USA > New York > Erie County > Buffalo > Manual, catalogue and history of the Lafayette St. Presbyterian Church of Buffalo, N.Y. > Part 28
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In his anxiety to bring about a higher standard of holy living in this Church, your Pastor, a few years ago, with the concurrence of the session, introduced into the Church covenant specific pledges against certain popular customs. The wisdom of this attempt to tie up the liberty of Christians in respect to things in themselves indifferent, was often a matter of discussion between him and his brethren. He defended his course with his usual energy and determination ; and yet with a dis- tinct perception of the difficulties attending it. After a few years of trial it was, I think, justly dropped. The objections to the imposition of any such additional terms of communion, are that if we begin besides the requirement of credible evidence of piety and the promise of godly living, to stipulate for the doing or the avoiding of this or that particular thing as a condition of Church fellowship, we enter on a course to which there is no limit to be fixed except by the varying dis-
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cretion of different Churches. If we may demand a pledge not to do one thing, the next Church may equally demand a pledge not to do another thing. Each session will have a different standard of piety, and the communion of the Churches will be wholly broken up. But a broader and more fundamental objection to the method, is this : That whatever it may seriously aim at in the way of elevating the standard of holy living, its actual tendency must be the other way. It is introducing a lower standard of piety as subsidiary to a higher. It is exemplifying what we mean by holy living by the requiring of Christians to abstain from certain outward acts which, it is assumed, are inconsistent with common morality. First in demand in order to commence in the Church that a man shall give satisfactory evidence that he loves the Lord Jesus Christ. Then we "engage him to sanctify the Lord's day, to assemble with the people of God on the Sabbath, and at the stated and occasional meetings of the Church during the week, and to discharge all their duties by which God may be glorified, and the religion of the Bible be extended and established among men." We then proceed, " and you furthermore solemnly promise that so long as you shall remain a member of this Church, you will not lie nor cheat, drink to intoxication nor rob on the highway." The specifications, you observe, fall immeasurably below the plan of the general rule, and the inevitable result must be after a whole, taking the specifications as examples, illustrating the meaning and extent of the general law, the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but right- eousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. The only proper term of com- munion is credible, enduring piety, and the only proper covenant to be required is in general a pledge of holy living, leaving the Church to divide in each particular instance, whether this or that act is incompatible with hopeful piety, or an infringe- ment of the promise of a Christian life.
I conclude that it was some such considerations as these that led the Pastor and other officers of the Church to drop from the covenant the specific pledges referred to, and I have regarded it as a marked instance of the wisdom and moderation which characterized him, notwithstanding all his determination in carrying out his own views, that after a fair trial, he should have concurred with the session in returning to the covenant as it previously stood, and I ought to add a word here in regard to the unbroken and beautiful harmony which for so many years sub- sisted between the Pastor and the officers and members of this Church. I have yet to learn that the first symptom of alienation or loss of confidence ever appeared between them. The session is well known to have been, and to be composed of gentlemen of marked intelligence and culture, of decided convictions and sufficient power of expressing them. I take it for granted that differences of opinion some- times prevailed in their consultations, and were sustained with earnestness on one side and the other ; but I never heard that they led to unkindness of feeling, or to the least break of confidence between them. A pastorate of thirty-two years with not only unabated but evergrowing devotion between Pastor and people, is equally honorable to both. That the congregation has been somewhat formed and shaped by the Pastor, as the children of the Sunday School have grown up under his eye and hand into the noble band of young men and women who have surrounded him, and then into the substantial heads of families composing the congregation, is true. Many of you who are in middle life, or past, can remember no other Pastor but him. He never knew any other flock than this. The early Church usage compared
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the relations between Pastor and people to a marriage, and regarded the ties as sound and indissoluble. A Bishop should be the husband of one wife, and but one. This has been a case of the purest ecclesiastical monogamy ; one in which the affections never wandered; where no strife disturbed the domestic tranquility ; where the numerous household all dwell in loving harmony ; where death only sun- dered the relation. The perfect and supreme flower of this beautifully-blended life was put forth, when broken by disease, with but faint hopes of ever being able again to enter the pulpit, he offered you his resignation, and you promptly and unequivocally refused to accept it. Neither of you had then any idea that his life was so soon to terminate. It might, for aught you knew, be long protracted, in feebleness and suffering. But long or short, you were resolved he should die your Pastor. It would have been no reproach to you if you liad consented to his request. I have known congregations, who in similar circumstances have done so, even when it threw their pastor off to indigence ; but it was a splendid honor to yourselves and to him, that you refused, and the thought of it is now, and ever will be among your happiest and proudest recollections.
