Sorrow”; at St. Andrew's Reformed Church, Rev. J. Hunter Watts would preach first on “The Privilege and Duty of the Christian at a Time Like This,” and later on “The Divine Magnet”; at St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. Joseph L. Gensemer would preach on “What to Do During These Solemn Days”; at First Presbyterian Church, Rev. John T. Reeve would preach first on “When Thou Art in Tribulation,” and later on “The Break-up of a World”; at Trinity Church, the pastor would preach first on “The Place of Providence in World Life,” and later on “The Difficulties That Jesus Met”; at the Church of God, Rev. George R. Hoverter would preach first on “How to Help the Pastor,” and later on “Fishing On the Wrong Side”; at Faith Reformed Church, the pastor would preach first on “The City of God,” and later on “Starving the Soul”; at First Methodist Episcopal Church, the evening sermon was to be on “Out of the Depths”;⁴¹⁵ and at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Rev. P. George Sieger, home on furlough from chaplaincy at Camp Wadsworth, would preach on “The Christian Soldier in Modern Warfare.”⁴¹⁶

Some churches, like First Reformed Church, advertised the precautions they would continue to take against the spread of influenza at their churches: requesting the ill to stay at home, brief Sunday school, and windows open during all services for ventilation, “in order to prevent the church services in this church from being an agency for the distribution of the disease of the present epidemic.”⁴¹⁷ Meanwhile, Trinity Lutheran pastor J. E. Whittaker published an appeal in advance of the services:

Tomorrow [i.e., Sunday, November 3], the churches of our city will once more open their doors for divine worship. The past month, our people were deprived of the privilege of gathering around the altar of God to offer their prayers and sing their praise. This is a unique experience in the history of the Church in America. It reminds us of those ages in the past when the ban was placed on the churches because of sin and disobedience. The measure was always effective and brought the desired results.

In the present case, back of the Board which closed the churches, is the outward cause of the plague which has desolated so many of our American homes. And back of the plague is that hidden cause which none but the Almighty sees and knows aright. Pain is penalty: the word denotes it. A plague is a stroke: someone delivers it. A scourge is a lash: there must be a hand to wield it. And the primary cause is in the sin which infects our lives. At bottom, the closing of our churches is God's ban upon our people. We have forgotten His love; we have despised His mercies; we have neglected the ordinances of His house; in the midst of our successes, we have not given Him the praise. And since the goodness of God is designed to bring us to repentance, His severity should lead us to confess with the prophet, “We have sinned and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from Thy precepts and from Thy judgments: therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all His works which He doeth: for we have not obeyed His voice” [Daniel 9:5,14].

And what shall be the outcome in our case? The half-emptied churches should be filled with worshipping assemblies. The half-hearted worshippers should come with a new purpose of heart, full of penitence and praise. And as the church bells ring their welcome, the soul's response should well up in the words of the psalmist, “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord” [Psalm 122:1]. And if the desolation which has swept from coast to coast and wrought sad havoc in our homes, is followed by sincere repentance, ensuring pardon and comfort and peace, the sacrifice will have served its divine purpose as surely as has the sacrifice of life on the battle front in the attainment of the objects which have brought us into this great world conflict. We should settle down to this conviction, “It is the Lord;” and bowing to His will in true submissiveness of spirit, we should say, “Let him do what seemeth Him good” [1 Samuel 3:18]. And so on the morrow, let us, as a Christian people, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise” [Psalm 100:4].⁴¹⁸

Other county towns also saw the resumption of public worship gatherings in the churches. This was the case in New Holland, where St. Stephen's Reformed Church's new pastor Rev. C. G. Bachman, scheduled to preach his first sermon on October 6, was now able to do so a month later.⁴¹⁹ In Columbia, after a month shuttered, the churches reopened, and “the streets presented a lively appearance as hundreds of worshipers emerged from their home to attend the services. All the churches report a good attendance, and a general good feeling seemed to pervade the people as they were again privileged to attend divine service.”⁴²⁰ The same was the case in Mountville, where the local health board permitted churches to open their doors again to hold “their first services in more than a month.”⁴²¹

During Sunday afternoon, Dr. Royer's stated plans to call a meeting of the State Health Department were foiled, as he could not reach a number of the advisory board members. He did, however, note that he had not been formally served with Judge Landis' injunction, and so regarded the quarantine as still in force. Locally, Lancaster carried on as if nothing had ever happened – the trains had started running again Saturday night, the trolleys had never bothered stopping, and the orders from Judge Landis served to clear obstructions from the roads.⁴²²

As Monday, November 4 arrived, it no longer became worthwhile for Dr. Royer to bother Lancaster, since he had already announced the quarantine would end the following day. (Besides which, he was now quite preoccupied fighting the same fight against a larger but equally intransigent city: Pittsburgh.⁴²³) He did express his displeasure with Judge Landis' “unwarranted assumption of judicial authority, without legal effect” at least.⁴²⁴ Dr. Royer himself came in for harsh criticism from Lt. Gov. Frank B. McClain, a native Lancastrian, who labeled Royer's handling of the situation as “a disgrace and a stain upon the administration” of Gov. Brumbaugh.⁴²⁵ But Dr. Royer issued a sharp statement of his own, announcing that “were it not for the fact that the health conditions in the city of Lancaster are improving to such an extent that the ban may be safely lifted on Tuesday, I would request the governor to declare the city under martial law and enforce the physical closing of the few (15 out of 75) defiant saloon-keepers, a power which unquestionably exists.”⁴²⁶ That night, the city's four Catholic parishes rallied to fundraise for the war effort.⁴²⁷

Tuesday, November 5 opened with still more Spanish flu deaths in the city – including a nearly-22-year-old Lancaster General Hospital nurse named Violetta Groff, who had been sick for three weeks.⁴²⁸ But the day was largely taken up with the election. The results, as the night bore out, were quite favorable to the Republican Party, giving a strong victory to their gubernatorial candidate William C. Sproul with majorities in nearly every city district.⁴²⁹ The New Era was thrilled: “The result in the State shows that its people place loyalty to the nation and devotion to high principles and ideals above personal support of an individual who demands servile submission to his will above any appeal to base, mercenary, and selfish considerations.”⁴³⁰ The Intelligencer blamed internal dissension among Democrats over “the liquor question” for depression turnout at the same time Republicans' “partisan feeling” was stoked by misinformation.⁴³¹

Life in Lancaster continued as before: Wednesday morning brought the death of Sister Corina, a 38-year-old nun who had been nursing Spanish flu patients and had contracted it herself.⁴³² The city's young women volunteers in general received considerable praise for their service to the community: “Undismayed and unafraid, these young women went about caring for sick and needy children, delivering broth prepared by the Hamilton Club to the sick in homes and hospitals; taking around in their automobiles the Red Cross investigators, the volunteer nurses, the visiting nurses, and the busy doctors whenever they needed a driver or their cars were disabled. While working so unselfishly, some of the service girls dropped from the ranks, overcome by the dread disease.”⁴³³ As for the Board of Health, they had discontinued regular meetings, although new cases of the Spanish influenza continued to be reported by the medical personnel of the city.⁴³⁴ It became a topic of discussion as the Lancaster County Medical Society met that Wednesday afternoon.⁴³⁵

By Saturday, it could be said that “new cases of influenza are comparatively few in this city; here the grip of the plague has been pulled loose,” although “in some of the boroughs, as for instance Marietta and Lititz, the disease still has a firm hold.”⁴³⁶ That night, Elizabethtown's church bells rang out simultaneously at eight o'clock to inform residents that their churches would reopen on Sunday, November 10,⁴³⁷ and the churches reopened that day in Marietta also.⁴³⁸ It would also be – by Gov. Brumbaugh's proclamation – “a day of prayer for the passing of the influenza epidemic.”⁴³⁹ For Lancaster churches, life could at last begin adjusting to a post-epidemic world.⁴⁴⁰ It was to be celebrated also as a world freed – for a generation – from worldwide war: “now that the way has been opened for a world peace, our hearts go out in a prayer of thanksgiving.”⁴⁴¹ (Sunday afternoon, St. Anthony's Catholic Church celebrated a belated All Souls' Day with a prayer service in their cemetery.⁴⁴²) Moments before three o'clock on Monday morning, all the church bells of the city again rang out – announcing the signing of the armistice.⁴⁴³

Three Brief Concluding Thoughts

Several things should be apparent, after the above review of six historical cases. First, Americans then and Americans now are, in certain respects, not so different. Many people now are afraid, but so were many people then. Some people now look to conspiracy theories for answers, such as seeing COVID-19 as a Chinese or North Korean bio-weapon; but so did people then who saw the 'Spanish flu' as a German bio-weapon. Quite a few people now have misgivings about the economic impact of public health orders that restrict business operations; but the same was true then, too. Some people now, even still, wonder if the matter isn't blown out of proportion; but even then, during one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, some people took it lightly even to the bitter end. Some people presently rail against civic authorities whose measures they perceive as excessive; but the same was true then, too. Some people today wrestle with the wisest and most faithful course for churches to take; and those questions were asked and discussed then, too.

Second, Reno is flat wrong about the general behavior of society with regard to worship gatherings in churches. By and large, church buildings in 1918 did not keep their doors open. Public worship assemblies were not held there. In only one of the six cases were there outdoor worship gatherings (and whether this was advisable in light of the public health situation may be readily contested). Note also that, in many of these cases, the decision to suspend public meetings in churches was made by local municipal health authorities, with which the churches readily cooperated (and in some cases volunteered). There appears to have been relatively little discussion about whether the health boards had the authority to make that decision, even when unpopular – no doubt a sad testament to our present state of division and eroded trust as a society.

Third, the churches survived! In every place, the churches continued to live on while temporarily scattered. Ministry kept happening. The people really did worship in their homes, really did read the letters their pastors sent, really did keep praying. They dearly felt the pang that suspended gatherings induced, the loss of something precious. Some pastors publicly expressed hope that the temporary closures, teaching via deprivation, might stimulate wider recognition of the preciousness of gathering 'around the altar of God.' Rather than convincing people that the church (or its physical location) was dispensable, it appeared to have the opposite effect, at least for a season: people surging back to the gatherings, back to the altar. Rather than sidelining the church as irrelevant to society's life, it provided a platform for the churches to join their voices and call on whole communities to repent, believe, worship, pray, love, and serve. (The gospel ministry of God's people is absolutely an essential service, supplying food and drink for the soul of greater objective value than all that the neighborhood grocery store can hold. We are to provide it, however, in ways that show sacrificial love to others rather than being cavalier about their health and life; but to show sacrificial love with wisdom and prudence requires innovative ressourcement in this present season of ours.) Might we not today hope for many churches to survive or even perhaps thrive on the other side of this challenging season? Might we not at least take cues from a past generation, adapting them to the present state of society and technology, and find a productive way forward? 

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1E.g., “Spanish Influenza,” Evening Public Ledger [Philadelphia], 16 September 1918, page 12. See also untitled article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, 23 August 1918, page 10: “[Spain] says the thing started in Germany, where all the other plagues come from. We accept Spain's apology, and will chalk up one more black mark against the Hun to be settled along with other matters when the war is over.” Additionally, consider the speculation of Lt. Col. P. S. Doane that “the epidemic [in America] was started by Huns sent ashore by Boche submarine commanders. We know that men have been sent ashore from German submarine boats, and it would be quite easy for these agents to turn loose the germs in theaters and other places where large numbers of people are assembled” – see “Subs May Have Started 'Flu,'” The Evening News [Harrisburg], 19 September 1918, page 5, and “Plague Blamed on Germans,” The Perry County Democrat, 25 September 1918, page 2.

2“Fear New Epidemic May Reach Here,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 22 July 1918, page 9.

3“Spanish Influenza Quickly Spreading Through Europe,” Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, 5 August 1918, page 2.

4'Socrates,' untitled snippet, The Evening Public Ledger [Philadelphia], 28 August 1918, page 8.

5“Spanish Influenza Is Carried to US,” The Evening Sun [Hanover], 12 September 1918, page 3.

6“Spanish Influenza Is Now in Boston,” Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, 11 September 1918, page 6; “Spanish Influenza Reported At Six Places in America,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 14 September 1918, page 2.

7“Spanish Influenza Is Carried to US,” The Evening Sun [Hanover], 12 September 1918, page 3.

8“Spanish Influenza Due in City Tuesday, Health Bureau Says,” Pittsburgh Sunday Post, 15 September 1918, section 3, page 8.

9“Spanish Influenza Is Brought to Pittsburgh,” The News-Herald [Franklin], 16 September 1918, page 1; “Spanish Influenza Reported,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 17 September 1918, page 8.

10“Spanish Influenza Gets Hold on City,” Lancaster New Era, 17 September 1918, page 1.

11“Spanish Influenza in Philadelphia,” Mount Carmel Item, 18 September 1918, page 1; “Influenza at Navy Yard,” Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, 18 September 1918, page 19.

12“Spanish Influenza Death in Philadelphia,” Reading Times, 19 September 1918, page 3.

13“Spanish Influenza Is German Germ; Only La Grippe,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 21 September 1918, page 1.

14“Dr. Gingrich at State Medical Society Meet,” Lebanon Daily News, 25 September 1918, page 9; “Physicians on Lookout for Spanish Grip,” Lebanon Daily News, 28 September 1918, page 10.

15E.g., “Case of Spanish Influenza Here,” The Danville Morning News, 26 September 1918, page 1; “Soldier Carries Influenza Germs,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 26 September 1918, page 4; “Ill With Influenza,” Mount Carmel Item, 1 October 1918, page 2.

