USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Stratford > The quarto-millennial anniversary of the Congregational Church of Stratford, Connecticut. The historical address by the pastor, and a full report of all the exercises, September 5th, 1889 > Part 7
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MR. IVES. We will now hear a response from J. J. Rose, Esq., for the Olivet Church.
RESPONSE from the Olivet Church, Bridgeport,
J. J. ROSE, EsQ.
MR. GRANDMOTHER: It is not my intention to find a great deal of fault, but I do wish to say one thing in that direction. We grandchildren have had a delightful time here to-day. We have had a jolly good time. We have enjoyed every min- ute of it. But we do not like to come here and be told we are going to hear five minute speaches, and then hear orations of fifteen minutes. We object to that, Mr. Grandmother, and therefore, to make up for it, I had made up my mind that I would deliver an oration of an hour and a half; finally I thought that I should inflict just as much suffering upon myself as upon the rest of the children; so I have concluded to ask you that in our next two hundred and fiftieth re-union you will let us grandchildren speak first. I have no doubt though, in my heart, that you are to-day delighting in these richly dressed children of yours; but, you know, in family re-unions there are another kind of children, as well as the rich and dis- tinguished. We find in church re-unions and family re-unions rich relations and poor relations. I come here representing one of the poor relations.
Mr. Grandmother, Olivet Church, your grandchild, learned for the first time, to my knowledge, when you sent the invita- tion, that she was a grandchild; so we held a jollification meeting at once. We threw up our hats to think that we were of such a distinguished line of ancestry; and I began to look back in memory upon our church record during our ex- istance of twenty years, and I called to mind that little gather- ing of people who met in an upper room over a grocery store; and I remembered how that little church grew and struggled. I called to mind the difficulties under which it labored, how through a decade and a half, it could scarcely be said to stand on its feet ; in fact, I really think we are "creeping" yet ; still, although, during the first fifteen years we struggled along, I am happy to say that, during the last five years, under one of
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the best of leaders, we have been brought by our Master into green pastures; and, by contrast, we are in luxury where be- fore we were in want. And, sir, as I have thought of our ex- periences, my mind went back to that little band which, over two hundred and fifty years ago,-I believe in 1608,-started out from that little English village of Scrooby and went up to the historic town of Leyden, and, not finding that large liberty of conscience which they sought, decided that they would come over to these New England shores; here they found what they desired; at least, if they did not find that complete freedom to the extent that they wished, we have found it to-day, and richly enjoyed the same. And I call to mind how that little band separated in Massachusetts, and sent down here into the State of Connecticut those little col- onies such as Stratford and Milford and Guilford; and I re- membered, as I read over their history, how that band here fought and contended with the Indians; suffered internal strife, in the same way the little Olivet Church has done, hav- ing dissensions, to the extent of sending off a feeble branch to found another church; though in our case the dissentors had a little more independence of character; (the portion that withdrew, instead of founding a similar church, were so inde- pendent that they founded a Methodist Church;) and, as I contrasted these two churches I said to myself, certainly, if out of so small a beginning, if out of so weak a church in numbers and influence, our mother church became so power- ful, and has sent forth into this world heroic characters that are to-day building up both character for themselves and for the community; if this mother church of ours has become such a power in the world, and accomplished so much good, sir, your grandchild, weak as she is to-day, has a future be- fore her, and we propose to fight along this line, and we pro- pose to build up in that community where your grandchild exists, a God fearing and a God loving community. And, sir, when the roll shall be called two hundred and fifty years hence, I have no doubt that Olivet Church will be considered a worthy ancestor, as the blessed mother-church is to-day, and we per- haps may share in the celebration which shall be as blessed a re-union as this is to-day.
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MR. IVES. We have a baby, too, a few years old. We have reached the end of the list of the children, and now we are to hear from the baby. While this sword has been held over all the other speakers, I am delighted to say now to the baby, that she shall have full sway, and talk just as long as she wishes.
