USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Gloucester > Exercises at the 50th anniversary of the Evangelical Congregational Church, Gloucester, Mass., Nov. 18, 1879 > Part 4
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For two years after Mr. Makepeace left, the church was withont a pastor. Rev. A. II. Quint, D. D., and Rev. J. O. Means, D. D., preached for some months, but both declined to settle.
Jan. 28, 1879, the present pastor was installed by council, of which Rev. I. C. Thacher was moderator, and made the address to the people. Rev. J. O. Means, D. D., preached the sermon, taking for a topic, The Unity of the Church, JJohn, XVII : 21-23. Rev. C. C. McIntire, of Rockport, offered the prayer of installation, Rev. E. S. Atwood, of Salem, gave the charge, and Rev. D. S. Clark, of Salem, the right hand of fellowship.
During these fifty years, the church has made a good record in settling its nine ministers, instead of simply hiring them. It is
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quite common to assert at the present day that men are not set- tled in the ministry, but are evangelists or acting pastors. But the changes in this church have been less than the average, and have been made with very little friction. Dr. Nickels remained twelve years and eight months, Mr. Segar one year and eight months, and the average pastorate, not including the present, has been very nearly five years.
During the half century, there have been added to the church four hundred and sixty-five, and the membership has been in creased from the original seven to one hundred and eighty-eight.
The benevolent record of the church is a noble one. Though no statement can be found of the amount given from 1841 to 1858, more than a third of the whole time, yet there is reported no less than twenty-one thousand, five hundred and eight dollars as given for benevolence ontside of the church. Considering the fact that the church had missionary aid for twelve years, it deserves the commendation, "well done."
For home work, there have been expended for repairs, salary and ordinary expenses during the past twenty years, over fifty thousand dollars. The largest salary ever paid was two thousand and the smallest six hundred dollars.
In the home work of the church, the Ladies' Society has been a very important auxiliary, having been at work ever since 1832. Of the original members, only two are known to be living, Miss Judith Saville and Mrs. Mary Swift. The ladies at first paid ten cents a month, and also gave their time in knitting nippers and sewing. They used to meet one evening each week, and for the double purpose of improving the mind and suppressing vain con- versation, some one read to them from such books as " Life of James Taylor," " Nevin's Practical Thoughts " and the " Nature of Genuine Religion." For the ten years ending Dee., 1860, they earned an average of two hundred and seventy-one dollars each year. They sold one lot of nippers for one hundred and fifty-one dollars. In 1855, they realized from a fair four hundred and six teen dollars, which was used in furnishing the new meeting-honse. Since 1870, they have appropriated their earnings toward the pur- chase of a parsonage, and have already over two thousand dollars secured.
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. The church has also received several legacies which are worthy of mention. That of Mrs. Nowell, of two thousand dollars, has . been previously noticed. Miss Betsey Stevens left for a parson- age two hundred dollars, and Mr. Samuel Stevens left one hundred dollars for the Sunday School and the church poor. A communion service was given in 1843 by Deacon George L. Rogers, of Es- sex Street Church, Boston, and that was replaced in 1865 by an- other, costing one hundred dollars, from Capt. John L. and Mrs. Abigail Rogers. In 1867, the society acknowledged the gift of a parlor organ for the vestry from J. O. Proeter, Esq. Through the efforts of this same public-spirited brother, a parish debt of several hundred dollars has been quietly paid by subscription within a few days, and the church and society enter upon their second half-century financially strong, and with great hopes of con- tinued spiritual prosperity.
The record of church work cannot properly close withont re- fering briefly to the service of song, and the noble array of earnest workers who have done so much to make the church what it is. We cannot repeat their names, but their influence is still echoed in many a heart and voice. In the earliest days of the church, singers occasionally came over from Rockport and gave their assistance. When Mr. Porter became pastor, he taught the children to sing, and for a time used to pitch the times on the Sabbath, and two ladies, Miss Pamelia Frye and Miss Abby Webber, sat in the gal- lery for a choir. Mr. John Lovejoy is remembered as the first leader, and his successors have been, so far as can be ascertained, Jacob Bacon, Jonathan Wheeler, William Archer, Solomon Poole, Timothy Davis, Theodore Parsons, C. E. Swett, N. D. Cunningham and S. O. Saville. The bass viol and violins were early introduced, and the first reed instrument was a small melo- deon, which could be set on a table or held in the lap, and was sup- plied with air by the elbow of the player. This was owned and played by Mr. Poole, who was an efficient leader and member of the choir for many years. Then a seraphine was bought, which did good service for a long time, and was afterwards transferred to the West Parish. The organ now in use was secured through the ยท earnest efforts of Mr. Davis, and has proved a very efficient help in the service of song.
