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Title
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Van Sickler, Louis J.
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extracted text
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SGANOAl80WS
J.lr. Van Slc!<ler rc•arnc I :1 lll'ln dQll1al last night. ':h<'n ho ·w~::.~ . found
with the •ormer choir l<ndet""'·al the
home o! h~r brothc•·. B. J;:. \VII~on.
" Those .hnr.;u• ar.,n't true,
he
Hald inclining- hi>~ !tend
W~:l.r~Y.
"Tbcy u.re a lot of out- and-out lies.
But wh)' s hould 1 go Into court IUld
de!end myself·: :i\ly wHo and T had
agreed on a proper lY settlement bef ore s h e too!' h t!r divorce Into court.
Ar.d 1 wnnte <1 to b e free from h~r.
1 thought of the church , too, a big
court nght would nave brought disc r e dit upon it. The con gregation
would ha,·c bee n sp l~.t. 1 hnd no
reaeon to £'0 t.o t.:ourt.
.PASTOR'S HEAD
Quits Ministry f or Brickiaying
Job After Wife Obtains
a Divorce ..
'
, CHOIR LEADER INVOLVED
C ..o..LLS SBLF :UA.R'l'Y R.
'-- - - r
By KEl\"DRICK K.liUBALL.
(Staff CorTeSPonden~ Tho Detroit New a.)
BATTLE CREEK. Mich., July 10.
-Six years ago, L ouis John Van
Sickler, of Kalamazoo, dtscardild
hi s bricklayer 's trowel for· a Bibll), •
bls over alls for a. s uit of clerical
cut, and camE! t o BatUe Creek to
p r eac h !he gospel.
"I haven't a bouse o! worshifl, but
I'll build one," he said, and so,
working alone, h e constructed the
begJnn ings of the First Eva.ngllllcal
Church-a. small, wooden ta~
nacle, the meeting pla.ce of a. pio-,
neer congregatton ot nln11 persons.
As the years rolled on , Mr. Van
Sickler was ordained as an evangeli cal pastor, p eople came miles to heaT
his "s t r a I g bt- t.rom-the-fllloulder"
talks, and soon the congregation ot
~Q retpi la r attendants !ound the
rnl
ta.bo:Ei:a~rcery-blgger
t han a. Detroit e l ecliort-bootllr-LQJl.
s nug for occupancy. ''I'll build
cnurclr-thh:~fmT." saTa tt:'e bricklstyer pastor, and he drew the plans
<tnd superintended tlle construction.
__ ...--.....
,_.,.
.
~ --
Bu t what w as a phenomenal
!:areer o f s uccess !o,. Mr. Van Sick-•
l c r Is at an end today, sxa.r ~·
Battle Creek is concern.'
·,u~.
h y scandal, the Htru,....,
.1ad
labor ed 110 hard )-• • •
.n hru!
Lumblell u.b
'e
. ,.._~·
~ '
.,..,.
'·~, . ' ·,
.ot. onty
resign by 1hl'
•llf•cii!!!l!r"~ s ,
but h o boars the
npL~. . recol'leetlon of bavln~;
been Imprisoned •-·o day" in th.,
Calhoun County Jati on a charge of
e mbezzlemet, nnd with hn.vln& been
linked witP M r s. Cor ene Anderson,
choi r l eader. In charges of miscond uct made by his former/ wife,
Mrs. Dorothy Van S lckJc·r.
.
CHARGES AUTO RIDES.
Mrs. Anderson was secr etary
ot
the Ladles' Aid' Society, the Christian Endeavor and the Sunday
School, In addltlon to her choir pos l tion, and in testimo ny given bef ore Judg e '\Vaiter H. l'or th, who
granted Mrs. Van Sickler a divorce,
she was described as the brickl ayer pastor's aft1nlly b;· a. number
of wltnesseP. inc luding M r s. Van
Sickler her:3elf. The pastor and
singer, It was testified, held many
wrapt conversations together 1n th•
church and met at nl&-ht on a dark
country road, mll,.ll'" troll\
Bat tl
C reek, after lllrs .•\.ndcrson hqd r:u
den to the spot ~ an Interurban
And they whirled away on moonlight
autt.~mobllu
ridet.
It
wa
t-n>U ht o'Jt In th•· courtroom.
