USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > The New church and Chicago; a history > Part 14
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The secretary was instructed to furnish a copy of the resolutions to the Tribune, Times, Inter-Ocean, Journal, Post, and New Jerusalem Messenger for publication.
From the record of the meeting of May 2nd, we take the following, which was introduced by Doctor Small:
Whereas, we have received a communication from the secretary of the Second Swedenborgian Society of Chicago, kindly furnishing us a copy of a preamble setting forth the essential doctrines of the New Church, and also of the constitution under which the Society is organized, both of which having been adopted in order to aid in establish- ing the New Church now descending and destined to descend out of heaven as foretold in Revelations xxi and announced by Emanuel Swedenborg; therefore,
Resolved, that the secretary acknowledge in behalf of the executive committee the receipt of these papers, and express to the Second Swedenborgian Society the frater-
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nal regard and desire to welcome it as a sister Society, in true Christian fellowship into the Lord's New Church.
A resolution adopted September 4th, is as follows:
Resolved, that we think it would better serve the spir- itual interests of the Church to have the sacrament of the Holy Supper administered upon those days which note the prominent steps in the Lord's life on earth, than upon other times, and we therefore accept the suggestion of our pastor, Mr. Hibbard, that the Holy Supper be administered upon Christmas, the anniversary of the Lord's birth; upon Easter, the anniversary of His resur- rection; upon Pentecost, the anniversary of the outpour- ing of His Holy Spirit upon the Disciples; and upon the Second Sunday in September, being intermediate between Pentecost and Christmas, and also the anniversary of the Feast of Tabernacles, or Thanksgiving, at the end of the year.
1874.
The annual meeting of the Society for 1874 was held January 19th in New Church hall, Mr. Edwin R. Burn- ham acting as chairman.
A resolution was adopted directing the executive com- mittee to negotiate a loan of five thousand dollars to be secured by mortgage on the property at Eighteenth street and Prairie avenue, and one for the same amount to be secured by mortgage on the Union Park temple property. These loans were negotiated, the proceeds being used to pay debts of the Society.
Two resolutions adopted at the meeting of the commit- tee of September 8th are worthy of consideration:
Resolved, that the Illinois Association be invited to hold its annual meeting in the Union Park temple, and
Resolved, that the Britton library, lately received by the Society, be inventoried by Mr. Hibbard and placed in his charge in the New Church hall.
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The meeting of November 13th adopted the following:
Resolved, that in the departure of our brother, Mr. Edwin Burnham, to the spiritual world, The Chicago Soci- ety of the New Jerusalem is deprived of one of its most worthy and exemplary members, as well as one of the most gentle and genial associates of his brothers and sisters in the Church; whose presence and usefulness were keenly felt and appreciated; and whose Christian spirit and kindness will long be remembered.
Mr. Burnham departed this life Sept. 29, 1874.
[From the report to the Illinois Association for the year 1873-4, held in the Union Park temple, Oct. 23, 24, and 25, 1874.]
*
Shortly before the Association met last year a severe financial panic paralyzed the whole country and affected nearly every person. The Divine Providence dealt with us mercifully, and after one year of hard struggle the prospect for the future is brighter, notwithstanding that on the 14th day of July this year a great conflagration destroyed a large amount of property of our citizens, which caused several members of our Society heavy loss.
Severe as the visitations have been of late, the members most affected have stood up bravely and continued their daily work in faithful trust that our Father in heaven will bring us out all right, in material as well as spiritual things. The severe lesson has produced a more trustful state of mind, and has taught us all to look more depend- ently to Him, who alone is the true source of life.
The Society is being divided into three congregations, corresponding to the three division's of the city. In the South and West divisions we were fortunately able to provide comfortable places of worship, with a small build- ing for a Sunday-school in the North division before the panic of last year crippled our resources.
To be able to worship the Lord in our own way and in our own houses of worship is a boon for which we should be truly grateful. There can be no higher privilege enjoyed on this earth of turmoil and strife than to be
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permitted in full freedom to worship at the Lord's foot- stool, in united brotherhood, untrammeled by social or legal restraints, and guided by the new light which the Lord has bestowed on us.