RESPONSE from the West End Church, Bridgeport,
DEACON J. W. NORTHROP.
I REMEMBER that one of the previous speakers prayed that God would have mercy upon the listeners.
In the name of the youngest grandchild, in the name of the West End Congregational Church of Bridgeport, I present to our dear venerable grandmother most hearty and affectionate greeting. We are the infant of the family, and we look for that special, loving attention, that always clusters about the baby. I have said we are the infant ; for while our dear grand- mother closes the wonderful cycle of two and a half centuries, we have fulfilled but two and a half years. And . though an infant of so short a life, still it is no puny weakling, but a healthy, strapping, lusty child, fast striving toward maturity. The West End Congregational Church was recognized by a Council convened February 15, 1887. I have the honor to be one of the twenty-one original members of the church. Since that time we have added to our number sixty-three, and have lost six, having now a membership of seventy-eight, so that during the two and a half years we have quadrupled our num- bers. If we continue to grow at this rate, for the two hundred and fifty years of our grandmother's life, we shall have a mem- bership of-Well, I will not attempt to tell you how many. I began to figure it, and reached a million before I was fairly started, and I saw there was no use in figuring any farther, for what could we do with more than a million members? When we get up to a million there will be a little great-grand- daughter born to our beloved grandmother; perhaps it will be a twin! But while we cannot truthfully say we expect to grow at this rate, we do look forward to a large increase in the future, for we are located at the West End; and the long
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headed, wise fellows say that from the very nature of things, the City of Bridgeport is bound to expand at the West End. And while a great many of those long headed fellows are real estate agents, they are not all real estate agents, so we put our confidence in what they say. The original enterprise from which the church sprang was a little Sunday-School mission work started by some good people in an unoccupied store. From the store we soon grew into a cottage where our fifty or sixty scholars were scattered through five rooms. Pupils sat on the stairs, others dangled their legs from the sink- board. From the cottage we grew into our present chapel- home with which our good mother, the First Church of Bridge- port so charitably clothed us. You must know that strapping infants are forever outgrowing their clothes. Last year's dresses won't button this year; the arms stick far out through the sleeves; the skirts cause us to smile at their shortness. That is the trouble with this child, we can't keep inside of our clothes. Twice we have outgrown our garments, and now, the third time, we are in a ridiculous plight, pulling in our arms and drawing up our feet and afraid to take a long breath for fear of ripping a seam or bursting off a button! But we are not an indifferent youngster who had no regard for the fitness of things, and we propose to do something about it, and we propose to do a great deal about it. One feeble-kneed brother advocated ripping out the hems and patching down the old garments and trying to make them do. I am putting it very mildly when I say that that young man was simply squelched. No, my good friends, we have got to have another brand new set of clothes; and our hearts are already rejoicing in anticipation. We do not propose to cultivate our clothes at the expense of our souls and minds or even of our pockets, but we do realize the relative importance of pretty good clothes, at any rate, you feel tolerably comfortable inside of them. We have all taken measures in this direction, and, as everybody knows, taking measures is the first thing to do when you are to have a new set of clothes.
I have seen this Sunday-School work grow in numbers from twenty-five to two hundred, and now in truth we are in need
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of more commodious quarters in order to successfully carry on our work; but we trust that, before a very long time, we shall be in possession of a church building of ample size and accommodations to meet the needs of our enlarged work. God has indeed blessed us in the past. He has blessed us with this worthy grandmother, whose true piety and faith have without doubt had a benign influence over us. He has blessed us with a wise, affectionate mother, whose loving care has been around about us in the past, and who still cherishes us in a very tender place in her heart. Better than all, He has blessed us with His own divine presence. We have felt the influence, the joy of His overshadowing love, the power and grace of His good Spirit in our midst. And now, in clos- ing, we pray that the God, who planted and has sustained throughout these centuries this dear grandmother church, will evermore bestow upon her His richest gifts; that throughout the coming generations she may continue a bright and shin- ing light shedding abroad a clear radiance over the paths of multitudes of men; a fountain of the water of life from whence shall flow forth the streams that carry peace and joy and sal- vation to the hearts of the people.