16“Spanish 'Flu' Breaks Out in Tyrone, Report,” Altoona Times, 26 September 1918, page 12; “Spanish Influenza Grips York County,” York Daily Record, 30 September 1918, page 6.

17“5 Die, 80 New Cases of Spanish Influenza,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 27 September 1918, page 2.

18“Editorial Notes,” Altoona Times, 27 September 1918, page 8.

19“Prizes for Young Doctors,” The Philadelphia Times, 16 May 1899, page 4.

20“Dr. Royer Now Chief Resident,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2 September 1903, page 16.

21“Appointed Inspector,” Harrisburg Telegraph, 15 December 1908, page 13.

22“With Health Department,” Valley Spirit, 3 February 1909, page 3.

23“Appoints Chief Inspector,” Pittsburgh Daily Post, 3 August 1910, page 3.

24“Dr. Dixon to Be Buried Tomor'ow,” The Evening News [Harrisburg], 28 February 1918, page 7.

25“Old Fashioned Grip,” Harrisburg Telegraph, 30 September 1918, page 9; “Spanish Influenza Old-Fashioned Grip, Says Royer,” York Daily Record, 30 September 1918, page 1.

26Michael Worobey, Guan-Zhu Han, and Andrew Rambaut, “Genesis and Pathogenesis of the 1918 Pandemic H1N1 Influenza A Virus,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 111, no. 22 (3 June 2014): 8107.

27“Old Fashioned Grip,” Harrisburg Telegraph, 30 September 1918, page 9; “Spanish Influenza Old-Fashioned Grip, Says Royer,” York Daily Record, 30 September 1918, page 1. See discussion of these open-air treatment methods in Richard Hobday and John Cason, “The Open-Air Treatment of Pandemic Influenza,” American Journal of Public Health 99/S2 (September 2009, Supplement 2): S236-S242.

28“Plan to Fight Spanish Plague in This State,” Warren Times Mirror, 1 October 1918, page 2.

29“Dr. Royer's Orders,” dated 11:45am on 3 October 1918, quoted in “The Schools and Churches Closed,” The Danville Morning News, 5 October 1918, pages 1-2.

30Ibid.

31“Epidemic of Influenza Serious,” Mount Carmel Item, 28 September 1918, page 2; “Local Fireman Brought Home Seriously Ill,” Mount Carmel Item, 30 September 1918, page 3; “Home from School Ill,” Mount Carmel Item, 30 September 1918, page 4.

32“Two Deaths at Kulpmont,” Mount Carmel Item, 30 September 1918, page 2.

33“Spanish Flew Nothing More Than La Grippe,” Mount Carmel Item, 30 September 1918, page 4.

34“Other Counties,” The Lewisburg Journal, 4 October 1918, page 6.

35“Influenza Spreads and Health Board Order Closes Churches, Schools, Theatres and Saloons,” Mount Carmel Item, 4 October 1918, page 1.

36“Churches Are Closed Tomorrow,” Mount Carmel Item, 5 October 1918, page 1.

37“Quarantine Rules in Different Towns,” Mount Carmel Item, 5 October 1918, page 1.

38“Message Received from State Health Board,” Mount Carmel Item, 26 October 1918, page 1.

39“Little Change in Epidemic,” Mount Carmel Item, 29 October 1918, page 1.

40“Lifting of the Church Quarantine,” Mount Carmel Item, 1 November 1918, page 1.

41“Quarantine to Be Lifted Here Friday,” Mount Carmel Item, 5 November 1918, page 1.

42“Sunday in the Churches,” Mount Carmel Item, 9 November 1918, page 1.

43“Bucknell, Army Training Post, Becomes a Minor West Point Oct. 1st,” The Lewisburg Journal, 13 September 1918, page 1; “700 Young Men Will Take Army Training Courses at Bucknell,” The Lewisburg Journal, 20 September 1918, page 1.

44“Earl Sherman An Early Victim of Pneumonia,” The Lewisburg Journal, 27 September 1918, page 1.

45“Bond Drive Opens With Big Parade Tomorrow Night,” The Lewisburg Journal, 22 September 1918, page 1.

46“Sad Death of Mrs. Weimer Lenhart Sunday,” The Lewisburg Journal, 4 October 1918, page 4.

47“Ira Dunkle Seriously Ill,” The Lewisburg Journal, 27 September 1918, page 5.

48“Observations,” The Lewisburg Journal, 4 October 1918, page 3.

49“Town Schools and Churches Will Close,” The Lewisburg Journal, 4 October 1918, page 1.

50Ibid. See also a later note from the neighboring village of Level Corners, claiming that “quite a number of people passed through our corner en route to the chestnut groves Sunday afternoon [i.e., Sunday, October 6]” – “Level Corners,” The Lewisburg Journal, 11 October 1918, page 8.

51“Rural Mail Carrier A Victim of Influenza,” The Lewisburg Journal, 11 October 1918, page 5.

52“In the Churches,” The Lewisburg Journal, 11 October 1918, page 4.

53Edward C. Crumbling, “United Evangelical Church,” The Lewisburg Journal, 11 October 1918, page 4.

54“Union Co. Fair Called Off,” The Lewisburg Journal, 11 October 1918, page 1.

55“Observations,” The Lewisburg Journal, 11 October 1918, page 3.

56“Local 'Peace' Parade Has Tragic Ending Sunday AM,” The Lewisburg Journal, 18 October 1918, page 1.

57“Mrs. George Martin a Victim of Pneumonia,” The Lewisburg Journal, 18 October 1918, page 1; “John Long Victim Of Influenza Yesterday,” The Lewisburg Journal, 18 October 1918, page 1; “Local Woman Follows Husband to Grave,” The Lewisburg Journal, 18 October 1918, page 4; “Influenza Claims Victim in East Lewisburg,” The Lewisburg Journal, 18 October 1918, page 5; “Ira Ranck Victim of Pneumonia Saturday,” The Lewisburg Journal, 25 October 1918, page 5; “Mrs. Florence Shell Dies,” The Lewisburg Journal, 25 October 1918, page 5; “Mrs. George W. Leiby Passed Away Last Night,” The Lewisburg Journal, 25 October 1918, page 5; “George Martin Follows Wife to the Grave,” The Lewisburg Journal, 25 October 1918, page 5.

58“Sunday Church Services,” The Lewisburg Journal, 18 October 1918, page 8.

59Edward Crumbling, “United Evangelical Church,” The Lewisburg Journal, 11 October 1918, page 4.

60“Influenza Claims Five Victims in Lewisburg Home,” The Lewisburg Journal, 25 October 1918, page 1.

61“Parents of Eight Children Victims,” The Lewisburg Journal, 25 October 1918, page 1.

62“Fresh Air Is Good Cure and Preventative,” The Lewisburg Journal, 25 October 1918, page 3. Again, see Richard Hobday and John Cason, “The Open-Air Treatment of Pandemic Influenza,” American Journal of Public Health 99/S2 (September 2009, Supplement 2): S236-S242.

63“Methodist Church,” The Lewisburg Journal, 25 October 1918, page 1.

64“'Flu' Increasing in Rural Districts,” The Lewisburg Journal, 1 November 1918, page 1.

65“'Flu' Decreases in Union County,” The Lewisburg Journal, 8 November 1918, page 1.

66“Quarantine Lifted, Schools Re-Open,” The Lewisburg Journal, 8 November 1918, page 1.

67Ibid.

68“United Evangelical Church,” The Lewisburg Journal, 8 November 1918, page 4.

69“Reformed Church,” The Lewisburg Journal, 8 November 1918, page 4; “Presbyterian Church,” The Lewisburg Journal, 8 November 1918, page 4; “Christ's Lutheran Church,” The Lewisburg Journal, 8 November 1918, page 4.

70“Churches Re-Open After Ban is Lifted,” The Lewisburg Journal, 8 November 1918, page 8.

71“Thanksgiving Service,” The Lewisburg Journal, 22 November 1918, page 4.

72“Hbg. Diocese Is 50 Years Old,” The Courier [Harrisburg], 29 September 1918, page 1.

73“Edward H. Ripper Dies of Spanish Influenza,” The Evening News [Harrisburg], 28 September 1918, page 7; “H. Ed. Ripper, Foreman of Telegraph Bindery, Is Dead of Pneumonia,” Harrisburg Telegraph, 28 September 1918, page 2.; “H. Edward Ripper Influenza Victim,” The Courier [Harrisburg], 29 September 1918, page 1.

74“Influenza Epidemic Spreads,” The Evening News [Harrisburg], 28 September 1918, page 12.

75“Nicholas Negro, 75, Dies From Pneumonia,” Harrisburg Telegraph, 2 October 1918, page 9.

76“Churches and Sunday Schools Included in Closing Order,” Harrisburg Telegraph, 4 October 1918, page 1.

77“Church Doors to Be Closed,” Harrisburg Telegraph, 5 October 1918, page 1.

78“Emergency Hospitals Will Be Established in City and Steelton to Treat Influenza,” The Courier, 6 October 1918, page 1.

79Ibid.

80“Dr. Royer Turns Down Appeal of Liquor Interests,” The Evening News [Harrisburg], 15 October 1918, page 3.

81V. Orsini, letter to the editor, in Harrisburg Telegraph, 18 October 1918, page 5.

82Rev. W. C. Heilman, letter to congregants, in “Makes Plea for Prayers,” Harrisburg Telegraph, 19 October 1918, page 8.

83“Improvement in Grip Epidemic Marked in City,” Harrisburg Telegraph, 24 October 1918, page 1.

84H. S. P. Lerch, letter to the editor, in Harrisburg Telegraph, 22 October 1918, page 9.

85“In the Religious World,” Harrisburg Telegraph, 26 October 1918, page 28.

86“Many Ministers Oppose Ban on City Churches,” The Courier, 27 October 1918, page 1.

87“Many Ministers Oppose Ban on City Churches,” The Courier, 27 October 1918, page 8.

88“Council Gives Assent to Lifting of Quarantine,” Harrisburg Telegraph, 31 October 1918, page 12.

89“Ban on Church Services is Not to Be Lifted,” Harrisburg Telegraph, 1 November 1918, page 1.

90“Churches and Schools Remain Under the Ban,” Harrisburg Telegraph, 2 November 1918, page 1.

91“Influenza Ban Lifts Tomorrow After 5 Weeks,” Harrisburg Telegraph, 4 November 1918, page 14.

92“Churches to Reopen with Mid-Week Prayer Services,” Harrisburg Telegraph, 5 November 1918, page 1.

93“Churches to Open with Prayer Services Tonight,” Harrisburg Telegraph, 6 November 1918, page 2.

94“Special Service in Many Churches,” The Courier, 10 November 1918, page 8.

95“Prayers of Thanks Offered in All of City's Churches,” Harrisburg Telegraph, 10 November 1918, page 3.

96“Spanish Influenza Epidemic Soon to Visit New Castle,” New Castle Herald, 16 September 1918, page 2; “Spanish Influenza Epidemic Coming Soon, Says Dr. W. L. Steen,” New Castle News, 16 September 1918, page 1; “Health Bureau Gives Influenza Warning,” Pittsburgh Daily Post, 16 September 1918, page 9.

97“Spanish Influenza Is Reported Here,” New Castle News, 2 October 1918, page 13.

98“Many Places in City Are Closed by State Order,” New Castle News, 4 October 1918, page 1.

99“Churches and Sunday Schools Closed Sunday; Public Schools Cannot Open Until They Get Permission; Strict Quarantine on Here,” New Castle Herald, 5 October 1918, page 1.

100Ibid.

101“Request That,” New Castle Herald, 7 October 1918, page 2.

102“Pastors Arrange for Prayer Hour in Homes of City,” New Castle Herald, 19 October 1918, page 2.

103Ibid.

104“New Bedford Is Only Community Escaping Flu,” New Castle Herald, 23 October 1918, page 5.

105“East New Castle Has No Influenza,” New Castle Herald, 28 October 1918, page 1.

106“Shanafelt Wants Brief Services in the Churches,” New Castle Herald, 29 October 1918, page 6.

107“Members Will Worship at Home,” New Castle News, 2 November 1918, page 6.

108“Quarantine May Be Lifted Here by Health Department on Friday,” New Castle Herald, 4 November 1918, page 1.

109“Official Word of Opening Is Received Here,” New Castle Herald, 5 November 1918, page 1.

110“Hints and Dints,” New Castle News, 5 November 1918, page 4.

111“49 New Cases of Influenza Here This Morning,” New Castle Herald, 6 November 1918, page 1.

112“No Danger Lurks in Ban Lifting, Dr. Steen Thinks,” New Castle Herald, 9 November 1918, page 2.

113“All Churches Open Sunday,” New Castle News, 11 November 1918, Second Extra, page 6.

114Ibid.

115“Ban Will Be Continued,” New Castle News, 7 November 1918, page 10.

116“Ban Raised Friday Noon,” New Castle Herald, 14 November 1918, page 3.

117“Ban Is Lifted; Schools Start; Services Sunday,” New Castle Herald, 18 November 1918, page 3.

118“Seventy-Four New Influenza Cases,” New Castle Herald, 18 November 1918, page 1.

119“Influenza Is On Increase,” New Castle Herald, 18 November 1918, page 3.

120“Ban May Again Be Placed On In City For The Flu,” New Castle Herald, 19 November 1918, page 1.

121“Influenza Now Gaining Here,” New Castle Herald, 19 November 1918, page 2.

122“To Placard Flu Homes Immediately,” New Castle News, 20 November 1918, page 1.

123“Discussing Local Flu Ban,” New Castle News, 22 November 1918, page 1.

124“Order Flu Ban in City,” New Castle News, 23 November 1918, page 10.

