USA > Washington DC > History of St. Paul's English Lutheran Church : and of the work of the church and Sunday school for the semi-centennial year, including additional reports to June 30, 1893, with a synopsis of the semi-centennial services of the church and Sunday school, April 16 and 17, 1893 > Part 8
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My stay was very pleasant, and it was a comfort I can never forget as I came to St. Paul's out of the shadows of a great sorrow. I will always cherish the delightful associations in the home of Dr. and Mrs. Butler and his family. I also cherish the delightful associations in the home of Brother Weaver, where I roomed, and the . many homes of St. Paul's. Space fails me to write of all these and much more I remember.
I must mention that I received my first library from friends in St. Paul's. After the death of Rev. Mr. Ebeling they purchased from his mother the library and presented it to me.
Space does not permit me to refer to all the work done by St. Paul's. It spans time and eternity, and has no limit. How wonderful and grand it has been, is now, and ever will be! All this will no doubt be told at your happy gathering as the history of St. Paul's is re- peated. I have only hinted at a few things and have not confined myself to my own personal association with St. Paul's, but have viewed the wonderful history of the church from the beginning until now. Under Dr. Domer, St. Paul's has moved on to larger successes, and in all things and all departments it is now a rejuvenated church, and is younger than ever, and more successful.
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Under his ministry she faces the future with glowing hope and brightest prospects.
God bless Dr. Domer and all the dear people, youth and children of St. Paul's ! May your anniversary be a feast of fat things, a royal entertainment, with the presence of the King and His blessing, and be a fore- taste to you and future generations, to the end of time, of grander success and joy to come.
Rev. H. S. Cook, Waynesboro, Pa.
Away back in my seminary days, almost twenty-five years ago, I had the honor of serving as associate pastor of St. Paul's for two months, from July 8 to September 10, 1868. I well remember with what fear and trembling I entered upon the work, and how kindly the people of St. Paul's bore with my inexperience-I, a fledgling of 23 years, having just finished the middle year of the seminary course at Gettysburg. Vividly do I recall the deep impression made on my mind by the earnestness and unction of the sermons and addresses of the then pastor, Rev. Dr. Butler, and the very evident esteem and love cherished for him by his people. They had just voted him (on account of much impaired health) six months' leave of absence and money to pay the bills. However, he was only absent during the heated term for comparatively short periods of recuperation at Berkeley Springs, W. Va., and Somerset, Pa.
On my first Sunday in Washington, July 12, at 3. 30 P. M., I was present and spoke at the organization of the Sunday school in the newly-dedicated Memorial Chapel, by A. S. Pratt, Esq. There were one hundred present.
I found in the St. Paul's of twenty-five years ago an earnest and devoted band of consecrated workers.
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There was a delightful spirit of Christian love and zeal pervading the church. The fifteen minutes' prayer meeting of teachers and officers just before the conven- ing of the school was one of the most precious services I have ever attended. Among the most active I recall the names of Mr. West, Mr. McClellan, Mr. Rankin, Mr. Enderle, Mr. Tilton, Mr. Ryneal, Mr. Noerr, Mr. A. S. Pratt, and others, including many women. Mr. A. S. Pratt was a most efficient Sunday-school superintendent, and with his son, Mr. J. C. Pratt, I was frequently associated in city prison work and open-air meetings in Capitol Park, and on the Avenue in connection with the Y. M. C. A.
It was a part of my duty to conduct the Thursday evening lectures at 8 o'clock, preceded by teachers' meeting from 7 to 8, usually led by the superintendent. On Sunday I usually taught in both Sunday schools, and preached at St. Paul's in the morning at II o'clock and at Memorial Chapel in the evening at 8 o'clock.
Many interesting incidents, mostly pleasant, but some otherwise, connected with my short sojourn in Wash- ington have impressed themselves on my memory. All in all, it was a very pleasant and profitable episode in my life. How different my life might have been had I yielded to Dr. Butler's solicitations that I forego my third year's studies in the seminary and continue with him as associate pastor for a year ! But duty seemed to forbid.
Ever since that delightful summer's association with the good people of St. Paul's, I have felt a deep interest in the welfare of the mother church of Lutheranism in Washington, as well as in her daughters and grand- daughters. May God's blessing rest upon the whole family evermore, is my prayer.
