ABSTRACT
On October 11, 1918, the Reverend Charles A. Shreve wrote a letter to his new parish, McKendree Methodist Church, 921 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. Among other things, Shreve sought to explain his absence to his new congregation:
On account of sickness, I have not been able as yet to meet the members of the church either in public services or in their homes, so I am taking this means of introducing myself to you until such time as I can see you face to face. I trust that you and yours are being kept safe from the prevailing disease which has overtaken so many of us…in the troublous times… 1
“The prevailing disease” that prevented Shreve from assuming pastoral duties at his new parish in Washington, D.C. was the influenza epidemic of 1918, which also accounted for one of the Nation’s more “troublous times.” Prior to coming to McKendree, Shreve had played an important role in the other major event of 1918-the war effort. Serving as field secretary of the War Work Department on the Board of Home Missions, Shreve had been commended by his bishop for “doing better work…in… Washington…than any other denominational representative.”2 Early on in his ministry at McKendree, his church observed that “His messages…were scriptural and captivating [and] they graciously appealed to the spiritually minded.”3