The report goes into detail as to the membership, saying that two hundred and eighty-seven have united with the Society since its starting, and finally making the statement that "one hundred and twenty-five attend our Sabbath services with a good deal of regularity."
Speaking of Mr. Edwin Burnham, the report says: "Mr. Burnham distinguished himself by his great devotion to the Sunday-school cause. He was ever ready to help, and the result of his labor is very marked. All his chil- dren have been active in the Sunday-school-three of them teaching at present in the Sunday-school of the West side congregation."
1875.
In his report for 1874 the pastor says:
I have preached in the New Church hall Sabbath morn- ings and in the temple in the afternoon, with the excep- tion of three Sabbaths when visiting ministers officiated and during the summer recess of six weeks, during which I attended the annual conference in Bath, preaching sev- eral times while on the way there, while there, and en route home.
The Holy Supper has been administered at the hall and temple alternately on the first Sabbath of the month, and at the hall Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost.
His closing paragraph is:
"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleas- ure to give you the Kingdom;" and to pray that we all, taking these Divine words to heart, may look within our- selves rather than without, for the true growth of the Church, and govern ourselves accordingly.
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From the report of the executive committee for 1874 we obtain the following:
With gratitude to the Lord for his many mercies and blessings, we desire to enter upon this report with a deep and earnest acknowledgment of our absolute dependence on the Divine Providence for all we have, and our thank- fulness for the same.
As a most useful and promising work our pastor has lately formed a class of twenty-seven young people, giv- ing them systematic instruction in the doctrines, prepara- tory to confirmation. The class meets every Monday evening at the residence of a member of the Society.
Many of our members, though not in want, have met with misfortune and seem to deserve the sincere sympathy of the Society. The second great fire, which occurred July 14, 1874, caused several of our members to again suffer heavily in worldly goods, especially Messrs. J. Young Scammon, Joseph K. C. Forrest, Carl F. W. Junge, Sanford E. Loring, and the pastor, Rev. J. R. Hibbard. Mr. Joseph Launer was also a heavy loser by fire in the West division.
These and other misfortunes and afflictions, which by Divine permission many of our brethren have experienced, should awaken in us true sympathy, not merely from per- sonal considerations, but as feelings that should be culti- vated by all true Christians.
As Mr. Scammon has, during the past year, owing to the pressure of his private business, been unable to take any active part in the transactions of the executive com- mittee, it may not be out of place to speak for him here a few words of sympathy and encouragement.
As the organizer of the Society, its first member, and until recently enjoying a full measure of prosperity, which enabled him to contribute most liberally towards the uses of the Church, he has for nearly forty years been one of the most devoted and zealous members; lately, in the Lord's Providence, he has suffered a series of afflictions and misfortunes such as rarely fall to the lot of man, and which have been the cause of depriving us of his active cooperation and counsel.
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We know that Mr. Scammon seeks no sympathy from us, but relies on the rectitude of his intentions and motives to bear him up in his troubles, and looks to that source for strength from whence alone cometh our help; never- theless, as members of the same Society and as brethren in the Lord's New Church, we will be doing only our simple duty in expressing at this time our sense of sympathy, which it is proposed to do in one of the resolutions accom- panying this report.
The report speaks of the money stringency of the time as being cause why it was impossible to collect enough to support the Society; says that the Society must be made self-supporting-
that we have no right to squander any portion of the property or funds held by the Society in trust, either as guardians under the law or as the Lord's stewards in point of moral responsibility. *
It is undoubtedly true that the hard times which we have experienced since the fire of 1871 have prevented many of us from giving towards the uses of the Society as liberally as we desire, but this cannot be a main cause, if we are true to the teachings of the Church. We must remember that everything we have is the Lord's and that to Him we owe our first and highest allegiance, and our next duty is to the Church by which the Lord takes care of us. The Church, our spiritual mother, cannot take care of us if we do not support and take care of her.
