Frederick Vining Fisher: Methodist Apologist for Mormonism

Frederick Vining Fisher: Methodist Apologist for Mormonism

BY JANICE R DAWSON

FREDERICK VINING FISHER, PASTOR OF Ogden's First Methodist Church from 1910 to 1912, exhibited an ecumenical spirit unusual among Utah evangelicals of the early twentieth century. Through broad community involvement, including support of prohibition, boys' programs, and the Chautauqua movement, Fisher sought to generate understanding and conciliation between the Mormons and the gentiles. Intolerant of the "prejudice and factional feuds of the past," he envisioned a "new age" where "bigotry and religious strife must cease." During and after his Utah ministry, Fisher defended Utah and the Mormon people as worthy of public respect.

A product of New England and Yale, Fisher was an author and platform lecturer as well as a minister. He formerly served his church in a number of different states, including Alaska before it became a territory. He had visited Utah some twenty years before his appointment and so knew firsthand something of the situation he would encounter.

Soon after his arrival in October 1910 the Evening Standard recognized Fisher as a "moral force" in the community with a "spirit which promises to be helpful, not only to those within the church, but beyond his congregation." His community activities exemplified the counsel of his first sermon in which he emphasized the importance of attaining a good life by setting goals. A good life was serious business to the Reverend Fisher, and high among his goals were those to end moral evils and religious strife in Utah.

In a follow-up discourse Fisher suggested several goals for Utah's citizens. No person or religious group was excluded from his admonition to send their "children out into life unhandicapped by the sectarian differences and distrust of the past, free from that which has cursed Utah for fifty years." Those who perpetuated former misunderstandings upon Utah's children, said he, whether they are gentile or Mormon, "will have to answer to the throne of Almighty God for this crime." They should seek to live a Christianity of "the kind Christ preached and lived. Will Utah do all this? ... If she fails her judgement day will surely come." Fisher envisioned a golden age as "Mormon and Gentile united for the welfare" of all.

Soon after his arrival Fisher began a personal campaign for a dry Utah. He urged citizens to take "fresh courage" against the "unholy alliances" of those who promoted the sale of alcohol, regardless of their religious affiliation. Utah should be swept clean of the filthy saloons. If Kansas could bring this about, why not Utah with its "immense Church population?" Continuing his fight against the evils of drink, Fisher served as vice-president of the local prohibition group.

Working with boys' organizations was another important aspect of Fisher's philosophy. He was active in the newly established Boy Scout program, leading an Ogden group. After assisting in the organization of the Associated Boys Clubs of Utah, he became its first state president. Fisher also sought to fill another need in the community. He noted, "For twenty years because of religious bigotry, hundreds of young men have gone to the devil in Ogden for the lack of a great central Y. M. C. A." Along with other leading men he served on a committee to correct this oversight.

After laying this foundation for harmony, Fisher helped to cement the concept in the community's mind through his work as manager of Utah's "first" Chautauqua. If anything exemplified unity and cooperation at this time, it was America's great Chautauqua programs.

The Chautauqua movement began in 1874 as a week-long Bible study class at Chautauqua Lake, New York. The annual event soon expanded to include music, literature, recreation, and even drama. Lively lectures by many famous speakers of the day from poets to politicians were also featured. Nonsectarian religion remained a regular part of the schedule. The Chautauqua idea soon captivated the nation, and numerous independent organizations sprang up, especially in the Midwest. The circuit Chautauquas held in large tents also proved popular after 1907. Not to be confused with the traveling circus, these groups presented an interesting amalgam of culture and entertainment that served to assuage the "mental poverty of Main Street." As Fisher and others worked to establish the Chautauqua movement in Utah in 1911 they essentially followed the motto of an eastern group: "to take the Mutiny out of the Community and to leave the Unity."

As manager of the Utah Chautauqua Association, Fisher's untiring efforts to unite the community, especially its disparate religious elements, resulted in an unprecedented event. The ten-day program, held at Ogden's newly acquired Glenwood Park, drew participants from around the state and as far away as Idaho and Colorado. Concurrent lectures on subjects ranging from evolution and politics to literature and farming were held each day. Evening schedules included a single grand event such as Wagner's Parsifal, "illustrated with elegant views and with music by the auxetephone." The highlight of the week was the Pioneer Day program that included a patriotic address by B. H. Roberts and a grand historical pageant presented by hundreds of people that lasted until midnight. Local as well as national talent was utilized for this educational, entertaining marathon.

