USA > Illinois > Winnebago County > Rockford > Golden anniversary exercises, historical record and manual of the Second Congregational church, Rockford, Illinois. November 7, 1849. November 7, 1899 > Part 1
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Gc 977.302 R62r 1242276
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
L: 3 1833 02114 0725
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018
https://archive.org/details/goldenanniversar00rock
THE THIRD EDIFICE,
CORNER STONE LAID APRIL 28, 1891. DEDICATED MAY 8, 1892. BURNED FEB. 20, 1894. RE-DEDICATED DEC. 2, 1894.
GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES,
.
HISTORICAL RECORD
AND MANUAL
OF THE ...
- SECOND - 7
11
CONGREGATIONAL
CHURCH,
ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS.
NOVEMBER 7, 1849.
NOVEMBER 7, 1899.
ROCKFORD, ILL. THEO. W. CLARK CO., 1900
1242276
PREFACE.
T HE " fifty years of history " has been compiled with a double pur- pose in view. The first of which was to preserve an authentic record of the history of the Church and Society from its founda- tion up to and including the Golden Anniversary exercises. A record as complete as it has been possible to make it, and upon which future com- mittees in charge of anniversary occasions could rely without question, and back of which it would never again be necessary to search the archives of the church, to verify the facts as herein set forth.
The second purpose was to hand down to the future members of the church and congregation a record of the zeal and self-sacrificing struggles of its founders to establish a church of Jesus Christ, and of the many years of fruitful service in His vineyard.
And to all those who come after, and enter into the life and work of our church, this record is dedicated, with the sincere hope that it may ever prove an inspiration to render grateful and loyal service.
.
3
INTRODUCTORY REVIEW.
F OR many months prior to the date of the fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the Second Congregational Church and reaching well back into the time of Dr. Barrows' pastorate, there had been a general feeling that in some manner proper recognition should be given to so important an event. With this end in view a general committee was appointed by the Church on May 10th, 1899, with full power to make all necessary arrangements and to appoint as many sub-committees as might be needed to carry the plan to a successful conclusion.
The committee as originally appointed was composed of the following named persons : Rev. W. C. Haskell, Mr. W. B. Taylor, Mr. S. J. Cas- well, Mr. E. E. Bartlett, Dr. W. B. Helm, Mr. Henry N. Starr, Mrs. Wm. E. Hinchliff, Mrs. Katherine Keeler, Mrs. A. H. Frost, Mrs. W. A. Tal- cott, Miss Louise Warren. Soon after the committee had been appointed Mrs. Wm. E. Hinchliff, Mr. Henry N. Starr and Miss Louise Warren re- signed, on account of not being able to assume the duties that would neces- sarily fall upon them, and Mrs. Robert Lathrop, Mrs. Geo. W. Maguire and Mr. J. B. Whitehead were appointed to fill the vacancies.
The committee organized by electing Mr. J. B. Whitehead as chair- man and Mr. Walter B. Taylor as Secretary, and after laying out the gen- eral plans for the anniversary celebration the committee appointed the fol- lowing sub-committees to assist in the general work of preparation, the chairman of the general committee being ex-officio a member of all the sub-committees.
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HISTORICAL RECORD AND MANUAL
SUB-COMMITTEES.
COMMITTEE ON PROGRAM.
Rev. W. C. Haskell,
Mr. T. D. Robertson,
Mr. F. W. Waterman,
Mrs. John Barnes,
COMMITTEE ON RECEPTION.
Mrs. Rebecca B. Alling, Mrs. Louisa J. Foltz,
Mrs. Harriett Cotton, Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Talcott,
Mrs. Caroline Dickerman, Mrs. Elizabeth Moffatt, Mr. and Mrs. R. Emerson,
Mrs. Emily G. Dodd,
Mrs. Mary Church, Mr. and Mrs. Benj. Blakeman,
Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Sabin.
COMMITTEE ON INVITATION.
Mrs. Katherine Keeler, Miss Blanche Goodall,
Miss Lillian Jacoby,
COMMITTEE ON FINANCE.
Mr. Upton Swingley Mr. E. H. Keeler,
Mr. P. R. Wood, Mr. W. A. Stapleton,
Mr. Willianı Dobson
Dr. L. Tibbetts.
COMMITTEE ON PRINTING.
