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Outdoor Cathedral Work
Outdoor Witnessing
The following Sunday evening, we began preparing for an outdoor procession and open air meeting down the street from Hartford Cathedral. The Captain gave the processional cross to one cadet to carry, another the Church flag, a third the Stars and Stripes. To my embarrassment, he handed me a bright red Crusader Shield on a broom handle reading, "GOD IS LOVE." My face must have been redder than the shield itself as we marched down the streets that night. The fact that the other side explained, "SPONSORED BY CHRIST CATHEDRAL" didn't ease my embarrassment.
Witnessing for Christ
We gathered on a corner and began to sing. The hymns and songs were all different from the ones I knew! Suddenly the leader announced, "Brother Lewis will give his witness," and summoned me forward. A raucous shout echoed back above the screeching wheels of a passing street car. "Why don't you shut up, and go to work?" "Go to work?" I thought. "This is my work!" The spirit of the men with whom I labored had brushed off on me. I didn't want to be quiet about the joy I had experienced. God had called me to tell others about His Son.
The Pink Lady
After the outdoor witness, the Captain gave us our orders for the evening worship at the Cathedral. The Dean, obviously wary of Church Army's unusual methods, reluctantly agreed to the singing of choruses during the service. "But NOT that particularly outrageous one to the tune from the musical, 'The Pink Lady!'" In later years, "Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me," with its beautiful lilting melody, became one of my special favorites. Once the choruses had been chosen, the Dean suggested that we all go outside to do some "fishing" in front of the Cathedral.
Fishing
When I was a boy in New Jersey, Jewish store owners would fish people by the arm into their clothing shops. "How about a crisp new shirt, Sir? Ve hav a very reasonable line, just in from Paris. Come along in and see." The other cadets and I were soon engrossed in our fishing. Nabbing passers by, we pushed invitations into their hands to welcome them to our service.
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