The Sunday gatherings were carefully planned to include all local Christian denominations in the nonsectarian services. It was reported that, drawing from Ogden and adjacent towns, over six thousand people attended the first Sunday meeting as children of all faiths marched into the auditorium for a grand Sunday school demonstration. The meeting "was the first of its kind ever seen in Utah. Sectarian lines were abolished and all creeds assembled to worship God and His Son without thoughts of 'isms and doctrines.'" Surely Fisher saw this as a great step forward for his vision of Utah's golden era.

Not one to slacken his pace, the Methodist minister extended his pacifistic efforts beyond Utah's borders. By looking for the good in his Mormon neighbors he had found it, and typically he shared his insight with others. After a period of comparative quiet, anti-Mormon writings in the national periodicals, agitated by former Utah senator Frank J. Cannon's articles in Everybody's magazine, escalated sharply in 1910-11. Protestant missionaries and non-Mormon politicians exacerbated the situation in Utah. Irritated by the untruths being presented, Fisher, himself a missionary, published an article, "A Methodist Minister's View of Mormonism," in a New York magazine, the Outlook. "Utah deserves some fair play at the hands of the press," he stated, and having lived in Utah he declared himself more able than those who "spent from two days to a month in the State seeking material to prove a predetermined prejudice."

Fisher's article emphasized three main points in understanding the Mormons. First, they were not only deeply religious, but they were also "an evangelical Protestant church, if the test of the Federal Council of Churches be a true test." Second, "the Mormon Church was born of some of the best blood of New England and the Middle West of early days," and their ancestors were "heroes of the Revolution." Third, "the Mormon people are not peasants or illiterate." In other words, aside from a few unusual beliefs, Mormons were typical Americans and worthy of respect instead of vilification.

Fisher also answered to current charges being made against the Mormons—"polygamy, deception, bigotry, and the seeking of political power." He declared that polygamy was a dead issue in Utah now and besides, "it was practiced as religious duty, was not sensual and was infinitely better than tandem polygamy in the east." He praised the church for its support of temperance, its Sunday schools, and its great Deseret Gymnasium in which were found "clean young men, clear eyed, brainy, and manly." He acknowledged that bigotry "exists wherever there is isolation, but ... in the light of common friendship and service together for common good it dies in Utah, as it dies anywhere." He admitted that the Mormons were involved in politics but that it was normal when one group was dominant. Moreover, it was necessary for self-protection, but they in no way aimed at national supremacy. Finally, Fisher denied accusations made in England about polygamy which had caused rioting in that country. They "are refuted by facts here and seem absurd to one in Utah," he said.

Typically, Fisher summed up his arguments with an appeal for ecumenical understanding and tolerance. "What Utah needs today is not a fight on Mormonism, but a common fight of Mormon and Methodist, Protestant and Catholic, on sin; not bitterness, but brotherhood; . . . not a chasm between Gentile and Mormon, but a union of the strongest leaders of both types of Christianity to build between these mountains the best kind of Christianity on earth."

Opposing editorial comment accompanied the Fisher article. Although the Outlook editors, Lyman Abbott and Theodore Roosevelt, published Fisher's viewpoint, they chose to ignore his message. Instead, Abbott reiterated the fashionable sentiments of the day. He lashed out at Fisher personally for his audacious defense which was "interesting because it is surprising. . . . We do not recall ever to have seen from the pen of a missionary so warm a commendation of a religion the errors of which he was supposed to counteract. In a minister's view of Mormonism we look for an indictment, and behold a eulogy. "

Abbott listed the reasons why "Mormonism has a bad name in the United States. [It is] the fraud on which it was founded; its extraordinary literalistic theology; its polygamy; and its past ecclesiasticopolitical despotism." The first two points did not concern him and, though he acknowledged that polygamy was dead, he assured his readers that it was sensual. But Abbott's main concern was Mormondom's political involvement which he saw as America's new peril. "In Utah not merely Mormons but Mormonism is in politics"; and the community, controlled by "active agents" of a "hierarchy," is in grave "peril. "

Reverberations from the Fisher article were felt far and wide, including Utah. Both Ogden papers reprinted Fisher's essay and Abbott's reply without editorial comment of their own. In the Mormon capital, however, Fisher's remarks intensified an ongoing controversy between the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret Evening News over polygamy.

