USA > New York > Tompkins County > Ithaca > History of the First Presbyterian church of Ithaca, New York, during one hundred years : the anniversary exercises, January twenty-first to twenty-fourth, 1904 > Part 14
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SENIOR DEPARTMENT.
[No appointment of superintendent of senior department having been made for the year 1903-4, the department is in charge of the general superintendents.]
TEACHERS.
Mrs. H. L. (Sarah Esty) Wilgus, (17). appointed teacher, about 1845
Mr. George R. Williams, (18) appointed teacher, 1866
Mrs. G. R. (Ellen Boardman) Williams (19),
I866
Mr. Arthur B. Brooks, (20)
I867
Miss Ada M. Stoddard, (21) appointed treasurer, 1868
Mr. T. G. Miller, (23) _appointed teacher, 1873
Miss Charlotte E. Williams, (24)
66
1879
Mrs. M. (Elizabeth Treman) VanCleef, (25)
I88I
Mrs. D. F. (Louise Beers) Finch, _appointed supt. primary dept., 1882
Miss Ella S. Williams, (26) _appointed teacher, 1884 1885
Mrs. L. C. (Georgia Beach) Perry, (27)
Mr. Charles E. Treman, (28) appointed assistant librarian, 1887 Mr. John S. Reid, (4) appointed teacher, 1892
1897
Mr. John G. Brooks, (29)
I90I
Mr. George C. Williams, (30)
Mr. William J. Reed, (31)
1902
Mrs. J. R. Robinson, (32)
1902
Mrs. D. (Helen Angell) Roe, (33)
1903
Miss Maude E. Wheeler, (34)
66
1903
Mrs. J. R. Bergen, (35).
Mr. L. H. Brown, (36)
66
1904
Mrs. VanCleef and Mrs. Finch substitute for each other, having in charge the same class. Mr. J. G. Brooks resigned about the same time that Mr. Brown was appointed, in January, 1904.
SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS.
Miss Mary E. Humphrey, (22) _appointed teacher, 1869
Miss Louise H. Williams, (37) appointed substitute teacher, 1903
Mrs. W. D. Graves, (38)
1904
Miss Minnie C. Atwater,
appointed teacher, 1877
Mrs. B. G. Smith, (39) appointed supt, intermediate dept., 1901
INTERMEDIATE DEPARTMENT.
Superintendent, Mr. Duncan Campbell Lee, (41), appointed teacher, 1893.
Assistant Superintendent, Mr. Elmer A. Denton, (42), appointed teacher, 1895.
In charge of Music, Mrs. D. C. (Elizabeth Williams) Lee, (43), appointed teacher, 1884
TEACHERS
Miss Hattie C. Torrey, (44)
appointed teacher, 1888
Mrs. E. A. (Mary Moore) Denton, (45)
I891
Miss Sarah E. Sheffer, (40)
66
1894
Miss Lou Terry, (47)
1897
Mrs. F. J. Alberger, (48)
1898
Mr. Clinton L. Babcock, (49)
1899
Miss Clara B. Seaman, (50)
1899
Miss Lizzie Bessac, (51)
66
1899
Miss Ruth Miller, (52)
66
1900
Miss Mary Stowell, (resigned), (53)
1900
Mrs. W. J. Reed, (54)
1902
I
1892
Mrs. W. Hazlitt Smith, (46)
1903
2
3
9
"1
19
15
17
18
19 KL
24
21
22
2.3
32
26
17
28
29
Ju
33
34
35
36
37
39 7 40
-
-
41
42
43
84
46
47
48
49
51
53 1
56
57
59
62
64
1.65
66
72
71
a
74
73
78
7
76
77
79
Kol
SUNDAY SCHOOL OFFICERS AND TEACHERS, 1904
60
2 -45
3/
12
III
HISTORY OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
PRIMARY DEPARTMENT.
Superintendent, Mrs. R. B. Williams, (57)
appointed teacher, 1884
Assistant Superintendent, Mrs. H. E. (Lois Hanford) Dann, (58) 1884
Secretary, Mrs. W. H. (Emma Halsey) Miller, (59)
.€ 1870
Treasurer, Miss Mary C. Wood, (63)
1884
Pianist, Mrs. H. C. Elmer, (60). -appointed pianist, 1901
Precentor, Mrs. Henry L. Hinckley, (67) appointed teacher, 1893
Librarian, Mr. Roger B. Williams, (61)
1880
CHAIRMEN OF COMMITTEES.