To the charg" of uelng undul)
friendly with Mr::. Anderson, that
ot ha\•{ng loaned ;,.rr~. Anderso
$400 ap 11b
ou d el'feut ~ )ltoperty
lv
I
I
In th e llOt nnll ><tulty {\arlor of I
the Wilson home. ;llr. Van Sickler,
who ill In u e licatc health. he &ays,
a3 the resu l t or h iK ,~·ork on the
church building lik e ned h~m sel! to
the mart.Yt;s t«' Ch rlstlam ty w~o
died In t h e Roman arenas. Never
wa~ he ,·e ilc'm e nt In ~.I s ut te ~a n~~s
against "hi>~ .:n&mll!s,
nev,e~ 'vas
h e bitter, and only once ill~ !'Is
eyes lose tht:ir so ft and ltlndly ll.,l~t
and tbnt wall whe n ho:: s t.oke o! Jus
Iormor life .
.
"The proof of th~ pudding I S the
~a tins-.. h e s aid.
"That woman
:;bowed " ·hot she was w~en s h e lied
about me 'I n such sho.ckmg Cas! ":'n.
WhY should a man W I~~~. tu be w~dded to s uc h a woman.
.
M.rs. Ander son, who is . 40. yc~rs.
old, 10 y ..,ars the pastor s J.Ulll<~l',
rocked in an ~ '\sY ch <llr. ohimmg Ill
occu::~lonall Y l :ul d cmphash; l <> 1Ir.
\'an ::lickh,1·•s denlal5:"A pastor has t o be n good mllc.er
t o hold his ccn g-regatiop. He m u st
}'e pleallant wi th the men and
women; h ~; must' bo kind and conid.. ale to the church workers .
~,.;r A nderson wao; one of lht: most
dev~ut and .sincere workers of my
church ·we wer e thrown togeth e r
a lot. 'ouu;ldr the church :!be :!aug
aL the fun en>ls I conducted ano.l
at th., ""'"drl!ngs ; ir.slde the church
she wau Jll'ca•· nt nt ovory runctlon.
We wuru lv.;c:t MI', to b e ~~ro. ~~L
unly "" t:hrl .ollh l) work<·rM, tho 101 1,\tr )I!Uitur . 1hl.
"\Y•' did not takn automobllo
~e<'lnd<'lS'On. <':1.1 Pn.re, (;olutun ~
-
or an apprOP• · ~-
!o ws.s given $55,ooo·. no
.
,l t~
VI~
!tid F rom Page One
He Quits the Ministry
and Will Lay Bricks
J)AL,BOWS·
~TOR~S HEAD
' one.''
's
"mn.r tyrdom"
atme nt" ho re'lea.ds of tho
wttli tbo e m. former pasiillscon t mood,
,I\ · at ea s e 1n
to,rtlng his ..nine
.>I1owero In the
while a ll · tbe
msly wonder ed
.1.1 was coming
In their
g o on
~o
,.t.II.'EY ll'OR GHURCH.
la.lly
1
•d to draw the plans my-
, superintend the work, pro"that I be given a. small
comm.isslon.
The agreement wa.s
ma.c1o, 1Uld so I went a.t tho. j o b wl '
aJI that I had In me."
parsonage beside the
tabernacle, tbo bricklayer pa.stl>r
drow tlte phtns ot the new church,
working late Into the night and
d~'stroylng one blueprint after a.n·~
"\\"".ben the Imaginary struc~re, taking form before him from
tho pattern he h eld In h is hand, I
:seemed to lack the beauty and sym- ;
m e try he dreamed of. Finally. he
hit upon the architectur a l des ign
he h ad been striving for, a {rc!!.~
set o! blueprints was burrledl,t
made and passed u pon.
pov cral J
days l ai:e r a band of workme n
g r eet ed him outside tbl! par sonage
door. The street resound ed · w ith
t h o clangin g ot an approaching
steam s hove l, and peeling off ' his
coat, · the P.nstor h elped dig the
found!l,tlon. _
----- .·
~ thanked "God from the bottom
of my heart. that day. I began t o
s ee my hopes roallze~al~.
DEGOME!I TOtCEi"L" .
It tool< a year to build the
c)lllroh and during this per iod n o
one wns busier than Mr. Van Sickl e r, accordlng to the stories of the
families lh-ing In the neigh borhood '
of t.h e church. H e took bls tro,vel ·
, and hammer out . of Its k i t, put ·
7 on the limo-stained and dusty . sui t
1 of ove ralls and wor ked side by sJde
with the best and fastest of the
brlclt layers, joking with -the m ove r
t h e ir s low n ess , as tle t: upon tie r
o f W;lll n.ised under his deft ba.nds.
Then he would abandon the br !ck-
'!!i~: !~ b~~~yar:lo:u:-::m ?~o ;,t,:rY
Van Sickler, Louis J.