When the News printed Fisher's article with no mention of the Outlook's critical editorial, the Tribune lambasted its rival vigorously, noting that the "cup of the church organ's dishonesty is full to the brim." The Tribune was delighted to see the Outlook take "square issue" with Fisher and praised its comments except for one point: polygamy was not dead. Fisher simply did "not know what he [was] talking about." They agreed with him that Utah needed "brotherhood" rather than "bitterness," but reminded their readers that "the bitterness, however, is chiefly on the other side. No one is persecuting the Mormons. . . . Every one wants to do them good."

When the Outlook editorial made its tardy appearance in the News, each point was carefully refuted. As to the "bad name" of the Mormon church because of "the fraud upon which it was founded," the News reminded its readers that the church was in good company, for "the followers of the Nazarene, too, had a 'bad name' " for the same reason. Perhaps as a motive for not including the editorial in the first place, the News added, a magazine "that is so ill-informed concerning the Church cannot expect us to take its criticism very seriously."

Rounding out the editorial battle, which lasted for several days, the Tribune accused the "filthy columns of the News" of being "the great and misleading enemy of Utah and the betrayer of its people through all the years." In the same issue, the Tribune completed publication of Frank J. Cannon's series of anti-Mormon exposes from Everybody's magazine.

Possibly anticipating repercussions at home concerning Fisher's notoriety, the Ogden Methodists firmly supported him. At the annual conference of the Utah Methodist Mission held in August 1911 in Salt Lake City, at which Bishop Henry W. Warren of Colorado presided, a unanimous resolution from the Ogden church requested Fisher's reappointment for another year. Those present honored the request and Fisher was also elected to serve as an officer of the Women's Foreign Missionary Society.

Although "very bitterly assailed" for his point of view from a number of sources, perhaps the most disconcerting criticism was that of Fisher's fellow ministers. There was "indignant criticism" of him "throughout the church," and no Methodist would justify Fisher's "defense of Mormonism; for it is not defensible. "

A Boston Methodist weekly, Zion's Herald, lashed out at him. Writing extensively about Fisher's "Astounding View of Mormonism," the editor could only "marvel" at the minister's application of the term "evangelical" to Mormonism. It was not evangelical by any definition he knew. Neither could he accept Fisher's evaluation of Mormon scholarship and asked, "Who are these scholastic 'leaders of the world' among the Mormons?" But Fisher's claim that "polygamy is dead," brought the strongest response. "The attempt to minify the iniquitous features of polygamy," the Herald editor railed, was "one of the worst things" about Fisher's article. Basing his position on Frank J. Cannon's writings, he claimed polygamy was indeed alive and well, and one need only compare Cannon's and Fisher's articles and then they "may judge for themselves which writer gives the correct picture of Mormonism."

Fisher was also severely castigated at the Methodist's Colorado Conference. Those present "flamed into white heat in protest and indignation over Mr. Fisher's statements." Then, after an "intensely earnest and wildly applauded speech by Dr. Thomas C. Iliff," a unanimous resolution denouncing the Mormon church and its practice of polygamy was passed. They also called for Fisher to give, through the Outlook and the church papers, "the date of the death of polygamy." Bishop Warren, who had presided at the Salt Lake Conference that reinstated Fisher ten days after publication of the Outlook article, was now reported to be "deeply stirred and offended at Mr. Fisher's misrepresentations," and he "informed the Conference that he expects the resignation" of Fisher.

Criticism was received from as far away as England. One Hans P. Freece, organizer of a group agitating for the expulsion of the Mormon missionaries from England and Scandinavia, disputed Fisher's statements regarding polygamy as pure fiction. He also accused the church of controlling Utah politics and extorting tithing money from poor foreign converts to provide a "vast income" for its prophet.