125“148 Cases Report for Two Days; Quarantine in Effect in City,” New Castle Herald, 25 November 1918, page 1.

126“Proclamation Issued Today by Dr. Pollock,” New Castle Herald, 30 November 1918, pages 1-2.

127“Action on Ban Lifting to Be Had Saturday,” New Castle Herald, 6 December 1918, page 1.

128“Stores May Be Asked to Shut Tonight,” New Castle Herald, 7 December 1918, page 1.

129“Stores to Remain Open During Day But Must Close in Evening,” New Castle Herald, 9 December 1918, page 1.

130Ibid., page 2.

131“Councilmen Meeting This Afternoon for Influenza Ban Action,” New Castle News, 13 December 1918, pages 1, 5.

132“In Religious and Fraternal Circles,” New Castle News, 14 December 1918, page 3.

133“Services to Resume,” New Castle Herald, 17 December 1918, page 15; see also “Mid-Week Prayer Service,” New Castle Herald, 18 December 1918, page 9.

134“Allentown's Measles Epidemic Assuming Enormous Proportions,” The Morning Call, 18 June 1918, page 5.

135“City Faces Strict Quarantine Again,” The Allentown Democrat, 22 June 1918, page 5.

136“General Quarantine Placed on City in Effort to Stop Spread of Measles,” The Allentown Democrat, 2 July 1918, page 5.

137“Quarantine Hits Sunday Schools Hard,” The Morning Call, 8 July 1918, page 5.

138“Quarantine Veil Lifts from City at 9 AM,” The Morning Call, 22 July 1918, page 7.

139“Children by the Thousands Swarmed the Playgrounds,” The Morning Call, 23 July 1918, page 5.

140“Health Officials Hold Conference,” The Allentown Democrat, 29 September 1918, page 5.

141“Council Takes Heed of Spanish Influenza,” The Allentown Democrat, 30 September 1918, page 5.

142“J. L. Keiser,” The Morning Call, 1 October 1918, page 11; “Harvey S. Diehl Victim of Spanish Influenza,” The Morning Call, 2 October 1918, page 12.

143“May Take Drastic Action to Combat Spanish Influenza,” The Morning Call, 2 October 1918, page 5.

144“Quarantine for City Possibility,” The Allentown Democrat, 2 October 1918, page 5.

145Advertisement in The Morning Call, 2 October 1918, page 6; advertisement in The Allentown Democrat, 2 October 1918, page 12.

146“All Places of Amusement and Saloons Must Be Closed,” The Morning Call, 4 October 1918, page 5.

147“Drastic Health Board Order Closes Places of Amusement and Saloons in Pennsylvania,” The Morning Call, 4 October 1918, page 1.

148“All Places of Amusement and Saloons Must Be Closed,” The Morning Call, 4 October 1918, page 5.

149C. D. Strauss and J. Treichler Butz, order, in The Morning Call, 7 October 1918, page 5.

150“Closing Order Goes into Effect at Midnight Tonight in Allentown,” The Allentown Democrat, 5 October 1918, page 5.

151“Quarantine in Allentown in Effect at Midnight,” The Morning Call, 5 October 1918, page 5.

152“Sunday Services in Churches of City and County,” The Morning Call, 5 October 1918, page 12.

153“State Quarantine on Tight to Guard Against Influenza,” The Morning Call, 7 October 1918, page 5.

154Ibid.

155“Northampton Borough's Quarantine Regulations,” The Morning Call, 7 October 1918, page 5.

156“Quarantine Duration Dependent on Community,” The Morning Call, 5 October 1918, page 6.

157“Quarantine Orders in Full Effect in Allentown,” The Morning Call, 8 October 1918, page 5.

158Ibid.

159“Strict Enforcement of Closing Order Throughout City and County,” The Allentown Democrat, 8 October 1918, page 5.

160“Schools of City Closed on Account of Influenza Menace,” The Morning Call, 9 October 1918, page 5.

161“Fullerton Church Decides to Close,” The Morning Call, 9 October 1918, page 2.

162“Churches Not to Be Closed as Yet Decided,” The Morning Call, 10 October 1918, page 5.

163Ibid.

164“Churches Continue Open; Some Will Be Closed,” The Morning Call, 11 October 1918, page 5.

165“Church and Sunday School Services Dispensed With,” The Morning Call, 12 October 1918, page 5.

166“Rules of Decency for Open Air Services,” The Morning Call, 18 October 1918, page 6.

167“Open Air Catholic Services of Two Local Churches,” The Morning Call, 12 October 1918, page 5.

168“Sunday Community Worship on Centre Square,” The Morning Call, 12 October 1918, page 5.

169“With Churches Closed, Open Air Service Ruled,” The Morning Call, 14 October 1918, page 10.

170“Rules of Decency for Open Air Services,” The Morning Call, 18 October 1918, page 6.

171“No Abatement in Influenza Situation,” The Morning Call, 15 October 1918, page 5.

172“104 Influenza Cases Added Here Yesterday,” The Morning Call, 17 October 1918, page 2.

173“Baptisms by Rev. Sell,” The Morning Call, 17 October 1918, page 7.

174“Sunday Worship on Center Square,” The Morning Call, 19 October 1918, page 5.

175“Splendid Service on Centre Square,” The Morning Call, 21 October 1918, page 5.

176“Allentown Hospital Woefully Overcrowded,” The Morning Call, 21 October 1918, page 5.

177“No Dimunition in Influenza Cases,” The Morning Call, 24 October 1918, page 5.

178“Grace Lutheran Church's Open Air Services,” The Morning Call, 25 October 1918, page 5.

179“Influenza Epidemic Here Worse Than Ever,” The Morning Call, 26 October 1918, page 5.

180“Bishop Heil Will Preach on Centre Square,” The Morning Call, 26 October 1918, page 5.

181“Sermon by Bishop Heil at Community Service,” The Morning Call, 28 October 1918, page 1.

182“Council Favors Removal of Quarantine,” The Morning Call, 28 October 1918, page 2.

183“High Mortality Rate Due to Influenza,” The Morning Call, 29 October 1918, page 5.

184“Quarantine Ban Continues Indefinitely,” The Morning Call, 30 October 1918, page 5.

185“Dist. Attorney W. K. Miller Influenza Victim Yesterday,” The Morning Call, 31 October 1918, page 5.

186“Quarantine Is Lifted, Effective Wednesday,” The Morning Call, 1 November 1918, page 5.

187Ibid.

188“Quarantine Is Lifted, Effective Wednesday,” The Morning Call, 1 November 1918, page 18.

189“Influenza Reports Show Improvement,” The Morning Call, 2 November 1918, page 5.

190“Sunday Services in Churches of City and County,” The Morning Call, 2 November 1918, page 9.

191“Services Resumed in Churches Yesterday,” The Morning Call, 4 November 1918, page 5.

192“No Service,” The Morning Call, 2 November 1918, page 5.

193“No Services Tomorrow,” The Morning Call, 2 November 1918, page 5.

194“Spanish Influenza Gets Hold on City,” Lancaster New Era, 17 September 1918, page 1.

195“100 Cases of Spanish Influenza; Man Dies,” The Lancaster Examiner, 28 September 1918, page 3.

196“Borough Physicians Kept Busy,” The Lancaster Examiner, 2 October 1918, page 4.

197“Lieut. Thos. R. Ferguson, of Medical Corps, Victim of the Spanish Influenza,” Lancaster New Era, 2 October 1918, page 1.

198“Ship Building Plants Brought Influenza Here,” Lancaster New Era, 3 October 1918, page 1.

199“War Relics Brought Plague?”, Lancaster Examiner, 19 October 1918, page 7 – quotes an unnamed 'prominent Lancaster physician' as saying: “It was brought to America from European soldiers by returned soldiers, soldiers' mail, and war relics. … Remember when the United States Government war exhibit train was here with relics and souvenirs from the battle front? Did you notice how the crowds flocked to the train? That exhibit was found in every large city in the East. In my opinion, it was one of the carriers of the influenza germ. It was soon after that train was in Lancaster that the first case was discovered here. I have heard from men in my profession in other cities and often they agree with me that the war exhibits and relics are responsible in a large measure for the spread of the disease.”

200“100 Cases of Spanish Influenza; Man Dies,” The Lancaster Examiner, 28 September 1918, page 3.

201“County Fair Filled in All Departments; Kiddies On Hand Today,” Lancaster New Era, 1 October 1918, page 1; “Women's Exhibit Big Feature of County Fair,” Lancaster New Era, 2 October 1918, page 7; “Big Thursday at the County Fair Attracting the Usual Great Crowd,” Lancaster New Era, 3 October 1918, page 1.

202“Columbia Hospital Quarantined,” The Lancaster Examiner, 2 October 1918, page 1.

203“Obituary Notes,” Lancaster Inquirer, 5 October 1918, page 4.

204“Seminary Classes Closed by Epidemic,” Lancaster New Era, 2 October 1918, page 1.

205“Ship Building Plants Brought Influenza Here,” Lancaster New Era, 3 October 1918, page 1.

206“Local Health Board Closes All Places of Public Gathering,” Lancaster New Era, 4 October 1918, page 1.

207Ibid.

208“Board of Health Orders Closed All Public Places and Public Gatherings,” Lancaster New Era, 4 October 1918, page 1.

209“Board of Health Acts on 'Flu' Epidemic,” Lancaster Examiner, 5 October 1918, page 1.

210“Health Order Being Strictly Carried Out by Lancaster People,” Lancaster New Era, 5 October 1918, pages 1-2.

211“Everything Closed in Quarryville,” Lancaster New Era, 5 October 1918, page 2; see also “Quarryville Closed Tight by Epidemic,” Lancaster New Era, 7 October 1918, page 2.

212“Mt. Joy Takes Step to Stop Influenza,” The News-Journal [Lancaster], 5 October 1918, page 5.

213“Two Hundred Cases in Lititz Borough,” Lancaster New Era, 8 October 1918, page 2; see also “Lititz Is Hard Struck,” Lititz Record, 10 October 1918, page 1.

214“Ephrata Responds to Spirit of Order,” Lancaster New Era, 5 October 1918, page 2.

215“Ephrata Observes the Health Order,” Lancaster New Era, 7 October 1918, page 8.

216“A Very Quiet Sunday,” New Holland Clarion, 12 October 1918, page 1.

217“Spring Garden,” New Holland Clarion, 12 October 1918, page 2; “Denver,” New Holland Clarion, 12 October 1918, page 3; “Goodville,” New Holland Clarion, 12 October 1918, page 3; “California,” New Holland Clarion, 12 October 1918, page 5.

218“Columbia Borough Rules Against Epidemic,” Lancaster New Era, 5 October 1918, page 2.

219“A War Necessity,” Lancaster New Era, 5 October 1918, page 4.

220Ibid.

221“Epidemic Resume,” Lancaster New Era, 7 October 1918, page 1; “3,000 Cases of Spanish 'Flu' Afflict the City,” Lancaster New Era, 7 October 1918, page 1.

222“Death of William Lindley,” Lancaster New Era, 5 October 1918, page 2.

223“A Military Student Dies of Influenza,” Lancaster New Era, 5 October 1918, page 2.

224“Dr. John W. Kinard A Victim of Pneumonia,” Lancaster New Era, 7 October 1918, pages 1-2.

225“Death of Paul L. Berkheiser,” Lancaster New Era, 7 October 1918, page 2.

226“Death of James M. Stark,” Lancaster New Era, 7 October 1918, page 2.

227“Death of Charles Rehm,” Lancaster New Era, 7 October 1918, page 2.

228“Death of Miss Catharine Wilson,” Lancaster New Era, 7 October 1918, page 2.

229“Epidemic of 'Flu' Not Yet at Crest; More Cases Reported,” Lancaster New Era, 8 October 1918, page 1.

230“Epidemic Advice By the Board of Health,” Lancaster New Era, 8 October 1918, page 2.

231“Paul Petry Another Influenza Victim,” Lititz Record, 10 October 1918, page 1; “Chester G. Spickler Dead,” Lititz Record, 10 October 1918, page 1; “Influenza and Pneumonia Takes Charles Loerchler,” Lititz Record, 10 October 1918, page 1.

232“3,000 Cases of 'Flu' Reported in City,” Lancaster Examiner, 9 October 1918, page 3.

233“No Cause for Alarm Over the Influenza, Says Health Board,” Lancaster New Era, 9 October 1918, page 1.

234“891 New Cases of 'Flu' Are Reported in City,” Lancaster Examiner, 9 October 1918, page 1; “3,692 Cases of 'Flu' So Far Reported to Local Health Board,” Lancaster New Era, 10 October 1918, page 1.

235“Estimate of Cases in Ephrata Borough,” Lancaster New Era, 9 October 1918, page 2.

236“Two Hundred Cases in Lititz Borough,” Lancaster New Era, 8 October 1918, page 2; see then also “The Situation in Lititz,” Lancaster New Era, 10 October 1918, page 13.

237“200 Cases Around Quarryville,” Lancaster New Era, 8 October 1918, page 2.

238“The News from Columbia,” Lancaster Examiner, 9 October 1918, page 2.

239“3,692 Cases of 'Flu' So Far Reported to Local Health Board,” Lancaster New Era, 10 October 1918, page 13.

240“All Stores to Close at Six PM Saturday, Says Health Board,” Lancaster New Era, 11 October 1918, page 2; see also “Stores Must Close on Saturday at 6 PM,” Lancaster Examiner, 12 October 1918, page 1.

241Ibid.

242“Stay At Home Sunday,” Lancaster New Era, 11 October 1918, page 2.

243“Kissing Spreads 'Flu' Germs,” Lancaster Examiner, 12 October 1918, page 3.