Mr. F. E. Sterling, Mrs. J. P. Warren,
Mr. A. C. Brearley,
Miss Fannie Fuller,
Mrs. C. W. Moyer, Miss Helen Dickey.
COMMITTEE ON ENTERTAINMENT.
Mrs. A. H. Frost,
Mrs. A. L. Bartlett,
Mrs. Geo. Ford,
COMMITTEE ON DECORATION.
Mrs. Robert Lathrop, Mrs. E. H. Keeler,
Miss Bertha Maguire,
Miss Emily Andrews,
Mr. S. J. Caswell,
Mr. J. M. McNair,
Mr. Clias. Samies,
Dr. W. R. Fringer,
Mr. Irving Foltz,
Dr. C. A. Walker,
Mr. Fred Smith.
COMMITTEE ON REFRESHMENTS.
Mrs. Geo. W. Maguire,
- Mrs. H. N. Starr, Mrs. N. S. Aagesen,
Mrs. W. W. Dolbear,
Mrs. J. G. Manlove, Mr. Frank B. Goodman,
Mrs. Wait Talcott, Mr. W. W. Bennett,
Mr. Chandler Starr, Mr. Winthrop Ingersoll,
Mr. Frank Burr.
Mr. A. McGregor Huffman.
Miss Anna Marsh, Mr. Geo. L. Irvine,
Dr. M. L. Hanaford. Mr. H. J. Wilcox.
Dr. W. B. Heln1.
Mr. John Barnes,
Mr. James H. King,
Mr. E. E. Bartlett,
Mr. W. B. Taylor,
Mr. W. T. Robertson,
Mrs. A. C. Deming, Mrs. Wm. Nelson,
Mrs. J. Lawton, Mrs. Harriett Pease,
Mrs. C. H. Hemming, Miss Anna Beattie.
Miss Vera Sheldon, Mr. H. B. Burpee,
Mrs. W. T. Potter, Mr. Guy Jones,
Mr. J. L. Keep,
Mr. Percy Thomas,
Mr. R. W. Burritt,
Mr. A. Simons,
Mr. Fred Houston.
COMMITTEE ON USHERS.
Mr. A. W. Banks, Dr. J. L. Palmer,
Mr. C. S. Ledger, Mr. George Long,
Mrs. William Lathrop, Prof. P. R. Walker,
Mrs. Cliandler Starr, Prof. B. D. Parker, Dr. W. H. Fitclı.
Mr. T. D. Robertson,
Mrs. T. D. Robertson,
Miss Marcia Dorr,
Organist and Musical Director, Mrs. Chandler Starr.
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SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
No labor or pains were spared to make the occasion a fitting com- memoration of the splendid history of the past fifty years. All of the com- mittees entered into the work with commendable enthusiasm, being heart- ily supported by the church in general.
The work of verifying the early history of the church, and especially that of tracing up the history of the charter members, and compiling a complete list, with present addresses, of all now living, who had ever been affiliated with the church, was a most arduous and difficult task, and great credit is due to those having this in charge, for the thoroughness with which they performed the work, while special thanks are due to Church Clerk, Mr. Walter B. Taylor, for his invaluable assistance, so freely rendered, without regard to his own personal strength or convenience.
The history of the Jubilee Celebration would be incomplete were special recognition not given to the splendid services of the chairman, Mr. J. B. Whitehead. Not only chairman of the general committee, but ex- officio a member of each of the sub-committees he was called upon to perform a task which proved truly herculean. But no sacrifice of personal comfort or business interests was permitted to stand in the way, and to his skillful management and unfaltering devotion the success of the " Golden Jubilee " is largely due.
The Invitation Committee prepared an invitation printed in gold letters, and so far as it was possible to do so, sent one to each person who was or ever had been affiliated with the church. The invitation was as follows :
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HISTORICAL RECORD AND MANUAL
1849. NOVEMBER 7TH, 1899.
SEMI-CENTENNIAL
SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH AND SOCIETY, ROCKFORD, ILL. i
You are cordially invited to attend our Golden Anniversary Exercises, November 5th, 6th and 7th, and share the memo- ries and the fellowship of a happy re-union with those who have had a part in the life and service of our church.
WESLEY C. HASKELL, Pastor.
COMMITTEE ON INVITATION.