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Greeting from F. W. Conrad, D. D., Editor " Lutheran Observer."
PHILADELPHIA, April 12th, 1893. Rev. SAMUEL DOMER, D. D.
DEAR BROTHER : I thank you for your kind invita- tion to attend the jubilee anniversary of St. Paul's Church on next Sabbath, but regret that the state of my health will prevent my enjoying the great pleasure it would afford me to be present on the happy occasion.
I have been deeply interested in St. Paul's Church from the beginning, and during its entire history. I participated in the services of its dedication, under the pastorate of my life-long friend and brother, Mr. Graeff, who, I am glad to learn, will be present at your anni- versary. He labored successfully in the earliest and most difficult period of its establishment, and I recall some pleasant incidents of its dedication.
President James K. Polk and his accomplished wife, with Mr. Buchanan, his Secretary of State ; General Van Ness, who donated the lot on which the church is built, and a number of prominent civil and military officers of the Government were present and made liberal contributions for the church in response to the appeal made in its behalf.
I had the pleasure also of participating in the services of the re-opening, when the church had been refitted and beautified by the congregation, under your own success- ful pastorate, and I recall the occasion with much inter- est and pleasure.
Hoping that your approaching jubilee will be attended with great joy to yourself and the entire congregation, and praying that God may continue to bless your min- istrations and prosper the congregation, I remain, sin- cerely yours, in Christ,
F. W. CONRAD.
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Greeting from Rev. S. B. Barnitz, Western Secretary Home Missions.
Rev. SAMUEL DOMER, D. D., Pastor St. Paul's Luth- eran Church, Washington, D. C .; Mr. LUCIUS D. ALDEN, Supt. Sunday School, the OFFICERS and MEMBERS, Greeting:
Dearly beloved in the work of our blessed Lord and the great church into which he has called us, "grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ."
Hearty congratulations to pastor, officers, congrega- tion, and Sunday school.
"I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus ; that in everything ye were enriched in Him in all utterance and all knowledge; even as the testimony of Clirist was confirmed in you; so that you come behind in no gift; waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ."
It would be to me a real joy to meet with you in the thanksgiving and gladness of the coming anniversary week, but having been East so recently, and having engagements and work enough this week for three inen, the pleasure of being present in person must be given up. In spirit and thought and rejoicing I will be with you, and
"Though sundered far, by faith we'll meet Around one common mercy seat."
My relations with St. Paul's, its pastors, Sunday- school superintendent, and people, have been very precious, and in some respects closer than with our other congregations. In the spring of 1862 I was a sort of assistant to Dr. Butler, at that time the pastor, and very frequently in the pulpit and Sunday school.
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My sermons, I imagine, were very weak, excepting that they did have in them " the glorious gospel " as plainly preached by our beloved church. During the week I ministered, as an aid or help to Dr. Butler, in the Lincoln and Georgetown hospitals, of which he was then chaplain, and on Sunday taught a class in the Sunday school and preached one of the serinons. Brother Pratt, whose genial face comes before me as I write, was then superintendent of the Sunday school, and prominent in every good Lutheran work.
Under the ministry of your present highly-esteemed pastor, and the superintendency of your beloved and efficient superintendent, Brother Alden, the bonds- if such a thing could be-have even been strengthened by your deep and abiding and helpful interest in our great home mission work. "St. Paul's of Washing- ton, D. C.," was one of the first Sunday schools to undertake the support of a missionary in the home field, and the blessed results of that undertaking will not be fully known until the books are opened and the dead, small and great, stand before God. So you see I have great reason to be interested in St. Paul's, and to rejoice in all her prosperity and advancement. Our Father grant you a great anniversary feast-a realiza- tion of your highest lopes and fondest expectations.
