USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lowell > Historical sketch of the First Baptist Church, Lowell, Mass. centennial anniversary > Part 4
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Smith Thomas Ford came as Pastor, June 5, 1896, and re- mained to Jan. 25, 1905. He is characterize in style as being vivid, moving and very attractive. He was charitable in his opinion and in his judgment. He was a man of fatherly advice, strong in his conviction, and deep in his evangelistic ideas. Men, however they disagreed as to his views, were drawn to hear him preach. He took a stand against modern dancing that was widely debated. Yet those who differed with him honored and respected him for his sincerity of conviction and his courage in the presentation of his interpretation of New Testament teaching. He was especially good in dealing with series, one of which was on "Windows"-the bright window, the clean window, the windows of heaven. At another time he gave a series on "Lamps." This series marked the passing of the century. On the very night of the change from 1899 to 1900 his subject was "Lights Out." He was dramatic as well as climatic. That night a quartet sang "Lights Out." It was com- posed of Miss Reid, Mrs. Pepin, Mr. Walsh, and Mr. Reid. An- other series was on "Masks," ending with "Masks Off !" These sudden finishes show him as a master dramatist as well as speaker. He had associated with him Miss Emily M. Simpson, and one of
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our deacons speaks of Dr. Ford, Mrs. Ford, and Miss Simpson as a very strong team. Under him extensive repairs were made to the building, and the cornerstone relaid by Pentucket Lodge of Masons in 1901. Dr. Ford is known by many people as a man es- pecially gifted in knowing just the word to say at the right time. He could scatter sunshine and lighten the way. He knew how to touch the secret springs of the heart.
Dr. O. C. S. Wallace came to the church, June, 1905, and re- mained as pastor to October, 1908. He was born in Nova Scotia and began preaching there. At the time called to this church Dr. Wallace was Chancellor of McMasters University, Toronto, Canada. McMasters showed its very great appreciation of him on his departure by employing Foster, the celebrated artist, to paint a large picture of him, which now hangs in Castle Memorial Hall, the Hall built for McMasters through the personal labors of Dr. Wallace. Mrs. Wallace was principal of Moulton College, Toronto, a fitting school for McMasters.
At the time they came to Lowell the papers speak of him as "having the peculiar faculty of laying hold of men and drawing them to himself and to the church." On the 80th and 81st anni- versaries of this church he held fitting services, marked with thought and impressiveness. Dr. Wallace gave the impression that he was the master of the situation. From the time he appeared on the platform, however complex the problem, however large the crowd, he came as one in perfect control of all the vital influences involved. He was loved because of his poise of mind.
He was very conservative and yet thoroughly earnest and evangelistic. The very first public notice of the Men of the Round Table came in his ministry. We now possess a large paper clip- ping telling of how the house was packed to the doors as Mr. A. G. Walsh spoke on "The Life of Washington." On Dr. Wal- lace's departure for his field in Baltimore the papers here sum hin up as "strong, eloquent, and interested in good citizenship." He was frequently appointed on city and civic committees for his poise of mind and judgment.
Dr. Wallace had Rev. Harry Taylor as his assistant, charact- erized as vivacious and evangelistic. He resigned to go back to the evangelistic work. Mr. Taylor was a popular speaker and especial-
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REV. SMITH THOMAS FORD, D. D.
REV. O. C. S. WALLACE, D. D.
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MARY TAYLOR Who Secured the Site for the First Church
MISS O. E. PEVEY Clerk of the Church 15 years
ly strong with men's mass meetings and banquets. He was a man's man, and the kind of man men admired.
On December 31, 1908, Dr. Selden W. Cummings became pastor and remained to November 15, 1912. Dr. Cummings had associated with him Rev. Geo. B. Tompkinson. 1907 to 1910 were his dates. Mr. Tompkinson was brought here shortly before the retiring of Dr. Wallace. He came from McMasters University. He was ordained in our church. He was splendid in his pastoral visits and always understanding in his sympathies. It is said that on several occasions Mr. Thompkinson was called upon to christen infants. Instead of giving the well-meaning parents a hard rebuff, as some pastors of differing persuasion would have done, he kindly explained that Baptists did not christen but that he would take personal pleasure in pronouncing a dedication of the young child in behalf of the parents, whereupon he would take the infant into his arms, and, with the kneeling parents beside him, offer up the little life to the glory of God who gave it. He built up during his time a Bible Class of men numbering 200, himself being the teacher. Dr. Cummings, it seems, found in him a veritable right arm.