MRS. KATHERINE KEELER,
MISS BLANCHE GOODALL,
MISS MARCIA DORR,
MISS ANNA MARSH,
MISS LILLIAN JACOBY.
M. L. HANAFORD, A. MCG. HUFFMAN, GEORGE L. IRVINE.
H. J. WILCOX,
As the work of preparation progressed and the Golden Anniversary drew nearer, the interest in the event increased, and it soon became evi- dent that the grand old church would rise to the opportunity and make the Semi-Centennial a memorable occasion in its history. It is a pleasure now to record that every expectation was fully realized.
The program as finally carried out was as follows :
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SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
PROGRAM.
SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 5TH.
10:30 ()'CLOCK.
ORGAN PRELUDE-Jerusalem the Golden, Dr. Spark Nevin CHANT-Jubilate.
ANNIVERSARY HYMN -- Written for the Fiftieth Anniversary, by Mrs. Ralph . Emerson, and dedicated to the founders of the Second · Congregational Church : Tunc-" He Leadeth Me."
To Thee, our Father and our King, An hynin of praise our voices sing. For fifty years our feet have trod, Where even Thou hast led, Oh God !
REFRAIN.
Naught can our trust in Thee destroy ; Thy presence fills our hearts with joy; Thine own right hand is aye our guide, In Thy great love our souls abide.
For fifty years this church has stood
For love of Christ, the greatest good ;
In love which conquers all unrest; Man lives to do God's sole behest. ( Refrain.)
When crushing sorrow's fateful hand
Rests heavily by Thy command,
Be Thou our comfort, joy and peace, Until in Thee pain finds surcease. ( Refrain.)
And from the blighting ills of life, From every evil, every strife, Be Thou, Oh God, as in the past Our "Rock of Ages" to the last. ( Refrain.)
For all that's right in coming years Strengthen this Church among its peers, And may its influence ever rise A glorious antheni, to the skies. (Refrain.)
So shall this Church forever grow In Christian nurture here below ; Press onward to its centuries goal, One heart, one mind, one living soul. ( Refrain.)
LORD'S PRAYER. ANTHEM - God Hath Appointed a Day, Tours
ANNOUNCEMENTS.
RESPONSIVE READING-Lesson No. 30 (Psalms 81. 85.)
OFFERTORY-When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Havens
MISS RIDER.
SCRIPTURE LESSON PRAYER -
DR. JOHN HENRY BARROWS. RESPONSE-Rock of Ages, - Buck PASTOR'S GREETING.
ANNIVERSARY SERMON-Text, Matt. 16:18: " I will build my church." DR. FRANK P. WOODBURY.
COMMUNION SERVICE AND RECEPTION OF MEMBERS.
Conducted by DR. FRANK P. WOODBURY.
HYMN-No. 759. A Parting Hymn We Sing.
BENEDICTION.
ORGAN POSTLUDE-Adagio B flat,
Folkmanu
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HISTORICAL RECORD AND MANUAL
SUNDAY NOON. AUDITORIUM. SUNDAY SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES, MR. B. D. PARKER, SUP'T.
ORGAN PRELUDE-March from Damascus, Costa ANTHEM-Gloria Patri No. 2, 1
Holden
SONG BY THE SCHOOL-No. 104. Let Us Sing Again.
PRAYER DEACON P. R. WOOD.
RESPONSE-God is Love, Shelley - EXERCISES BY PRIMARY DEPARTMENT.
TALK TO THE CHILDREN,
MRS. FRANK P. WOODBURY.
ANTHEM-Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord, Garrett HISTORICAL PAPER-The Church Sunday School. DEACON A. E. CUTLER.
SONG BY THE SCHOOL-No. 41. Walking in the Sunshine.
TALK BY THE SUPERINTENDENT.
SONG BY THE SCHOOL -Anniversary Song.
BENEDICTION.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON.
CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR HOUR. MR. FRANK DOBSON, LEADER. 5:00 O'CLOCK.
SONG AND PRAISE SERVICE.
ADDRESS BY THE PASTOR. CLOSING EXERCISES. MIZPAH BENEDICTION.
SUNDAY EVENING. 7:00 O'CLOCK.
ORGAN PRELUDE-Funeral March and Chant of the Seraphis, Guilmant
ANTHEM-Jubilate, - Jackson
RESPONSIVE READING -Lesson No. 38 (part of Psalni 102) .
