USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Fall River > History, annals and sketches of the Central Church of Fall River, Massachusetts : A.D. 1842-A.D. 1905 : with portraits and views > Part 9
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Held Sunday, November 13, 1892, in the Central Congregational Church, corner of Rock and Franklin streets, Fall River, Mass., in commemoration of the organization of the Church, - November 16, 1842.
Morning Services
VOLUNTARY
Haydn
Mr. LYMAN W. DEANE
ANTHEM
Gaul This is the day, which the Lord hath made, We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Blessed is he that cometh, in the name of the Lord,
We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. God is the Lord which hath shewed us light: Bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar.
LORD'S PRAYER CONGREGATION
HYMN 18
Warwick With joy we hail the sacred day, Which God hath called his own; With joy the summons we obey To worship at his throne.
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Thy chosen temples, Lord! how fair! Where willing votaries throng,
To breathe the humble fervent prayer, And pour the choral song.
Spirit of grace! O deign to dwell Within thy Church below, Make her in holiness excel, With pure devotion glow.
Let peace within her walls be found, Let all her sons unite, To spread with grateful zeal around Her clear and shining light.
RESPONSIVE READING
1 O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
3 O come let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
4 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
5 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.
6 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, the city of the Great King.
7 The Lord hath chosen Zion : He hath desired it for his habitation.
8 This is my rest forever: here will I dwell: for I have desired it.
9 They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which can- not be removed, but abideth for ever.
10 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.
11 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts.
12 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord.
13 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
14 I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.
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15 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
16 Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together.
17 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord.
18 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee.
19 Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
20 Blessed be the Lord God from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say Amen.
21 Praise ye the Lord!
PRAYER Rev. M. BURNHAM, D.D.
HYMN 197
Lenox
Blow ye the trumpet, blow The gladly-solemn sound!
Let all the nations know, To earth's remotest bound,
The year of jubilee is come;
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.
Jesus, our great High Priest, Hath full atonement made:
Ye weary spirits, rest; Ye mournful souls, be glad:
The year of jubilee is come!
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.
Extol the Lamb of God, The all-atoning Lamb; Redemption in his blood Throughout the world proclaim: The year of jubilee is come! Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.
The gospel trumpet hear, The news of heavenly grace; And, saved from earth, appear Before your Saviour's face : The year of jubilee is come! Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.
OFFERTORY Merkel
SERMON
Pastor, Rev. W. WALKER JUBB
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HYMN 507
St. Thomas
I love thy kingdom, Lord, The house of thine abode, The Church our blessed Redeemer saved With his own precious blood.
I love thy Church, O God! Her walls before thee stand, Dear as the apple of thine eye, And graven on thy hand.
Sure as thy truth shall last, To Zion shall be given The brightest glories earth can yield, And brighter bliss of heaven.
BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE
Mozart
Afternoon Services
VOLUNTARY
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Mendelssohn
ANTHEM Elvey Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, and call upon his name, Tell the people what things he hath done; O let your songs be of him, and praise him. And let your talking be of all his wondrous works. Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice in his Holy Name, Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. AMEN.
INVOCATION . Rev. WILLIAM J. BATT
SELECTION, " Bow down Thine Ear' OLD CHOIR
OPENING ADDRESS
Dea. CHARLES J. HOLMES
HISTORICAL PAPER . Mrs. ELI THURSTON
HYMN 112 . Cambridge O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home!
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Under the shadow of thy throne Thy saints have dwelt secure; Sufficient is thine arm alone And our defense is sure.
Time, like an ever-rolling stream, Bears all its sons away; They fly forgotten, as a dream Dies at the opening day.
O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, Be thou our guard, while troubles last, And our eternal home!
HISTORICAL PAPER, " The Central Church Sabbath School," ¡Mr. C. V. S. REMINGTON, Superintendent
HISTORICAL PAPER, " The Mission Work of the Church," Rev. E. A. BUCK, Missionary
HYMN 122 Italian Hymn
Come, thou almighty King, Help us thy name to sing, Help us to praise. Father all-glorious, O'er all victorious, Come and reign over us, Ancient of days!