On Charites, Mrs. George S. Rankin, (65). On Féte Days, Miss Mary C. Wood, (63).
TEACHERS.
Miss Carrie S. Cowles, (62)
appointed teacher, 1881
Miss Mary C. Wood, (63)
1884
Miss Abigail Brooks, (64)
66
1889
Mrs. J. S. Reid, (66)
1893
Mrs. H. L. Hinckley, (67)
1893
Miss Louise S. Johnson, (68)
¥
1897
Mrs. J. (Nellie Parrott) Dick, (69)
1897
Mrs. J. F. (Ruth Williams) Fitschen, jr., (70).
1897
Mrs. C. E. Stevens, (71)
1898
Mrs. G. S. Tarbell, (72)
1899
Miss Mabel Almy, (73)
¥
1901
Miss Helen E. Finch, (74)
1901
Mrs. M. T. Banks, (75).
1903
Miss Bertha Wells, (76)
1904
KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS.
Miss Mary E. Rankin, (55)
appointed teacher, 1898
Miss Susie M. Hoyt, (56)
1903
SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS.
Miss Susan Ackley, (77), appointed teacher, 1881
Mrs. W. F. Major appointed supt. primary dept., 1891
Mrs. J. T. (Jane E. Williams) Newman, (78) appointed teacher, 1884
Mrs. R. H. Treman, (79)
1887
Miss Elizabeth S. Ingersoll, (80). „appointed substitute teacher, 1903.
HOME DEPARTMENT. Superintendent, Mr. John S. Reid, (4).
VISITORS.
Miss Carrie S. Cowles,
Miss F. Rankin,
Miss Anne Northrup,
Miss L. Platts,
Miss Estelle V. Terry,
Miss Ida Van Auken,
Mrs. P. J. Herron,
Miss A. Masters,
Mrs. E. P. Thompson,
Mrs. F. Alberger,
Miss Laura Atwood,
Mrs. Jessie Genung,
Mrs. E. A. Colegrove,
Mrs. A. Brown,
Mrs. Hattie Bouton,
Mrs. C. H. Williams.
EAST LAWN SCHOOL.
Superintendent, (since 1899), Mr. John S. Reid. Teacher, (since 1900), Miss Harriet E. Sumner.
1886
Mrs. G. S. (Sarah Atwater) Rankin, (65)
The Greetings
F RIDAY evening the Church received the greetings of its friends. Rev. Robert T. Jones, D.D., of the Park Baptist Church, voiced the congratulations of our sister Churches of Ithaca, and spoke on "The Co-operative Work of the Churchies for the City's Welfare"; Rev. John S. Niles expressed the cordial regard of the First Presbyterian Church of Ulysses (Trumansburg), and spoke on "The Young People's Part in the Work of the Church "; Rev. George Black Stewart, D.D., President of Auburn Theological Seminary, brought the greetings of that institution and of the Presbytery, and spoke on " The Education and Qualification of Trained Leaders for the Church's Work." Abstracts of these addresses follow.
Co-operative Work of the Churches for the City's Welfare
Dear Mr. Fitschen and Members of the First Presbyterian Church of Ithaca :
Your sister Churches in the city desire throughi me to extend to you their greetings at this hour upon the rare experience given you of completing one hundred years of work and service as a Christian Church. It is the privilege of but few religious organizations to claim such a dignity. Besides associating you with the greater portion of our country's history, it gives you a long line of men and women of God as your special spiritual ances- try, and the memory of their consecrated work for Ithaca and for the world, as a heritage. To have had a part in establishing the moral life of a com- munity and of standing for its enlargement and protection through long decades of years, issuing in results as happy and assured as face us now in our beloved city, is a privilege of which any religious body may be proud. And especially when it faces the world at the expiration of that time, as you do to-day, strong in numbers, noble in equipment, clean and true in character, and Christly in purpose.