ANTHEM-Te Deum in E flat, - Buck SCRIPTURE LESSON.
HYMN-No. 644. My Jesus as Thou Wilt.
PRAYER.
RESPONSE-I Will Lay Me Down in Peace,
Gadshy
ANNOUNCEMENTS.
OFFERTORY-Save Me, O God,
-
Randegger
MR. CHARLES OLSON.
MEMORIAL ADDRESS- Life and Service of Rev. Walter Manning Barrows. DR. JOHN HENRY BARROWS.
HYMN - No. 955. God of the Living.
BENEDICTION. ORGAN POSTLUDE -Finale in D, Lemmens
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SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
MONDAY AFTERNOON, NOVEMBER 6TH. LECTURE ROOM.
2:00 O'CLOCK.
HYMN-No. 206. Joy to the World, PRAYER
SOLO-Just Beyond, MISS WILLIAMS. Loud
PAPER- Young People's Work in the Church.
MISS KATHERINE DICKERMAN.
PAPER-Woman's Work in the Church.
MRS. JULIA E. CLEMENS.
SOLO-Just for To-Day, - MISS WILLIAMS. Abbott
PAPER-The Church Choir. MRS. CLARA G. SANFORD.
HYMN-No. 584. Love Divine, All Love Excelling. BENEDICTION.
MONDAY EVENING. AUDITORIUM.
7:30 O'CLOCK.
ORGAN PRELUDE-Fantasie in E minor, Merkel
ANTHEM-The Radiant Morn Hath Passed Away, PRAYER.
Wordward
RESPONSE - Let My Prayer be Set Forth,
Woodman
Greetings from our Mother Church,
REV. FREDERICK BODMAN.
Greetings from our Sister Churches. REV. R. H. POOLEY.
PAPER - Our Church Buildings. DEACON BENJ. BLAKEMAN.
SOLO-The Good Shepherd, MR. MALCOLM HALLBERG.
. Barri
Memorial for Deacon W. A Dickerman.
Letters from Absent Members and Friends,
MR. WILLIAM A. TALCOTT.
SOLO-My Redeemer and My Lord, MISS RIDER. Dudley Buck ADDRESS-Congregationalism.
PROF. W. DOUGLAS MACKENZIE.
HYMN-No. 897. America.
BENEDICTION.
ORGAN POSTLUDE-March in E flat,
Wely
ANNIVERSARY DAY.
TUESDAY AFTERNOON, NOVEMBER 7TH. AUDITORIUM. 2:00 O'CLOCK. Dudley Buck Kotzchmar
ORGAN PRELUDE-March Triumphant, ANTHEM-Te Deum in F, - PRAYER.
3 1833 02114 0725
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HISTORICAL RECORD AND MANUAL
RESPONSE-Soft Floating on the Evening Air, -
Root PAPER - Pastors and Pastorates.
SOLO - Jerusalem, MR. WILLIAM C. TAFT.
MR. CHARLES OLSON. - Parker
PAPER-Our Charter Members.
MISS MARY BEATTIE.
ANTHEM-Jubilate Nevin
PAPER-Historical Review of the Past Fifty Years. DEACON RUSSELL J. HAZLETT, Historian. -Shepherd
SOLO Rock of Ages, MISS RIDER.
PAPER Contemporaneous Churches.
MRS. SEELY PERRY.
ANTHEM-By the " Old Choir." MRS. FRANK P. WOODBURY, MRS. FRANK G. SMITH, MR. M. L. HANAFORD, MR. ALFRED BARKER.
ROLL CALL, by Mr. Walter B. Taylor, Clerk of the Church, of the charter miem- bers and former pastors, to be responded to briefly in person, by letter, or by their descendants.
THE FUTURE OF THIS CHURCH.
MRS. RALPH EMERSON.
THANK OFFERING.
HYMN - No. 770. Blest Be the Tie that Binds Our Hearts in Christian Love. BENEDICTION.
ORGAN POSTLUDE-March in D.
Scotson Clark
TUESDAY EVENING. LECTURE ROOM AND PARLORS. 7:00 to 10:00 O'CLOCK.
Reception in lionor of the charter members and former pastors and their wives, for the members of the church and congregation and citizens of Rockford. Reception and entertainment for the children in the dining hall.