It is a privilege to live in this age, and in this period of our dear Lutheran church; and even better days are coming. Our Father is bringing forth great blessings. As was said of a great movement years ago, I can say of our dear church. In some moments it pleases God to give me, I think I discern arising beyond the present clouds of our divisions that fair form of Lutheranismn- God's dear child-whose whole beauty has never yet been fully disclosed. I know her lovely face; that she is divine, I know by her girdle of pure doctrine, by her sceptre of justice and true liberty, and by that atmos-
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phere of love that, issuing from her, as light from a star, moves with her more royal than a king's apparel. In this, too, I know her divinity ; that she will bless both friends and enemies, and yield the fullest fruition of blessing to those who now ignorantly slay her, as once her Master gave His life for the salvation of those who slew him.
With much love, truly and gratefully yours,
SAM B. BARNITZ, Western Secretary.
Greeting from Rev. H. Baker, D. D., of Altoona, Pa.
[This greeting is highly appreciated by the pastor of St. Paul's, because it comes from one who was his own honored pastor forty five years ago.]
DEAR BROTHER DOMER: Pardon mne for iny seem- ing indifference to your kind invitation to come to the 50th anniversary of St. Paul's Lutheran Church at Washington. When I began my letter, my regrets were uppermost in my mind, but my memory is becom- ing somewhat treacherous, and thus I am sometimes not so prompt and considerate as in years gone by. My dear brother, nothing would have afforded mne more pleasure than to have been present with you on so im- portant an occasion as the 50th anniversary of the church of which you have been the honored pastor for almost twenty years.
I was married in the same year in which your church was organized ( August 25th, 1843 ). I have been somewhat acquainted with St. Paul's from the begin- ning until now. I have filled its pulpit a number of times for Brother Butler and his flock, and several times for its present pastor, the young man of my church many years ago. I might have been able to give you a
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talk of ten or fifteen minutes, according to the circum- stances of the occasion; but it was out of the question for me to leave home at this time, because I have been greatly afflicted, and am now, with rheumatism. It is quite as much as I can do to go down stairs to my mneals. My sleep is much broken. I have not had a good night's rest for a year or more. I am not able to dress and undress myself. I hope it will be better when the warm summer days come along.
How I would like to have mnet that dear old young man, Dr. Morris, again. I think he is in better condi- tion now than he was some five or six years ago. I would like to see him and Gladstone, of England, shaking hands! The doctor is a wonderful man, and grandly preserved.
Then Brother John E. Graeff is with you also, one of the first pastors of St. Paul's. John is a most excellent man. He has done much good; he has done noble things for the church by his liberal giving to various causes. He has a big and good heart in him; he is a man of the most generous spirit, and enjoys the work of the Lord.
How I do wish to be with you to-day! I am with you in spirit. I see you as a young man yet, standing erect and speaking of the things of the Kingdom to the present congregation. In imagination I see you as pastor, moving around, now here, now there, and every- where, giving the word of command, in form erect and tall, a little higher than any body else.
I might have told the people what you looked like when I first saw you, and when you took your first les- sons in Latin-afterward your first preaching with me on the western slope of the Alleghanies among the lumbermen of the mountains, and where we now have a flourishing congregation as a result. I might have spoken of my preaching for you in your early ministry
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in your first charge on the Susquehanna, and years afterward again, in the great capital of this great country.
I regard Washington City as one of the grandest cities on the earth-a glorious place in which to live and to labor. I suppose you are getting yourself and family so mixed up with metropolitan ways and life that you would not feel like leaving, even if you should want to retire from the public ministry. You and your people have been together so long that it would seem unnatural for you to be severed from them. If any- thing should come to separate you from them as the regular pastor, may you be continued as pastor emeritus for years to come.
God bless you in your jubilee, pastor and people. You are good yet for many years, healthy and vigorous- not like your old pastor, worn out and broken down in consequence of exposure and overwork in earlier years of excessive ministerial toil and travel. There is rest beyond the river.
ALTOONA, PA., April 17th, 1893.
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MONDAY EVENING. The Pastoral and Congregational Reception.