Dr. Cummings was a scholar, a deep thinker in the Word of God, and became known for his expository preaching. He de- lighted in digging into the actual wording of scripture. He was a kind pastor. One good woman said that at a certain time various members of her household were down sick and that hopelessness had settled upon the faces of all, when one day Dr. Cummings happened in. "It was like a ray of light penetrating the shadows. He was not there long before each member of the family began to feel that Another had come along with him." When he left, con- fidence, courage, and faith were resting upon that strickened, help- less home. He was the same Dr. Cummings wherever you met him, and he was known as a friend by all, whether members of this church or some other. He was a man, withal, who had a real sense of humor. Some of you will remember that he had several young children in his home when he was here. He would sometimes smilingly say : "People, I think, will like me all right if they learn to overlook my short Cummings." Dr. Cummings' sermons were never spactacular, but they could be relied upon for accuracy, and were always carefully thought out. The accessions during his stay
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were over 300. Only Tremont Temple, among all the Baptist Churches of the state, excelled us within this length of time. It was during Dr. Cummings' ministry that Rev. A. S. Woodworth came on the field to succeed Mr. Tompkinson as assistant. He re- mained only a brief time, the only outstanding thing concerning him being that he became active in the change of the B. Y. P. U. of the Church to Christian Endeavor. Miss Margaret V. West also was assistant under Dr. Cummings, remaining at her post here for one year.
The next pastor is Rev. Hermon S. Pinkham, who came on the field November 3, 1913, and remained until his death, July, 1914. While here he taught the Baraca Class with ease, grace, and power. A large picture of him now adorns the Baraca walls. He was pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church, Washington, D. C., be- fore coming, where he distinguished himself as an able leader. During his brief pastorate here he took a leading part in the " Go- to-Church Movement." He was a man who was faithful to his (luty, and the valiant friend of every good interest. He took a con- spicuous part in the debt-paying campaign of the new Y. M. C. A., and was frequently called upon to assist in special evangelistic undertakings. He probably overworked himself. The immediate cause of his death is laid to the fact that, on a cold and windy day, he stood with bared head in the cemetery while officiating at a funeral, pneumonia rapidly resulting. The underlying cause may probably be found, however, in the fact that he had well-nigh ex- hausted himself in mind and body with the arduous and conscien- tious manner in which he tackled every duty. Here was a man who had rather die than to in the least degree be remiss in what he considered to be his God-given task. May his spirit rest upon us all. Mrs. Geo. Sturtevant was assistant under the leadership of Dr. Pinkham.
Rev. J. E. Dinsmore, as an assistant pastor, helped to hold the church intact between the homegoing of the beloved Pinkham and the coming of Rev. A. C. Archibald. Mr. Dinsmore's dates were Feb. 1, 1914, to July, 1914, four months. Before his recent death he once exclaimed, "If anybody ever wants to know anything about me, just tell him that I was true to the old faith to the last." Many of us had the privilege of meeting this good man. We know the
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REV. HERMON S. PINKHAM
beauty of his unassuming Christian spirit and his dauntless faith- fullness. He often preached when he was scarcely able to stand up, save by holding to the pulpit rail. He insisted on preaching at various places when his good wife and doctor knew him to be altogether physically unable. Right up to the last Rev. J. E. Dinsmore was the prophet of God.
We come to the Rev. A. C. Archibald. His dates are July 22, 1914, to November, 1918. He had as his assistant pastor Rev. Albert G. Warner, and as pastor's assistant, Miss Mabel Brown. Mrs. Harold Brown was also a member of the official staff in those days, rendering service highly efficient and constructive. This was a glorious period for the church, one of the most glorious the church has ever had in its vital powers for winning souls. Mr. Warner would go into a home that was all upturned and disrupted and would sit down in the midst of them and weep with them. He was the family friend, a good shepherd of the sheep. Miss Brown, as the pastor's assistant, stood by the pastor in the organ- ization and vital leadership of the church. Mr. Archibald was a great orator. It is said by many that he was the greatest orator that ever came to Lowell. You can take up a calendar of those days and see that the church was fairly bristling with activity. The accessions of the Archibald period were approximately 800. Mr. Archibald was the father of the Lowell Plan of Evangelism, and a strong man in raising money. He made it a habit to put other men to work, and was ingenious in the number of men he could keep working at one time. He was a lover of games in his personal life. He was an excellent conversationalist, strong in his repartee and splendid in his ability to connect names and faces. At the time Mr. Archibald left the church it was at its very pinnacle of popularity and power.