Your sister Churches, though younger in their origin, know well what all this means. What ideals you had to maintain, what efforts put forth, what faith you had to have in dark hours, what delicate decisions you had to make in moments of exigency, what sharp testings you confronted, what temptation you met to lower high standards, what trying of faith and patience you endured, what defeats you suffered and what victories achieved, we know it all, and so bring you in this hour of your joy and honor, our
II3
CO-OPERATIVE WORK OF THE CHURCHES
fraternal greetings, praying tliat God will permit you to enter upon the new century of your life as a people, with His truest blessing resting upon your labors, His own deepest joy in your hearts, and His divine guidance so with you, that your future may surpass in every feature of Christian service your splendid past. With these words of greeting from your sister communions in Itliaca, permit me to ask your thought for a few minutes to the question as to how we may unite our labors as Churches, in larger and more effective ways for our city's welfare. And it is only just to say, at the outset, that the question is one of your own choosing, indicating that, while glad of your noble past and its great memories, you most of all desire to meet the present and the future with the spirit and expectations of a true Church. In this we are all one with you, and trust that our thought of it together may suggest something, at least, that will more livingly justify our title to be Churches of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
And in the first place I want to say, that I think the question of co-opera- tion between the Churches for the city's welfare has never been properly realized by us, or its great possibilities and obligations understood. Because we have each found so much to do in our own particular fields, and with our own special constituencies, we have gotten into the habit of laboring for those alone. And indeed that has actually been the way we have done. We have labored consumingly in our own particular fields, and then as things of general interest have come up, have come together for the time to consider them. But it has been as side issues, as matters to which we have not given the time and thought bestowed upon our own work. Now my thought is that while we must and should give our largest attention to our particular forms of labor, we ought to be united in some organized, definite way to deal with these more general questions of our city's life. This, then, understood, let us ask in what specific directions such greater care and thought may be exercised.
There is first the question of the religious uplifting of our city; the reaching of the many families and individuals who are never touched by our Churchies. How much could be accomplished in this direction, if our united thought and prayer and effort were put upon it! United services for a time, for instance, under wise and experienced leadership, has often been the means of awakening the religious life of a whole city, and achieving results which years of work by individual churches could never have accom- plished. Then, too, religious canvasses undertaken at times by the united Churches of the community are another way of bringing to the knowledge of Christian workers the large class of people, nominally Christian and wholly unchristian, who are living in neglect of all religious opportunities. Then, too, there are always neglected portions of our towns and cities, like, for
114
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
instance, the northwest section of our own city, where it is a fair question whether some form of religious effort should not be instituted. Then, too, there are specific populations in our midst, needing the best thought and care we can give them. The great student body, for instance, how important it is that we do our best for them from the standpoint of religious men and women ! What problems and responsibilities their presence presents, and how manifestly unprepared we are, as separate religious bodies to deal withi them ! And there is our colored population, helpless children of a past bond- age, needing much at our hands. And then there are special importations of people, like the Italians who were among us last year, whose religious needs should have been our concern. Then, too, in the inatter of the com- mon moral welfare, such as the prevention of crime, the problemis of temper- ance and of the poor, the question of higher political ideals, and much else that concerns the moral condition of our community. How much more could be done in all these matters, if the combined wisdomn and consecration of our Churches, in some definite, recognized way, could be brought to bear upon them.
And now may I make the suggestion which has come to me as the out- come of these considerations? Would it not to some degree help the solu- tion of this question if there existed a large, general committee, composed of the Pastor and two or three interested people from each of our Churches, appointed annually, whose work would be to meet at stated intervals and consider all those questions which pertain to our common religious obliga- tions? The question, for instance, of the saloon, of increasing religious interest and sensibility in our community at large, of meeting special exigencies like those brought upon us by the flood a few years ago, or the epidemic last spring. How much better the work of sympathy and helpful- ness and social purification could be accomplished in these things, if the Christian intelligence of our whole city were united upon them! But this is offered simply as a suggestion to bring our discussion to some form of practical outcome, and can readily be set aside for any other promising better results.
We close, therefore, expressing the hope that this great and strong Church, having on its roll many of the ablest and most consecrated men and women in our community, and looking back over a hundred years of noble service for Christ, will lead its sister Churches in Ithaca in working out to a prac- tical conclusion this matter of a more real and effective co-operation of our Churches, which it has itself suggested, and bring results to our city which will make its whole life social, business, domestic and religious, nobler and better than our present methods have made it possible to achieve.
ROBERT T. JONES.
The young People's Hart in Church
Work
T HE First Church of Ulysses brings her most cordial greetings and hearty congratulations to the Second Church of Ulysses.
There is not in our hearts the remotest suspicion of envy because you have outstripped us in numbers and influence. How could there be in view of the fact of our close relationship !