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In reviewing the record of these fifty years, the evidence of growth, prosperity and power, the influence exerted in the com- munity and the workers sent forth to other fields, the victories that have been achieved and the moral and spiritual results that have been accomplished, may we not say with deepest gratitude, " What hath God wrought?" No human wisdom or foresight could have anticipated or planned this wonderful success. No reliance on earthly resources could have led the founders of this church to arise and build, and no worldly compensations could have indneed them to establish this church. That little band whose names you see above me were thoroughly consecrated to the Master's service, and when fully persuaded concerning the path of duty, their faith sustained them in every trying experience. That faith is left in our hands as a rich legacy ; how shall we guard the sacred trust ? It should kindle in our hearts a deeper love for the church and its work ; it should inspire still greater faith in the promises of God ; it should awaken an earnest purpose to devote more of our time and strength and gifts to the advancement of Christ's kingdom in our midst.
Taking up the figure with which we began, may not all our hearts apply the words of another to our beloved Gospel Ship,
" Sail on, O Union, strong and great ; Humanity, with all its fears, With all its hopes of future years, Is hanging breathless on thy fate ! We know what Master laid thy keel, What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel,
Who made each mast, and sail, and rope, What anvils rang, what hammers beat, In what a forge and what a heat Were shaped the anchors of thy hope ! In spite of rock and tempest's roar, In spite of false lights on the shore, Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea ! Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee ; Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, Are all with thee,-are all with thee !"
MEMORANDA.
The Congregational Church and Society would willingly have foregone the rain which accompanied the celebration of their golden anniversary, but the church was born amid a storm of the elements, and there was no thought of putting off the jubilee, although the floods descended and the roads were in a wretched . condition. Notwithstanding the storm, the house was well filled at its triple service, and although the skies were lowering outside, inside all was pleasant and joyous.
The church was finely decorated, under the immediate direction of Mrs. David Y. Tucker, ably assisted by Mrs. Fred. E. Ford, Mrs. David L. Davis and others. The gallery balustrade and organ were neatly trimmed with evergreen. The doors on each side of the platform were arched with evergreen, displaying the dates, 1829-1879. The front of the desk was trimmed with ferns and evergreen, shrouding the figures 50. A stand of plants in front, and baskets of rare exotics on either side of the platform. added much to the effect. But the most unique feature of the decorations was a network of evergreen in front of the pulpit re- cess, in which were arranged crowns, bearing the names of the seven founders of the church, beneath which hung a cross and the word " Welcome," arranged as follows :
PARKER.
STEVENS.
BABSON. STACY.
PARSONS.
HARRADEN. HARRADEN.
WELCOME.
The interest in the exercises continued unabated through the day and evening, and was greatly increased by the musical pro- gramme, which was well selected and finely rendered. The choir, under the leadership of Mr. S. Oliver Saville, consisted of Miss Hattie Cook, Miss Lucy A. Andrews, Miss Annie Hodgkins,
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Mrs. John Cunningham, Miss Ella L. Procter, Miss Hattie Atkinson, Capt. N. D. Cunningham, Mr. S. P. Andrews and Mr. George H. Newell. Efficient aid was also volunteered by Miss Clara M. Loring, Mrs. David S. Presson, Miss Carrie A. Rust, Miss Bessie F. Dolliver, Dr. W. H. Pomeroy and Mr. John E. Clark. Mr. Wm. H. Alles presided at the organ, and Mr. George E. Revitt furnished cornet accompaniment and solos.
The morning session was devoted to the historical address by the pastor, Rev. F. G. . Clark. The devotional exercises were conducted by the former pastors, Rev. F. B. Makepeace, of Champlain, N. Y., who read the Scriptures, and Rev. I. C. Thacher, of Lakeville, who offered prayer. At the close of the address, the audience were invited to dine at Procter Hall. The dinner was provided by the ladies of the society, and the three long tables, running the length of the hall, were loaded with the good things of life and were well patronized.
