USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > St. Peter's Church in the city of Albany : commemoration of its two hundredth anniversary, November, A.D., 1916 > Part 6
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Now, the cities have become large, the villages have grown to towns, that personal relationship is gone. The modern employer of hundreds of men and women cannot have the touch with his employees that enables him to make the days of their old age easier. There is, however, emerging from this industrial and social era a conscious- ness of justice to the workers in their old age. Given the conditions as they are, the great body of the workers of today are going to pass from six to eight years of their old age as non-wage earners. Are we content, whether a man be a millhand or a conductor on the railroad, a clerk in a bank, a school teacher in our town, a policeman on the beat, an officer in the navy, are we content to take the best of his life blood from the time that he is twenty to sixty years of age, and then when he gets to old age, in those last few years, throw him out upon charity ? Or have we not that sense of justice which has arisen and is being expressed in various forms of organization for pensions and life insur- ance-so to plan that while the man is doing his best work we may set aside something for him or enable him to set
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something aside so that when he reaches old age he can pass his last years with the same self-respect on a deferred salary, as that with which he has passed his years of active service ?
Hence, in all walks of life the rising sense of justice is creating systems which enable the aged to pass their later years in quietness and serenity, and what is even more important enable the employees to have the satisfaction of knowing that they have done their part in helping the old men to pass their years in serenity.
Now apply this thought to the Church. Do we Chris- tian people want to have our Rector, who is giving his life for us and building up the Parish, pass through those years of tragedy when he knows he is too old to do the work, he sees the Parish falling to pieces but he cannot get out lest he fall upon charity, and because the old men clog the Church at the top the young men are held back from their best work.
Now, that has been going on in all lines of life. It went on in the army and navy until the pension systems were created. Now, the nation with a sense of justice, as well as a desire for efficiency, sees to it that those who serve her in active and dangerous service at least shall be seen through to the grave.
More than that. We have ceased to be parochial. We are no longer villages and towns; we are connected together not only by the electric wires, but by various banking, com- mercial and educational systems, by all kinds of social rela- tions, so that we find ourselves knit together physically, geographically, socially, industrially, politically as a great and firm nation. Every village has its relation to every other village, to the commonwealth and to the nation. We cannot escape it, so that St. Peter's Parish can no longer be as it was a century ago, simply an Albany Parish. St. Peter's is now a part of the great body of the Church, knit together with every other parish, with every diocese and the whole Church. It gives and it receives inspiration. That conception of the national idea knits us together, as a body of laity and clergy, and in the creation of the pension system that principle and sentiment of a national church enters.
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Thus each parish puts its pension premiums into the hands of the national church, and the church receiving that money holds it in trust, to be returned to the parish as a part of the national church. Thus through the system we are all welded together in one great national body.
If an Albany rector today is called to Arkansas he will, if he goes, leave a diocese with endowments to help him in old age and to aid his widow, to enter a diocese which can- not give such aid. He is human, he thinks of his wife and children and hesitates. But given a national system, it matters not whether he is in Arkansas or in Albany, wher- ever he is his parish lays up in the National Church Treasury his pension.
These two conceptions, the deep sense of justice and the consciousness of the nationality of the church are so alive in people's thoughts today that when this pension system is put before them they seize it with surprising avidity. I never knew anything like the way in which the laymen, the strongest laymen and women throughout this country have leaped to the idea.
People congratulate me because something has been done. It isn't I, nor is it the ingenuity of the thing. It is a common sense of justice on the part of the great body of the people. We pension our army and our navy officers, we pension our police, we pension our school teachers, we pension our bank officers, we pension our railroad employees, we all do this under a sense of justice. The church preaches justice, and the church lags behind business in the appli- cation of justice.
Now, we as business men and as members of Christ's church, are determined to put the church in the van. (Applause.)
It is, as I say again, because it strikes that fundamental sense of justice that this thing moves. I wish I could tell you (and I could carry you, as Dr. Stires says that he will not, into the morning hours) the delightful stories of the responses. Let me tell you two or three, and there are samples galore.
I call on a gentleman and find he is down South. A churchman happening to meet him in the South tells him
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about the pension fund. He comes back and writes a letter to a mutual friend, "I have heard of the church pension fund. I should be glad to see Bishop Lawrence. I expect to make a very modest contribution."
I go to his office. "Can I talk to you ten minutes ? "
He listens patiently, sympathetically, that's all. I leave a pledge.
In a few days he comes up to the office.
" Bishop, what do you want done with this pledge? "
" Anything you please."
" Do you want the money now or later? "
"Any time-this is liberty hall-do what you please."
"But if I have the money do you want it ?"
" Just as is most convenient to you."
" I have the money in the bank; why shouldn't you take it ?" He sits down, signs his pledge for $100,000. In an hour the check is in the office.
I say, "My dear sir, it isn't the size of the gift. It is the graciousness of the giver." He answers, "Bishop, I have the money. It is a pleasure to me. When I find something that I believe is right and just, I thank a person for giving me the opportunity. It is a pleasure."
I called upon a lady on Fifth Avenue, upon another subject, but she started in with, " What shall I give to the church pension fund ? "
I said, " I didn't come in about the church pension fund, you are generous, you always do your part, I am not going to say a word. Whenever the time comes for you to give, you will do what is right."
Two or three months after I dropped in for a cup of tea. She began again. "Bishop, can people give so much a year for a certain number of years ? "
I said, "My dear lady, I dropped in for a cup of tea, I am not going to talk business, I don't use my social friend- ship to talk business."