244“Lancaster City to Be Closed Up Tight Tonight and Sunday,” Lancaster New Era, 12 October 1918, page 1; see also “Deaths from 'Flu' on Increase in City,” Lancaster Examiner, 16 October 1918, page 7: “No church in the city will be opened either for public or private services on Sunday. The discrimination was made this afternoon because of a request coming from Monsignor Anthony F. Kaul in behalf of the Catholics of the city. Rev. Kaul argued that the request, which has been defined as an order by the local board in which the State department has asked all churches to be closed, contained nothing against private worship. The board, however, failed to follow Rev. Kaul's thought and refused to grant permission to have any churches for either public or private services.”

245“Ephrata,” Lancaster New Era, 11 October 1918, page 10.

246“Akron,” Lancaster New Era, 11 October 1918, page 14.

247“School Notes,” Lancaster Inquirer, 12 October 1918, page 4.

248“Foot Ball Schedules Disarranged by 'Flu,'” Lancaster New Era, 12 October 1918, page 6. See also “Lititz Lads, Hit by 'Flu,' Call Off Grid. Contest,” Lancaster New Era, 14 October 1918, page 6.

249“Spanish Influenza,” New Holland Clarion, 12 October 1918, page 1.

250“Many Victims,” Lancaster Inquirer, 12 October 1918, pages 1, 8.

251“Spanish Influenza Laid Thousands Low,” Lancaster Inquirer, 12 October 1918, page 1.

252“Coffin Shortage Here,” Lancaster Examiner, 12 October 1918, page 4.

253“New Cases of 'Flu' in City Show Decline,” Lancaster Examiner, 12 October 1918, page 7.

254Ibid.

255“Suggestions for a Churchless Sunday,” Lancaster New Era, 12 October 1918, page 12.

256E.g., “Quarryville Borough Feels the Epidemic,” Lancaster New Era, 14 October 1918, page 3; “Situation at Quarryville,” Lancaster Examiner, 16 October 1918, page 5; and “Deaths from 'Flu' on Increase in City,” Lancaster Examiner, 16 October 1918, page 7: “No church in the city will be opened either for public or private services on Sunday.”

257“City Closed Up Tight as a Preventive to Check the Epidemic,” Lancaster New Era, 14 October 1918, page 1.

258“Flu in 2,000 City Homes; 6,000 Persons Ill; Factories and Stores Are Ordered Closed,” Lancaster Examiner, 16 October 1918, page 5.

259“Amy Althea Baxter,” Lancaster Examiner, 16 October 1918, page 2; “Amy Althea Baxter,” New Holland Clarion, 19 October 1918, page 2.

260“Spring Garden,” New Holland Clarion, 19 October 1918, mentions that “Harry and Dwight Baxter, who are sick with influenza, are somewhat improved at this writing.”

261I. H. Weaver, resolution, in “Commerce Body Backs Up Action of Board of Health,” Lancaster New Era, 14 October 1918, page 2; also in “Chamber of Commerce Approves,” Lancaster Examiner, 16 October 1918, page 5.

262“Flu in 2,000 City Homes; 6,000 Persons Ill; Factories and Stores Are Ordered Closed,” Lancaster Examiner, 16 October 1918, page 5.

263“Business Places Can Reopen Wednesday,” Lancaster New Era, 14 October 1918, page 2; “Stores and Factories to Open on Wednesday,” Lancaster Examiner, 16 October 1918, page 5.

264“Health Board Urges Isolation of City,” Lancaster Examiner, 16 October 1918, page 5.

265“Stand by the Health Board,” editorial, Lancaster New Era, 14 October 1918, page 4.

266Gov. Martin G. Brumbaugh, et al., “To the Citizens of Pennsylvania,” in Lancaster New Era, 14 October 1918, page 6.

267“Dr. W. H. Daniels Pneumonia Victim,” Lancaster New Era, 15 October 1918, page 3.

268“Business Resumed Wednesday,” Lancaster New Era, 15 October 1918, page 1.

269“General Hospital Filled to Capacity,” Lancaster New Era, 15 October 1918, page 3.

270“New Holland Stores Closed; Re-Open Today,” Lancaster New Era, 15 October 1918, page 2.

271“Situation Still Acute in Columbia Borough,” Lancaster New Era, 15 October 1918, page 2.

272Lancaster Ministerial Association, statement, in “Ministers of the City Are Doing Their Duty,” Lancaster New Era, 15 October 1918, page 2; also in “Ministers Offer Services,” Lancaster Examiner, 16 October 1918, page 10.

273Lancaster Ministerial Association, statement, in “A Message for the Hour from the Churches,” Lancaster New Era, 15 October 1918, page 3; also in “Message from the Ministers,” Lancaster Examiner, 16 October 1918, page 10.

274“Death of Rev. Father Ludes,” Lancaster Examiner, 16 October 1918, page 3.

275“Influenza Epidemic on Wane, Says Daily Health Board Report,” Lancaster New Era, 16 October 1918, page 2.

276“Wants 'On Approval' Practice Held Up During Epidemic,” Lancaster New Era, 16 October 1918, page 2.

277“Deaths from Influenza on the Decline in City,” Lancaster Examiner, 16 October 1918, pages 1, 6.

278“Influenza Epidemic on Wane, Says Daily Health Board Report,” Lancaster New Era, 16 October 1918, page 2.

279“Pneumonia,” editorial, Lancaster New Era, 16 October 1918, page 4.

280“Don't Get Scared,” editorial, Lancaster Examiner, 16 October 1918, page 4.

281“The Closing of the Churches,” editorial, Lancaster Examiner, 16 October 1918, page 4.

282“Medical Officers Here from Camp Crane to Aid in Influenza,” Lancaster New Era, 17 October 1918, page 2.

283“Epidemic is Still Prevalent in Lititz,” Lancaster New Era, 17 October 1918, page 3; “The Situation in Columbia,” Lancaster New Era, 17 October 1918, page 3.

284“Ephrata Health Board Meeting,” Lancaster New Era, 16 October 1918, page 3.

285“Ephrata Continues the Closing Order,” Lancaster New Era, 18 October 1918, page 7.

286Harold E. Schmaus, Allen G. Nye, and David R. Workman, open letter, in “A Note to Friends from Paradise Pastors,” Lancaster New Era, 18 October 1918, page 9.

287“The Situation in Marietta,” Lancaster New Era, 19 October 1918, page 3.

288“Worse Scourge Ever Known Here,” Lancaster Inquirer, 19 October 1918, page 1.

289“Influenza's Grip Keeps a Firm Hold,” New Holland Clarion, 19 October 1918, page 1.

290“Store Schedule for Saturday and Sunday,” Lancaster Examiner, 19 October 1918, page 1; “Week-End Schedule for the City Stores,” Lancaster New Era, 19 October 1918, page 7.

291“All Schools to Remain Closed,” Lancaster New Era, 19 October 1918, page 2.

292“The Too Autocratic Power,” editorial, Lancaster Examiner, 19 October 1918, page 4.

293Naibeau, “Observations and Reflections,” Lancaster New Era, 19 October 1918, page 4.

294Lancaster Ministerial Association, statement, in “A Message from the Churches to the People of Lancaster,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 19 October 1918, page 6; also in “A Message from the Churches to the People of Lancaster,” Lancaster New Era, 19 October 1918, page 10. See also the comments in response in “The Old God and the New God,” editorial, Lancaster Examiner, 23 October 1918, page 4.

295“Chimes to Ring for Church in the Home,” Lancaster New Era, 19 October 1918, page 2.

296“Sweet Hour of Prayer,” Lancaster New Era, 21 October 1918, page 4.

297Ibid.

298George Israel Browne, open letter, in “Rev. Browne to Observe the Sacrament Alone on Sunday Morning,” Lancaster New Era, 19 October 1918, page 10.

299Ibid.

300“Deaths from 'Flu' on Increase in City,” Lancaster Examiner, 16 October 1918, page 7.

301“Pro-German Preacher on Rack Today,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 19 October 1918, page 1; “Force Solves Loan Problem for Minister,” Lancaster Examiner, 19 October 1918, pages 1, 6; “Rev. Schmieder Will Live in Philadelphia,” Lancaster Examiner, 23 October 1918, page 3.

302“Placard Informs on Liberty Loan Card Tamperer,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 23 October 1918, page 1; “'Liberty' Stricken from Loan Flag Shown in German Pastor's Windows,” Lancaster Examiner, 23 October 1918, page 1.

303“Mistaken for Slacker,” Lancaster Examiner, 23 October 1918, page 6.

304“Modern Ku Klux Klan Organized to Get Slackers,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 22 October 1918, pages 1-2. But see also the direct activities of Campaign Committees elsewhere, as in Washington County where one threatened to tar and feather anyone who refused to purchase a Liberty Loan – see “Tar and Feathers and Loan,” Lancaster Examiner, 19 October 1918, page 10.

305“War Contributions Must Be Obtained Without Illegal Means,” Lancaster New Era, 23 October 1918, pages 1-2. But then see also “Penna. C of ND Will Have No Ku Klux Klan Here,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 23 October 1918, page 1, and an anonymous letter to the editor, “On Ku Klux Klans,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 24 October 1918, page 4.

306“Influenza Condition Improved Fifty Per Cent,” Lancaster New Era, 21 October 1918, page 2.

307Ibid. See also “Health Doctor Board Peeved by Citizen,” Lancaster Examiner, 23 October 1918, page 8.

308“Health Authorities Visit the Borough of Ephrata,” Lancaster New Era, 21 October 1918, page 3; “Quarryville Recovering from the Influenza,” Lancaster New Era, 21 October 1918, page 8.

309“Influenza Conditions Very Much Improved,” Lancaster New Era, 22 October 1918, page 2.

310Ibid.

311Ibid.

312“Churches Closed Next Sunday, Says Board,” Lancaster New Era, 23 October 1918, page 2; see also “'Flu' Situation Better But Not in Control,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 23 October 1918, page 1.

313“Notice to Members of St. Mary's Parish,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 23 October 1918, page 2.

314“Churches Closed Next Sunday, Says Board,” Lancaster New Era, 23 October 1918, page 2.

315“Schools and Churches May Be Opened Soon,” Lancaster Examiner, 23 October 1918, page 1.

316“'Flu' Death Rate Drops and the City Seems Safety Zone,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 23 October 1918, page 1.

317“City Merchants Favor 9 to 5:30 as Store Hours,” Lancaster Examiner, 26 October 1918, page 4.

318“'Flu' Situation Anything But Satisfactory in County,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 24 October 1918, page 2.

319“But 64 Influenza Cases Reported Today,” Lancaster New Era, 24 October 1918, page 2.

320“Epidemic Subsiding in Ephrata Borough,” Lancaster New Era, 24 October 1918, page 2; “Influenza is Waning in Columbia Borough,” Lancaster New Era, 24 October 1918, page 3; “Columbia Reports Increase in Numbers of Deaths, But Epidemic Is Subsiding,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 25 October 1918, page 2.

321“Situation at Terre Hill,” Lancaster New Era, 24 October 1918, page 3; “Marietta Suffers from Epidemic,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 25 October 1918, page 2.

322“Farmers Have Felt Influenza Epidemic,” Lancaster New Era, 24 October 1918, page 10.

323“'Flu' Situation Better But Death Rate Belies Report,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 25 October 1918, page 2.

324“Health Board in Very Lively Tilt,” Lancaster New Era, 25 October 1918, page 2.

325“The 'Flu' Situation Improves; Everything As Usual Oct. 30,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 26 October 1918, page 1.

326“Stores Close At 6 PM Saturday,” Lancaster New Era, 25 October 1918, page 1.

327“Influenza Under Control,” New Holland Clarion, 26 October 1918, page 4.

328Lancaster Ministerial Association, statement “Be Of Good Cheer: A Heartening Word from the Church,” in Lancaster New Era, 26 October 1918, page 8, and in Lancaster Intelligencer, 26 October 1918, page 7.

329G. R. Mergenthaler and G. F. Schaum, “A Message to the Bethany UE Members,” Lancaster New Era, 26 October 1918, page 8; “Bethany UE Church,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 26 October 1918, page 7.

330“Mount Joy,” Lancaster New Era, 25 October 1918, page 9; “Terre Hill,” Lancaster New Era, 25 October 1918, page 12; “No Prospects Yet for Reopening,” New Holland Clarion, 26 October 1918, page 7.

331“Church Bells to Call People to a Worship at Home,” Lancaster New Era, 26 October 1918, page 8; “Church Bells to Ring,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 26 October 1918, page 7.

332“St. John's Episcopal Church,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 25 October 1918, page 6; “The Sacrament at St. John's Church,” Lancaster New Era, 26 October 1918, page 8.

333“Call the Lutherans to Home Worship,” Lancaster New Era, 26 October 1918, page 8; “Church Bells to Ring for Services in the Homes,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 26 October 1918, page 7.

334“Protest Attitude of Health Chief Royer on the Local Ban,” Lancaster New Era, 28 October 1918, page 1. On Philadelphia, see “Philadelphia Lifts Ban,” Lancaster Examiner, 26 October 1918, page 1.

335Ibid.

336“Little Change in the Flu Epidemic,” Lancaster New Era, 18 October 1918, page 2; see also “Health Board to Sue Dealers for Extortion,” Lancaster Examiner, 19 October 1918, page 1.

337“Judge Landis Says Closing of Saloons Is Without Law,” Lancaster Examiner, 19 October 1918, page 7.

338“Protest Attitude of Health Chief Royer on the Local Ban,” Lancaster New Era, 28 October 1918, page 2.