MR. IVES. Let us close our services this afternoon by sing- ing the 1141st Hymn. I desire to give two notices before singing the hymn. In the first place, of the relics which are upon exhibition in the lecture room at the rear of this house. The room will be open at the close of this service. The ladies have made ample provisions for a supper for all who can re- main and be with us in the evening or for those who would take supper before returning to their homes. The supper will be served in the hall where the dinner was served, and the train is in no haste. You will be welcome at any time after half-past five. After singing, Mr. Davenport will pro- nounce the benediction, whom we are very glad to have with us to-day.
Hymn 1141. "Jesus shall reign where'er the sun."
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BENEDICTION.
REV. J. G. DAVENPORT.
AND now may the blessing that maketh rich and addeth no sorrow, the blessing of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be upon us and upon all his Israel forevermore. Amen.
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Congregational Church, Stratford, Conn. built in 1784 _ removed and new Church built in 1859 ..
EVENING SERVICE.
MR. IVES. Rev. Mr. Pardee, Rector of the Episcopal Church of this place, will now read the Scriptures.
MR. PARDEE. I will read the 55th Chapter of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.
MR. IVES. We will be led in prayer by my father, who preached in the building which preceded this one fifty-three years ago, and I have been happy to have him preach for me three times since I have been the pastor of this church.
PRAYER,
REV. ALFRED E. IVES, of Castine, Maine.
O LORD our God, we bow and worship before Thy face. We call upon our souls and all within us to praise and bless Thy holy name. Thou art faithful as the great mountains. that cannot be removed but endure forever. We rejoice in the manifestations of that faithfulness, in Thy dealings with Thy people here. We bless Thy name for this day, for this com- memoration, that there is so much to commemorate, so much to recount with thankfulness and with joy. We praise and bless Thy holy name that in Thy providence and by Thy good spirit in years and generations gone the foundations of many generations here were laid in faith, in humble prayer. We rejoice that Thy watchfulness has been over this vine of Thy planting, that Thou hast caused it to bud and bring forth fruit so abundantly, extending its boughs to the sea and its branches to the river, that it has been like a bough, even a fruitful bough by a wall, whose branches ran over the wall. We rejoice that there have gone forth from this church other churches of Our Lord Jesus Christ, standing firm in the truth
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and love of God, blessed richly in the grace of God with en- largement and upbuilding and strength. We thank Thee for all Thou has done for this mother church and for those that have gone forth from her. We rejoice in Thy goodness and mercy to them, these churches of Jesus Christ, so much in them that manifest the faithfulness and love and power and grace of God. The Lord in His favor grant that, as in gene- rations past, so in time to come, and more abundantly, the riches and grace of God may come to His people here, upon this church of God, upon all its membership, and upon all who are so closely related to it by that intimacy with it in the past. We pray that more and more Thou wilt work for Zion, that it may be every where made manifest that those who name the name of God are indeed a peculiar people, zealous of good works, the Lord Jesus dwelling with them in their hearts and in their habitations. We pray, Our Father, that in coming years there may still be enlargement from these churches, and that all these churches around about us and far away over this wide land may bear the name of Christ, and the riches of His grace be manifest in their enlargement. We thank Thee for all Thou has done for our land, and pray that more and more Thou wilt work until this land and all the lands shall be filled with the fullness and the grace of God. We commend Zion and her interests to Thee. Still thou dost work in the midst of the golden candlesticks. Still dost Thou carry the stars in Thy right hand, and with confidence we may commend our interests to Thee, and pray for Thy great name's sake Thou wilt work good unto them. Bless us in the remain- ing services of this evening, that they may be profitable to us and enjoyable to us and prove to Thy honor and glory, through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen.
