USA > New York > New York City > A history of the Brick Presbyterian Church in the city of New York > Part 30
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
The new pastor had been on the field but a little over a year when it became necessary to secure a new leader for the chapel work. Mr. Talbot (1875- 1881), had been succeeded in turn by the Rev. Henry T. McEwen, (1881-1887), and the Rev. Edwin E. Rogers (1887-1889). When a successor for Mr. Rogers was being sought, it was decided to make his position different from that of the chapel pastor up to this time. "In reviewing the field," says Dr. McIlvaine, t referring to the time of his
* In some unpublished reminiscences written for a memorial service at the present Church of the Covenant on December 16th, 1894.
t In an address (unpublished), delivered on November 8th, 1891.
421
CHURCH OF THE COVENANT
arrival in New York, "it seemed to me that the pas- toral relation [between the chapel minister and the Church of the Covenant] was very unsatisfactory. The pastor was not installed, . . . only hired by a body of men; and I suggested with hesitancy that we should change it all, and that the new pastor should be associate pastor of the Church of the Covenant. To my great delight, the idea was seized with enthusiasm." It was on this basis that the Rev. George Sidney Webster accepted a call to take up the chapel work, and was installed as Dr. McIl- vaine's associate in March, 1890 .*
The aim of this new arrangement was to assert emphatically that the Covenant Memorial Chapel was not a "mission" in the unworthy sense which that name had acquired, that it was not merely an inferior, dependent institution, maintained by char- ity, but, on the contrary, an important and highly honored part of the Church of the Covenant itself. As the new associate pastor said a year or so after he had begun his work, "This new relation was rather a proper recognition of [the chapel] than a change in plan or policy of its work. For years a church has existed here in all but the name. Now side by side with our loving mother church, no longer as a daugh- ter, but as a sister beloved, we keep step in our united efforts to advance Christ's kingdom in this part of
* He was born at Meredith, Delaware County, N. Y., July 30th, 1853. In 1878 he graduated from Hamilton College, being valedictorian of his class. For a year he was professor of Greek in the Seminary at Whitestone, N. Y., after which he entered Union Theological Seminary, New York City, graduating in 1882. His first ministerial service was as assistant pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, in East Orange, N. J., beginning in 1882, and ending with his call to the Church of the Covenant,
422
THE BRICK CHURCH
our city. Our interests and our sympathies are interlinked. We rejoice to-day in God's great mercy that has preserved the one Church of the Covenant with its two Sunday-schools, its two church build- ings, its two congregations, its two pastors."
The new plan worked well, but not so much, it is evident, because of the excellence of the plan, as because of the spirit in which it was used. The plan indeed, it has been truly said, "was possible only on the basis of the most cordial fraternal feeling between the church and the chapel. * But that feeling existed in a marked degree and was recognized and rejoiced in by all concerned. It is pleasant to read the testi- mony of the associate pastor, written some years later. "The mutual love that maintained and in- spired this work," he says, "was both a revelation and an inspiration to me," to which he makes the special addition: "The two pastors consulted and planned and toiled like brothers, and the fraternal grip upon each other's hearts has never been lost by either of us." + Dr. McIlvaine spoke with equal
* "A Decade of Work in the Church of the Covenant," a historical sermon by the pastor, March, 1900, p. 5.
t "A Decade of Work," pp. 5 f. One concrete instance of the good effect upon Mr. Webster's congregation is noted by him in another part of this same sermon, preached, it will be remembered, in 1900. "Recall this room," he says, "as it looked ten years ago. There are no familiar fur- nishings except the clock and the organ and one tablet on yonder wall. You then had no communion table and no carpet on the floors, except on the pulpit platform and for a little space in front of it. The pews could not be praised for comfort or beauty. Cushions were unknown. The change in ecclesiastical form from a mission chapel to a church suggested the need of a change in the churchliness of this interior. This meant earnest, self-denying work. We were most lovingly assisted, but this con- gregation raised more than half the $4,000 that was expended here in fur- nishings and repairs within the first half of this decade."