To the great One in Three The highest praises be Hence, evermore. His sovereign majesty May we in glory see And to eternity Love and adore!
POEM, " Retrospection " .
Miss MARY L. HOLMES
HYMN 209. Coronation All hail the power of Jesus' name! Let angels prostrate fall; Bring forth the royal diadem And crown him Lord of all.
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Ye chosen seed of Israel's race, Ye ransomed from the fall, Hail him who saves you by his grace, And crown him Lord of all.
Let every kindred, every tribe, On this terrestrial ball, To him all majesty ascribe, And crown him Lord of all.
Oh, that with yonder sacred throng We at his feet may fall! We'll join the everlasting song, And crown him Lord of all.
BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE
Beethoven
Evening Services
VOLUNTARY
Batiste
ANTHEM Watson Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks For that thy name is near, thy wondrous works declare, Thou visitest the earth and waterest it, Thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, Which is full of water. Thou preparest the corn When thou hast so provided for it. The pastures are clothed with flocks, the valleys also are covered over with corn, They shout for joy, they also sing.
SCRIPTURE READING
Dea. CHARLES A. BAKER
PRAYER
Rev. W. WALKER JUBB
HYMN 329
. Northfield Come, let us join our cheerful songs With angels round the throne; Ten thousand thousand are their tongues, But all their joys are one.
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Jesus is worthy to receive Honor and power divine; And blessings more than we can give Be, Lord, forever thine.
Let all that dwell below the sky And air, and earth, and seas, Conspire to lift thy glories high, And speak thine endless praise.
The whole creation joins in one, To bless the sacred name Of him that sits upon the throne, And to adore the Lamb.
ADDRESS Rev. WILLIAM J. BATT
PAPER, " Benefactions of Central Church," Col. THOMAS J. BORDEN
HYMN 124 Lyons Oh, praise ye the Lord, prepare your glad voice His praise in the great assembly to sing; In their great Creator let all men rejoice, And heirs of salvation be glad in their King.
With glory adorned, his people shall sing To God, who defense and plenty supplies; Their loud acclamations to him, their great King, Through earth shall be sounded and reach to the skies.
LETTERS FROM FRIENDS AND FORMER MEMBERS
ADDRESS Rev. M. BURNHAM, D.D.
HYMN 497
Boylston Blest be the tie that binds Our hearts in christian love; The fellowship of kindred minds Is like to that above.
We share our mutual woes, Our mutual burdens bear; And often for each other flows The sympathizing tear.
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When we asunder part, It gives us inward pain; But we shall still be joined in heart, And hope to meet again.
This glorious hope revives Our courage by the way; While each in expectation lives, And longs to see the day.
BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE Handel
Outlines of Anniversary Sermon By Rev. W. Walker Jubb, Pastor [November 13, 1892]
The ANNIVERSARY SERMON was delivered by Rev. W. Walker Jubb. The text was Ephesians 5: 32: " I speak concerning Christ and the church." In his preface, the speaker called attention to the signifi- cance for good of a body of men and women united for some high and holy service carrying on their work for half a century, and noted the principal departments of human conduct upon which such a body would work great influence; he then applied his remarks to the Central Church, which he said was blessed at the beginning by men of stalwart moral natures, and which has rejoiced in a succession of men, who have regarded this church with something of the sacredness and love with which they have regarded their home and home-life. He next expa- tiated on the place and value of the church as an organization; it was the most important and most glorious of all earthly organizations; it was the interpreter of Christianity to the world. While considering the value of sacraments and distinguishing between influences on character, as to place and form, he cited John G. Whittier, an in- stance of one who rejected all sacraments, yet was as acceptable to God as the most distinguished saint who accepts them; he held that sacra- ments are means of grace, but they do not make men christians; they minister to the life, but they do not create the life. In the early time the power of God was bestowed on individuals; then came organiza- tion. The church is more than an organization, - it is a family; it is formed of those who are brethren in Christ Jesus, those who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ and regenerated by the Holy Spirit,
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and are maintaining the kind of life that Christ lived in Judea. Wherever such are gathered together, they constitute a church; so, no particular form of faith or ecclesiastical order has any authority to call itself exclusively "The Church"; nor have all the churches together a right to claim that they have included the full meaning of the august idea. The true Church of God is not divided, but distributed. Its majesty transcends all sectional divisions; it embraces the good of every age and clime, and generates everywhere the conditions of spirit- ual life and thought. This Central Church, so far as it has a living union with Christ, may call itself a church. A skeleton of the rest of the discourse is: We are a Congregational church because we stand for the spiritual principle that men everywhere when they come to- gether animated by a christian purpose have God in their midst. A blameless life is the condition of entrance to membership. We recog- nize no priest - we believe that priesthood robs man of his God- given liberty and destroys his manhood. The polity of the Congrega- tional church is also simple: it holds to the right of self-government for each church; it knows no proper distinction between pastor and laymen except that between teacher and learners. It does not profess to be the sole system on which a christian communion may be estab- lished, but to be a consistent scriptural one.