339“War to a Finish Between Board of Health and Royer,” Lancaster New Era, 29 October 1918, page 2.

340“Health Board to Stand By Its Order Lifting Flu Ban,” Lancaster New Era, 29 October 1918, page 2.

341“Resolution Adopted By Board of Health,” Lancaster New Era, 29 October 1918, page 1.

342“Health Board to Stand By Its Order Lifting Flu Ban,” Lancaster New Era, 29 October 1918, page 2.

343“'Ban Will Not Be Lifted in Lancaster Tomorrow': Royer,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 29 October 1918, page 2.

344“State Health Board Sends Officers Here to Warn Liquor Men,” Lancaster New Era, 30 October 1918, page 1.

345Ibid., page 2.

346“Royer Praises Theatre Men; Scores 'Jelly-Fish' Action of the Board of Health,” Lancaster New Era, 30 October 1918, page 1.

347“State Health Board Sends Officers Here to Warn Liquor Men,” Lancaster New Era, 30 October 1918, page 2.

348“Royer Praises the Local Theatre Men,” Lancaster New Era, 30 October 1918, page 2.

349“Many City Churches to Hold Midweek Service,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 29 October 1918, page 3.

350“Prayer Service Resumed,” Lancaster New Era, 30 October 1918, page 3.

351“'Hotel Men Who Open Saloons Today Will Be Prosecuted,' Royer,” The News-Journal, 31 October 1918, page 1.

352“Influenza,” The News-Journal, 31 October 1918, page 3.

353“Ban at Ephrata Will Be Lifted,” Lancaster New Era, 30 October 1918, page 3.

354F. S. Klinger, letter to editor, in “Says Ephrata Board Did Not Lift Ban,” Lancaster New Era, 31 October 1918, page 3.

355B. Franklin Royer, notice issued 30 October 1918, in “Royer Will Prosecute Local Liquor Dealers Who Keep Doors Open,” Lancaster New Era, 31 October 1918, page 3.

356“Library to Open,” The News-Journal [Lancaster], 31 October 1918, page 12.

357“Royer Will Prosecute Local Liquor Dealers Who Keep Doors Open,” Lancaster New Era, 31 October 1918, page 3.

358“Plans Ready to Prosecute 17 Saloonmen,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 31 October 1918, pages 1-2.

359“Health Board Answers Unjust and Untruthful Criticism of Dr. Royer,” Lancaster New Era, 31 October 1918, pages 1, 9.

360“A Few Saloons Obeyed Order of Dr. Royer,” The News-Journal [Lancaster], 1 November 1918, page 1.

361“No Hallowe'en Carnival,” Lancaster New Era, 23 October 1918, page 3; “War and Flu Kill Hallowe'en,” Lancaster Examiner, 26 October 1918, page 4.

362“No Hallowe'en Carnival,” Lancaster New Era, 31 October 1918, page 2.

363“Hallowe'en Was Strangely Quiet in This City,” The News-Journal [Lancaster], 1 November 1918, page 16.

364“A Quiet Hallowe'en,” Lancaster New Era, 1 November 1918, page 15.

365“Religious,” Lancaster New Era, 31 October 1918, page 2.

366J. M. Shirk, letter to the editor, in “A Physician Advises During Epidemic Season,” Lancaster New Era, 31 October 1918, page 8.

367“Heavy Toll Taken Here by Flu Revealed by Figures,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 5 November 1918, page 1.

368“Royer's Drastic Action Not Carried Out,” Lancaster Examiner, 2 November 1918, page 6.

369“More Barrooms Open,” Lancaster New Era, 1 November 1918, page 2.

370“Now Up to Royer to Bring Action,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 1 November 1918, page 1.

371“St. Mary's Catholic,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 29 October 1918, page 3.

372“All Saints Day in St. John's Episcopal,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 31 October 1918, page 6.

373“Choir Resumes Rehearsals,” Lancaster New Era, 31 October 1918, page 3; “Choir Rehearsal,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 31 October 1918, page 9.

374Benjamin Franklin Royer, “Proclamation of Quarantine on the City of Lancaster,” The News-Journal, 2 November 1918, page 1.

375“People May Neither Enter or Leave City, Says Drastic Order; Confusion Now Reigns Supreme,” The News-Journal, 2 November 1918, page 1.

376“Quarantine,” The News-Journal, 2 November 1918, page 14.

377Ibid.

378“Royer's 'Lawless' Launch Counterattack on Him,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 2 November 1918, page 1.

379“Royer's Round-Up Ropes Turnpikes,” Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 2.

380“Quarantine,” The News-Journal, 2 November 1918, page 14.

381“City Fathers Discuss Order, Without Acting,” The News-Journal, 2 November 1918, page 14.

382Ibid.

383James Shand, quoted in “People May Neither Enter or Leave City, Says Drastic Order; Confusion Now Reigns Supreme,” The News-Journal, 2 November 1918, page 1.

384“Royer's 'Lawless,'” Lancaster Intelligencer, 2 November 1918, page 2; see also “Pennsy Station Deserted; Out-of-Town War Workers Can't Get Out of the Town,” Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 3.

385Benjamin Franklin Royer, order, in “Traction Co. Can Haul War Workers,” Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 2; see also “Munitions Workers Freed From Ban,” Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 2.

386“Dr. Apple Protests,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 2 November 1918, page 2. See also “Quarantine Ruling Bans Football Fray,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 2 November 1918, page 8.

387“City Takes Prompt Steps to Upset Royer's Drastic Ban,” Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 2.

388Ibid.

389“Royer's 'Lawless,'” Lancaster Intelligencer, 2 November 1918, page 2.

390Lancaster Board of Health, resolutions, in “Board of Health Replies to Royer with Resolutions,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 2 November 1918, pages 1-2.

391“City Takes Prompt Steps to Upset Royer's Drastic Ban,” Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 2.

392“Royer's Round-Up Ropes Turnpikes,” Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 2.

393“Dr. Royer's Ban on Lancaster Lasted But Very Short Time,” Lancaster New Era, 4 November 1918, page 3.

394“Medical Inspector for County Quits Because of Royer,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 2 November 1918, page 1. Dr. Mowery's former assistant medical inspector Dr. C. Howard Witmer was expected to take the position next, but he ultimately refused to serve under Dr. Royer's authority, believing Dr. Royer had some underhanded political motive at play – see Dr. Witmer's message to Dr. Royer, excerpted in “Dr. Witmer Refuses To Take Position of Medical Inspector,” Lancaster New Era, 4 November 1918, page 2. The role would eventually fall to Dr. Royer's own right-hand man Dr. Thomas A. H. Stites – see “Dr. Thomas Stites Medical Inspector,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 6 November 1918, page 1.

395“Court Grants an Injunction on Dr. B. F. Royer,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 2 November 1918, page 1. See also the text of the bill in equity taken out by Mayor Trout and the City Council – “The Bill in Equity,” Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 2.

396“City Takes Prompt Steps to Upset Royer's Drastic Ban,” Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 2.

397Benjamin Franklin Royer, “Proclamation of Quarantine on the City of Lancaster,” The News-Journal, 2 November 1918, page 1.

398“Royer's Round-Up Ropes Turnpikes,” Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 2.

399“City Takes Prompt Steps to Upset Royer's Drastic Ban,” Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 1.

400“Court Grants an Injunction on Dr. B. F. Royer,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 2 November 1918, page 2.

401“Lawlessness Runs to Seed, Brings Shame on County,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 2 November 1918, page 1. See also their editorials “What To Do About It” and “When Justice is Dead,” both in Lancaster Intelligencer, 2 November 1918, page 4.

402“Marsitis,” editorial, Lancaster Examiner, 2 November 1918, page 4.

403“The One-Day Quarantine,” editorial, The News-Journal, 4 November 1918, page 4.

404“Intended to Show Lancaster What His Authority Is,” Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 1.

405E.g., in the title given to “Czar Royer's Proclamation,” Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 2.

406“An Unwarranted Attack,” editorial, Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 1.

407“What To Do About It,” editorial, Lancaster Intelligencer, 2 November 1918, page 4.

408“Was It Political Conspiracy?”, editorial, Lancaster New Era, 4 November 1918, page 4.

409“Dr. Royer's Ban on Lancaster Lasted But Very Short Time,” Lancaster New Era, 4 November 1918, page 1.

410Ibid., page 3.

411Ibid.

412Ibid.

413“Go to Church,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 2 November 1918, page 10.

414Untitled snippet, Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 12.

415Assorted snippets, Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 12.

416“Rev. Sieger Occupies His Pulpit Sunday,” Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 12; see also “Two Flags Presented to Emmanuel Church,” Lancaster New Era, 4 November 1918, page 3.

417“First Reformed Will Take All Precautions,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 2 November 1918, page 10; see also “Will Keep Windows of Church Open,” Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 12.

418J. E. Whittaker, D.D., “An Appeal To Christians,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 2 November 1918, page 10; also printed, without attribution, as “A Pastor's Appeal To A Christian People,” Lancaster New Era, 2 November 1918, page 12.

419“Church Services to Be Resumed,” New Holland Clarion, 2 November 1918, page 1; “First Sermons on Sunday,” New Holland Clarion, 2 November 1918, page 4.

420“Services Resumed in Churches of Columbia as Grip Subsides,” The News-Journal, 4 November 1918, page 5.

421“Mountville Churches Open – Schools Today,” The News Journal, 4 November 1918, page 5.

422“Royer's Ban on City Lifted By Court,” The News-Journal, 4 November 1918, page 1.

423“Royer Decides to Push Order in Pittsburgh,” The News-Journal, 4 November 1918, page 10.

424“Royer Denounces the Action Taken by Judge Landis,” Lancaster New Era, 4 November 1918, page 1; “Dr. Royer Raps Lancaster Officials,” The News-Journal, 5 November 1918, page 1.

425“Royer's Action a Disgrace to the Fair Name of the State,” Lancaster New Era, 4 November 1918, page 2.

426“Dr. Royer Raps Lancaster Officials,” The News-Journal, 5 November 1918, page 14.

427“Catholic Parishes to Aid Big Drive,” Lancaster New Era, 5 November 1918, page 3.

428“General Hospital Nurse Flu Victim,” Lancaster New Era, 5 November 1918, page 1; “Miss Violetta Groff,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 5 November 1918, page 2.

429“County Gave Sproul A Substantial Lead; Griest is Re-Elected,” The News-Journal, 6 November 1918, page 1; “Old Guard Rolls Up Great Majority for Native Son Sproul,” Lancaster New Era, 6 November 1918, page 1; “The Keystone State Will Give Sproul More Than 200,000,” Lancaster New Era, 6 November 1918, page 1; “GOP Victory in State Complete,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 6 November 1918, page 1.

430“The Old Guard Never Surrenders,” editorial, Lancaster New Era, 6 November 1918, page 4.

431“Sincerity in Politics,” editorial, Lancaster Intelligencer, 6 November 1918, page 4.

432“Catholic Sister Epidemic Victim Aiding the Poor,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 6 November 1918, page 1.

433“City Girls Credited for Fighting 'Flu,'” Lancaster Examiner, 6 November 1918, page 3.

434“City Extracts Health Commissioner's Claws,” Lancaster Examiner, 6 November 1918, page 3.

435“Physicians Discuss Influenza Epidemic,” The News-Journal, 7 November 1918, page 14.

436“Influenza's Reign,” Lancaster Inquirer, 9 November 1918, page 4.

437“Church Bells to Tell the Epidemic is Over,” The News-Journal, 9 November 1918, page 10.

438“Memorial Services in Marietta Churches; Celebration Planned,” The News-Journal, 11 November 1918, page 8.

439“Day of Prayer for Passing of Epidemic,” The News-Journal, 9 November 1918, page 14.

440“Go to Church,” Lancaster Intelligencer, 9 November 1918, page 9.

441“Worshippers in City Churches Offer Up Thanks for Peace,” Lancaster New Era, 10 November 1918, 4 O'Clock Extra, page 4.

442“All Souls' Day Observed by St. Anthony's Church,” The News-Journal, 11 November 1918, page 2.

443“Morning of Nov. 11 Historic One for Patriotic Lancaster,” Lancaster New Era, 11 November 1918, page 3.

Righteous!: Sermon on Proverbs 10-11

It wasn't a long trip for them to catch him. They were the posse formed by the high priest, determined to put the man to death. He spent his time in the temple courts, on his knees day and night in prayer for his people and their salvation. So it was a short trip. They got their hands on him, and gathered a crowd around. This time – the rare time between governors – was the high priest's best chance to pressure the man, through threat of death, to publicly renounce his teachings. And the man's reputation among his sect was so high – he was esteemed so righteous, and so committed to the Law – that it would surely break the back of the movement. But when they took the man to the nearest high wall, he would not recant. He kept proclaiming his commitment to this one they called Jesus, whom he'd grown up alongside. And so they pushed this 'Righteous One' over, and appointed men below grabbed their stones and pelted him. And before the day was done, 'James the Righteous' was with his Lord at last. Acts of the Apostles doesn't quite reach this end to his story – it only tells us he, James the brother of Jesus, was the leader of the church in Jerusalem, enjoying seniority there even over Peter and John. But as soon as we step beyond the New Testament, history tells us that James bore a nickname: 'James the Just,' or 'James the Righteous.' Over and over again, in the stories of his death, those who persecute him taunt him with just that reputation: “We and the whole people testify that you are righteous,” everyone addresses James as “Righteous One.” The word is unavoidable: 'Righteous.' What's that all about?