A more general statement of the success of this "church in a chapel," as
423
CHURCH OF THE COVENANT
emphasis and enthusiasm of the success of the new pastoral relation. "The result has justified the means," he said, speaking at the chapel in Novem- ber, 1891, and added, "I want to say that over at the church we are as proud of Mr. Webster as you are." Two years later, after a still further test, he again affirmed that the relation had been "a most helpful and happy one to both congregations." *
When these words were spoken a still further step in the chapel's development had been taken, the step, indeed, by which it ceased altogether to be a chapel and became a church. The story of that event, however, cannot be related in the present chapter, and meantime we must become familiar with the important developments in the life of the mother church by which the chapel's independence was largely brought about.
It may have seemed strange that in narrating the story of the Church of the Covenant so large a propor-
Mr. Webster called it, may be quoted from an article by him in the "Evan- gelist " for April 6th, 1893. "This church," he said, "has one elder and two deacons in its congregation, two pastor's assistants, a flourishing Sun- day-school, superintended by an elder of the church, a well sustained church prayer-meeting, Christian Endeavor Society, Ladies' Association, men's meeting, Choral Society, Women's Helping Hand Society, Chil- dren's Mission Band, Girls' Sewing-school, Coal Club, and Burial Society. Four of these organizations have been started within the past three years. Through these activities more missionary work is accomplished than was possible under the former conditions. In three years more than five hun- dred families have felt in some way the sympathetic throb of church life in this chapel, and about ten thousand calls have been made by its pastoral force. ... Without any revival season there have been accessions to the church at every communion. There have been received at the chapel on confession of their faith 99, and by letter 44; the loss has been, 43 dis- missed and 20 died, leaving a net gain in three years of 80 members."
* "The Church of the Covenant: a Historical Sermon," February 11th, 1894, p. 33.
424
THE BRICK CHURCH
tion of space has been given to the affairs of the chapel, but in doing so we have but fallen in with the strong feeling of the Covenant people, the feeling that of the church the chapel was by far the largest and most important single element. It was, however, by no means the whole. The life of the church had been singularly rich, and fruitful in spiritual and practical results.
Only the briefest sketch of the different depart- ments of the work is here possible. The prayer- meetings, as many who still live heartily testify, were a source of the greatest strength and inspiration, and we may quote without qualification a notice of them printed in the Covenant Year Book for 1891. "The attendance at these services testifies to the benefit derived from them. The spirit and tone of them are such as to leave but little to be desired in the way of improvement. The brief, thoughtful remarks, the earnest, simple prayers, impress all who attend them." *
Of the other most salient features in the church's activity a brief account is given us in a sermon preached by Dr. McIlvaine in February, 1894. He is looking back over the whole history, but refers more particularly to the events and labors of his own pastorate and of that of Dr. Vincent. "In addi- tion to the pew-rents, which have necessarily been high," he says to his congregation, "you have had $5,000 a year to raise for the expenses of the church and $4,000 a year for the chapel. The burden has rested upon a few, and the few have been continually
* A choir of young people, which led the singing, added much to the interest and helpfulness of these services,
JAMES H. MCILVAINE
425
CHURCH OF THE COVENANT
becoming fewer, but it has been borne without a murmur. During the thirty-two years of your exist- ence, you have contributed as a church to religious purposes nearly, if not quite, $1,000,000. Fully one- half of this has gone into missionary work; the other half to the building and support of the church. And this represents but a part, perhaps the smaller part, of your gifts. Large contributions have been made directly to the boards of the Church by individuals; many students have been educated for the ministry at private expense; two professorships in Union Seminary have been endowed; Olivet Chapel built, a day nursery purchased and equipped, and many other large gifts have been given by the members of this church. *
"The most efficient agent in the church's work has been the Ladies' Church Work Association. This society was organized November 6th, 1873, by the consolidation of the other missionary and benev- olent societies in the church. It has worked for the various boards of the Church and for Covenant Chapel through one organization. It has main-
* One other item should be added to this list. It is referred to in the same sermon from which the quotation in the text is made, as follows (pp. 25 f): "The Covenant Church had, from the first, taken an interest in the Bohemian mission, and no cause appealed more successfully to its sym- pathies. It was after an appeal from the pulpit that the invalid wife of a physician said to me, 'Why cannot those people have a church? Why cannot the ladies build it? Let us call a meeting at my parlor.' The meeting was called. Another meeting followed soon after. The plan was organized and carried out, and though the funds were not all contributed by the Church of the Covenant, its women gave most generously, and one of its trustees personally superintended the work until the day when the new home was dedicated, without a cent of debt, amid the tears of a grateful people. The Bohemian Church owes its church edifice principally to the Church of the Covenant."