We rejoice with you in the hundred years of prosperity and the tokens of God's blessing upon your present labors, and are thankful that in the begin- ning we had some small share in helping to establish your Church. Your first Pastor, Dominie Mandeville, was ours also, and as the historian says that Trumansburg was then the more important place, it is fair to presume that the larger part of his support came from the larger Church. At any rate there was one of the Elders in the First Church, a Mr. Atwater, who paid from his own pocket one hundred dollars toward the meager stipend of the minister.
In those days, however, I have no idea that the two Churches were in any sense rivals or that one regarded the other as in any sense inferior. Both were struggling to advance the cause of Christ and joined hands and purses to aid each other in doing the most good.
So to-night it matters nothing whether one is mother and the other daughter or whether we are but sisters. From the height of our one hun- dred and one years we do not look down upon your meager century ; but come to clasp hands and show you our hearts and tell you how thankful we are for all the good way in which the Lord has led you and for all the suc- cess and honor with which He has crowned your splendid efforts.
The special subject assigned me is " The Young People's Part in Church Work." If this Church is to be in the coming century what it has been in the past, the young people must be trained to do its work. The various young people's organizations should be used as training schools for Christian workers.
In the Sunday School such changes should be made that the pupils who graduate from it shall know something more than the stories of the Bible and the moral to be drawn from them. They should be trained to use the Bible as the "sword of the Spirit."
JI6
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
The Boy's Brigade is a training school in manliness and ought to fit the inen of the next generation to take a inore active part in the more spiritual phases of Church work.
In the Christian Endeavor Society practice is given in the various forms of Christian effort under the direction of the Pastor. He sends them to visit the sick, to look after the careless, to encourage the beginner. And then in their prayer-meetings they learn how to express for the edification of others the thoughts of God in both prayer and remark. They are learn- ing the trade. Just as the apprentice at a trade is kept at work on the same bench with his master, to watch him, to get ideas from him, to help him as opportunity offers, so the young Church-member should be present at the regular services of the Church, become familiar with its activities, and be glad whenever a chance comes of taking a hand in them. If that spirit is fostered, if the young people are taught to love the Church and to be eager to have a share in its work as soon as they make themselves capable of doing it, the future of the Church is safe.
The young people's part is to fit themselves for work and begin to do it " For Christ and the Church."
JOHN S. NILES .*
*Mr. Niles' grandmother, Mrs. Mahlah Niles, and his father, Rev. William A. Niles, D.D., were both members of this Church, which rejoices therefore to account him a grandson and great-grandson.
The Eduration and Qualifiration of Trained Graders for the Church's Work
Mr. Moderator and Friends of the First Church of Ithaca :
I T IS my pleasure and honor to bring to you on this occasion the saluta- tions of the Faculty of your Seminary at Auburn, and in its name to con- gratulate you upon the splendid history of these hundred years, the pros- perity and influence of your present life, and the promise of your grow- ing strength and widening interests for the future. The ties that bind us together as a Church and a Seminary are many and precious. You, sir, have already fittingly alluded to them, and I therefore will only add that we recog- nize our special obligation to this Church and hold you in most affectionate regard because of your unceasing interest in our work and the generous sup- port you have always been forward to give. The personal friendship exist- ing between the several members of the Faculty and the Pastors and mem- bers of the Church are by us most highly prized. For myself I may be per- mitted to say that from the day you called Mr. Stryker to be your Pastor, now a quarter of a century ago, I have not ceased to have the keenest interest in your welfare and to count among my dear friends an increasing number of your people.
While I hold no commission from the Presbytery, as I do from the Faculty, to present to you its felicitations at this time I yet feel confident that I am well within the bounds of truth when I say that Presbytery holds this Church in high esteem because of its loyalty to all Presbyterial interests and activities and because of its abundant labors in the Lord. You are known in all the Churches for your work of faith and patience of hope and labor of love, and your praise is everywhere spoken. I well recall the meeting of the old Synod of Geneva when the Presbytery of Cayuga woed and won you from the Pres- bytery of Geneva, a result the Presbytery has always rejoiced in.
For the Seminary, for the Presbytery, I wish you during the coming centuries increasing favor with the Lord and increasing power among men. As in the past so in the future, may you be blessed and be a blessing, only more abundantly.
8
I18
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
I am to speak to you upon the Qualifications and Education of Trained Leaders for the Church's Work.