Throughout the Old Testament, the word 'righteous' or 'righteousness' shows up a lot. It's all over the place. It isn't a word we use as much today. Originally, it seems to have meant something that was straight – a straight line, as opposed to a crooked one; a straight stick, as opposed to a bent one. And from that, it came to mean anything that measured up to a norm, a standard – things that were and did exactly what they were supposed to be and do, like weights that weighed exactly what they said they did. So the word means 'rightness' – a thing meets its specifications, a thing measures up well against the standard, a thing functions properly as it was designed to do. Then that thing is 'right,' then that thing is 'righteous.' In the Bible, God is righteous because God himself is the standard for all being – everything he does matches who he is, he is “righteous in all his ways” (Psalm 145:17); and moreover, as he enters covenants with human beings, he proves that he keeps to their terms, is exactly who he promised to be, and so is the perfect example of righteousness. In particular, he is righteous as he vindicates his loyal covenant partners by coming to their defense when they call on him.

And just as the Bible lays out what it means for God to be righteous, so it lays out what it means for humans to be righteous. To be righteous is to be right – we meet our specifications as humans, we function properly as we were designed to do, we measure up well to the standard, we act according to a correct moral norm. And there's the ethical content of the word. To be righteous is to be upstanding, upright, well-integrated as a person, and virtuous according to a clear and correct morality, such that – if an investigation were done to see how closely the person measured up to that moral standard – they'd be pronounced innocent. A righteous person is one who follows the straight path of morality and measures up.

In the Law, the word shows up mainly in courtroom settings – Israel's judges aren't supposed to condemn the righteous (Exodus 23:7), but are supposed to be righteous in how they judge (Leviticus 19:15). The stories tell us that Noah was “a righteous man” (Genesis 6:9), and tell us that Tamar was 'more righteous' than Judah, that David was 'more righteous' than Saul, that Abner was 'more righteous' than Joab, while Job declares his own righteousness (Job 27:6). The opposite of being 'righteous' is being 'wicked' – rejecting the correct moral norms in practice, seeking your own advantage at others' expense, effectively malfunctioning as a moral agent and thus failing in light of the standard. The prophets exhort us to “keep justice and do righteousness” (Isaiah 56:1).

But the Proverbs take a different approach. They talk a lot about 'righteousness' and 'wickedness.' In fact, they explain that the whole reason they were collected – the reason they're found in a single book – is to give you “instruction in... righteousness” (Proverbs 1:3). Wisdom herself “walks in the way of righteousness” (Proverbs 8:20), and offers “righteousness” in her hand (Proverbs 8:18). So to receive wisdom from God will mean that “you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path” (Proverbs 2:9). But instead of these proverbs outright telling you what to do, they want you to understand why you should do it. So these proverbs, they take you under their wing and tell you about what it's like to either stick to the straight path or go careening off of it. They want you to see for yourself that righteousness is a worthwhile commitment.

The first thing they'll explain to you is that righteousness puts you in God's line of sight. One of the practical consequences of righteousness, Proverbs says, is positive divine attention. It says that “the way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD” – that is, God rejects, God is disgusted by, the lifestyles of those whose practice of life rejects close adherence to the correct moral norms, those who pursue immorality – but on the other hand, God “loves him who pursues righteousness” (Proverbs 15:9). God is pleased with, God is attached to, people whom he sees putting a priority on doing things the right way, morally speaking. Those who care about doing what's right, those who actively make the effort to do the right thing, those who accept the true standards of right and wrong – Proverbs says God loves to watch someone pour their effort into chasing that worthy goal.

Not just that, but Proverbs adds that “the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD” – that is, God gets no enjoyment out of costly ritual actions performed by those who won't live right – “but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him” (Proverbs 15:8). Proverbs goes so far as to say that “the LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous” (Proverbs 15:29). Contrast that with the proverb that says that “if one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination” (Proverbs 28:9)! That's a pretty shocking sentiment. If someone chooses to commit him- or herself to a way of living that's counter to what God says, if someone doesn't want to listen to God, then according to Proverbs, God isn't too keen to listen to them either. Their prayer, even their sacrifice, is disgusting, and God is a distant figure for the wicked. But for someone who lives the right way, someone who follows a properly functioning moral compass, God is near: he's listening to their prayers, and he finds them valuable. He finds a day in the life of a righteous person more valuable, more pleasing, than the kinds of gifts he was given in the temple courts: “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice” (Proverbs 21:3). Or as one of the psalms says, “The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, and his ears toward their cry” (Psalm 34:15; cf. 1 Peter 3:12). And like James says, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16).

Accordingly, God's positive attention shows favor toward those who live rightly according to the standards he has set. “Blessings are on the head of the righteous” (Proverbs 10:6), we're told – favors from God are like a crown that the righteous wear wherever they go. And we're even told, proverbially, that “the LORD does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked” (Proverbs 10:3). This general observation – it only holds universal force in the world to come, the world we're waiting for – suggests that God is intent on looking out for those who live rightly, watching their back, providing for them. Again, we know of times where that doesn't look true – Paul was righteous, yet says he was “often without food” (2 Corinthians 11:27) – but Proverbs aims to create a broader picture of God's determination to provide for those who live rightly.

A second practical consequence Proverbs sees in righteousness is security. We're told that “the righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness” (Proverbs 11:5). In other words, wicked living is self-destructive. And we can see examples of that throughout the world, all over, even in the lives of people we know! Those who reject correct moral norms, those who are hostile to God's standards for healthy human living, end up digging a bigger hole for themselves. As a French journalist once quipped as he watched revolutionaries tear the country he knew to the ground, “the revolution devours its children.” And so do our revolts against true morality: wickedness devours the wicked. But someone who keeps himself innocent, on the other hand – someone who values doing what's right and puts that into practice – will avoid a lot of pitfalls in the world. What's more, Proverbs suggests that righteous living yields security and stability – that “the righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land” (Proverbs 10:30). Just like the Canaanites couldn't stay after their wickedness polluted the promised land, so Proverbs warns that wicked means evicted, in the long-term. (Indeed, in the eternal term, we know this will be true!) And “when the tempest passes, the wicked are no more, but the righteous is established forever” (Proverbs 10:25). The storms of life are a lot tougher to weather if you haven't lived by a consistent and correct moral code. That, we might say, is like building a house on a foundation of loose sand – constantly shifting. It doesn't lead to stability. But on the other hand, someone who lives the right way, who measures up to the standard, have a firm foundation to build life on, and build it well. A wise person will build the house of his life on a rock, so that even when rain and flood and wind come, the house won't collapse – that's what being righteous is like (Matthew 7:24-25).

But we know that things don't always quite work out. The storms of life may not be able to collapse the house, but they can batter it up. And even the righteous sometimes find themselves in trouble. Proverbs suggests that a third practical consequence of righteousness is rescue, a mitigation of trouble and a way out of trouble. “The righteous is delivered from trouble, and the wicked walks into it instead” (Proverbs 11:8). “The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust” (Proverbs 11:6). “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death” (Proverbs 11:4; cf. 10:2). This doesn't mean that righteous people will never die, or never die before their time. James was righteous, and he was killed for it. It looked, for the moment, like his enemies had the upper hand. The psalms contemplate “wicked rulers” who “band together against the life of the righteous and condemn innocent blood” (Psalm 94:20-21). James himself, while still living, had chastised the rich for having “condemned and murdered the righteous person” who “does not resist you” (James 5:6). And yet, as a general rule, living consistently in the right way is a pathway out of life's pitfalls. Do the right thing, and even when trouble gets stirred up, the settling dust will usually see you vindicated in the end. Righteousness has rescue as a practical consequence.

And that's not all. As a fourth practical consequence of righteousness, Proverbs mentions satisfaction. “What the wicked dreads will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted” (Proverbs 10:24). As Proverbs pictures the righteous person, the righteous person's yearnings are for the right kinds of things. And in taking a long-term view, the righteous person's desires are ultimately granted – at least in what God has in store eternally, if not always in the near-term of this life. “The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish” (Proverbs 10:28). In the long term, living wickedly, living in rebellion against moral norms, living out of line with God's will, leads to shattered dreams and fearful consequences. Righteousness is the other way around. It can be costly and demanding now, but thanks to God's kindness, it will be rewarded. Or, as Proverbs says, “one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward” (Proverbs 11:18). And that reward is life, abundant life: “Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live” (Proverbs 11:19), “whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor” (Proverbs 21:21). “Disaster pursues sinners, but the righteous are rewarded with good” (Proverbs 13:21). Living rightly is – contrary to the lies of the world's lusts – a more satisfying way to live. That's what Proverbs is aiming to get across. There's more true liveliness in the steady pace of righteousness than in the cheap thrills of wickedness, even now: “The righteous is repaid on earth” (Proverbs 11:31). “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6).

And finally, Proverbs names a fifth practical consequence of righteousness: positive influence. While alive, Proverbs tells us, the presence of a righteous person is influential. “When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices; and when the wicked perish, there are shouts of gladness” (Proverbs 11:10). “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). Those who live rightly have an uplifting effect. Their presence is a leaven that makes community health rise. Cities and even whole nations have reason to celebrate the flourishing of righteous people: they build up the moral capital of the whole community.

And even after the righteous person has left the earthly scene, their influence and legacy will be treasured by those who benefited from it. As a proverb tells us, “The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot” (Proverbs 10:7). Those who live rightly set an example that will touch many people and aid their lives for the better. The same isn't as true for the wicked, those who rebel against morality – their legacy stinks, and however long it takes for that stench to be sniffed out, it rots their reputation. Think, for example, of all the public figures who've recently been exposed as sexual abusers. Less than a year ago, a man died who had widely been regarded as a 'living saint' – a theologian decorated with the highest honors for his ministry and service to those with developmental disabilities – and yet just last week, an investigation detailed how he'd used religion to sexually manipulate nuns and other women over the course of decades. And now his name has a rotten taste in people's mouths, and his memory is no longer such a blessing.

Proverbs has a lot to say about the practical benefits of choosing the path of righteousness. And the wisdom Proverbs is here to teach is here to help you find it. But the problem with all this is, our righteousness will fail us. Because none of us has, up 'til now, lived a perfectly wise life. We have all been fools. We have all been wicked. Paul writes: “None is righteous – no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks God” (Romans 3:10). “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20), “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Because we have not lived right, we need to be 'set right,' need to be justified. And the Bible informs us that we can't work our way there, we can't justify ourselves or fix ourselves – there's no program of behavior modification that clears us in his court and restores us to being seen as righteous when the whole story's said and done.

But so God sent Jesus Christ, who “became to us wisdom from God: righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30). And Jesus, in the life he here lived, perfectly embodied everything that Proverbs outlines as far as what a righteous life looks like. As Peter declared to the crowds, Jesus proved to be “the Holy and Righteous One” par excellence (Acts 3:14). So no wonder Jesus was beloved by his Father, and no wonder he kept his way straight. For “Jesus offered up prayers... to the One who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence” (Hebrews 5:7) – delivered by being given resurrection life, and rewarded with “the joy that was set before him” (Hebrews 12:2). Living perfect righteousness, he did find “life and righteousness and honor” (Proverbs 21:21).

And what Jesus accomplished on the cross, Paul calls the “one act of righteousness” – the most truly righteous thing ever done – which leads “the many [to] be made righteous” (Romans 5:18-19). Trusting in him as our Righteous One, we attain “a righteousness that is by faith” (Romans 9:30). In Christ, we have come to embody “the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21), for we have “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). And “according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).

On our own, we could not live the proverbs. We could not live right or be right. But Jesus the Righteous One performed an act of righteousness that, as we receive it through the faith that unites us to him, declares us to be righteous in God's sight. As with Abraham, God counts our faith as righteousness (Romans 4:5), because our faith receives the righteousness of Jesus. And in this way are we “justified by faith” (Romans 5:1), declared and made righteous by faith. In Jesus Christ, we have “received the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness” (Romans 5:17). Through his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ has raised us up as a Zion, a righteous city rejoicing in the flourishing of the Righteous One who stands in our midst (cf. Proverbs 11:10).

But now that we walk in the Spirit of righteousness, we are called to live out what Jesus has given us. I once heard a preacher suggest – and I hope he was merely misspeaking – that 'right' and 'wrong' were no longer relevant categories for the believer. But that's wrong. Morality is not moralism. The Book of Proverbs, like the other scriptures of the Old Testament, has not lost value for the Christian today – Paul tells us that they exist for our sake, to give us “training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). And so Paul instructs Timothy to “pursue righteousness” (1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22). John writes that “whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God” (1 John 3:10). Peter writes that we're called to “die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). It's unanimous: For us today, there is right and wrong, righteous and unrighteous. James led by example.

We know we can't do it on our own. But Jesus came to set us right – to let us at last function as we were always meant to. He came to make us righteous. And Proverbs is here to explain why that's so incredibly good. So as the Righteous One redeemed us from wickedness, let us display our faith, our hope, and our love by pursuing righteousness each day ahead, as Proverbs shows us how. It's the wise thing to do. Amen.

Wisdom's Call: Sermon on Proverbs 8-9

It was daybreak Daybreak not now, daybreak not last year, but daybreak one morning in the ninth century. In the populous, bustling city of Thessaloniki, a Byzantine melting pot, a loving couple was up to set the table for breakfast before Leo, the husband, had to go oversee his troops. Neither he nor his wife Maria expected any of their seven children to be up yet. But the youngest one surprised them. Little Constantine, age seven, came running through the house, calling out, “Mom! Dad! Mom! Dad!” Leo and Maria had known he was special – so special, they'd decided not to have any more children after him, not to risk it. But now what did he want?