Dr. Edward Babcook was next called, and came on the field March, 1919, and remained until April, 1924. An assistant under Dr. Babcock was Mrs. Bryant, who rendered three effective and fruitful years of service. One of the first things he did after com- ing to Lowell was to secure the church's acceptance of its apportion- ment of $178,800 on the Hundred Million Dollar Campaign. He believed in throwing himself fully into every good work. On his arrival in the city he found the Stephens Revival in full sway.
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Pastor Babcock immediately wrote letters to his own parishoners, many of whom he had not seen, urging them to do their best in this splendid undertaking. He was a man with great fidelity to the Word of God. He believed that the Holy Bible, preached in honesty and fullness, was able to take care of itself. Two series of Dr. Babcock's sermons, from general report, and from the impres- sions made in our congregation, would be worthy of print in every language. I refer to his series on "The Lord's Prayer" and "The Ten Commandments." He was a fearless denouncer of evil, and uncompromising in his stand for the truth.
The present pastor came on the field October 15, 1924, after occasionally supplying for the church during a period of two months. Miss Lorna W. Smith, the assistant, came in February of 1924. We leave ourselves to the hand of some later scribe.
We have had some notable men in our church during this last period. If a church can be reckoned by the character of the men chosen to represent her in places of supreme responsibility, this church certainly stands high. We call the roll of honor for our Deacons who have recently entered into their eternal reward :
H. P. HASEY
A loyal supporter and a liberal giver.
WARREN L. FLOYD
Architect, historian of the church for 30 years, Sunday school superintendent, organizer of the Floyd Bible Class, organizer of various mission stations throughout the city. Remarkable in his executive ability. Favorite hymn, "I Love Thy Church, O Lord."
HENRY TIBBETTS
Philanthropic citizenship. Uncommon type of Christianity. Dr. Wallace said of him, "He was the best Christian I ever knew." 25 years superin- tendent of the Sunday school. On his resignation new silver-plated keys to the church were pre- sented him in place of the old and worn ones he surrendered. It is understood that at the time Mr. Pollard gave the splendid organ Mr. Tibbetts gave the church an equal contribution in cash.
S. S. EMERY
Quiet, retiring, sympathetic. Often during holiday seasons he would go out and hunt up the poor and the friendless and conduct them to his home for meals and a part in the festal cheers of his own fireside.
JAMES BUCHANAN
Cabinet maker, who took a pride in exercising his personal workmanship on the present pulpit furni-
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REV. S. W. CUMMINGS, D. D.
REV. A. C. ARCHIBALD
REV. EDWARD BABCOCK, D. D.
MELVIN BANCROFT
ture. He and Mr. Emery always served together, and were devoted friends.
It is said of him that he was extremely conscien- tious, and would not agree to do anything that he did not stand ready to do absolutely well. The church knew that if Mr. Bancroft said he would do a thing, they could rest peacefully as to the outcome.
FRANK A. BOWEN
Here was a man who assumed his duties seriously and performed them cheerfully. His compeers declared of him that "he added dignity to the Deaconate." In addition to his many duties at the church, he was president of the Y. M. C. A. for 12 years. Due to his patience, optimism, and gen- erosity, the Y work in Lowell faced many a crisis in triumph.
HARRY STOCKS
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A genial Christian endowed with the rare gift of making friends wherever he went. He was also a "sweet singer in Israel," and gladly gave his voice in the interest of every true cause. His was a reli- gion of "few words and many good deeds." The marvel of his life was that so much could be done so quietly.
ARTHUR SYMMES
The youngest deacon of his day. Active in all the departments of the church. Sunday school teacher, singer, and leader in prayer meetings.