Responding to the accumulation of rumors and accusations, Fisher's Ogden congregation continued to defend him vigorously. In a letter sent to the local dailies, the church papers and the Outlook, the Board of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Ogden expressed its "hearty approval and appreciation of the work" of the Reverend Fisher. Most of the city's businessmen also endorsed him. The board pointed with pride to his active support of prohibition, the statewide boys' programs, and to his successful management of the Chautauqua. Their confidence and support was freely offered as they sustained his right to express an honest opinion.

Meanwhile, Fisher continued to serve his pastorate and to exert some criticism of his own. In a pre-election sermon on civic conditions, titled "If I Were Mayor," Fisher called for a number of reforms. He was especially critical of the social vices and sexual sins within the city and he remarked that 25th Street was "one of the most disgraceful gateways to a city on the continent." Citing a number of other problems, Fisher then challenged the next mayor to make himself subject to recall if he did not perform as promised. William Glasmann, Ogden mayor and Standard editor, acknowledged everyone's respect for Fisher and admitted the need for reforms, but he also pointed out that it was easy to tell the other fellow what to do and warned him against advocating "socialistic" doctrines which included the recall.

Following his initial success with the Ogden Chautauqua in 1911, Fisher became more extensively involved with the movement. He was named official western representative of the New York Chautauqua Institute and traveled throughout California and the Northwest in April 1912 making arrangements for the summer programs. He was again a director of the Ogden association and was manager of the Pocatello Chautauqua for 1912.

Fisher also remained active in Utah during 1912. In August he was reappointed pastor for the third time at Ogden's Methodist church. In addition, he was editor of a weekly newspaper, the Advance, published by the Advertising Publishing Company.

In October 1912 Fisher resigned as minister of the First Methodist Church to accept a position as director of the lecture bureau of the Pan- Pacific Exposition. This great fair, to be held in San Francisco in 1915, was scheduled to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal. Fisher's appointment, to begin January 1, 1913, at a salary of $2,500, was for three years. He, with a group of subordinate lecturers, planned to tour the country informing schools, legislatures, and over 1,000 Chautauquas, along with other gatherings, regarding the advantages of the new Panama Canal and the wonders of the San Francisco exposition.

Fisher returned to Utah periodically in connection with his popular speaking engagements. In the fall of 1916 he delivered a dozen lectures in southern Utah and, in preparation for a new illustrated lecture, he filmed the beautiful scenery of "Little Zion." In December he was again in Salt Lake and Ogden and offered "America before the World," a travelogue of hand-painted lantern slides depicting the natural wonders of America.

During this visit Fisher was invited to speak at the afternoon services in the Ogden Tabernacle. His friendship with Apostle David O. McKay, through their close association in the Chautauqua and the Ogden Betterment League, prompted this invitation. He paid high tribute to Elder McKay, and still pleading for peace and brotherhood between races, creeds, and political parties, Fisher delivered his popular Chautauqua sermon, "One Blood," based on the scripture "and he hath made of one blood all nations of men." He presented this talk successfully on many different occasions.

Early in 1917 Fisher previewed his newest lecture, "Utah, the Crown of the Continent." In it he offered a brief tribute to the founders of Mormonism, told of its persecutions and the migration of its people to Utah. Over 300 "hand-painted dissolving views" of the history, people, resources, and scenery of Utah from Weber Canyon on the north to Cedar City in the south were climaxed with views of Little Zion. Fisher predicted the southern canyons would become a mecca for tourists, and Cedar City would challenge Salt Lake soon after the railroad provided ready access. This lecture, which he would soon deliver across the country, was the culmination of his love affair with Utah and its people.

During his life, both as a minister and a lecturer, Frederick Vining Fisher followed the Christian creed to "love thy neighbor as thyself." He did not espouse the doctrines of his Mormon friends, but he did defend them, as he did all people, as true brothers in the gospel with a right to their own peculiar beliefs. Fisher endangered his own position as a minister in the Methodist church in an attempt to foster understanding for his highly respected neighbors. This was not a superfluous friendship, for he worked closely in several capacities with high Mormon officials as well as lay members and made numerous lasting friendships. In return, he was greatly admired by his Mormon friends. At a time when national and much local opinion was strongly set against the Mormon people, Fisher rose to the occasion by becoming a Methodist apologist for Mormonism.

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