“Mom, Dad, you'll never guess the dream I had last night!” And so Leo and Maria listened to little Constantine tell them about his dream. In his dream, Leo's boss – the military governor of the province – had given an order for all the girls in the entire city to gather together in the town square. And then the governor had knelt down next to Constantine and whispered, “It's time for you to choose who your wife will be. You can pick any of these girls, and she'll be your helper your entire life long. The choice is yours now, but you have to choose from the girls you see here.” Seven-year-old Constantine had hardly given a great deal of thought to marriage! But in his dream, he looked out over this dense crowd of girls, all the girls of Thessaloniki; he walked among them, looking for anyone who stood out. And suddenly, there she was. A girl he'd never seen before. And she was just so pretty and just so fancy – she looked like a little empress, with fine clothes and gold necklaces and pearls and a shining face. And even at seven years old, the dreaming Constantine felt butterflies in his tummy to look at her. He'd pointed her out to the governor, and asked for her name. And the great general knelt down and said to Constantine, “Her name, my boy, is Wisdom.” Constantine looked at her again, compared her to all the other girls, and said, without a shadow of a doubt, “I choose her! I choose Wisdom!” And then the dream began to dissipate into the night, as wedding bells chimed in the back of the boy's mind.

Maria embraced her son, and she exchanged an astonished glance with her husband Leo. They were Christians – and faithful ones, more than some of their neighbors. So they knew the scriptures, knew the tales of dreamers like Jacob, Joseph, Solomon. What could their little boy's dream mean, but a calling upon his life? So Leo sat Constantine down and reminded him of what the Book of Proverbs said. “My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching” (Proverbs 6:20). Just as Leo and Maria had submitted to God's wisdom, so they would pass on their training in godliness to Constantine as long as they lived. “For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are a way of life” (Proverbs 6:23), a gift to guard against the bewitching lasses. “Say to Wisdom, 'You are my sister,' and call Insight your intimate friend” (Proverbs 7:4). For Wisdom, Leo explained, is a lady who outshines the sun, and if Constantine really would pursue her – if that was God's call upon his life, to be fully wedded to Wisdom, to be so closely joined to Wisdom that all she has becomes his – then he'd be saved a lot of trouble. A good life.

Well, Constantine started school not long after that, and proved to be the brightest in the class – a real prodigy. During the course of his life – which ended due to a sickness in his forties, after he'd changed his name from Constantine to Cyril – he became many things. A priest. A monk. A librarian. A teacher. A Bible translator. An imperial ambassador. A missionary and evangelist. But those who loved him most dearly, who hung on his every word, called him 'the Philosopher.' The lover of Wisdom. And Constantine – St. Cyril – had a dazzling and remarkable career, as did his older brother Michael who became St. Methodius. All because the lady Cyril loved, the woman he wedded, was Wisdom herself.

As a boy, he was invited in a dream. But the same invitation is held out to all of us in the Book of Proverbs. In the past few weeks, we've explored a few different dimensions to wisdom. But until now, we haven't had much inkling that wisdom was anything more than a character trait or an abstract ideas. Yet now Wisdom steps forward as a person, Lady Wisdom, who presents us with her autobiography. She steps forward to tell her story. “Yahweh begot me at the beginning of his way, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was established, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths, I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth, before he had made the earth with its fields or the first of the dust of the world” (Proverbs 8:22-26).

In Isaiah, God declares that he was alone when he created the universe: “I am Yahweh who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns 'wise' men back and makes their knowledge foolish” (Isaiah 44:24-25). But Proverbs introduces us to someone who keeps God company when God is all alone, someone who has a hand in everything God does when God goes it alone. This someone is Wisdom, and she is on the inside of all God's alone time. Wisdom belongs eternally with God from the inside-out. She relates to him like a child to a father, because he begot her – not in time, but eternally, timelessly. In the far reaches of eternity before the world was ever made, Wisdom was there with her Father, was his constant companion, God's other self. No earth. No deeps. No hills or mountains or springs or fields. Not even the dust, nor even the stardust. Not a single solitary atom. No time. No space. No matter or energy. Only eternity. Only God. And when there was nothing but God alone... Wisdom was there, in God's mind, being timelessly born out of the “womb of [God's] heart.” And so when God commenced the sequence of time and stretched out the distances of space, Wisdom was there. When God separated the day from the night, Wisdom took note. And when God brought dry land out of the deeps and gave shape to the hills and valleys, the springs and rivers and fields, Wisdom watched.

Not only that, but Wisdom had her hands in it up to the elbows! She explains further, “When he established the heavens – I was there! When he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth – then I was beside him, like a master craftsman” (Proverbs 8:27-30a). Not just a passive observer. A master craftsman or workman. An architect, an artist, a builder, a designer. None of the Lord's work was done without Lady Wisdom's involvement: “Yahweh by Wisdom founded the earth” and “established the heavens” (Proverbs 3:19). “O Yahweh, how manifold are your works – in Wisdom you have made them all” (Psalm 104:24). Wisdom had her hand on everything, from within God's own mind and heart; and not for a moment did she waver from his side. Not for a moment did this Lady Wisdom take a leave of absence, take her eyes off the ball. No, she was there. She has stories to tell that are older than time. She has scenes to paint that make galaxies look small.

And then Wisdom tells us something else. She says, “And I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always” (Proverbs 8:30b). Wisdom delighted in her Father, and he delighted in her, like a proud papa watching his baby coo, like a laughing dad clapping as his little girl dances through the meadows, basking in the light of the sun. Such it was with God and his Wisdom. She danced for him every day, basking and celebrating in all he had made. And with every step Wisdom took through the fields and over the hills, across the waters and down to the fountains of the deeps, and as her dance raced across the skies fastened firmly overhead, her Father laughed and shouted, “Then I see it is good!”

And then came what Genesis calls that sixth day. Wisdom remembers. She remembers Adam and Eve and all they ever stood for. They were the playmates of her age-old youth. For as Wisdom tells us now in Proverbs, summing up her achievements of long ago, not only was she daily God's delight and rejoicing before him each day, but she was “rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man” (Proverbs 8:31). Like a little girl running around with her friends, Wisdom celebrated that the world wasn't made to be empty. This world of ours was made to be filled, filled with God's works, filled with God's creatures, and the crowning creatures, the finishing touches in this masterpiece, were us. And Wisdom delighted in us! Wisdom was happy every time she looked at us! All Wisdom ever wanted was to dance with us, and play the games of life with us, and run through everlasting fields with us! And although we left those garden fields behind, still Wisdom is determined to come find us, to seek and save her lost friends at last.

And by now, maybe you can guess what the early generations of Christians saw when they read this chapter. For they believed that, on the other side of Easter and Pentecost, a light shone backward that lit up the entire Old Testament, revealing in vivid color those things that had been murky before, and so now they could finally see in daylight what had been waiting there all along, the hidden meaning, the treasure buried in scripture's field – and when the light of the gospel hit this chapter, they saw who this Wisdom is. And a few of them, squinting, thought they recognized Wisdom as the Holy Spirit. But all the rest, with one voice, cried out, “Where Wisdom stood, there stands our Jesus!” For who else is begotten of the Father in the timeless halls of eternity? And who else stood by the Father and was the master craftsman of all creation? That's Jesus!

Which means that Jesus is eternal. Jesus is the divine craftsman. And Jesus, before ever he took flesh, was the daily delight in his Father's eyes, and the one who only ever wanted to dance with us through a world at peace. For Jesus is the Wisdom of God – “Christ, the Power of God and the Wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). He is the one whom the teacher in Proverbs see as Lady Wisdom. He is the One whose threads are woven so deep into creation's fabric. And even when we left those garden fields behind, still he was determined to come seek and save the lost friends he knew in a younger world. And when the Father declares that “Yahweh gives Wisdom” (Proverbs 2:6), we see that the Father gives Jesus; when we hear that “Wisdom will come into your heart” (Proverbs 2:10), we see that Jesus will enter our hearts. So “blessed is the one who finds [Jesus]” (Proverbs 3:13)! “[Jesus] is better than jewels: all you desire can't compare with [Jesus]” (Proverbs 8:11)!

The next chapter presents us with two women, vying for our attention, yearning to be our host. One is Wisdom. The other is Folly. “The woman Folly is loud – she's seductive and knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house, she takes a seat in the heights of the town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way, 'Whoever's simple, let him turn in here!' And to one who lacks sense, she says, 'Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant'” (Proverbs 9:13-17).

But then, on the other hand, there stands Wisdom. She said she'd come find us. And here she is. Wisdom has undertaken a long preparation for this. “Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars” (Proverbs 9:1). And her house sits at the pinnacle of the heights of the city – in other words, her house is where the temple goes. And her house is a magnificent mansion. What does she do there? “She has slaughtered her beasts, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table. She has sent out her young women to call from the tops of the heights of the town” (Proverbs 9:2-3). The call she makes, whether by messengers or in person, is very public. We hear elsewhere, “Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, at the entrance of the city gate she speaks” (Proverbs 1:20-21). “Does not Wisdom call? Doesn't Understanding raise her voice? On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud” (Proverbs 8:1-3). To hear from Wisdom isn't a private affair. She's out in public. She's going to find people where they already are. The street, the market, the crossroads, the gates where city life meets countryside.

And she'll take anybody, she wants to teach anybody. There are no prerequisites for her class. “To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man,” any offspring of Adam (Proverbs 8:4). She welcomes those who already have some experience: “Give to a wise man, and he'll be even wiser; teach a righteous man, and he'll increase in learning” (Proverbs 9:9). But she hasn't come for just the already righteous, the already wise. She isn't here to select out the 'gifted,' she isn't looking for geniuses or the elite only, not those who can somehow prove their worth. She wants the naive to come to her, wants the uneducated to gather around: “O simple ones, learn prudence!” (Proverbs 8:5a). “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?” (Proverbs 1:22a). She wants them to come to her and be changed, come to her and learn what they need. She even wants fools, mockers, and scoffers in her class. “O fools, learn sense!” (Proverbs 8:5b). “How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?” (Proverbs 1:22b). Scoffers and sinners can be transformed, if they'll “turn at [her] reproof” – because if they will, then she promises, “Behold, I will pour out my Spirit to you; I will make my words known to you!” (Proverbs 1:23). And that's an offer she makes to any humans, who come from any background, any education level, any sex or race or nation or age. It's an offer she makes to you.

Because you are who Wisdom has been looking for. You were on her mind when she sent out her messengers. Because she's extending an invite, just like that devilish rival Folly. Folly wants to seduce you into her flimsy den of flimflam, wants to feed you with stolen water and secret bread. But Wisdom has slaughtered the fatted calf for you and mixed spices and honey into her heady wine for you. Wisdom wants to offer you a much richer meal. And she says, “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here! … Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight” (Proverbs 9:4-6). Wisdom has set a table for you; and, gathered 'round this table of banquet delights, she'll teach you what it means to really live. And she says to you, “Blessed is whoever listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from Yahweh; but whoever fails to find me injures himself – all who hate me love death” (Proverbs 8:34-36). Wisdom is serious – joyfully, joyfully serious. To find her is to find life and stand in God's smile. To run away from her, to throw her invitation in the trash, is to go home and cuddle up with the Grim Reaper. And Wisdom doesn't want that for any of us! Wisdom wants to show us delicacies beyond our palate, wants to nourish us in the light and make us new people. Wisdom is inviting me and inviting you. And as one third-century Christian said about it, “Wisdom's divine heavenly beauty invites the one who contemplates it to love.”

When early generations of Christians like that looked back on this chapter in Proverbs, they heard of Wisdom building a house and thought about the birth of Jesus – how his very own divine power knitted together a body of flesh and blood for himself in Mary's womb, a body he would later proclaim to be the temple, which would be torn down and raised in three days. And not only did he raise that body in three days, but he extended his body, including us in it. For now earth does have the Body of Christ, the Temple of God – and it's the Church. And just like Revelation uses seven local churches to represent the whole, so Proverbs uses seven pillars to hold up the temple, Wisdom's House. Blessed is whoever listens to Jesus, watching daily at his gates through the everyday spiritual disciplines and waiting beside his doors to enter this house of his. For whoever fails to find Jesus is hurting no one but him- or herself, and rejecting Jesus is choosing to love Death. But whoever finds Jesus, whoever learns from Jesus and receives his Spirit, has found life and stands in the favor of a smiling God and Father! For the meal Jesus offers, the table Wisdom spreads, is far more delightful than any quick pleasures Folly can muster. And even a scoffer and fool can come through this door to meet Jesus, the Wisdom of God.

Proverbs expresses these things under the image of two women, each inviting a man passing by to come into her house and have a meal. Of course, in Israelite culture, an invitation into a woman's house for a meal was often suggestive of intimacy. It hinted at courting, at seduction. Folly wants to seduce you. But Wisdom wants to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold. Make Wisdom your most intimate friend! For Wisdom comes to us with a marriage proposal. She says that, if you'll marry her, marry Wisdom, she'll bless you with true life and true riches and true delights. And she's right. She wants to pick up where we all left off – dancing in the fields of all creation, singing in the heights of the heavens, feasting and playing and delighting and rejoicing in each other, intimately, for eternity ahead. That's Wisdom's wish. And this Wisdom is none other than Jesus, who laid down his life to spread a full table, and who rose again out of sheer joy for life.