This concluded the semi-centennial anniversary cele- bration of St. Paul's. It was a brilliant occasion. The following account is copied from the Evening News of April 18, 1893:
" A pastoral and congregational reception concluded last night the celebration of the semi-centennial anni- versary of St. Paul's English Lutheran Church, which began on Sunday morning last. Fully one thousand people were present and greatly enjoyed the literary and musical programme, which was rendered in the upper part of the armory. An address of welcome was de- livered by Dr. S. Domer, the pastor of the church, who had charge of the exercises of the evening, and thus opened the reception. The other speakers of the even- ing.were Rev. Ernest Drewitz, Rev. G. A. Nixdorf, Rev. W. H. Gotwald, Rev. A. Homrighaus, Rev. Charles H. Butler, and Rev. D. E. Wiseman, pastors of various Lutheran churches in the city.
"Mrs. Eulalie Domer Rheem, accompanied by Miss Grace Fox, gave several solos, in which the sweetness and range of her voice were shown to great advantage. "The quartette, consisting of Miss Sue H. E. Wilson, Mrs. Eulalie Domer Rheem, Mr. Jacob Scharf, and Mr. W. A. Domer, gave a selection which was enthusiastic- ally received. Mr. Al. Mosher, rendered a couple of tenor solos, after which Prof. Dushane Cloward rendered several baritone solos which were greatly enjoyed. Prof. Schroeder's orchestra was also employed for the evening and rendered excellent music, both up-stairs and afterward in the banqueting hall. After the pro- gramme and entertainment up-stairs, the crowd ad- journed to the banquet room, where a splendid supper was served. The tables were most beautifully supplied
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with a great variety of the substantials as well as the luxuries of the season, and they were superbly decorated with flowers and other ornamentation, and the walls were beautifully draped with bunting. The ladies of the congregation supplied and superintended the banquet, and their efforts were a great success. More than one thousand people were entertained and feasted during the evening."
The following outlines of the several addresses are here presented. The speeches were not stenographically reported, and so we give the brief outlines as we have been able to gather them:
Remarks of Rev. G. A. Nixdorf.
Friends and Members of St. Paul's
Evangelical Lutheran Church of this city:
Allow me to congratulate you on this auspicious era commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the organi- zation of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Fifty years may seem to be a comparatively short period of time, and yet when we consider all the changes which usually occur-the scenes of joy and of sorrow, the depression and encouragements through which a church passes in this space of time-it must be regarded as a matter of considerable importance. We think, too, that when a church has existed and prospered through all these years it is highly befitting that something inore than a mere passing notice be taken of such an event.
St. Paul's, in common with other churches, has had a varied experience of sunshine and shadows, until it has attained, through years of toil and of prayer, its present position of prosperity. I have been well acquainted with the history of this church from its organization until the present, and was already engaged in study at Gettysburg, Pa., when it was organized. I have known all of its pastors, and was well acquainted with your
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present pastor as an active and highly-esteemed worker in the church in Pennsylvania long before he became the pastor of St. Paul's of this city.
We certainly think that we, as a church, have reason to congratulate ourselves that by the blessing of Almighty God we have been enabled to make such commendable progress in Washington. Other denomi- nations were already pretty fully established when we began, and we have never had a strong Lutheran popu- lation from which to draw. In view of these facts, we may well exclaim, in the language of the first telegrapli dispatch sent over the wires from Washington to Balti- more, " What hath God wrought ! "
You will not regard me as being egostistic, I trust, when I say that we think that the Evangelical Lu- theran Church, with her glorious history as an advocate of human freedom, sound doctrine, and government conforming so nearly to the government of the United States, has a right to live and prosper under the shadow of the Capitol of this great and free nation.
Permit me, in conclusion, again to congratulate pastor and people upon the success which has attended their united and persevering efforts in the cause of the Master, and especially in the interests of the church of St. Paul. May the success which has attended your past efforts only auger greater success and more extended usefulness in the future; and my mnost earnest prayer is that the rich blessing of heaven inay continue to rest upon pastor and people.
Address by Rev. W. H. Gotwald, St. Mark's Church.
I feel myself highly complimented in being per- mitted to take a part in these exercises this evening. In doing so, I bring to the pastor and the membership of
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St. Paul's Church the earnest and sincere congratula- tions of one of the youngest Lutheran congregations in Washington.
St. Mark's is here this evening in force to help in- crease the enthusiasm, and add our inite to the joy of this exceptionally important event.
This anniversary is a conventional period of time in the history of St. Paul's Church, -not a time measured simply by the half century which has rolled away since lier organization, but a time measured by faith and prayers and labors and triumphs in the cause of souls and Christ.