I have but one more parallel to make between the great preacher of Antioch and your Pastor, and that relates to a single incident at the very close of their lives. In administering the communion last Sunday to his people for the first time since his death, I observed that he himself among his very last acts seemed to be partaking-I cannot pretend to say whether consciously or not-of the Lord's supper. He called in a strong and earnest voice for nourishment, and when it was brought him, he partook simply of bread and of wine. It may be a mere fancy (as I then observed), but I cannot help thinking that there was in his mind a thought of the dying Christ, that in the thought he desired to eat of that passover with you before he suffered, and that the act was of the nature of a sacramental communion with his people and his Saviour. I paralelled this with the dying act of the great German Theologian Schleiermacher, who, with his family around him, waiting for his parting breath, suddenly rallied, and raised himself in his bed, called for the sacrament, and pronouncing in strong tones the words of contrition and of confes- sion, partook of the bread and of the cup himself, handed them to friends, and then fell back and expired. But the same thing occurred in the dying experience of Chrysostom. On the 14th September of the year 407, he was journeying in exile and in suffering through that part of Armenia which is now trampled down by contending Turk and Russian, when the hand of death arrested him. Feeling his end draw near, he called for the sacramental emblems. He took the bread and the chalice in his hands, and thinking, perhaps, without reviewal of his career of vicis- situde, of his triumphs and his reverses, of his errors and his sufferings, above all of his sins and his atoning triumphing Saviour, he cried aloud, " Glory be to God for all; amen !" and when he had said this he fell asleep. It only remains to me to attempt a brief character of your lost Pastor, our lost friend and brother, and it is the most difficult part of the whole. I cannot trust my own feelings when I come to speak of him personally. I by no means claim that he had any monopoly of the highest gifts for usefulness in the ministry. There are among his brethren men of broader culture than he, harder students, better scholars. The activity and independent vigor of his mind made him less dependent on books than others. He had no great fondness for historical, or critical, or miscellaneous reading ; but
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books describing or making a part of the history of religious thought-theology, philosophy-these he dwelt on and mastered, and made his own. He was not an assenter in anything, but a bold questioner, who challenged his author at every point, and only used him to start inquiries, in which he arrived at very different or even opposite conclusions. I have referred already to his love of argument. It was a passion with him, as his brethren in the ministry particularly know. He would argue as Benvolis would quarrel, about anything. If it were the interpretation of a passage in Romans, or a distinction in metaphysical theology, or a question of political economy or national policy, all the better ; but for lack of these, a verse of Tennyson, the pronunciation of a word, or any trivial matter of everyday life, would do. His interest lay not in the game but in the pursuit, and whatever he argued he argued with all his might. This belonged to the generally positive and determined character of his mind. He was of the most unflinching and dauntless courage. He held to his opinions very strongly. He was capable of strong passion- of strong indignation-as every great and noble nature must be. But he had no petty spites, no jealousies, no cherished resentments. A more perfectly sweet and genial nature dwell in no human bosom. He was disinterested and generous in everything ; generous in his feelings ; generous of his praise ; generous of his money. The idea of his doing a small or mean thing was inconceivable. What he was in his family I cannot venture to speak of. What he was as a friend you all know-cordial, sym- pathetic, forgetful of self. He fully exemplified the Apostolic precept, " In honor pre- ferring one another." With all the praises that had been lavished upon him he was not in the least degree spoiled. He quietly took the place that belonged to him, or was assigned him, without a particle of small vanity, conceit, or apparent self-con- sciousness. In society his presence was a charm. All women loved him, and all men. In any company where his tall form loomed he was the center of the most ani- mated talk, the warmest greetings, the heartiest laughter. He often told a story admirably ; and never in his life, I believe, told one that he would not have been willing to tell before his mother or his sisters.