Stress was laid upon the necessity of making faith supreme, and upon the superiority of spirit to method in church matters. Tribute was paid to the Puritans for their enduring and heroic qualities, and the large debt of Congregationalism to them was fully acknowledged. The speaker maintained that the Church must constantly renew her life and adapt herself to a changed environment. He exhorted the members to make new consecration.
Anniversary Poem -"Retrospection " By Mary Louisa Holmes
It was the autumn of the year: The leaves were turning brown and sere: November's airs were fresh and chill: The river flowed so calm and still, When, fifty years ago to-day, A church was formed, to show the way From earth's dull care, and woe, and pain, To sinless Paradise again.
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All nature kept the Sabbath day: The widening river met the bay, And glowed and sparkled in the sun, Eager its ceaseless course to run. And quiet was the little town, Save where, from fair Watuppa down That lovely stream, the Quequechan, Tumbled and rippled, sparkled and ran.
No sound of bell or organ tone, No house that they could call their own, No choir with voices strong and sweet, Proclaimed where first this church should meet. But silently the people came, Thro' quiet street and grassy lane, And met in old Pocasset Hall, Where first they sought the Lord of all.
Eight months had hardly passed away, When, on a quiet Sabbath-day, Scarce yet the service had begun, The loud alarm of fire was rung. At first the preacher heeded not The summons, but soon all forgot Were text and sermon, prayer and praise, As nearer swept the threatening blaze.
That was an awful summer day! Devouring flames swept every way! The sun, that rose so clear and bright, Saw half the town destroyed ere night. The new church, rising incomplete, Was scorched and blackened by the heat: "Tho part was saved, yet part was burned, As fitful winds their courses turned.
Few are the people in this hall That dedication can recall: Old Central Church! how fair and white Your walls first met their longing sight: How large the vestry where they met! That Sunday-school! I see it yet. The west side door the children sought Who still too young for church were thought.
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What changing pictures throng our sight! What memories come back to-night! We see again that audience hall: We see that pulpit, dark and tall: We hear those voices, strong and clear, That have been hushed for many a year: We hear the music's sweet refrain, And live those old times o'er again.
A kindly man and dignified Came first our straying feet to guide: With gentle courtesy and grace, He led o'er many a rugged place, While day by day we stronger grew, Sought eagerly our work to do. But scarce four years had marked his stay, When failing health called him away.
But who can tell of him who came With words of power, and tongue of flame? His keen black eye with clearest sight, Discerned the wrong, though clothed in light. And in those years of doubt and pain, When civil war rent us in twain, His voice for freedom and the right, Rang like a trumpet, clear and bright.
That was a dreary winter day, When God called him from us away. So strong and firm the hand that led, We could not think of him as dead. Each one in all the city wide, Felt that a friend of his had died. O Spirit! strong for truth and right! Thy voice still speaks to us to-night.
We waited for almost a year 'Ere one was sent our grief to cheer." Then " God is love " is what he said; He spoke, and we were comforted. What love and sympathy he brought! What patience and what faith he taught! None went to him for help in vain: He shared our sorrows, bore our pain.