This evening the minds of a number of members will revert to the past, and memory, stopping here and there, will gather up delightful reminiscences scattered all along the pathway of the years that are now registered in the past.
Congregational life, like individual life, is condi- tioned upon contingencies which can neither be antici- pated nor averted. It is well that it is so; for to live in constant apprehension of coming experiences would inake us miserable and cowardly.
'That congregation that lives constantly in truthful- ness in God, and that struggles and toils for an exist- ence and growth by its own efforts, and does not appeal for aid to others, is the congregation that keeps within the range of scriptural methods, and shows subjective inerit commanding the admiration and commendation of all.
I know of 110 congregation that lias a nobler record of self-reliance than St. Paul's. With the advent of her then new pastor, Rev. Dr. Domer, more than eigli- teen years ago, new hope and new life began to flow into every avenue of church work. Her own persever- ance and her own efforts have brought her up to the
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high plane of social, intellectual, financial, and reli- gious status which she occupies this evening.
God has been in her midst all these years, and has crowned her with His loving kindness. Her pastor's learning and eloquence has made the pulpit one of the ablest in the city. His piety and consecration to liis holy calling inspired the membership to undertake great things for the Master. The church, so well equipped in all its deparments, soon commanded the attention of outsiders, and they came in to see and hear, and were so well pleased that they remained. Some of these are here this evening, but others have gone up and over into the church beyond.
From a handful this congregation has grown to a lost; from weakness to strength; from obscurity to publicity; so that to-day the name, St. Paul's Churchi, is known and revered throughout the entire Lutheran Church, and Lutheran visitors to our city nearly all inquire, "Where is St. Paul's Church ?" It can easily be found, for God planted it up here on this hill, to make it, as it is, a light to all around.
From boyhood I have known of this church, and when a student at college I paid my first visit here. But since then I have learned to know you all well, so well as to esteem you, and admire your work. I preached the sermon on the re-opening of your beauti- ful church on Sunday morning, December 2d, 1888, and quite a number of times since then. It has always been a pleasure for me to be with you.
I bring you this evening the congratulations of St. Mark's Church, one of your daughters-one of your youngest, and sprightliest, and most vigorous, and most self-reliant, and mother-like, and modest daughters. I bring you this evening my own earnest congratula- tions. I congratulate St. Paul's Church on her modesty. All she does is done quietly and noiselessly. There is
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no heralding it abroad by the blast of a great trumpet, calling the attention of the church at large to it. But all is done as becomes christians; for it is done not for the glory of men, but for the glory of God.
As an illustration of this, let ine say that recently the Sunday school, through its popular superintendent, Mr. L. D. Alden, had paid to Mr. Cornelius Eckhardt, one hundred dollars towards the pews in our St. Mark's Church, before inany knew where the money had come from.
I congratulate St. Paul's on her liberality. This is certainly very generous and deserves special mention.
I congratulate St. Paul's on the number and character of her membership.
I congratulate St. Paul's on the great work she has done through her pulpit, her Sunday school, her prayer- meeting, and the various societies connected with the church. The results of these many and efficient agencies will not all be known until eternity reveals them.
I want to supplement this statement with the remark, that much of the credit for success in all that lias been achieved is due to the ladies of the congregation. Not only this church, but every church, has it warmest and truest friend in woman. The choicest and richest offer- ings of love, of faith, of devotion, of worship, and of sacrifices which are laid upon the church's altars are the offerings of woman's heart and of woman's hands.
I congratulate St. Paul's Church on her growth in Lutheranismn, I am glad that I am invited and per- mitted to say a word for Lutheranisin this evening. We all glory in the greatness of the great Luthieran Church-for she is great in her name, great in lier devotion to Christ, great in her doctrines, great in her scholarship, great in her numbers, great in her life,
HISTORY OF ST. PAUL'S
and great in being the mother of every branch of protestantism.
She is scriptural in her doetrines and teachings, and conservative and liturgie in her culture and practice. Our name indieates our creed. But occasionally names are misnomers. Names sometimes misrepresent inen, and sometimes men misrepresent names.
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