National Affairs: Curious Flock

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What is a devout pastor to do when he can no longer inspire his flock? What can he say when the President of the U. S. comes to worship at his church, attracts curious thousands, and the sheep listen not to his sermon?

Rev. Jason Noble Pierce, minister of the First Congregational Church in Washington, D. C., where Mr. and Mrs. Coolidge attend, where falling plaster once knocked a woman near the President's pew unconscious (TIME, June 21), last week told the Kiwanis Club in Stamford, Conn., that: "Probably four out of five of those who attend the services are not my people but come to the church just to see the President. The fact that we had to extend the seating capacity of the church does not signify a growth in spirituality, but rather an increase in curiosity.

"It seems too bad that the President has not a right to attend a church service as a man, instead of being made the centre for all eyes. There is one thing that both his warmest friends and his bitterest enemies must concede to the President, and that is his consistency in church attendance. He is genuine in his attention to his spiritual duties."