426
THE BRICK CHURCH
tained for twenty years a missionary in Syria, a home missionary in the West and South, a Bible-reader, a sewing-school, and an employment society at the chapel. It has sent fifty boxes of clothing and useful articles to the missionaries in the West; it has cut out and prepared nearly 1,000 garments yearly to be made by poor women, and it has raised and ex- pended upward of $80,000 in its work. Another efficient society has been the Young People's Mis- sion Band. During the fifteen years of its existence about $4,500 has been expended by it in good work in this city and in foreign lands. The Men's So- cial Organization was formed in 1887, and has met every two months for literary and social purposes. It has been a great help to the church in bring- ing its members closer together.
"The church Sunday-school was organized a year before the church, in the chapel of the Home of the Friendless, January 20th, 1861. Mr. E. P. Griffin was its first superintendent. He was followed by B. F. Butler, L. N. Lovell, W. H. H. Moore, Wm. Seward, and Alfred E. Marling. It has never been a large school, but it has been a field of most faithful and fruitful activity in training up the children of the church for their Christian privileges and responsi- bilities. Nearly all of its members have come in due time to the Lord's table. Thirty-five have so come from the Sunday-school during my pastorate." *
It will have been evident from certain allusions in the foregoing review, that, in spite of many elements of very genuine success, the church was working against unequal odds. In the spirit of worship and
* "The Church of the Covenant: A Historical Sermon," pp. 29-32.
427
CHURCH OF THE COVENANT
service, and in the devotion of its members, many of whom had belonged to the church throughout its entire history, the Church of the Covenant was strong. But its membership was not being proportionately renewed, as the older members dropped out. With the reunion of the Old and New School Presbyterians in 1869, the original reason for the existence of a second Presbyterian Church on Murray Hill had been removed, and with this change of condition cer- tain difficulties, which had already existed, gradually became acute.
Dr. Prentiss, as early as the date of his own resig- nation in 1873, had observed with great concern the direction in which affairs were tending. In a sermon delivered at that time he said that, in reviewing the history of the church, nothing had struck him more forcibly "than the incessant change that is going on in a New York congregation.
"I do not refer now," he continued, "to the changes wrought by death, for these are peculiar to no time or place, but to those which grow out of the present conditions of society, of business, and of re- ligious life in this city. My impression is, that the changes are more than twice as great and rapid as they were when, nearly a quarter of a century ago, I came to New York. They are, probably, three or four times as great and rapid as they were fifty years ago. Half the people you meet with seem like birds sitting upon a twig, looking in every direction, and ready to fly away on the slightest impulse. In most of our churches, it is a constant coming and going; some of them, in this respect, resemble large hotels or boarding-houses; a few of those who frequent them
428
THE BRICK CHURCH
are permanent; the many never continue in one stay. In ten years a congregation almost loses its personal identity.
"Since the war, and especially within the past four or five years, this feature has become more and more marked, the corrupt state of our municipal affairs having very much accelerated emigration to the country. Our religious interests have suffered ex- ceedingly from the latter cause. A large proportion of the young men and women, who marry and go to housekeeping, leave us; for, unless they are rich, it is extremely difficult for them to remain here. Then the tide of business is rushing in upon the old centres of population and church-life, and driving out all be- fore it. Never in this country, rarely in any country, has there been such an anomalous and revolutionary state of things. In a single generation-yea, in less than a generation-expensive and beautiful sanctu- aries are erected and filled, then forsaken and torn down, or else sold, to be converted into theatres, stables, and places of trade. In this whirlpool of change, the strongest religious society is sometimes wrecked. . . .