DR. WM. BASS
Dean of Lowell physicians. Member of First Baptist Church for 47 years. Deacon for 12 years. He practiced the principles of the Great Physician with tireless devotion.
JAMES W. BUCHANAN
Deacon for 16 years. Almost always the very first man to pray in open prayer meeting. A constant Bible student, Sunday school teacher, soul-winner, and friend.
GEORGE H. TAYLOR
Honored Senior Deacon and Sunday school leader for 30 years. Dr. Babcock said of him, "We write after the name of George Taylor five great, golden words : Ambition, Faithfulness, Integrity, Friend- ship, and Faith in God." His counsel was sought by the men of the city as well as the church, be- cause of his poise and soundly spiritual nature. He was depended upon around the First Baptist Church for the discharge of a wide variety of responsibilities. One well remarks that "the church didn't know how very much it was depending upon Deacon Taylor until it was forced to get along without him."
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January 17, 1926
The First Baptist Church-Its Faith and Its Future
I N THE sermons that have gone before, we have step by step, summed up the characteristics of the periods. Of the first period, from 1826 to 1846, or, the ministries from Cookson to Eddy, we found the key words to be organization, struggle, and sacrifice. From the days of the organization of the membership, the proprietors, the Sunday School, and the Society, we reviewed the days of struggle with opposition without and within. We noted that there were groups beyond the walls of this Zion who were industriously planning our downfall in the early days, and that at the same time within the walls there were factions and dissensions. Yet we were called to remember with pride that in and through it all this church dared to call a minister at almost double the salary offered by other First Churches at that time, denoting the fact that, from the earliest days, there were people in this membership who knew the spirit of Christian sacrifice and who gladly put their own church first in their financial consideration.
We came to the ministries of the second period, from Eddy to Blackburn, or, from 1846 to 1893, with a growing feeling of the popularity, dignity, and expansion of First Church affairs. We marked this period as one in which the minister of this church became a leader in the affairs of city and state as well as church and found him preaching before large audiences, packed to the very doors. We were glad to find that, from 1846 to the present hour discord and debate as a part of a regular church service have ceased altogether. Of course, such popularity marked by such unanimity was bound to produce expansion. The Fifth Street Church, the Branch Street Church, the Third Street Church and mission stations not a few were the natural result.
As we drew near to the present period, beginning with Dr. Alexander Blackburn, we began to ask ourselves the question,
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REv. G. D. FEAGAN
MRS. G. D. FEAGAN
MISS LORNA W. SMITH
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 18, 1896, educated in nine schools of higher learning, east, west, north and south, having held two pastorates of four years each in Atlanta and Macon, Georgia, Rev. Grady D. Feagan came to our church as a vacation supply in August, 1924. After his very first Sunday he was asked to consider becoming our pastor. He had come to Boston to pursue some courses at Boston University, and accepted our unanimous call, with the understanding that he should continue some of his work at the University. He at once entered wholeheartedly into the activities of the church and Sunday school, which have grown under his splendid leadership. His preaching-intellectual, spiritual, true to God's Word, and believing in the whole Bible,-has been uplifting, and has led the church forward to new heights. His teaching of the large Baraca Class has been notable. Additions by baptism have been frequent during the ministry, but after faithful seed sowing we are anticipating greater showers of blessing. The prayer meetings, well attended, were never more inspiring than under our pastor's leadership. His wife has ably assisted him in every branch of the church life, especially in organizing the children and young people into missionary study classes. Both the pastor and his wife have won a warm place for themselves in the heart of the whole membership, and are loved by all. May the present relationship last for many years and be blessed in a rich harvest of souls of men and women trained to teach and preach !
The assistant to the pastor, Miss Lorna W. Smith, has proved a tireless and conscientious worker in all branches of the church life.
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"What can we now find that mark in real and genuine fashion the onward march of the King?" After careful and extended search through the documents and through the letters of friends, as well as consideration of the many bits of personal information that have been communicated to us, we are drawn to the conclusion that this age, like the two that have preceded us, has surely its own dis- tinguishing marks. We sum them up as aesthetic and cultural appreciations, moral leadership in current events, and organized concern for the poor and unfortunate. You will recall that in the sermon immediately preceding we mentioned the constant repairs to our building, both outside and in, the constant improvements made to our lovely audience chamber as well as to the Ladies' Parlor and various other single rooms about the building, as among the evidences that this church is today attentive to the cultural and aesthetic qualities of material surrounding. The installation of appropriate pulpit furniture and of the perfectly splendid organ that came as a gift from our long and constant friend, Mr. A. G. Pollard, are also among the evidences.
