We
painted the church, and even cut down and mod-
ernized the pulpit. The total cost of material and
furniture was not half so great as the original esti-
mate had indicated, and we had learned a valuable
lesson. After this we spent very little money for
labor, but did our own cleaning, carpet-laying, and
the like; and our little church, if I may be allowed
to say so, was a model of neatness and good taste.
I have said that at the end of two years from the
time of my appointment the long-continued war-
fare in the church was ended. I was not immediate-
ly allowed, however, to bask in an atmosphere of
harmony, for in October, 1880, the celebrated con-
test over my ordination took place at the Methodist
Protestant Conference in Tarrytown, New York;
and for three days I was a storm-center around which
a large number of truly good and wholly sincere
men fought the fight of their religious lives. Many
of them strongly believed that women were out of
place in the ministry. I did not blame them for
this conviction. But I was in the ministry, and I
was greatly handicapped by the fact that, although
I was a licensed preacher and a graduate of the
Boston Theological School, I could not, until I had
been regularly ordained, meet all the functions of
my office. I could perform the marriage service,
but I could not baptize. I could bury the dead, but
I could not take members into my church.
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