8:00 O'CLOCK.
Short Talks to the children by the Pastor, Rev. Frank P. Woodbury, Mrs. Frank P. Woodbury and Mrs. William Dobson.
Light refreshments will be served.
Music during the evening by the Northi Town Mandolin Club.
The season of rejoicing and good fellowship began on Sunday morn- ing November 5th, and from that hour until the close of the general recep- tion on the following Tuesday evening, the best of good cheer prevailed. The weather during the entire period of the celebration was bright and clear, and everything worked in harmony to make the Golden Anniversary a fitting conclusion of fifty years of church life and work. May it mark a new era in the church's growth and usefulness.
--
WESLEY C. HASKELL, PASTOR 1899.
PASTOR'S GREETING.
BY WESLEY C. HASKELL.
66
AM very happy to stand in this pulpit today and greet you in the name of the Second Congregational Church of Rockford. I wel- come you to this beautiful temple I welcome you to the sacred memories and blessed associations of fifty years ; fifty years of love and ser- vice made possible by men and women, who, in the early days, were ready to mortgage their homes, if necessary, to build the house of God.
" Our fathers were loyal to the principles for which Jesus lived and died. They blazed a way in this western wild, not only for themselves. but for their posterity and for all time. They were men of faith, heroic faith, many of whom the world was not worthy, who through faith, ' subdued king- doms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight and put to flight the armies of the aliens.'
" The history of Congregationalism in this country is the history of . Americanism. The Pilgrims and the Puritans founded on these shores a civil government based upon the principles of individual responsibility and equal rights ; principles which have resulted in the freedom of conscience, and the blessings of religious liberty ; at once the strength and inspiration of our Christian civilization.
" Congregationalism has been a vital factor in the industrial, social, intellectual and spiritual life of Rockford. The children of the east came here in 1834 and 1835. They had not been in Rockford a great while before the church and school house appeared side by side. That is char- acteristic of Congregationalism. As an educational institution it has no superior in this or any other land. Public schools were established in Bos- ton as early as 1635. In 1647 the legislature of the state of Massachusetts declared by law that every township with fifty families should provide a school where the children might be taught to read and write, and every township of one hundred families should have a grammar school where the youth might be fitted for the university. Yale and Harvard and Williams and Amherst and Dartmouth colleges of national and international reputa-
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HISTORICAL RECORD AND MANUAL
tion, all are within a day's journey of Plymouth Rock, and all within the boundary lines of three New England states, covering less territory than the State of Illinois.
" Rockford was settled in 1834. In 1837 the First Congregational church was organized on the east side. Twelve years later, in 1849, this church was organized with 47 charter members. Rockford had then about 2,000 inhabitants. In the same year Rockford Seminary, now Rockford College, was founded. We have only to look back to the little frame build- ing in which our fathers worshiped on South Church Street, and then think of this magnificent building in which we worship, with its congregation of the representative citizens of Rockford, in order to appreciate something of the progress of fifty years.
" We stand today where our fathers stood fifty years ago. The future is before us. What will be the verdict of the closing years of the century? Will posterity say of us fifty years hence, as we must say today of our fathers, ' Well done good and faithful servants? '
" The closing era of the nineteenth century is a time when the church is being tested as never before. It is a period of transition. We feel it as deeply in our religion as in our industrial life.
" It has been said that ' The problems which loom across the thresh- hold of the new century surpass in magnitude any that civilization has hitherto had to encounter. We seem to have reached a time when there is abroad in men's minds an instinctive feeling that a definite stage in the evolution of western civilization is drawing to a close, and that we are en- tering on a new era.'
" Every student of our social and religious life has felt the force of those words.
" How shall we meet the new conditions and solve the new problems -problems which have grown out of the evolution of Christian thought and life?
" We must meet them, if we hope to succeed, in the faith of our fathers ; not their beliefs, at least not all of them, but their faith.
" The issue today is not between the men who believe one thing and the men who believe another ; between liberalism, so-called, on the one side and conservatism on the other. The real issue today is between those who believe in a living God of power, who in some way makes Himself known to His children, who comforts and inspires them, and helps them to
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SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
realize their high ideals and their divine destiny, and those who do not be- lieve in that kind of a God. It is the old issue between the God man and the no-God man; the old fight between materialism and spiritualism, be- tween the sensuous life and the divine life.