At two o'clock, the audience reassembled in the church, and after the solo, " In God we trust," by Mrs. Presson, and prayer by Rev. S. B. Andrews, of Lanesville, 'the President of the day, J. O. Procter, Esq., gave the address of welcome. This was followed by addresses from Rev. I. C. Thacher, Rev. O. T. Lauphear, D. D., of Beverly, delegate from the Essex South Conference of Churches, Rev. Geo. L. Gleason, who represented the Ministerial Associations, and Rev. Joseph B. Clark, of Jamaica Plain, the Secretary of the Mass. Home Missionary Society.
. At the opening of the evening session, the choir sang "Strike the Cymbal," and Rev. N. Richardson, of Rockport, led in prayer. Rev. F. B. Makepeace made the first address, and was fol- lowed by Rev. Francis Parker, of Enfield, N. HI., a son of the church and grandson of Deacon Parker, and Rev. D. N. Beach, of Wakefield, who was introduced as a son-in-law of the church. The greetings of the churches in the city were presented by Rev. John M. English, pastor of the Baptist church. Addresses were also made by C. E. Swett, Esq., of Winchester, and Josiah H. Hunt, A. M., principal of the Gloucester High School. During the evening Miss Loring sang very effectively, " The Lost Chord," and " Palm Branches." Letters were read from a former pastor. Rev. James Aiken, of Haverhill, N. II., and from Rev. J. O.
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Means, D. D., of Boston. At the close of the literary exercises, many of the friends remained for a social reunion, which was greatly enjoyed.
The Sunday evening following the anniversary, the Sunday School observed its semi-centennial, which was largely attended and deeply interesting. The Superintendent, John Cunningham, gave a carefully prepared history of the school, and four of the former Superintendents, Deacon Jacob Bacon, Joseph O. Procter, N. H. Phillips and Deacon Peter D. Smith, made interesting ad- dresses.
AFTERNOON.
ADDRESS OF WELCOME, JOSEPH O. PROCTER, EsQ. .
Past and Present Members of this Church and Society. Friends and Neighbors :- The Committee having these arrange- ments in charge have assigned to me the pleasant duty of extend- ing to you, in behalf of the Church and Society, a cordial wel- come. It is well, after the lapse of years, to set apart a time that we may review briefly the seasons that have passed and their record. Those events at the time they occurred were thought to be of little consequence, but as we look back on them from this standpoint, we see that they were the beginning of great results.
It is but fifty years since the seven persons, two males and five females, whose names appear before you, entered into covenant one with the other, and all with their God, and formed this branch of Christ's Church, of which we have been, and many of us are now, a part. The interesting review of the life and work of this Church, from its birth until now, has been ably set before you, in the address of our pastor.
We welcome on this occasion, those I see before me in such goodly numbers who have been connected with us, and have, by
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their labors and influence, aided in bringing to pass the success that has been ours to enjoy.
We welcome those who have presided over us as the shepherd of the sheep. Especially do we welcome the pastor that spent ten years of his active ministerial life in our welfare, who was so faithful in presenting God's truth ; whose preaching was so pun-" gent, and from whose labors, with the blessing of God, such val- uable fruit was borne, for from those who united with this church near the close of his ministry here have been and are now the most active workers ever connected with us.
We welcome those who represent our departed pastors.
We welcome those who have been permitted to present God's truth to us while we have been without a settled pastor.
We welcome those who were interested in our welfare during our early years, as neighboring pastors.
We welcome those who, while spending their early years with us, prepared themselves for the work of the ministry, and are now actively and successfully engaged in the service of the Master.
We welcome those who represent parents or relatives who, while living, were a part of us.
We welcome the representatives of the Conference, the Asso- ciation, and the Home Missionary Society, with which we as a church and our pastors have been connected.
We welcome the pastors of our neighboring churches and our friends who have come in to spend a few hours with us.
