02664cam a22003733u 4500 70294 UtSlPG 20260610134627.0 m cr n 260607r20231910utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d 12021146 UtSlPG en iso639-1 PS Stanley, Caroline Abbot, 1849-1919 The First Church's Christmas barrel Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg, 2023 1 online resource : multiple file formats text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Release date is 2023-03-15 David Edwards, PrimeNumber and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.) "The First Church's Christmas Barrel" by Caroline Abbot Stanley is a fictional narrative published in the early 20th century, specifically in the early 1910s. The book addresses themes surrounding charity and the true spirit of Christmas, centering on the struggles of a missionary family as they face poverty and the complexities of receiving help from their home church. The narrative explores the contrasts between genuine generosity and the superficiality often surrounding charitable acts. The story follows Reverend John Haloran and his wife Mary as they navigate the hardships of frontier life, especially during the Christmas season. When a barrel of donated items arrives from the First Church, the couple anticipates relief and joy, especially for their four children. However, their excitement quickly turns to disappointment as they discover that the contents are largely unsuitable and insufficient for their needs. This leads Mary to take a strong stand against the church's neglect, igniting a call for genuine support rather than merely symbolic gestures. The story culminates in a meeting at the First Church where the women confront their own complacency and redefine what it truly means to give, ultimately learning that love and thoughtfulness should accompany acts of charity. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Originally published: United States: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1910 Christmas stories Missionaries -- Fiction West (U.S.) -- Fiction Charity -- Fiction Hoskins, Gayle Porter, 1887-1962 https://archive.org/details/firstchurchschri0000caro https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70294 111020 111020