" Our fathers had faith in God, the living God, who is 'in all and through all and over all, blessed and forever blessing.' In that faith we see a glorious future ; in that faith we shall go on toward the grand consumma- tion of the world's redemption. The process is one of evolution-Christian evolution. It is the new life evolved out of the old and none the less new by reason of its environments. I am not one of those who believe that the world has gone wrong for eighteen hundred years and now we must begin all over again. The wise man gathers strength and inspiration from the past to go on into the future and he takes with him all that is worthy of the past. Was it not Victor Hugo who said: 'The sixteenth century was a century of painting, the seventeenth century a century of authors, the eighteenth century a century of philosophers, the nineteenth century a cen- tury of prophets, but the twentieth century will give us a man who is an artist, an author, a philosopher and a prophet all in himself.'
"Church membership is not a question of piety ; nor is it a question of the ability of one to live a moral life without joining the church. Mem- bership in the church of God to-day is a question of loyalty to the traditions of the past, of conserving to posterity the beneficent influences of Christian fellowship, holy worship and earnest endeavor upon the basis of the princi- ples set forth by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. And this can be done only as men associate themselves together voluntarily for the purpose of such work and worship.
" If the Second Congregational Church of Rockford is to be in the coming years what it has been in the past; if it is to accomplish more than it has accomplished in the past by reason of the larger life and greater promise of this new day, it will be because the sons and daughters of the fathers and mothers who have given their lives to this church are loyal to the institution founded by the fathers. It will be because they give not only their treasure but themselves to the cultivation of the spiritual life, even as their fathers have done before them.
" Standing here at the close of fifty years, may we not prophesy a future worthy in every way of the traditions of the past, a future glorious in achievement, because we go forth in the faith of our fathers under the ban- ner of Christ to accomplish the exalted purpose of heaven."
ANNIVERSARY SERMON.
BY FRANK P. WOODBURY, D. D.
ASSOCIATION: FREEDOM : TRUTH.
J ESUS said to his followers, "I will build my church." Paul called it " the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth," and Jesus promised them " ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." Matt. 16:18; 1 Tim. 3:15; John 8:32.
Association, Freedom, Truth. These are the three great words about which our thoughts may gather on this occasion. The church stands for association. It is free to widely varied forms of association, just as the Christian is free to widely varied types of individuality. And it is always loyal to the truth, the truth which forever makes and gives freedom.
Our thought has just been called and will be called many and many a time within the next few days to that gathering of forty persons who, half a century ago, met in the little school house near by and solemnly resolved to upbuild a church of Christ. The school house has gone. Many who looked into each other's faces there have gone. all save one here and there ; and we are here to-day. The little old building is exchanged for this stately edifice. The forty have become seven hundred. The first half century of the history of this church has told its story.
It is not mine to-day to relate the details of that story. The narrative has been entrusted to those who will bring before us its incidents. its strug- gles and successes, its trials and triumphs, in the series of meetings we are now entering upon. Twice already have I had the privilege of reviewing it with you.
In 1874, four years after the opening of my pastorate, we celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the church; and I spoke to many of you who are here to-day, of the church's history up to that time. Together we went over the names of all its officers from the beginning, and the salient facts of the quarter century which had gone by. In 1889, ten years ago, you kindly invited me to be with you on your fortieth anniversary. I then had the privilege of speaking again, and in somewhat larger review, of the his- tory of the church. We could rejoice together over its increased growth
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FRANK P. WOODBURY, PASTOR 1871 TO 1888.
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SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
and prosperity and over the auspicious beginning of the new pastorate of him whose presence here we so sadly miss, who had entered upon his work with so much of consecration, energy and success at that time. From another point of view, we again considered together the story of the forty years which had gone by. And now, as we round the years into a full half century and glance backward over a record of transcendent success, we are so used to it, we can hardly appreciate its magnitude.
Fifty years ago our Protestant churches numbered three and a half millions of members. Today they number fifteen millions. During these fifty years the American population has increased about one hundred and seventy per cent., while the members of the Protestant churches have in- creased two hundred and ninety per cent.
This is a record of stupendous progress in the most progressive, en- lightened and vigorous nation on the face of the earth. Nor is it less im- pressive when we consider not merely our Protestant fellowship but also the entire range of all the Christian churches of the nation.
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