Where Proverbs leaves us now is faced with two invitations: Folly's house or Wisdom's palace, the world's ways or Jesus' light, the stolen water of worldly pleasures or the sweet-and-spicy wine of Jesus' love. Whom do we want? Whom do we love? Will we fall for Jesus, gather 'round the table where he teaches, hang on his every word? Or will we pass right by, take another road from the crossroads, go about our business in the market, let the noise of the streets of the day-to-day drown out his call? If we want Wisdom, if we want Jesus, then the whole rest of Proverbs is filled with his touch and the echo of his voice. The beauty of a little boy's heaven-sent dream from long ago, the dream of Constantine who became St. Cyril, is a dream open to us as well. Wisdom stands before us, surrounded by the throng. Let us point to Wisdom and marvel at her majesty and shout out, “I choose her!” Let us see Jesus Christ on the cross, and marvel at his grace, and shout all the louder, “I choose him!” And may we hear him and love him and dance with him all the days eternity has to offer. Amen.

Wisdom's Path, Wisdom's Treasure: Sermon on Proverbs 2-3

Far in the east, there's an old, old custom – a way to celebrate a child's first birthday. It used to be that, when a child reached that age, the family would gather a collection of objects and put them in front of the child; they'd then watch to see what the child grabbed for first, convinced that the child's choice said something about the destiny and character one could expect from that child. Legend has it that one Chinese emperor used this custom to decide which of his grandchildren was worthy of becoming the new crown prince. The custom may be foreign. I can't put much stock in its predictive prowess. But all this to say, deep truths about ourselves can be revealed by what we instinctively reach for.  I'll say that again: Deep truths about ourselves can be revealed by what we instinctively reach for.  Tuck that into the back of your brain - we'll come back to it later.

Last week, as we began to explore Proverbs, we considered how God created the world with his wisdom – how he wove wisdom into the very fabric of creation, how wisdom became the stitching that binds the whole quilt of the world together, and how God invites us to become wise, meaning to become skilled at living God's-image-bearing lives in the real world around us. In Proverbs 2-3, God now tells us more about what it takes to become wise, and why we should. And he explains, through the voice of a human father teaching his child, that wisdom is something we have to open ourselves to: “Making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding” (Proverbs 2:2).  (It isn't automatic. By default, most wisdom will fly past or crash into us if we aren't intentionally open to it.) Wisdom is something we have to call out toward: “Call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding” (Proverbs 2:3). Wisdom is something we have to actively hunt down: “Seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures” (Proverbs 2:4).  That means digging for it. And yet the start of the process can be as simple as opening up this book and paying attention: “Receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you” (Proverbs 2:1). The strenuous hunt for wisdom begins here. The attitude we need for getting wisdom is just this: be open, be vocal, be active, pay attention.

If we do that, then there's nothing to stop us from embarking on the first four steps into wise life. And the first step, which we mentioned last Sunday, is this: the fear of the Lord, the fear of Yahweh. As the father says here, if you receive these words and listen for wisdom and call out for insight and search for it as something valuable, “then you will understand the fear of Yahweh and find the knowledge of God” (Proverbs 2:5). And that's the first step into wisdom, because “the fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10; cf. 1:7). Wisdom is skill for navigating the world. And we can't do that effectively by working off the wrong map. The right map has a built-in compass that points God-ward, points toward God. It reminds us, no matter which way we step, that the world was created and is continually sustained by one God – this God, the God whom Israel knew from the Law and the Prophets. This God is the Source of Wisdom, the Wise God, and he is at the top of the Chain of Being. He is self-defined; everything else is inherently defined in terms of him. If we were wiser, God would be mentioned in every single entry in the dictionary, because he is essential for a true understanding of anything.  (Example: What's a house?  A house is a structure within the world God made, erected from materials that God provided, meant to serve as shelter for creatures God made in his image, and in which he purposes to be present and dwell with them.  Repeat for all other words.) And that is the most basic fact about the world there is. So to recognize that, to be in awe of God's omni-relevance, God's relevance to and involvement in all things, is the first step in the path to wisdom.

Building on that, Proverbs reminds us, as we keep reading, that this supreme God is the one who gives wisdom as a gift. “For Yahweh gives wisdom: from his mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:6). Ah, there we have it: How does God give wisdom? We know he can bestow it in an instant as he did for Solomon, opening Solomon's eyes and mind somehow. We know he can fill us with the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Wisdom. But also, he gives wisdom by speaking. We acquire it by listening to his voice and really considering what he's said. And since his words boom through the pages of one very special book, ignorance of that book is avoidance of wisdom, whereas actively digging around through the pages of this book – with an ear open for God's voice – is an important way to learn what it means to do well at being a person.

God also gives wisdom by the way he acts. “He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the ways of his saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path, for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul” (Proverbs 2:7-10). God is the root of wisdom, and if we're open to his wisdom and aim to live by what the Lord speaks, “you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous” (Proverbs 2:20). And God will act as a protector on that journey.

If we set out on this journey with God as our shield, then it's important for us to not only hear these words, but remember them. “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man” (Proverbs 3:1-4). Remembering is swimming against the tide. It takes effort. It means memorizing and internalizing. I once heard a speaker at a pastors' conference talk about how he tries to read and recite a section of Proverbs every single day, and memorize the entire book. That way, he carries it with him at all times, and has it available for every situation. Whatever happens in his life, a proverb comes to mind. That's not a bad way to retain this teaching! It's also good preparation for the day when the memories of the mind start to fail. There's a reason the teacher here stresses writing these things on the tablet of the heart – the deep core of the self, the center of the will, the seat of life and action. There, it may endure.

Having listened and written and remembered, we're now ready to take the second step. We began with the fear of the Lord (step one). We're now ready to move on to faith in the Lord. “Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). That's the second step. The first step merely asked us to recognize God as supreme over the world, and to live in awe of him. And many through the ages have sought to do so while envisioning God as a distant figure in the sky, relevant to all things but unreachable, unavailable for a personal connection. The second step invites a deeper sort of relationship, one of personal reliance. God-fear is one thing, but God-trust is a step beyond. It means to enter a real relationship with God, within which one accepts his guidance and learns to rely on him. “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths – be not wise in your own eyes” (Proverbs 3:6-7a). Again, it all comes down to how we view the world. If our view of the world is about us and the people around us, it's easy to think ourselves big – to see ourselves as the good apple in the bunch, the top dog in the kennel, the wise one surrounded by oafs and misfits. But if our view of the world begins with God, then that sets everything on a different scale. If God stays in the picture, then his wisdom overshadows all our boasting and puts it in perspective. So “fear Yahweh and turn away from evil” (Proverbs 3:7b). 'But,' you might ask, 'why are we still talking about fear of the Lord?  As children of God, haven't we left such things behind?' Faith does not leave God-fear behind. It builds on it without abandoning it. As Acts tells us, the early church prospered when it walked “in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:31).  The latter is added in faith, for through faith we are joined to the body of Christ and receive his Spirit, a mark of that real and vibrant new relationship, a pillar on which to constantly lean when all else is prone to crumble.

So first we recognize God as supreme, the defining fact of reality that puts everything else in perspective. And second, we come to personally rely on him, from the level of our heart. We rely on him, not merely in addition to our own common-sense understanding of the world, but even in opposition to so-called 'common sense,' which tells us plenty that just ain't so. We lean on him, not our internal resources. Every wise teaching has been taught for one chief purpose, the author says: “That your trust may be in Yahweh,” the LORD (Proverbs 22:19). This trust or faith in God's wisdom and truthfulness was the guiding mode of action for biblical figures “who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness” (Hebrews 11:33-34). And as we now understand, this faith is above all the faith that clings to Jesus Christ, crucified and risen! Jesus is the Lord of Proverbs, the Wisdom of God – more on that in a couple weeks. He is the Lord whom we are to trust, and every wise teaching has as its aim that our trust may be in the Lord Jesus. As Jesus himself tells us: “Believe in God; believe also in me” (John 14:1). And trusting in the Lord Jesus is restorative: “It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones” (Proverbs 3:8), now as we walk with him but especially on the day when Jesus returns and raises our flesh and bones from death and conforms them to the likeness of his glorious resurrection (Philippians 3:21).

From God-fear and God-trust, the teacher wants next to lead us on to the third step, a step toward wisdom that might surprise you. The third-step is God-generosity. “Honor Yahweh with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce” (Proverbs 3:9). This step might throw us for a bit of a loop. As Americans, we very much dislike being told what to do with our money! We'll get to more of what Proverbs says about that on another Sunday, so I won't belabor that here. Suffice it to say now that, on the foundation of reverence and faith, the next thing God asks of us is to honor him by giving. And he isn't asking for the leftovers squeezed out of the cracks in our household budgets. That doesn't honor him. The firstfruits do – the portion that's first to be harvested, the certain supply when everything else is still in doubt. God wants it, the first sure thing we get, and he wants it while it's still risky to lose it. Giving it to him honors him, because it requires faith to sacrifice the first portion we get while everything else is still a bud that may not bloom.  It honors him by recognizing in a practical and tangible and costly way that God is true owner and true provider. It's easy to profess God-fear and God-faith, but fewer of us put our money where our mouth us. Yet the wise life requires sacrificial sincerity. God put this line here so that we'd be unable to harbor illusions about ourselves, for illusions are an obstacle to navigating the world skillfully. So God asks us to show him this honor, so that in the asking, he may show us our true selves and dispel our illusions. In turn, we are told, “your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine” (Proverbs 3:10). Living in wisdom will, in general, lead to better outcomes – if honoring God with our wealth is part and parcel of a journey to a wise life, it will generally lead, even in the scope of the present life, to sufficiency. But the real truth of that verse is in a scope beyond the present life, the scope of eternity. As Jesus says: “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29).  That is, everyone who has left their firstfruits, handing them over to Jesus to honor him, will indeed receive eternal barns of plenty and eternal vats of wine.  Acting on that premise is a daring step of faith, and confirms our journey into the wise life.

Finally, from God-fear and God-trust and God-generosity, the teacher leads us to the fourth step toward wisdom – God-discipline: “My son, do not despise Yahweh's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for Yahweh reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights” (Proverbs 3:11-12). The path to wisdom (Step 1) begins by recognizing this God as supreme – by adopting the right picture of the world. The path of wisdom (Step 2) continued by learning to lean on this God personally, to rely on him, especially as he's revealed himself in Jesus Christ. The path of wisdom next proceeds (Step 3) by displaying this trust in a way that especially honors him: with the firstfruits of what we earn or grow, thus relying on God to sustain us through the difference and to fill our barns and vats, as it were. It sounds paradoxical, but this wisdom is the wisdom of the cross: give, and you shall receive. And now we find (Step 4) that the path of wisdom may lead us into tighter and tighter places. This, we may like even less than the cost of God-generosity! We might be troubled, having expected wisdom to lead us into wider and wider spaces, not tighter and tighter corridors. But these are meant to correct and teach us. Instead of looking on hardships as evil, progress in wisdom is built as we look on them as opportunities, a fatherly gift of God for our ultimate benefit. And the teacher urges us not to get bitter over these hardships or to let them wear us down – they are, in fact, a reminder that God loves us as his children and wants us to mature into greater and greater wisdom. As the writer of Hebrews comments on these verses, God “disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:10-11).  These tight corridors into which these first steps lead, lead into the spacious meadow where this fruit may grow in Wisdom's presence.

Now that we know the first four steps on the path of wisdom – now that we know it can be costly to become wise, demanding to become wise – the teacher here can tell that some of us might want to back away, might want to say we'd prefer to pay a lower price for some other prize. We might want to haggle.  (If wisdom will cost me an arm and a leg, what can I get for a pinky?) And so promptly the teacher gives us a vision of Wisdom – the Wisdom who is Jesus – holding out gifts that reveal wisdom's real worth. The wise life is eminently worthwhile after all, even when the challenges of discipline are factored in: “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding. For the gain from her is better than the gain from silver, and her profit better than gold; she is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her” (Proverbs 3:13-15). Wisdom's value exceeds precious metal, exceeds precious gems, exceeds all the other things we might treasure (house, car, RV and TV...). Wisdom actually generates most of what we could truly want: “Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace” (Proverbs 3:16-17). Not only does wisdom yield a better life, but this wise life is the closest thing we can have to reclaiming the Eden we lost, for “she is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed” (Proverbs 3:18). A tree of life – the heart of what we lost, the heart of what we long for most deeply, and that's what wisdom is to those who manage to grab firmly onto her and embrace her tight – no wonder really wise people, people wise in Jesus Christ, are called blessed!

Like we said at the start: Deep truths can be revealed by the things we instinctively reach for. And if the author of Proverbs were standing next to me today, I believe the great teacher might invite us to spend the next week pondering this question: If all the things we might potentially desire were spread in front of us like on a child's first birthday, where would our fingers instinctively stretch?  Would they go right to wisdom, or would our gaze linger long on the other toys?  For now we know that wisdom will be a tree of life, we see her peace-paths and her ways of pleasantness, we glimpse the gifts in her left hand and her right.  Will we reach for Wisdom, or are we dismayed at the cost and tantalized by the consolation prizes?

Do we truly believe that gold and silver and jewels and desires pale next to Wisdom, next to Jesus? If so, then we'll have no objection to fearing God, recognizing him in the definition of everything, doing everything in awe of him. And we'll trust him as the Giver of every good gift. And we'll show that trust by honoring him with whatever's been entrusted to our stewardship, knowing that he won't leave the barn and vats empty of what we then need. And we'll also show that trust by accepting griefs and trials as opportunities sent by him as training meant to yield a peaceful fruit. And so we'll be well on our way into a wise life, a life lived to have Jesus, a life with arms outstretched to the tree of life that is his cross, a life that holds fast to his blessed resurrection. Let's live by the fear of the Lord, live by faith in the Lord, live in generosity to the Lord, live under discipline from the Lord – because that is wise living, and Jesus, as Wisdom's Treasure, is so much more precious than anything. I hope that all of us may say that we'd rather have Wisdom - that we'd rather have Jesus. Amen.