His life-long friend, Dr. Lord, who has preceded him by so short an interval to heaven, on welcoming him back to this place from his foreign tour, expressed the conviction that however it might be with others, he, at least, had not been hurt by going to Europe. He had not been in the slightest degree hurt. He brought back with him no affectations, no delusions, no surface pedantry of criticism, no unevangel- ical liberality ; but it is a legitimate and proper result of mingling with other peo- ples, observing their manners, joining in their worship, to enlarge our sympathies with mankind, and broaden somewhat our charity. Dr. Heacock returned from abroad, not a whit less orthodox, devout, spiritual ; but perhaps a little more cath- olic and more appreciative of the good there may be in other forms of worship, than he had been before.
His observation of the wretched brutality of the Turkish administration-the stories he heard on the spot of almost incredible oppression-shaped his general hatred of all cruelty into an intense disgust against the barbarism of the Ottoman government. It was no narrow ecclesiastical sympathy with the corrupt and per- secuting Russo-Greek Church, but simply a connection of the intolerable wrong in this age of the world of such a system as that of Turkey in Europe that enlisted
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his sympathies on the side of the czar. " I fairly ached," he said in a public ad- dress, " to see the claws of the Russian bear in the back of that turkey."
I am well assured that to a more competent orator you would willingly listen much longer on this theme. But I have detained you quite as long as I at least can venture to do. One last word remains to be said. It relates to your friend and Pastor's Christian character. This was the crowning beauty and glory of the man. That he was a true Christian, I am sure no human being can doubt. In preaching he spoke not only of what he had heard, but of what he had seen, had felt, and his hands had handled of the word of life. In prayer how near he drew to God ! what humility, what tenderness, what an entire absence of all attempt to turn fine phrases ! How prominent Christ was in all his ministrations ! He preached and talked and lived Christ, and yet he was as free from all cant, all sanctimoniousness, all Phariseeism, as any man I ever knew in my life. He made religion cheerful, beautiful, attractive. An influence to shed a sunshine over one's days, and to brighten their close with a glory that shaded off imperceptibly into the radiance of heaven.
He has not taken all that is strong or all that is beautiful with him to the grave. There are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. There still remains eloquent preachers, exemplary pastors, his peers in many things, his superior, perhaps, in some ; but these, his brethren, who knew him best, will join with me in saying yes, and in their generous love will go beyond me in saying that take him for all and all they never knew his like ; a more robust and vigorous mind, a stronger charac- ter, a sweeter temper, a heart more full of generosity and affection ; a more resist- less eloquence, a happier and more successful life, a more triumphant and glorious end. He has been taken away in the midst of his days; but his life may be said to have been rounded and complete. He was kindly spared protracted suffering and helplessness. He has died at the zenith of his fame, and if he has left a void here which it is impossible to fill, he has left a memory which is still and long will be a living power, and he has added a glorious member to the ranks of the first-born who are written in heaven.
The closing prayer was made by Rev. Mr. Daly ; the hymn, " There is a Land of Pure Delight," was sung, and the benediction was pronounced by Rev. Dr. Wisner.
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HISTORICAL.
Continued from pages 199 and 200 and brought down to the seventh of October, when Rev. Mr. Parsons entered upon his permanent pastorate.
Prof. Hopkins occupied the pulpit morning and evening of May 13th, and Rev. M. W. Stryker, of Auburn, N. Y., May 20th.
On Wednesday evening, May 23d, at the close of the prayer meeting, Elder John Otto moved that a committee of four be appointed to complete our Church history, to embody also the funeral and memorial exercises of our deceased Pastor, naming W. M. Knight, George L. Squier, Henry H. Hale and Charles G. Brundige.
Prof. Hopkins preached morning and evening of Sunday, May 27th.
Lecture, preparatory to Communion, was given on Wednesday evening, May 30th, by Rev. D. R. Frazer of the First Church.
The regular Communion services were observed on Sunday, June 3d, Prof. Hop- kins officiating. Preaching in the evening by Rev. Mr. Robinson, of Rochester, N. Y.
The Church Memorial Services, in honor of our late Pastor, were held on Sunday, June 10th, being the thirty-second anniversary of his pastorate. (See page 226.)
