Brooklyn's Girl Pastor

Miss Anna Oliver, the young lady pastor of the AYilloiighliy Avenue Methodist Episcopal ehurch In Brooklyn, is mucb more successful in hor ininisiiv tlian many young men f her age, and her churcb has become oneof the most prosperoua In its vicinity. The churcll she occupies was puxchaeed ander i foreclosuve sale by the "WTllianisburgh sayings bank to satisfy theirflrat mortgage of $15,000. Offers were maile lm it to turn it into a livery .stable and a boor garden, hut Miss Oliver purcnased it in lier own naine for $14,000 and gave u ïuortgage for 113,000. She organlzed a church in the spring of 1879 in accordanoe with the discipline of the Methodist Episcopal church, but without the official sanction of any of the preachers of that church, who, althoilgta sending word that they feit pleasantly tiiward her enterprise, ilso said tluii they could not recognlze a {avíale preacher. Miss Oliver w;is about to deed the property slip had bought to the church in the usual wav, when she concluded Ihat 't she did the conference might accept the property and turn the worstiippera out. Aoconiingly she uu! a legal document drawn, deeding he churcli to certaln persons lor the lurpoees of the Willoughby Avenue Irthudisl rhmvli, luit Hot subject to he dlrection of the conference. Miss }liver's energy was unbounded, and vhen sheheardthat nefghboringchurch Dembers were saying that her enterpriae wonld nut last a year, she reduuliled her exertions, and now, at about the completion of hersecond yeaij she has reason to be gratiíied at the retrospect. Miss Oliver is about 26 or 27 yeai-3 old, with coal-blaok eyes, brunette complexion, and raven blak hair, whicb falls in glossy curls over her shoulders. She brushes her hair smoothly back i'iom her forehead and face, and in other respecte her toilet is in contrast with the "íashionable young lady oí Madison square." She dresses in black, usually in alpaca, cut to neatly fit her slender figure, and the sombre costume is relieved only by delicate bits of white rushe at the throat and sleeves. Xo jewelrj , i'M'i-pt a black jet jjin, is wnni by the gir] pastor, Hermanner intliat ui an i'aniost religious devotee, and her oonversation seeras utunixed with cant. Herstncertty lias won her many friends; &od ntaiiy iteran Metluxlists who sit weekly under her teachings would not exchange her for a Bishop. " We have put the church andchapel buildings and the land in gooil condition," said Miss Oliver, in response to a question about the temporal condition of frer church, 'and ye pay as we go. The buildings cost #47,500 to erect, but their present valuu is har4 to estímate. The eilit lots on which tliev stand are valiu-d at fvoiu $1,000 to $2,000 each. We have new furniture for the church and chapel, estimated to be worth $1,600. We settle all bilis monthly, and each month's proportioii of interest on the mortgage of $13,000 isdeposited in the savings bank, so that whea the six months' payment becomes due, it is all on hand. AVe hold that no church oan be condaoted more economically (han inirs. Twenty-two hundred and lift y dolíais a year neeis Qur eutire expenses, pastor salavy and all. We recently had a gift of two building lots in Xew York city, which we are trying to sell," ' Have yeu an incoine froni pew rwits?" 'ífot a dpllr, No pews are rented. Our u)uttf is: 'Have f aith in God.' We bejigya that if the Iord nepds a chifvch, and the cliurch does the Lord s work, He will just as surely give it the moncy to meet its current expenses as He will give it the Holy Spirit to lead its meetings. We do not believe in church iairs, festivals, oyster suppers, necktie sociables, leap-year entertainment, charades, tableaux, cantatas, wax Works, w any othér of the numeróos pvojects gotten lip by ntlier churcht's In orderto u i rhir epeusts, whirh turn the Lord'a sanctuary Intu a playlumsc, au eatlng saloon, or a house of inerchandise. Out uiethod of raising nioiiey is in ask the people to give it in return for the prolit they derive f rom the ehurch servjoes, óur only debt is that #13,000, and I am asking the ard for the immey. 1 believe that he has the iimiH'v soinewhere, and will before long give itto 08." Miss Olivar has overeóme obstacles Ihat would cause many women (o sil down and have a good ery. Her clmrch was stripped of fiirnituiesoinetiiiic after she bought it by a man who had a rliattei mort gage upon it, given j a i'ni'iimr society, Miss Öliver at oix'c deoided t waH tlie hesi time to clean the church, and organized a scrubbingbrush (oiiiniittee, witli herself as chairrnan. She ïolled up her slpevcs and went to work with soap and water to clean tht: house. A lev, uchsagn it tva:-. in-.i.:;;ii ín cninph with a pronyse tp Bome advertfsera in an animal publicatlon madeby the church to print a picture of the editico on the title page, It was dlscovereffthal there was noengravingof the church, and none could be obtained nïi Lesa a drawing of the churcü was furn slif-d. Miss Oliver tuvned artisi and milde a truthíul pen and ink sketch cil' the church, the chapel, and the trees, and so kept the promise to the patrons of her enterprise. A Western admirer il Miss Oliver's pluck has preeented her with a live bttfftdofrohithe Kansas plains. Bhe has devispd aplantoniake it a source of protit. Miss Oliver's bitterest disappointmeiil was in tlie refnsal of the. Bishop of the clmrch tu ii(ain hfH". She lias appealed f or tíús recognitlon in vain, bnt she is met by the answer that the iaw of the church does nol authorlze i hc ordlsatiou &t wennen. 'I have iriade alniost everv ennctaivable sacrlflce," she tays, i do wiiat J believe is pod's will. IJrought up in a couaervative circlein New York city, that held it a disgrace lor a woman to work, snrrounileil witli the comforts and advantagea of ampie means, and trained in the Episcopal church, I gave uphome, friends, and support, went counter to prejudicea ihat had berome Beeond nature ti me, worked for severa] years to constant exhanstion, and gtiffered cpld, honger, and loneJiness. The things hardest fr uw lo imar vvere luid apon me. For two months my 6wn mother dJd no( speak to me. When I entered the bóuae she turned and wiilkcd away. Whcn 1 sat at the tablc Ëihedid not recognize me. Ihave passed through tortures to which the flatnes of mai'tyrdom would i nothing, or i In-v would end in uday." Miss Oliver'a true name is Anna Oli ver Snowden. tjer critios hve oftn referred to the fací that lio proaches iindci' an alias. Out ot' respect to lier lainily, who at lirst thOUght that she bad disgraced thera by public spcaking, sliL1 dr opped thelr naméiind altered hera to Anna Oliver. Some yearn ago her fawily becáma roconciled to her, and even proud of her, and then wished lier to use their name; but, having won her way as Anna Oliver, she deterinined to cling to that name, which, it is whispered, s1k lias severa! times ed to change.-