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But now, the time had come when we Had grown a mighty Church to be; And longed like Israel's king of old, A fairer temple to behold. Full soon its walls began to rise; Its lofty tower sought the skies; Its organ great with ringing tone Proclaimed at last the temple done.
How beautiful it is, we cried! And gazed around with kindling pride. But soon before our startled eyes, A cloud arose which swept our skies. In vain we tried to pierce it through, It only large and darker grew. Till, on a glorious winter day, That heavy debt was swept away.
Our Church arose from bended knee, And felt once more that she was free. While songs of praise still rent the air, She stooped another grief to bear. The burden of those years of debt, The sorrows, he could not forget, Had proved too much for him to bear, Who watched us with untiring care.
We said " Good-bye " through gathering tears. To him whom we have loved for years. That spring-time seems so far away, And yet our hearts are his to-day. But life moves on; the Church's need Demands a shepherd who shall lead. And ere the leaves of autumn fall, A man of God has heard our call.
Some quiet years speed swiftly by : Our paths by peaceful waters lie; Though some of those we fondly love, Are called to join the Church above. With sympathy and kindly care, Our pastor seeks our grief to share, And bids us work, and watch, and pray, And strive to keep the upward way.
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Again we stand alone, but stand Together, a united band, And steadily the work goes on. A Chapel is begun upon The land, awaiting it so long. And now a leader stanch and strong,
Across the ocean comes; and we Rejoicing, greet him heartily.
A half a century! how long Since our first dedication song! The fleeting years go swiftly by! How many changes in them lie! A mighty city's ceaseless din . Has drowned the river's murmuring;
And names the Church once held so dear, Are carved in marble, cold and clear.
The world of thought has changed since then; Now mighty questions challenge men. The question of eternal right, Of man's great need, of wealth's great might, Of poverty's long spurned demand, Are threatening us on every hand. No narrow view, no empty creed Can help us in this hour of need.
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Church of the living God, arise! A glorious work before thee lies! Heed not disputes of learned men, Christ is thine only sovereign! No creed or doctrine howe'er broad, Can hold the boundless love of God - That wondrous love, God felt toward man, Ere earth was formed, or time began.
Fear not, though foes against thee rise! Clear speaks a voice through opening skies, The law of love and righteousness, Shall conquer sin, shall all men bless. The cross that stood on Calvary Shall lead at last to victory : Redemption's song, by angels given, Shall ring at last, from earth to heaven.
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Abstract of Address at the Fiftieth Anniversary of Central Church, November 13, 1892 By Rev. Michael Burnham, D.D., Third Pastor
I am glad to be with you this evening, to say at your Fiftieth Anniversary, "GOD BLESS YOU!"
For nearly a quarter of that time, my life was so closely identified with yours, that I am sure you will let me bring as the first part of my message to you, this evening, some personal reminiscences.
The first time I saw the city of Fall River was on the evening of April 23, 1870, when I came down in obedience to your request, from Andover Theological Seminary, to preach for you in the old Central Church building, the following Sabbath. You had been a few months without a pastor, Dr. Thurston, who had served you so long and so ably, having been taken from you to the Church above. I shall never forget that Sabbath with you, or some of those who subsequently became life-long friends, who met me at the church and at the Mount Hope House. My interest was then centered in the church in West- boro. Although no formal call had been offered, they were expecting me to preach another Sabbath, and I was hardly ready for a " call " anywhere. I was not to finish my seminary course until July. I left Fall River on Monday morning, April 25, not knowing that I should ever come to the goodly town again to preach, and, indeed, with my thoughts on other things. During the week I received a telegram (or letter,- I have forgotten which), asking me to send the following Sabbath, Rev. Joseph Cook, if he could be obtained; if not, to come myself. Obedient to instructions, I made my way to the room of this, even then, mental as well as moral Hercules, but he was gone, no one knew where. I sat down and wrote the chairman of your committee, that if I followed their instructions, I should be obliged to come myself.
