Lincoln and his Pastor

Few men have had better relations with their pastors than President Abraham Lincoln had with his, Dr. Phineas D. Gur­ley. The two men were very close. And yet, during a Sunday morning service, Lin­coln slowly rose to his feet and before the entire congregation boldly opposed his pas­tor with a few carefully chosen remarks.

Dr. Gurley knew Lincoln was right, and the opposition only strengthened their warm friendship. To understand this we must go hack to the time when Lincoln first moved to Washington as President. Immediately after the inauguration, the Lincolns began to attend the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, where Dr. Gurley was the minister. Mary Lincoln chose pew number fourteen, in the sixth row from the front.

Lincoln's parents were Primitive Bap­tists, and although Mary Lincoln had been a Presbyterian in her youth, she had joined the Episcopal Church in Springfield. Per­haps the Lincolns began to attend the New York Avenue Church in Washington be­cause of the great kindness of Dr. James Smith, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Springfield, which they had at­tended before the election. Dr. Smith had preached the funeral sermon for their sec­ond son, Eddie, during the absence of the Episcopal rector, the Reverend Charles Dresser. His help and understanding dur­ing their days of sorrow had led them to attend his church.

From the very beginning the Gurleys and the Lincolns found strength in one another's company, and their friendship grew. Lin­coln liked his pastor's preaching and remarked to a friend, "I like Gurley. He don't preach politics. I get enough of that during the week, and when I go to church I like to hear the Gospel."

Early in 1862 young Willie Lincoln de­veloped a heavy cold. Complications de­veloped, and as his illness worsened Dr. Gurley was summoned to his bedside. Wil­lie sensed that God was calling him home, and toward the end he whispered to his mother while Dr. Gurley was visiting that he wanted the contents of his little bank to be given to the church, and that it should be spent for Sunday school missionary work. The five dollars was sent to the church and spent as Willie had asked. The record of this contribution is in a faded book at the New York Avenue Church.

An interesting letter from Mrs. Lincoln to the pastor's wife has been preserved. The letter, sent to the manse along with a turkey, said this:

EXECUTIVE MANSION

MY DEAR MRS. GURLEY:

It affords me much pleasure to hear that your family are recovering. We had so seri­ous a time with our little Taddy, but we can deeply sympathize with you in any such trouble.

We received from Baltimore a small sup­ply of poultry, am I taking too great a lib­erty with you, to ask your acceptance of a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner? Hoping soon to have the pleasure of seeing yourself and the Dr. remain.

Very truly—MARY LINCOLN No. 25, 1864

For some reason Lincoln always pre­sented his gift to the church by a check made out to Dr. Gurley. Perhaps it was an indication of his confidence in the man. As the war dragged on, Lincoln sought more and more the comforts and strength of the church. Often before a battle he would send his carriage for Dr. Gurley, and the two of them would get on their knees and pray that God's will would be done.

In an uncompleted manuscript Dr. Gur­ley wrote about one of his visits with Lin­coln:

One morning, as Mr. Lincoln's pastor and inti­mate friend, I went over to the White House in re­sponse to an invitation from the President. He had me come over before he had breakfast. The night before we had been together, and Mr. Lincoln had said, "Doctor, you rise early, so do I. Come over tomorrow morning about seven o'clock. We can talk for an hour before breakfast." This I did, as before stated......................... As I passed out the gateway which leads up to the 'White House and stepped on the street, I was joined by a member of my congrega­tion. "Why doctor," said my friend, "it is not nine o'clock. What are you doing at the Executive Mansion?" To this I replied, "Mr. Lincoln and I have been having a morning chat." "On the war, I suppose?" "Far from it," said I. "We have been talking of the state of the soul after death. That is a subject of which Mr. Lincoln never tires. I have had a great number of conversations with him on the subject. This morning, however, I was a listener, as Mr. Lincoln did all the talking."

President Lincoln felt that the church and its doctrines were most essential. But one morning as he sat in the family pew, Dr. Gurley shocked him and the rest of the congregation with the announcement that there would be no more church services at New York Avenue "until further notice."

Lincoln had undoubtedly wondered at the piles of lumber just outside the sanctu­ary. Now he learned the reason. Dr. Gurley was worried about the need for space to care for the wounded who were pouring in from various battlefields. Since many schools and churches had been transformed into hospitals, he proposed to do this with New York Avenue Church. The newly cut lumber would be placed on top of the pews to make a temporary floor for hospital beds. He probably felt that his action would please the President, who was deeply con­cerned over this problem, and perhaps be­cause of this had not mentioned the mat­ter to him.

The announcement was barely finished when Lincoln was on his feet. "Dr. Gurley," he said in his high-pitched voice, "this ac­tion was taken without my consent and I hereby countermand the order. The churches are needed as never before for divine services." The President's order was, of course, final, and everyone rejoiced—especially Dr. Gurley.

Lincoln knew that neither he nor the na­tion could get along without Jesus Christ. He was a constant student of the Bible and spent much time studying the old family Bible from which his mother, Nancy Hanks, had read to him in his early boy­hood.