Columbus Years 1882-1918
Gladden became the pastor of the First Congregational Church in Columbus, Ohio in 1882, and would serve in that position for thirty-two years. During that time, Gladden would develop his reputation as a religious leader and as a community leader. In 1886, he traveled to Cleveland during a streetcar strike and spoke at a public meeting on "Is it Peace or War", supporting the rights of the workers to form a union to protect their interests.
He helped to promote modernist views in books such as Burning Questions (1890) and Who Wrote the Bible (1891). In Who Wrote the Bible, Gladden stated: "it is idle to try to force the narrative of Genesis into an exact correspondence with geological science."
Gladden served a term on the Columbus City Council between 1900 and 1902 and became an advocate of municipal ownership of public works. He also led a movement to change the dates of elections in Ohio from October to November.
He was Vice President of the American Missionary Association between 1894 and 1901 and served as the President of the organization between 1901 and 1904. In this capacity, he travelled to Atlanta, Georgia to visit Atlanta University and meet W. E. B. Du Bois, where he was shocked at the condition of Southern blacks and started speaking out against segregation.
He resigned as President of the American Missionary Association to take up a position as the Moderator of the National Council of Congregational Churches in 1904. In 1905, he denounced a $100,000 gift to the Congregationalists from John D. Rockefeller as "tainted".
Gladden was considered for position of President of Ohio State University until his battle with the American Protective Association over its nativistic rhetoric cost him that position. The University of Notre Dame conferred him with an honorary doctorate in recognition of his stance against anti-Catholicism.
Gladden is credited with having written a number of hymns including O Master, Let Me Walk With Thee. He resigned as pastor of the First Congregational Church in 1914 and died of a stroke in 1918.
Read more about this topic: Washington Gladden
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