"The Church of the Covenant, I suppose, would be regarded as composed of more than ordinarily stable elements; and yet last year we lost-mostly by removal to the country-nearly a tenth of our whole congregation and about a sixth of our whole Sunday-school." *
If this was the situation in 1873, we can feel no surprise that after twenty more years, during which the conditions had grown worse rather than better,
* "Eleven Years of the Church of the Covenant," pp. 26-28.
429
CHURCH OF THE COVENANT
the adoption of some revolutionary change could be no longer deferred. "For a number of years," said Dr. McIlvaine, "the future of this church has been a subject of increasing anxiety to many of you. The situation, beautiful as it is, has never been favorable to the development of a strong and popular church. It is out of the way, and there are forty Protestant churches within a radius of half a mile. The people in this immediate neighborhood are identified with other churches or indifferent to all churches. To the east of us a very small percentage of the population is Protestant, and this is needed by the chapels and churches there. We have had this whole region carefully canvassed and we know it well." *
The way of escape which, to persons confronted by these conditions, would first suggest itself-one that has been used by many other New York churches similarly placed-was to move the whole organiza- tion to a more favorable locality. But another and wiser expedient-and an expedient, it must be added, which called for far greater self-sacrifice in achieving its more useful end-presented itself at just this juncture.
It has already been seen that the Covenant's near neighbor, the Brick Church, was at this very time beginning to think seriously of the imperative need of an endowment for the future continuance of her work. The time would almost certainly come, though perhaps not for many years, when the Brick Church would be in exactly the same position as that in which the Church of the Covenant now found itself. Why not meet the problems of both churches, the immediate
* 'The Church of the Covenant: A Historical Sermon," p. 34.
430
THE BRICK CHURCH
need of the one, the approaching need of the other, by uniting forces, the Brick Church thus sharing her present prosperity and opportunity, and the Church of the Covenant providing, by the sale of her valua- ble property, the needed endowment for the united work ?
In the next chapter will be described the steps by which this result was accomplished. Meantime it must be repeated that the act was, on the part of the people and pastor of the Church of the Covenant, singularly high-minded and self-forgetful. One can- not read without deep feeling the words of the last sermon preached in the church on February 11th 1894: but the feeling is not only one of sympathy, it is even more a feeling of great admiration for the high motives by which these men were actuated.
"For nearly a year," said Dr. McIlvaine, "you have had before you the question of union with the Brick Church. You have carefully considered every other alternative, and with wonderful unanimity, without a dissenting voice, you have decided in favor of this union. There is no compulsion upon you. For a long time you could continue as you are, drawing, if necessary, upon your large and valuable property. If you consulted only your own inclinations you would doubtless much prefer to do so. This church is exceedingly dear to you. You have prayed and hoped and struggled and sacrificed for its wel- fare. It is connected with many of the tenderest and most sacred associations of your life. You love its very stones and walls, its familiar and homelike ways. But you have regarded the question from a higher standpoint than that of personal preference. You
431
CHURCH OF THE COVENANT
have felt that this property was the Lord's property, not yours-that it was a sacred trust committed into your hands. You have asked sincerely, conscien- tiously, how this trust could be best administered in the interests of Christ's cause. It has seemed to you that, in the reinforcement and permanent endow- ment of the Brick Church this end would be best accomplished, that amid all the manifold changes of the future, one strong Presbyterian church might be secure for the years to come in the centre of this city.
"It is the highest law of life that you are thus sub- serving. Self-interest, self-preservation, self-asser- tion, this is a natural instinct, one of the strong per- manent forces which lie at the base of life. But it is not the highest. Nothing moves into fulness of power, nothing attains the highest end of its being, but by the law of self-surrender. Of this law Christ himself is the perfect illustration and fulfilment. 'Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.'" *
* "The Church of the Covenant: A Historical Sermon," pp. 34-36.