The Church has many functions. There is the function of worship. It is her prerogative to call men to the worship of Almighty God and to inspire them to worship Him in a fitting manner. There is the function of instruc- tion, in which she leads men into the paths of the great truths that bear upon character and conduct and destiny. There is the function of social service, in the performance of which she inculcates and exemplifies the higli social duties man owes to fellowman. There is the function of evangeliza- tion, by which she wins men to the discipleship of Jesus Christ and recon- ciles them to God. These and other functions mark the Church as a great and influential institution in human society. This institution needs leader- ship of the highest and most skillful character, leadership that is fully quali- fied and thoroughly equipped to bring the Church to her truest life and largest efficiency.
I. Qualifications.
I. The first and fundamental qualification is that of character. The minister must be a man, every whit a man, with a conscience void of offence toward God and toward man. He must be above reproach and must deserve this high repute. Without a pure heart and clean hands he should refrain from this ministry. He needs to commend himself to every man's con- science as a genuine man and a true disciple of Jesus Christ.
2. The second qualification that I would name is ability to bring things to pass. He must not only be good but good for something. If a man is to lead forces he must be a force himself, an effective force. It is but simple, though sometimes severe, justice the world metes out to failures. The wor- ship it offers to success may be excessive but it is essentially proper. It rightly demands success, though it may err in its notion of what constitutes success, in the ministry. There is no place in this office for men who can- not succeed. Those who enter it must be able to accomplish results. Effectiveness is properly demanded of every one of them, or else, their resignation, in the language of the colored congregation "is handed in to them."
3. Capacity for leadership. This includes such fine qualities as tact, executive ability, common sense, ability to manage men and to master situations. The odor of sanctity pervades these reputed secular virtues, and no minister can afford to despise them. No minister is qualified to enter this responsible leadership unless he have them in fair degree.
4. Every minister ought to have a sense of humor. I would not say it is
INTERIOR OF PRESENT EDIFICE, FROM WEST END
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119
EDUCATION OF TRAINED LEADERS
a sine qua non but I would say that without it he suffers a serious handicap in his race for the most resultful ministry. The sense of humor is in the last analysis the sense of proportion, and it is difficult to see how a man can come to his own in this calling so full of delicate adjustments unless he is able to put truths of doctrine and elements of character and facts of con- duct and phases of life in their proper relations and assign to them their true values. If he be thus able, he will not mourn where he ought to laugh, nor will he miss the point of a joke in his search for the point of a truth.
5. Other qualifications might be mentioned, but I will add only this one, scholarship and the mental training which it implies. Every minister may not be a scholar, indeed may be more effective because he is not, but he must have scholarship. He must have studied, and studied hard and con- tinuously, and he must have gathered the results of study in a full and ac- curate knowledge of the truth that he teaches, in a growing facility of mind for the acquisition of truth. He may never cease to be a student, else he ceases to grow and his ministerial power enters upon its decline. He must bring forth new as well as old things out of the treasure-house of truth. However large his past acquisitions may be or however free his facility of utterance, he may not hope for growing power if lie be not a diligent and painstaking student.
II. Education of Trained Leaders.
The education of ministers for their office may be spoken of as general and specific. The general education would include all that training which precedes and is external to the training in the Theological Seminary, by which the minister is qualified to be regarded as an educated man. Regard- ing this it is sufficient here to say that it ought to be extensive, thorough and continued through a period of years. It is a wise provision that we have at the Seminary by which we require all applicants for admission to offer a College diploma, if they be under twenty five years of age, and if over that, we only accept, in lieu of a College diploma, examinations in sub- jects, which cannot be successfully taken without an equivalent of two years of special study in prescribed subjects. It is simple folly for a man to think he can pursue to advantage the present difficult and highly specialized theo- logical curriculum without a substantial foundation laid in general culture.
With reference to the specific or professional studies of the theological student, I desire at this time to make three remarks.
I. These young men are to be prepared for the practice of a profession. Of course, you will not understand me to favor professionalism or anything
I20
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
else for which that term, so offensive to every right-thinking man, stands in connection with the ministry of the Gospel. The minister may not descend to a professional attitude toward his work or carry about with him the air of professionalism.
Nevertheless, he is a practitioner in a profession and his preparation should fit him for the performance of its duties. This is the object of all the best professional schools. They aim to send forth their graduates fully equipped to enter upon the practice of their chosen profession. This must be the aim of the Theological Seminary if it is to be in the front rank of these schools. It may not seek to inform its students in the lore of their pro- fession, except so far as it may prepare them more thoroughly for its practice. The minister may be learned, but he must be a skillful practioner. He ought to be scholarly rather than a scholar, and studious rather than a student. The Seminary must give him this kind of training.
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