And, again, I bid you all a hearty welcome, and trust that the occasion will call to your mind many thoughts and remembrances of the past, to which you will feel free to give expression, and we have occasion to rejoice and be glad that we are permitted to en- gage in and listen to these services. And may we realize more fully in the future than we have in the past, the value of the priceless blessings our Heavenly Father hath bestowed upon us.
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ADDRESS, REV. I. C. THACHER.
It gave me pleasure inexpressible to listen to the details of this beautiful and timely welcoming address. It is an occasion of great thoughtfulness to those of us who are here. The sugges- tive remarks in the address in reference to the past and present and future should claim a moment's consideration.
I have somewhere seen it stated that time is an unaccountable thing. It is an immeasurable thing. The very breaths that we are drawing in this house to-day are part in the present, part in the future. So of the history of things that have passed on - part in the past, part in the present, part in the future. I think it was Livy, or some other man as wise, who made the declara- tion, " He that does not remember history remains a child." I felt that most keenly as I sat and listened to that greatest savant of education and literature, theology and Christianity, in this land of our fathers, in the Old South church yesterday. When that man went back and scholastically considered the points and theories and principles that agitate the world, I saw how important it was that he who defines truth, liberty, morality and Chris- tianity should be a man of history. He would have been as weak as a straw, he would have had no power to have stood before that enlightened and cultivated congregation, speaking, as he did. by the hour, riveting that intelligent audience by his relation of the fundamental principles of God's attributes, of His moral char- acter, of God's church, of the influence of God's church upon the world, except as he had been a man that had read history, that remembered what he had read, and could so put the several factors together that go to make up the grand, great sum as to hold the attention of that diverse, aesthetical, moral and Christian audience. I was almost as forcibly impressed with this truth, when I listened to your pastor's address this morning, so complete, so minute, so scholastic. He that does not remember history remains a child.
Yesterday, to-day and forever is one of the grandest and most instructive declarations made in that word of God, and applicable on this present occasion also. Who was Jesus Christ? When
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was his birth announced? Where was he born? Where is he? What is he to-day? Before the morning stars sang together, or the sons of God shouted for joy, He was in the Kingdom of his Father, as He has been since and will be evermore, the same yes- terday, to-day and forever. That grand character, in connection with his parentage, culminates in that declaration as it does not in connection with any living man, from Adam to the present time.
Hope is always looking forward. In all our poetry - profane, literary, historical, religious - it is represented as looking forward. We are saying evermore in our prayers, give us this day our daily bread, having reference more particularly to what He is to bestow upon us as we pass on toward the deep, dark river of eternity. Hope, it is a sentiment, there is no instruction in it. You go back into history, and you have data, you have charac- ters, you have principles ; out of these data, characters, princi- ples, you build hope.
It is said of the seven wise philosophers that at a banquet, the question arose, what is the thing that abides continually? And after due deliberation, the declaration was made, by universal con- sent, it is hope, because when a man has nothing else, he has hope. There is a fallacy in that scholastic declaration uttered by the wise men, except as I have history to bear it ont. The scientist, the evolutionist, this is their basis. This is where they need to be watched. The man that is acquainted with history in any depart- ment of life, lie is prepared to meet them in their several stages, and on their own ground. Hope itself, therefore, is simply a sentiment, and there is no truth in it.
There is another thought that occurs to my mind in connection with looking back and considering the past and the present. It rebukes our egotism. Now a man, of course not the women, the men of the generations that are passing are remarkably egotistic. It is I. It is me. I am waiting for some great event to oc- cur, when I will stir the world and overturn things. I will do some great thing. There have been just such men as you ever since Adam, but they have never overturned the world. Go back into the past, and see what men like you have done, and what they have failed to do, and mark you the cause of that fail- ure. In your own strength. you have simply a sentiment. You
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are a sort of sentimental being. The graves that are great - God be praised there are such in our land, there are such here in the old rolling ocean - what makes them great ? They were not men of hope only, they were men of principles founded on knowl- edge, on facts. Their souls delighted to consider prayerfully the record of the past. And God Almighty, through the grace of the gospel, made them men worthy of the age in which they dwelt and toiled, whether upon the land or on the sea. And these are the graves that are honored. The graves of the wicked, the memory thereof will be forgotten and rot.
