Part 7 (2/2)

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Frank Nelson never became an old man Toward the end of his life his body could not fulfill the demands of his spirit, and he was not able to undertake as lected any responsibility At ti and had to stop on the street to rest because too much exertion caused pain, but he would not spare himself nor did he ever co years

In 1931-1932 he suffered fro, a condition which has very serious possibilities He weighed these possibilities, says Dr Richard S Austin, but like ured there was always the chance that he ht not have to pay the price He was like the physician hen told to practice what he preached replied, ”Did you ever know a sign-post to walk down the road?” He bore his illness with fortitude, concealing from his family and friends the vexation that he felt as the activities which were life itself to hi the church in procession with the choir, he would never use a cane though he was often suffering acutely, but squaring hi back his shoulders, he would march resolutely on As he crossed the chancel to enter his pulpit, soor was apparent, and as he preached, his voice was strong and clear If he was less aniorating preacher One day in the parish house Canon Sy He was about to leave for one of his frequent periods in the hospital, and Canon Sy, but Mr

Nelson refused, saying, ”No, I won't I would rather drop in my tracks than to save myself and spend endless days in hospitals”

At the Annual Meeting of the Parish on April 10, 1939, Mr Nelson presented his resignation, ”not because I want to quit, but I am concerned that this parish should not weaken This church is facing, as every church is facing, a new day; and it needs the leadershi+p of younger and stronger men” It was accepted with marked reluctance to take effect when his successor should be chosen and had arrived On May 21st the parish and many of his friends outside Christ Church celebrated his forty years' ular out-pouring of people

At the conclusion of the observance he wrote a friend:

Though it was not so stated in the bond, it saved me from a farewell celebration I preached at all three services, and it saved ies, and saved others fro to deliver them! But everyone was fine about it They decorated the Altar with gorgeous red roses, and me with my red Seminary hood (He wore his Doctor's hood rarely and always looked rather sheepish when asking his secretary to take it out of the safe!), and we had the two choirs at eleven o'clock, and lovely music at all the services So the day ell, and we're all glad it is well over

In a letter to another friend he said:

It wasn't easy to speak and to face the services, and that they meant the real end of my rectorshi+p, my active ministry There were dear friends and very loyal parishi+oners there And I think you know my love for Christ Church and for Cincinnati, and my inexpressible appreciation of all that this church and city have given me It is terribly hard to try to realize that after this suer be rector of Christ Church--and all that that has ratitude I saw the many, and my mind and heart were very full Indeed I hope I shall not ”retire” from the friendshi+ps, and from the life of the people and city Thank you more than I can say for what only you could so write I have had a very rare opportunity, and very privileged forty years, and I hope the co years--or weeks orin their oay the sas and find me worthy of them, and chief of theiven the church and city a lifetime of service, loyalty, and love, and the place he held in the affections of his people had been abundantly made known to him

In July before the last Sunday he was scheduled to preach, he was stricken by a heart attack, and so his ministry came to a close without further sadness of farewell He spent a feeeks in the hospital, and improved sufficiently to journey to his beloved Cranberry Isles acco what others did not realize, broke down and hen Mr Nelson left the hospital

His friends and he himself felt confident that a protracted rest would do the work of healing In August he sustained another and a , autuht him to the Phillips House in Boston He saw no one at first, but then he grew restless, and the doctor perress, he was moved to the old family home in North Marshfield, near Cape Cod There as a boy he had roaht fields, and there his parents had lived the last twenty-five years of their lives The lovely, old hoht back many tender s which he loved, he lingered some teeks With another attack he lapsed into unconsciousness, and his boyhood friend, the late Dean Philees of Boston, ca of October 31st as the end approached, Dean Sturges knelt beside him and in the dear familiar words of the Prayer Book said, ”Lift up your hearts,” and the family bravely responded, ”We lift theht, and our bounden duty, that we should at all tiive thanks unto Thee, O Lord” It was ht that Frank Nelson should depart this life on such a note of thanksgiving

At the burial in Cincinnati, Nove friends, and representatives of the city thronged Christ Church not to say ”Farewell,” but ”Hail!”, for as Alfred Segal grandly put it, ”He was like one going away to gather in his victory” For a night and a day preceding the service, his body lay in the beautiful chapel of his own creation, and great numbers of men, women and children of all faiths came to pay a final tribute The burial service was the same as he himself had always used, only read now by his successor, and the Bishop of the Diocese To his friends and beloved people it all sees that we are, we had never sensed ue possibility that his ministry would one day ter, of course, but it was beyond the grasp of hu that the day would coer walk the city's streets, no longer hurry to the distant suburbs

We felt this way because in an unusual sense men loved this servant of the servants of God in Cincinnati who had dwelt aation rose above hurief and surmounted the consciousness of personal loss in the trehout the si sentences, ”I am the resurrection and the life,” to the Bishop's final words of coraciousonly hymns of victory, hymns that he especially loved and which were expressive of his faith and spirit: John Bunyan's ”He ould valiant be,” and ”There is a wideness in God's mercy” The recessional moved to the church door to the triumphant words ”For all the saints who fro tune of R

Vaughan Willias said and done there that afternoon did the passing of this noble minister symbolize the destiny of allGrove Cemetery and laid hi branches seeo at his behest Christ Church had been given a plot of ground for the poor, the friendless, and the forgotten of men, ”God's Acre” There, by his express wishes, Frank Nelson lies a the least of his flock, the faithful shepherd who called his own by naain unto his own holow_

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It is now more than five years since Mr Nelson's death, and today the old church in the hands of his successor, Nelson M Burroughs, whose first naation of the Nelson dynasty, and whose spirit and abilities are a worthy continuation of an unusual rectorshi+p, is still animated by Frank Nelson's vision, his joy in service His ideals live today in the parish of Christ Church, which has not failed him but carries out that which he committed unto them in his farewell address:

The Church is the i to all of us We need the Church, for faith, for courage, for guidance The Diocese needs this Parish--its loyalty--its support--its fellowshi+p--as we need the Diocese The City needs this Church You will never forget, will you, the Vision, and the power that cao, viz;--that the Church is the Body of Christ, not a club, to minister, and not to be ministered to

The people all about us, the whole city, are our concern, to bring theo forward into the new day with high faith and enthusiasm You have a mission from God