1
CHAPTER XXIII
UNION AND AFFILIATION: 1893-1900
"And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh."-Mark 10 : 8.
"The union of the Church of the Covenant with the Brick Church has proved to be eminently wise and for the best interests of both, and the results, we believe, will be for the lasting good of the united people, and for the advancement of the cause of Christ in this city."-Minute of Session, January 3d, 1896.
E ARLY in 1893, the proposal to unite the Church of the Covenant and the Brick Church in the manner described in the last chapter, was broached, and began to be considered by the officers of both churches. The proposed action, it will readily be believed, involved a number of diffi- cult problems. To accommodate to one another the interests of two fully developed organizations, and to bring together two distinct groups of people in a union which should be hearty and happy, required very careful consideration. There were, moreover, certain technical difficulties which must be over- come before the plan would be even possible.
On May 16th, 1893, came a formal communication from the session and trustees of the Church of the Covenant, definitely proposing a union and asking that a committee of the officers of the Brick Church be appointed to confer with the Covenant representatives and to join with them in reporting a plan for adoption by their respective congregations.
432
433
UNION AND AFFILIATION
This was done, and nearly six months were occupied in this preliminary work.
In the fall, tentative plans were submitted and in general approved. The questions regarding the representation of the Covenant congregation in the official boards of the united church, the disposition of the Covenant property, and the establishment of a double pastorate, were adjusted with satisfaction to both sides. Two other elements in the problem demanded not only agreement, but certain prepara- tory actions, themselves not free from perplexity.
The first of these was the question regarding the future status of the Covenant Chapel. The chapel of the Brick Church, it will be remembered, had been raised to the dignity of ecclesiastical independence; and it was natural to propose that the Covenant Chapel should now be put on the same footing. On the West Side the experiment had been in the main successful, though certain disadvantages and positive perils had made their appearance in the years that had passed since the organization of the church. With certain precautions, therefore, designed to meet the difficulties which experience had pointed out, it was determined to proceed along these same lines in regard to the chapel on the East Side.
In October, when the question was definitely put to Mr. Webster, the chapel pastor, whether, in his judgment, it was possible to reorganize his congre- gation as a separate and independent church, he replied, "Yes, if we can have officers that will com- mand the respect and support of the congregation they serve." * Four members of the Church of the
* "A Decade of Work," p. 7.
1
434
THE BRICK CHURCH
Covenant were found who were ready to transfer their membership and allegiance to the new church, and to assume a portion of its responsibilities. * At the same time it was made sure that the cordial sup- port formerly given by the members of the old Church of the Covenant, both in money and in personal service, would be continued. These fundamental points having been satisfactorily settled, the new church was organized on November 30th, 1893, and was called "The Church of the Covenant," in order that that dear and familiar name, now to be laid aside by the parent organization, might be continued in the child. Mr. Webster was installed as pastor on January 2d, 1894.
The second perplexing element in the union problem concerned the future standing of the Brick Church. It was agreed by both sides that the name and historic continuity of that church ought to be preserved inviolate, but it was found that under the existing law, this could not be assured in such a union as was desired. The necessity, therefore, of taking preliminary steps to remove this difficulty was clearly perceived, and allowance made for it, when, on Jan- uary 2d, 1894, the officers of the two churches en- tered into the following agreement:
"Whereas, at meetings of the congregations of the said ; two churches held on December 19th, 1893, resolutions were passed, looking to a union of the two churches in such way as will preserve the name, ecclesiastical organization, and historic continuity of
* One of them became the treasurer, while two accepted the office of elder and the fourth the office of deacon.
t The preamble, to which reference is here made, has been omitted.
GEORGE S. WEBSTER
435
UNION AND AFFILIATION
the Brick Church, such resolutions providing that the boards of trustees of the churches be directed and authorized to take such legal steps as might be nec- essary for the consolidation of the properties of the two churches;
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.