Livy, I think it was, was right. Not to remember history is to remain a child. And this is one reason why the world is full of great walking babies to-day. They have not got out of their swaddling clothes. The reason is, they abuse the minds God has given them, seeking for fancy, craving for food that will destroy their true mental, moral, Christian appetite.
If I mistake not, it is this sentiment that has gathered us togeth- er to-day. It is this church of God, celebrating its golden wed- ding. It is fifty years since they came into communion and into personal relation with one another and with Christ, the Head of the Church. And this is why the present members of this church, with their beloved pastor, said, let us ask in our friends and brethren, and ask of the days that are past.
And what is the response? What is it? The historical ad- dress, to which we have listened, has given us the key-note of what the response is. We have no disposition whatever to feel otherwise than kindly in our hearts in touching upon it.
What made this an Evangelical Church ? What is the reason that one religion is not just as good as another? They used to ask me that question when I was a pastor in Gloucester. Our Catholic friends over here on the hill have the most expensive structure, the most elaborate in the city. I don't know but they have the largest congregation. What is the reason their religion is not just as good as your religion ? Why are you so particular in regard to your religion ? Why not have a little more liberali- ty? I wish you had heard Rev. Joseph Cook, yesterday, answer that question. I feel at liberty to use his name here : it is not in- vidious. What sort of schools have we? What sort of intel-
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lectual training do we give our children ? What sort of moral, spiritual, intellectual training? Then, he says, look at Spain ! look at Italy ! and he enumerated a number of the families of mankind, considered in their governmental relations. Look into them, he said, as into a glass. Then turn back the page of history and see what produced the result. Then you ask me, as an intel- ligent man, as a father with children to rear, why one religion is not just as good as another, why one species of counsel, one kind of education, is not just as good as another. Well, it takes the sap right out of a man, an honest reply does, just exactly as . the egotism is taken out of a man when he looks back to past his- tory. There is my image there. They were constituted just as I am constituted. They failed exactly as I am going to fail, unless I taek ship and stand on the other tack, because they were finda- mentally wrong. It is a question between a religion fundamental- ly wrong, and one fundamentally right. I think there is the cause of the difference. You ask me why one religion is not as good as another. Go back to history, and read the answer. The man, whether modern or ancient, that denies the divinity of the Lord Je- sus Christ, saying the human and divine are not combined, is mis- taken. Without that combination, without that incarnation, with- out the development of that principle, there could be no salvation for lost men, and God be true to his character.
Who is God? What is He? Does he love truth? What is truth ? Is there any truth aside from God? No! The revela- tion, then, he has made is a revelation of truth. He has revealed this glorious fact, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, as Paul says, and every other man who feels the power of sin at the foot of the cross says, of whom I am chief. Being renewed by God's power, of his spirit, he comes with elose, sweet contact in sympathy, in aim, in purpose, with the great Jehovah, the Father of his spirit, the maker of his body, the benefactor of his life. Then they are one, even as the husband and wife are one, that beantiful symbol given in the Word to illustrate the unity of God and man.
Then you ask why one religion is not as good as another. Why did not the seven whose names we honor remain in the old hive over there? That good man, Deacon Parker, was uneducated,
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unlearned in books and the sciences, but he knew the Bible. He knew the Bible in two senses. He had read it understandingly, he had mentally appropriated its fondamental points, and then he knew it from the heart. He loved it. He loved the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. It fed his soul. I have seen him sit just about there [pointing to the Parker pew ] and weep like a child under some simple effort of your humble servant in trying to impress upon this congregation the importance of accepting salvation by Christ, according to the eternal purpose of God in Jesus Christ from the foundation of the world. The sovereignty of God ! how it would touch that man's soul. And so it touches my soul. I loved to preach it when I was here, and so I love to preach it to-day. Here I love to stand, and aim my humble battery at everything I can that opposes itself to the gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed to the Romans, and as culminating throughout the vast world in which you dwell. Go and preach this gospel, says Jesus Christ, go and preach it to every creature under the heavens. Though the world has been waiting and waiting, through its want of faith ; though the Church of Christ has been waiting, from want of faith, for the fulfillment of this truth, yet, blessed be God. the horizon is lighting np; there are brighter signs to-day than ever before of the evangelization of this world through the ccon- omy of the gospel in Jesus Christ.
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