MR. IVES. It may perhaps be a relief to some if I give no- tice that the train for New Haven leaves at 9.21, and the train for Bridgeport at 9.26. We shall probably be through these exercises in abundant season for either of these trains, but if
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the services should be prolonged I will give notice, so that any who desire to take these trains may be amply notified.
MR. IVES. I am very happy to announce an address from Dr. Hall, a former pastor of this church.
ADDRESS.
REV. WILLIAM K. HALL, D.D.
MR. MODERATOR, FATHERS AND BRETHREN: I deem it a great privilege to be present with you to-day, and participate in this joyous festival, on this high day in the history of this ancient church. Though my pastorate was not a long one, it was suf- ficiently long for me to become thoroughly identified with the interests of this church, and to become intimately acquainted with many of you in your homes. It does not require a long time for a pastor to know his people by their firesides, to find his affections twining about many a home, forming the ten- derest attachments with many hearts. Returning to-day after the lapse of eighteen years, a flood of memories has been sweeping through my mind, as I have met one and another and grasped the hand of those to whom I was so closely drawn years ago. I have been dwelling very much in the past.
But this is not the place or the hour for the utterance of thoughts which are for the most part of a private nature.
Our ears have become familiar with "Centennial" and "Bi- centennial," and no longer do we deserve the sneer that we have often heard from the other side of the sea, that we have no history, no monumental stones, that our life was young and callow. We are passing beyond that condition. We have been rapidly pushing on into events that have so crowded and crowned these years as to have made them some of the most important and conspicuous years, as far as the great interests of humanity are concerned, in all the world's history. I sup- pose that we may be apt to. err in magnifying the relative value of the years immediately behind us as compared with the earlier centuries; and yet I think that, after the soberest reflection, one would conclude that the two hundred and fifty years, which span the life of this church, cannot be much sur-,
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passed in importance and conspicuousness, as regards the great vital interests of humanity, by any of the years or cen- turies that may yet come before the curtain drops and the great drama of history is closed. Already we are talking about the celebration of the Four Hundredth Anniversary of the discovery of America; but during the first hundred years and more of this period there was a comparative barrenness respecting any great important events that have a far out- reaching influence upon the highest welfare of humanity. It is not until that period when the Pilgrims landed on the shores of Plymouth, one of the great epochs of history, and when the colonists laid these foundations of church and State along the shores of Connecticut, that we begin to strike the history that seems to be mighty in its every event, reaching far out down to the present and far on into the future. And so, when we review the history of this ancient church, looking backward two hundred and fifty years; when we come to you, dear brethren, as you stop in this grand, lordly march through the centuries halting for a little while to look back over the way by which you have come, we can feel with you that the fathers began their work at a period in the history of this world which in all probability will not be surpassed in all the years and cen- turies that are before us, for the gravity of the nature of the events in which they were the actors, and for the profound sig- nificance of the issues proceeding from them. It is a fact of great suggestive value, as it seems to me, that while we are celebrating our centennials and bi-centennials of civil govern- ment and civil institutions, there are simultaneously these church centennials. While we lift up our thanks to God for the government under which we have reached such great prosperity; for the civil and religious freedom that is our glorious inheritance from the fathers, we do not fail to come and bow lovingly and reverently at these holy shrines, at these church altars our fathers reared. We do not fail, I say: aye, we must do it if we are true to history. There is thus brought prominently before our minds the significant fact that coeval with the foundation of civil government were the foundations of these churches of Christ. This is a fact brought with great
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power by these commemorative celebrations upon the minds of the youth of this generation, even as it comes with great and refreshing power upon the minds of those in middle life and those who are passing away. And we are reminded by it that the source of this national prosperity, the primal cause of this blessedness that is ours under these civil institutions, must ever be inseparably linked with the House of God.