The executive committee thinks it desirable that each congregation should be organized under our rules of order, to be charged with the full responsibility and care of managing all its own affairs, financial and otherwise, except, as to the control of the property, which should be irrevocably vested in the Society, it being regarded as a mother whose duty it is to provide homes for her children, and the congregations being regarded as children of age, placed in their homes in full power and freedom to enjoy and use, but not at liberty to part with or squander their mother's gift.
A proposition to exchange the land at the junction of
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Clark street and La Salle avenue for land in the immediate vicinity, which would require moving the chapel, was recommended by the committee; as also was the proposi- tion to sell the Calumet avenue and Thirty-third street land, and the temple at South Park avenue and Thirty- third street.
The resolution in reference to Mr. Scammon, which the committee said would be proposed, is as follows:
Resolved, that we, the members of The Chicago Society of the New Jerusalem here assembled, tender to our brother, J. Young Scammon, the first member of the Society and one of its most active supporters and zealous workers, our deep and heartfelt sympathy for the many and various misfortunes which have befallen him of late, depriving us of his active cooperation and counsel, and trust that under Divine Providence he may be enabled to rise above them, unimpaired in spiritual if not in natural riches and blessings, and that with an early return of prosperity he may be able to devote his wonted energies and zeal towards the advancement of the New Church, for which he has always had the most ardent love and affection; that this resolution be placed in the records of the Society.
An adjournment of the annual meeting of 1875 having been made to February 3rd, the Society convened, and adopted the recommendations of the executive committee to exchange the land at North Clark street and La Salle avenue, to sell the land at Calumet avenue and Thirty- third street, as also the temple at South Park avenue and Thirty-third street, and adopted the above resolution.
By the executive committee, February 19th. it was decided that, "on account of the depressed pecuniary con- dition of the members of the Society," the arrangement with the pastor, as to the amount of his salary, would cease April 1st, and he was so notified. The salary at that time was two thousand five hundred dollars per year.
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Mr. Hibbard replied that he was painfully aware of the "depressed pecuniary condition of the members of the Society," and would leave the matter of the amount which he should be paid entirely with the committee, stat- ing that he was willing to share the burdens of the Society.
During 1874 and 1875 the subject of the revision of the rules of order was under consideration by the Society and executive committee, there being several meetings before which that was the principal subject discussed, without agreement being reached. Finally, in a meeting of the Society held Sept. 14, 1875, it was laid on the table .*
1876.
The report of the executive committee for 1875 con- tains this paragraph: "Our faithful pastor has continued his ministrations for us uninterruptedly, with increasing zeal and earnestness, notwithstanding that the executive committee was unable to promise him a stated compensa- tion. He very kindly and self-sacrificingly consenting to accept such compensation as the Society might feel able to give, being willing to share its burdens and trials."
By the report it is seen that the exchange of property at North Clark street and La Salle avenue had not been accomplished, owing to the fact that the Society had not the four or five hundred dollars which would be required to pay for moving its building.
In conclusion the committee says: "We suggest that all exert themselves to make this centennial year, a year of good will and good cheer to one another, and of gen- eral good feeling in the Church. Let us all strive by
*NOTE .- An inventory of the New Church books delivered to New Church hall, dated Aug. 31, 1875, shows the value to have been one thousand four hundred and seventy-eight dollars and seventy cents.
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example and practice to promote the welfare of the Society, to advance its spiritualness to true neighborly love, and extend the hand of welcome to all who will join us in building up the Lord's New Church on earth."*
In his report for 1875, Mr. Hibbard says the congrega- tions at Eighteenth street and Prairie avenue numbered from forty-five to ninety, and at the Union Park temple from forty-five to one hundred and twenty-five.
He makes note of a Bible class of adults which met in the New Church hall on Sunday, and the class of young people which met weekly in a residence in the West division, and which numbered thirty-two, the average attendance being twenty-five. The attendance at Sunday- school in the hall was from twenty-five to thirty; at the Union Park temple, eighty, and at the Lincoln Park chapel, which was a mission school, sixty to eighty attended.
