By: Marcy Barthelette

Hattie’s Gift I recently read about a little girl named Hattie May Wiatt in one of my daily devotionals. You may have heard her story or maybe not, but I feel it is worth the telling because it draws a close parallel to our own aspirations here at Aldersgate.

 

Hattie lived in the late 19th century and she was said to have gone to a church building in her Pennsylvania hometown to attend Sunday School class. As it happened this church was crowded every Sunday, so much so that tickets were issued and little Hattie was having a hard time trying to work her way through the crowd. She was approached by the pastor who took her into the building and found a seat for her in the back of the room. As they conversed, he told her of his dream to create a much larger space to house worshippers and those seeking to learn more about God in Sunday School. She shared her hope that he would follow that dream because she really wanted to be there but was afraid of the huge crowds and couldn’t always find a seat.

 

Not long after that visit, Hattie became very ill and the pastor was called to her home. Upon her death, Hattie’s mother gave the pastor a paper bag that held 57 cents, all the money she had saved to build a larger Sunday School building. That gift sparked an idea that has brought forth enormous fruit since Hattie’s death.

 

The pastor changed the 57 cents into all pennies and sold them for the sum of $250.00. Along with the $250.00, 54 of the original pennies were returned and mounted in a plaque as a reminder of the gift. The Wiatt Mite Society was organized to continue collecting funds and secure plans for new facilities. And the dream kept growing and snowballing into what we know today as Temple Baptist Church in Philadelphia, PA, with seating for over 3000 people. The dream didn’t end there, Temple University found its early beginnings in one of the first buildings acquired by the Wiatt Mite Society and Samaritan Hospital, now Temple University Hospital, began as a 20-bed facility in 1892. Today the hospital houses 722 beds and the Temple University campus provides education for around 30,000 students.

 

Experts disagree on the validity of this story but we do know that Pastor Russell Conwell did tell the story, birth records do show the birth of Hattie May Wiatt and events do bear out the growth and development of the church, university, and hospital. Whether or not Pastor Conwell was a good motivational speaker or Hattie really did start this whole ball rolling, the effect has its parallel to what has happened here at Aldersgate. We are not looking to build a university or hospital but over a decade ago a dream began when our new Worship Center was built and, more recently, when our beautiful Learning Center became a reality. We wanted to reach many more children to teach them that God loves them and watches over them. We wanted to leave a legacy for all who come after us.

 

The building is there and right now it sits empty, but this won’t last forever. We will be back at church worshipping and fellowshipping together. But there is more we need to do. We need to remember that the bills still need to be paid even though we are not physically there. As you are able, giving may continue online or by mail. We also need to take this time and pray about what each of us can do to continue to make the dream a reality once our doors are open again. That may look something like volunteering to teach children or lead a youth group or help with VBS. It may mean mentoring in one of the school programs we sponsor. It may mean helping at Abundant Blessings or Least of These. It may mean inviting a neighbor child for milk and cookies until Mom gets home from work.

 

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14

 

Our work in the community takes on many faces and it never ends. Not because of lack of money or stormy weather or even COVID 19. We are still here and our doors are “figuratively” open.

 

(Note: Information used here about Hattie May Wiatt is taken from the article on file at the Temple University Library Archives and copy from the original text of Rev. Russell Conwell’s sermon may be found online in its entirety. Many articles have been written about the story and are easily found online by entering the name Hattie May Wiatt or simply “57 Cents”. Current numbers involving Temple University and Temple University Hospital appeared on their websites.)