My friends, the question perhaps may come to some prac- tical mind, of what utility are such church anniversaries as this which we are enjoying to-day? Of what value can they be to us or to our children ? Is it not merely a passing senti- ment, pleasing, it may be, for the hour, but leaving no abiding product of good behind it? Homer tells us that Diomede did not see the gods until Pallas Athene swept the mist from be- fore his eyes. It is by the power of reminiscences such as these we have had to-day, that the mists are blown away from before our eyes. We look back along the path of this church history and see the consecrations to God, the fidelities to his service and the hallowed and hallowing genius and the pro- found religious spirit of the men who wrought for us in the years gone by. It is only by the power of just such memories as these revived to-day that we properly estimate the worth of those who laid the foundations of the goodly structure into. which we have entered, and which has been and is our pride and our joy. Of what value to us? Value in the inspiration and impulse we receive for the re-consecrating of ourselves to a like service, of the quickening of our own faith in God, and in the building up in ourselves of a like moral strength, and a like righteous character. There was once a time when the Moabite soldiers prevented a burial, and they hastily cast the body into the sepulchre of Elisha; and the sacred writer tells us that when the body touched the old bones of Elisha it re- vived and stood upon its feet. It is by the touch that we have had to-day of this revered past of this history of God's Providence in this church, of that grace He gave to the fathers, that we ourselves are revived and anointed anew for the work that God has for us to do.
I have noted in the addresses that have been made to-day
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that very little has been said of the talents, of the learning, of the great abilities of those who occupied in the earlier years the pulpit of this and of other churches that have sprung from it. Among them were great preachers, men of much learning, men foremost in intellectual strength and attainment of the ยท time, but these points have not been emphasized to-day. Prominent in your thoughts and in the thoughts of those who have spoken to us, has been the spirit that possessed them, the faith that animated them, the consecration to God and His service that characterized their lives. There is helpful- ness in this fact for us. For we, by the power of these mem- ories thus revived, are greatly aided to see, that effective work for God, the fulfilling of our mission in the world, after all depend upon a right heart, upon a true spirit, upon consecra- tion to God and His service. As we look back over the his- tory of this church we are impressed with what numberless sacrifices and numberless fidelities must have marked those who have been prominent through all the years from the begin- ning of this church life. There is something rather wonder- ful, and yet very intelligible, Mr. Moderator, in this fact of a continued spiritual life, a fidelity of godliness for two hundred and fifty years. Whence came it? How has it been sustaind ? Two hundred and fifty years of unbroken, continuous, indes- tructible holy life, a life of faith in Christ, a life of love for him, a life of fidelity to the Cross of Jesus! How shall we explain it except by the indwelling Spirit of God in human hearts, the Divine Spirit, touching this human life and that human life, lighting a flame here on this heart and there on that heart, and the flame ever burning brightly, the life once given continually sustained, through all these years. This truth was forced afresh upon my mind this morning, as obe- dient to the promptings of my heart, I visited yonder burying- ground and stood before the monument of one whom I had laid there to rest. I stood and pondered, and remembered, and prayed. I have but to mention the name of Deacon D. P. Judson, for all of you who were his contemporaries at once know that I speak the name of one who, if we could have looked into his heart, would, next to the name of wife and child-
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ren, have written the name of this church of Christ. I re- member him as one who was of unspeakable comfort and strength to me in the days of my pastorate of this church. I remember him as one who bore on his heart of hearts every interest of this church, and whose unselfish devotion to its welfare was recognized by all. I make this reference merely for the sake of an illustration. That that one life was but one of many with which this church through all the years has been blessed. Each generation in turn has had many who, in stead- fast faith, with believing prayer and unwearied labor have ministered at this altar. Here we have the explanation of the fact of this unbroken church life for two hundred and fifty years in this community. It has been and is the "Church of the living God." Brethren there are great souls behind us.
We, of to-day, who have entered into the privileges and blessings they have bequeathed to us; we who have the en- joyment of the successes and victories they have gained for us, have not begun to measure their heroism of thought, of feeling and of action; their numberless sacrifices; their num- berless fidelities. If we are to be worthy of them we must gird the loins of our mind and be sober and earnest, and faith- ful to the end.
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