Mr. Edward Bristol was ordained as an Evangelist by the Presbytery of Buffalo on the evening of June 14th. Bible readings were given by Rev. Henry M. Parsons, of Boston, Mass., in the chapel of Lafayette Street Church in the afternoon of June 16th, who also preached morning and evening on Sunday, June 17th
Rev. Edward Bristol occupied the pulpit Sunday, June 24th ; Rev. J. Clement French, D. D., of Brooklyn, July Ist ; Prof. Hopkins July 8th and 15th, and Rev. Albert H. Plumb of Boston, July 22d.
Rev. Henry M. Parsons filled the pulpit very acceptably on three successive Sabbaths, viz., July 29th ; August 5th (Communion) and August 12th, giving also the preparatory lecture Wednesday evening, August Ist.
The pulpit was occupied on the 19th and 26th of August by Rev. Stephen M. Hopkins, of Columbus, Ohio, and by Rev. Dr. Chester, September 2d.
Monday evening, September 3d, pursuant to a call by the Session, a meeting of the Church and congregation was held in the chapel, for the purpose of electing a pastor to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Rev. G. W. Heacock.
Rev. Albert T. Chester acted as moderator and John Gowans as secretary. Meeting opened with prayer by the moderator.
The first question being, " Are we ready to elect a pastor ?" was answered in the affirmative by a standing vote of 117 to 46. John Gowans and W. W. Brown acted as tellers.
Rev. Henry M. Parsons, of Boston, Mass., was nominated by Elder George L. Squier, and Rev. Melancthon Wolsey Stryker, of Auburn, N. Y., by Elder John Otto. After full and free discussion, a ballot was taken, when 187 votes were cast, of which Rev. Mr. Parsons received 149, Rev. Mr. Stryker 33, and 5 scattering. On motion of Elder John Otto, the election of Rev. Mr. Parsons was made unanimous.
Question by the Moderator-How will you have the call subscribed ?
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On motion of Oren G. Nichols-By the Elders, Trustees and the Supply Commit- tee, on behalf of the Church and congregation.
A salary of four thousand dollars was then voted.
Mr. Henry Childs moved that a vote of thanks be tendered the Moderator for the very able and impartial manner in which he had conducted the meeting. Carried unanimously.
The Moderator congratulated the society on the very happy conclusion at which they had arrived, and said that the whole temper of the meeting was what might be expected of the congregation of Dr. Heacock.
Adjourned, by singing the long metre Doxology, and Benediction by the Moderator.
Rev. Mr. Condict, of Jamestown, N. Y., preached for us Sunday, September 9th, and Rev. George H. Ward, of Dansville, N. Y., on the 16th.
On Friday evening, September 2Ist, Rev. Mr. Parsons met the committee, which had been appointed to extend to him the call of the Church, and signified his inten- tion to accept, and expressed the hope of being able to commence his labors with us on the first Sabbath of October, although the formal action of the Presbytery upon the call could not be had until a subsequent time.
He also occupied the pulpit on Sunday, September 23d, and Prof. Hopkins on the 30th. A notice was read from the pulpit, that a meeting for the election of elders would be held in the chapel on the evening of Thursday, October 4th.
The next Sunday being Communion-day, the lecture preparatory was given by Rev. Charles Wood of the Central Church, on Wednesday evening, October 3d.
October 4th, Thursday-Pursuant to the notice, a meeting was held in the chapel for the purpose of electing a Bench of Elders.
The Church being without a pastor, Rev. Charles Wood of the Central Church was invited to act as moderator. There being some preliminary business to trans- act, Elder John Otto acted as temporary chairman and W. M. Knight as secretary.
Mr. Joseph Guild opened the meeting with prayer.
Mr. W. M. Knight offered the following preamble and resolutions :
In order to introduce a more perfect system in keeping the session minutes, and to enable the clerk of the session to obtain more fully and accurately all the facts which go to make up the current history of the Church, spiritually and financially, and that all these facts may be handed in from all the organizations within the Church prior to the Annual Church Meeting in January ; therefore,
Resolved, That the Annual Church Meeting be held hereafter on the third Wed- nesday in January of each year.
Resolved, That the time of holding the election, for the choice of Elders, be fixed for the second Wednesday in January of 1881, and on the same day of each year thereafter.