With a feeling in my heart that God was somehow leading me, I set off from Andover for Fall River with my only two remaining sermons fully written, to spend with you another Sabbath. When I left the pulpit and the church that Sabbath, I did it with a strange mingling of fear and love. The Central Church had even then my heart. I had never met another just like it, although as a student I had preached in many churches for a year or more. Then came a real fear,- " What if they should call me to be their pastor?" " I am not yet fitted for such a work." It was not long before the call came, from Church and parish, brief and to the point.
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I can hardly tell you about that " first call." I have had many questions to decide, but never one like this. To leave the quiet of my student life, laborious though it had been, and take up the work laid down by such a man as Dr. Thurston, and in this rapidly growing city, seemed too great to be borne; he came after ten or more years' experience - I had none. I had no sermons. I laid that call before God; I told him he had put it into my hand and inclined the hearts of this people toward me, and I asked his grace to aid. He led me on from point to point in the decision, the substantial beginning of which was on the human side in the direction of my teacher in homiletics, Prof. Austin Phelps, who knew me and knew the Church. He said, " By all means, go." Even then with fear and trembling and - it seems to me as I look back upon it after these twenty-two years - without that confidence in God and in all the generous sympathy and cooperation of this people which then I had not earned, that I ought to have had; but I came.
Repairs in the old church delayed the installation until October (1870). My first sermon as ordained and installed pastor was preached Sabbath morning, October 30, from Exodus 33: 15, " And he said unto him, if thy presence go not with me carry us not up hence." In that sermon the heart of the young pastor poured itself out. Its closing words were these, " My people, I cannot close without refer- ring to something that has been upon many of your minds in this house; I am aware that this day, of such moment to me, is for you a day of tender memories. You have opened your hearts to receive me to-day in the place of one whose connection with you was severed only by death. After a long and prosperous day, the sun of his life went down among you, and you tenderly guard his sleeping dust. Again and again have rung in my ears those words, almost the last of his life, which he spoke to one whom he loved as a brother, 'If I go, I shall see you from where I am '; I have not forgotten to pray that his mantle, who on this Sabbath stands before the Throne, may fall on me. One soweth and another reapeth, but the rejoicing is together. Brethren! let us labor together for the one Master until each in turn lays off the armor and goes up from the Church militant to stand side by side with him and join in the song and worship of the Church triumphant."
Let me refer to two or three things connected with that first Sabbath; or rather with it as the beginning of my ministry. From its very begin- ning not only the doors of my people were open to me with a cordiality of welcome and a sympathy I have never seen surpassed, but the
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home of her who had been the companion of your former pastor be- came with all its close relationship to my work, a most helpful home to me; and many an uplift did I get from her who, as his bereaved wife, watched over me as an older sister over a younger brother. She scattered the way for me with blessings and prayers and helpful- ness. I was saved many a mistake, and stimulated to many an effort by her far-seeing wisdom. She never criticised; she always comforted and helped.
Another thing that fills me with sacred thoughts to-night is the fact of the faces, now held in memory, that looked up into mine that first Sabbath, twenty-two years ago. I remember those men and women, - some of them my fathers and mothers in years, - men and women of God, many of whose caskets, silently and with tears, we carried to God's acre yonder, where the shadows flee away only in the resurrection from the dead. In the years of my ministry among you, I buried well nigh a generation of these older men and women,- seven of the original members of this Church in five years. As I go back in thought to-night, there is before me a mingled company of those present in the body, and of those, " absent from the body and present with the Lord," that rise before me, a line of march, where to the eye of sense so many seem to have fallen, and yet where, to the eye of faith; the horizon of the grave in Fall River is blended with the opened sepulcher in Palestine where the song of faith and battle in the earthly church is blended with the song of victory in the Church triumphant. What part, if any, God gave me to do in preparing those who have gone to stand with the blood-washed throng, while I attempted to say words of comfort to the mourners on earth, I shall never know. They have gone where hearts really know each other. They have gone where the bustle and friction and tears and partial peace and sense of victory in the earthly conflict give way to the repose and peace and power of those who fly to do God's will.
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