He speaks of administering in Peoria the latter part of the year once or twice, and of dedicating the new temple at Almont, Mich., and thence visiting the Rev. Lewis P. Mercer and the leading members of his Society in Detroit.
Mr. Hibbard says that, after giving the subject some study, he finds the number of members of the Society, in and out of the city, to be about one hundred and eighty.
During 1876 the exchange of land at North Clark street and La Salle avenue was consummated and the chapel moved.
*NOTE .- Meetings of the executive committee during 1872 to 1877, inclusive, generally occurred in Mr. Scammon's library, 14 Congress street, or the basement of the Chicago Savings insti- tution, northwest corner of Dearborn and Madison streets, which was 134 Dearborn street, the office of Mr. Junge.
CENTENNIAL ADDRESS, JULY 4, 1876.
In compliance with the invitation of the President of the United States contained in his proclamation of June 26, 1876, the members of The Chicago Society of the New Jerusalem and all others interested in the new dispensa- tion of Divine truth foretold in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament of the Word of God, are invited to meet at the New Church hall, near the corner of Prairie avenue and Eighteenth street, in the city of Chicago, on Tuesday, July 4, 1876, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, to mark the recurrence of the anniversary of the Declara- tion of Independence of the United States of America by the Continental Congress; by public, religious, and devout thanksgiving to Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, Jehovah, Jesus, in His Divine Humanity, the only God of heaven and earth, one in essence, substance, and person, and the only perfect manifestation of Deity comprehensible by the human understanding-for the blessings which have been bestowed upon us as a nation during the century of existence, and humbly to invoke a continuance of His favor and His protection. Believ- ing that the birth of the American Nation, and the estab- lishment of the constitution and government of the United States of America, were the first grand governmental manifestation of the consequence of the termination of the first dispensation of the Christian Church, and the commencement of that new one which was to "come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory"-commonly understood as the second coming of the Lord-it seems peculiarly fit and appropriate that the receivers of the doctrines of the New Church should meet on the hun- dredth anniversary, and in a spirit of thanksgiving commemorate the birth of the New Nation. The occa- sion seems an appropriate one for counteracting the effects of all past differences and misunderstandings, or estrangements where such have existed, and marking a
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MR. CHARLES HENRY CUTLER.
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new departure in the way of harmony, concord, and peace, with renewed activity and energy, as a distinctive New Church organization and association.
Let us then all meet together on that interesting occa- sion and celebrate the centenary of our country's birth in religious and devout thanksgiving to the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and Creator and Preserver in His Divine Humanity.
[Signed] J. R. HIBBARD, Pastor, WILLIAM A. BARTON,
J. YOUNG SCAMMON, CARL F. W. JUNGE,
ALEXANDER OFFICER, WILLET NORTHUP,
ROBERT E. Moss, JOHN H. RAGATZ, Members of the Executive Committee. Chicago, Illinois, June 27, 1876.
There is not any record of the meeting held under this call or address.
THE UNION SWEDENBORGIAN CHURCH.
The history of the Union Swedenborgian Church com- menced with the following circular letter:
Chicago, Dec. 10, 1876.
Dear Sir :- It has been thought expedient by many to call together the friends of the New Church to counsel together as to the best means of promoting its usefulness among us.
To this end will you kindly aid by your presence at a meeting to be held in the club room of the Sherman house, Thursday, the 14th inst., at eight o'clock P. M .? Yours truly, JAMES KINGON.
[Signed]
About seventy-five members and friends of the New Church responded to the invitation.
Mr. Kingon was elected to the chairmanship and Mr. John F. Curtis to the secretaryship of the meeting.
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On taking the chair, Mr. Kingon requested that all join in repeating the Lord's prayer, and requested all to talk freely on the subject to be considered.
Speeches were made by Messrs. Charles C. Bonney, George F. Root, Oswald Lockett, George Barry, Ezekiel H. Sargent, Joseph Sears, Joseph R. Putnam, and others, citing in various ways the ripeness of the time for effort to extend the usefulness of the New Church.
A member of the executive committee of the Chicago Society said that the Society possessed five houses of worship and other property which was being held for the use of the Church.