Resolved, That we respectfully request of all the societies and organizations in and connected with our Church, to hold their annual meetings either in December or in the first week in January, as best suits their convenience, so that full reports of their proceedings may be made in time, and that the secretaries of all these various societies be hereby requested to hand in to the clerk or treasurer of the
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session, a concise report of their proceedings for each year, last past ; also, a state- ment of moneys raised, and by what means, and the amounts disbursed, and for what purpose ; also the names of their officers for the ensuing years.
Resolved, That we now proceed to the election of nine Elders-four in the place of our present session, and five other persons to serve as such for the terms of three, four and five years, from the second Wednesday in January, 1878-their term to commence at their date of ordination, to be divided into three classes. The term of the first class of three to be fixed for the twelfth day of January, 1881; of the second class for the eleventh day of January, 1882, and of the third for the tenth day of January, 1883.
On motion of Henry Childs, it was resolved that the three classes of Elders be arranged alphabetically as regards the names of members ; that is, the three whose names are first in the alphabet will terminate January 12, 1881, and so on.
Also the following :
That, as it is thought expedient to change the time of holding the annual meeting of the society from the first Tuesday in June to the second Wednesday in January, a committee of three be named by the chair to take the necessary steps towards effecting such a change.
Elder Otto, the chairman, appointed Henry Childs, L. L. Lewis and W. M. Knight.
Rev. Mr. Wood now taking the chair as moderator these resolutions were taken up seriatim and passed unanimously.
W. M. Knight now offered the following :
That in order to have the action about to be taken perfectly spontaneous, resolved that we now proceed to take an informal ballot.
On motion of Henry Childs, Messrs. Board and Sawn were appointed tellers.
The vote being taken and declared, John Gowans moved that the nine highest on the list be declared unanimously elected. Adopted, resulting as follows :
Charles H. Baker, John Otto, George L. Squier, Charles G. Brundige, Samuel N. Lawrence, Willard M. Knight, Edwin G. Sawn, Thomas Struthers and Lewis H. Brown.
Adjourned by prayer from the moderator.
Rev. Henry M. Parsons, having signified his acceptance of the call extended to him by this Church and congregation, commenced his engagement on Sunday, Oct. 7th, officiating at the Communion service in the morning, and preaching in the evening. To-day was observed the 166th Communion since the organization of the Church, 163 of which occurred during the life-time of Dr. Heacock.
We now close the history of the Church, and of Dr. Heacock's pastorate, bring- ing it down to the second epoch, which opens with the opening pastorate of Rev. Henry M. Parsons.
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ACTION OF THE BUFFALO PRESBYTERY IN REGARD TO THE LATE DR. HEACOCK.
MEMORIAL.
At the meeting of the Buffalo Presbytery, held at Fredonia on the 16th inst., the following was submitted by a committee appointed to prepare it, and was adopted :
The committee to which was assigned the duty of bringing in a minute to express the feelings of the presbytery in view of the recent death of Rev. Dr. Heacock, report recommending the following :
The Rev. Grosvenor W. Heacock, D. D., our dearly beloved brother, and pastor of the Lafayette Street Presbyterian Church, Buffalo, rested from his earthly labors on Sabbath morning, May 6, 1877.
Born and reared within the bounds of this Presbytery, and educated and intro- duced into the Christian ministry under its care, and throughout his ministerial life connected with this body, he furnished a very noteworthy exception to the general rule, " A prophet is not without honor save in his own country, and in his own house ;" for his native city ever delighted to do him honor; and in that city he was a popular, beloved, and successful pastor for some thirty years.
While our first feeling, in view of his death, was that of having suffered an afflic- tion of uncommon severity, and a loss almost irreparable, we bow with sorrowing submission to the stroke that has bereaved us, assured that no man is necessary to the Church of God, and thankful to Christ, the head of the Church, for raising up and continuing with us so long a man whose upright life and godly example, whose eloquent voice and able ministry, whose noble testimony and philanthropic aims, whose memorable attacks upon giant wrongs, whose loving labors in scenes of re- vival, whose firmness, fearlessness, gentleness, generosity, with the other qualities that go to make up a complete Christian manhood, did so much to honor the Church he served, and to advance the general cause of Christianity in the world.
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