It seems useless to argue that this church has multiplied its energies in the field of current events. When we remember that whole series have, in the very past years, been delivered on such subjects as "The Golgotha of a Nation", "The Rum Crusade", "The Christ of the Marketplace" etc., we can imagine the enthused throngs that have had their political and economic ideals reshaped by the power of the Gospel.
This church has always been accused by those so far on the outside as to know nothing at all of our inner working, of being derelict in our actual contacts with the problems of human need around us. The reason is that we have been so quiet, so organized, and so deftly business-like in our answers to human needs that those accustomed to look for the "pyrotechnics" of such moves have been disappointed. This church in Dr. Blackburn's time was pointed to in a newspaper article as being given over wholly to the rich. Dr. Blackburn in reply said, among other things, that four of the deacons were day-laborers, the treasurer was a wage-earner, more than half of the executive board were on salaries, and he himself, the pastor, was only a country boy straight from the farms of Illinois. The fact that for recent years you have employed a
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pastor's assistant, whose time as a specialist is given over largely to personal touch with the poor and unfortunate, might also be mentioned in this connection. I venture to give my opinion that if all the time and supplies expended within this membership within a single year in the interest of human brotherhood around our own doors could be fully estimated, it would actually exceed our cur- rent expense budget. This is not a boast, but a thought that should strengthen us in our allegiance to the Old Church and her future calls.
If we should seek for a further characterization of the one hundred years, I think it could be found in single titles. The title of the first age I would write as "The Courage of Conviction". It was this personal and divine conviction pulsing through the hearts of twenty-eight humble souls that, in the beginning, steeled them for every struggle, heartened them for every sacrifice, and determined them for the launching of every new move. The second age I would call "The Conquest of the Cross". Here the conviction reaches abundant fruitage. As we read the flaring newspaper headlines of those days and catch the marshal air of Eddy's sermons and feel the zeal of the waiting hosts, we say with one of old, "More than conquerors through Him that loved us!" Some of the older residents of the city who were present when this matchless man returned to Lowell to deliver the semi- centennial sermon declare that, as he reached his grand finale with his indominitable "March, March, March" of the closing sentences, they were fairly lifted from their seats with mingled faith, hope, and heroism. Those lines were only typical of the whole grand order of things of which they marked the midst.
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But what shall we give as a title to these recent years? Con- viction, Conquest, KINSHIP, kinship with the whole creation! You are worthy of such a heading. Not a nook or cranny of the globe is there that could not come tomorrow with its authenticated story of misery and despair without extracting from you your love, your sympathy, your prayers, and your purses. "No man liveth to himself and none dieth to himself" is the spirit of this present age. Our definition of human brotherhood has come to include all humanity. "The Church and the World" is also "The Church IN the world and FOR the world." If our early faith
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was intensive, forced to be so by the nature of its task, our later faith was extensive, achieved to be so by surmounting the task, and our latest faith is comprehensive, bound to be so by the very genius of the Christian hope and the Christian revelation. We have simply been allowed, under God, to follow Christ to logical conclusions. It has been said that the three points in every full faith are God, Man, and Society. In the early days the be- leaguered heart was made to cry "I have set the Lord ever before me." In the middle days success and open doors cried louder "Oh, that MEN would know the goodness of the Lord and praise Him for His wonderful works." Now
We walk at high-noon and the bells Calm to a thousand oracles.
We are no longer content that "This poor man alone should cry unto the Lord and that the Lord should hear him", but na- tions, tongues, and climes, society as a whole, with its smoky, dusty cities and its lonely frontiers, the "proud man's contumely and the insolence of office", the babies of the slums and the babies yet un- born, should so have the immortal Gospel of God brought home to them that no one need say to his brother "Know the Lord"; for "Behold, I will extend peace like a river and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream". What an objective! It can be so, for, "Out of one blood made He all the nations".
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