Mr. Alexander Officer of that committee said that the committee had offered the Union Park temple to the West side congregation, to be used when the congregation should be able to employ a minister and defray the expense of service. To this statement Mr. Orlando Blackman, another member of the committee, disagreed.
A resolution was adopted to the effect that the chair- man appoint a committee of six to confer and report con- cerning the subjects that had been before the meeting, which was followed by adjourning to meet at the same place December 21st at eight o'clock P. M.
The committee, as finally constituted, consisted of Mr. James Kingon, chairman, and Messrs. Bonney, Root, Sears, John H. Ragatz, William H. Woodyatt, and John F. Curtis, who was made secretary.
After very thorough discussion it prepared the follow- ing resolution:
Resolved, that this committee report to the meeting to be held Thursday, December 21st, that of all the plans proposed for securing the united and harmonious action of all the New Church families in Chicago, the following seems most desirable, if it can be carried into effect, viz .: That there should be a union of all New Churchmen on
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the South side, including the members of the Second Society, to call a minister, such as a majority may select, and that there should be a like union of all New Church- men on the West side for the same purpose; that there should be appointed by the chairman at the forthcoming ยท . meeting suitable committees to ascertain whether the recommendations can be carried into effect, and that in the meantime the movement for a central New Church in the heart of the city be postponed.
The committee also sent invitations to the members of the executive committee of the Chicago Society to be present at the meeting of December 21st, and to partici- pate in the deliberations.
The meeting of December 21st was, at the request of the chairman, opened by reading of the Word and by prayer by the Hon. J. Young Scammon, who then addressed the meeting, being listened to with marked attention.
The committee of six reported their resolution, which was adopted, and the meeting adjourned to meet Jan. 18, 1877, following the annual meeting of the Chicago Society to occur January 15th.
The committees appointed under the resolution were as follows:
To confer with the West side congregational committee, Dr. William H. Woodyatt; with the South side congre- gational committee, Mr. William L. Brown; with the executive committee of the Chicago Society, Mr. George F. Root; with the Second Swedenborgian Society, Mr. Joseph Sears; and with the Chicago Society at its approaching annual meeting, Messrs. Bonney, Root, Woodyatt, Brown, Sears, and Curtis.
The committees having in charge the duty of confer- ring with the executive committee and the Chicago Society met Jan. 3, 1877, and instructed Mr. Root to inform that
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committee that the committees which he represented held themselves in readiness for a friendly conference, for any time and place that it, the executive committee as above, might name.
1877.
The meeting of Jan. 18, 1877, met according to adjournment, there being about sixty present.
Dr. Woodyatt reported that having received no reply to the communication which he had addressed to the congregational committee of the West side he had nothing further to offer.
Mr. William L. Brown, to confer with the congrega- tional committee of the South side, reported that there was not any such committee.
Mr. George F. Root reported that he notified the execu- tive committee of the Chicago Society, as directed, but had no notice of any action by that committee.
Mr. Joseph Sears reported that several members of the Second Society expressed themselves as desirous of cooperating in the formation of a central society.
At the request of the chairman, Mr. James Kingon, for information relative to the action of the Chicago Society at its annual meeting, Mr. Hugh L. Burnham, who was present, reported that there was not any action that would be of interest.
The attitude of the Chicago Society, and executive committee of the same, is clearly shown on pages 272 to 275.
The meeting then accepted the reports and discharged the committees.
Then followed the adoption of the following resolution, which was signed by fifty-one persons, during a short recess.
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Resolved, that it is the sense of this meeting that the welfare of the New Church in Chicago requires that there be now established in the heart of the city a central place of service and worship.
A committee of twelve, known as the "provisional com- mittee," namely, James Kingon, chairman, John F. Cur- tis, secretary, and Messrs. Sargent, Charles H. Cutler, Woodyatt, Bonney, Barry, Sears, Putnam, Daniel, H. Burnham, Brown, and William B. Richards, was appointed to report to a future meeting, means by which the object of the resolution could be carried into effect, and adjourn- ment for one week then occurred.
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