"But," she answered, "I am talking business." Then I said, "You are responsible." "Very good. Can I give something every year for several years?" "Cer- tainly." "Then I will give $10,000 a year for the next five years."
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Fifteen thousand dollars has to come in every day. Fifteen hundred dollars an hour for a ten-hour working day. Forty-five hundred dollars has run by since I have been sitting at this table.
I received a letter the other day written in pencil, very badly spelled. "My dear sir, I have heard something about pensioning ministers. I am a poor working woman. I enclose a dollar, and I want to say I will give a dollar every year as long as I earn wages." Every day a list is laid before me of individual gifts running from thirty cents up to $25,000. It may be from Arkansas, it may be from Texas, it may be from Massachusetts, gifts right out of the clouds and right out of the hearts of the people.
Now, during the past three weeks I have been in thirteen cities in the West and South. Everywhere I go there is interest, depth of enthusiasm and responsibility, and I come back. Mrs. Lawrence asks, "How much money? " " Not a dollar."
" What did you go for? "
" I went to have a good time," and it is a good time to meet so many happy, generous and responsive people. I go to create an atmosphere, that is all. I am content. The response is going to come. The great difficulty I have is in keeping people from giving quickly. (Laughter.) It is perfectly true. I called on a gentleman the other day. I saw that he was going to respond, as he usually does. He was just about going to say, " I will give," when I said, "My dear sir, don't say anything. You think it over." He was going to give $500. I will bet he will give $5,000 in two weeks, after he has had time to think. (Laughter.)
There is no jugglery about it. It is because he thinks it over and he sees how big it is. It grows upon him. I did not mean to go on in this way, but it is so interesting.
I was in Richmond last week. There was a big dinner and great enthusiasm. Yesterday a leading layman of Richmond came into the office and said, "Bishop, there has not been a dinner as big or enthusiasm as great in the history of the diocese; and he added, "I am going to talk pensions in different churches all over the state, and the point I am going to make is this: The $5,000,000 is coming
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sure, but woe to Virginia if she is left out. She must come in quick."
There is no question in my mind that the money is going to come before the first of March if we all pull together. The only question is as to who are going to get in. Why, I have been in touch with the whole country today. We have the free use of the Western Union Telegraph wires. We have the free use of the American Telephone wires after four o'clock in the afternoon, for this thing has struck the sense of justice of the industrial leaders. We have inquiries from industrial organizations and from the great churches as to our system. They are looking to us for leadership.
Pension systems are going bankrupt all over this country. The Minneapolis school teachers system called on me. They were bankrupt. The Detroit system also. Every pension system of the City of New York is bankrupt.
The man who has been unravelling the pension sys- tems of New York under Mayor Mitchell was in our office a few months ago, and said, "You are the first organiza- tion in the world to begin a pension system in the begin- ning. You are the first organization in the world that has had the courage to face the facts and gather together the accrued liabilities before you began business."
That is worth while, it is an example in behalf of jus- tice, and whatever one may say of efficiency, or even of charity, justice is greatest. Let the minister have fair play with the rest of the people.
Now, coming back. How does it touch the future of St. Peter's Church? Here is our Rector today (others to come in succession) we are going, while he is ministering to us and burying our dear ones, to do our part to see him and his widow through to the grave; and more than that, we are going to have such confidence in the National Church that we put our payments for his pension into her hands. She will care for it, let it out at interest, and return it in pensions to us. Thus the whole people have their part in the great support of the aged clergy, their widows and their orphans. We hope that every man, woman and child will give their dollar, their dime, if they cannot give it altogether this year, then one, two, three, five years, let
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them give it, for in so doing they will have made an invest- ment, and the man who has put a dollar in the pension system today is going to put seven cents into it next year in order to see that his dollar does its work.
Now, all this may seem to be very mundane. Far from it. The fundamental motive is that the ministry may work and preach with serenity, with freedom from anxiety, with a consciousness that they are being justly treated, and although they may ask for no more than that, they may support their families and do their work well, and see themselves decently to the grave. In the doing of this the comfortable Gospel of Christ will be preached with greater power and will melt into our hearts because we have tried to be just. (Applause.)
THE TOASTMASTER: There is one here from whom if you didn't hear a word, you would go away greatly dis- appointed,-one whom you have come to honor in connec- tion with this anniversary. I am going to ask Dr. Batter- shall to say just a word in response to the speeches that have been made, and a word to you. (Applause.)
DR. BATTERSHALL: Your welcome, my friends, touches me very deeply, and I thank you for all that has been said at this table, and what also I know is in the hearts of those who sit around the tables.
I am afraid that my loyal friend, your Rector, has not carefully read the Articles of Religion printed at the end of the Prayer Book. There is one article-I forget the number of it-which discourages, indeed it positively prohibits, works of supererogation. (Laughter.) And I feel that any word that I can say tonight, after all we have heard this evening, is plainly and precisely a work of supererogation.
I felt most keenly, not only the fraternal words of my friend, Mr. Stetson, who, I may say, is the lawyer of the General Convention in this Church in the United States, and who comes into his own when he comes to this Diocese, and also the inspiring words of my young friend, the Rector of St. Thomas' Church, New York, whom it is a joy to see, whose hand it is helpful to grasp.
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And then last of all as I listened to the words of the Bishop,-the great Bishop of Massachusetts, I want to say, and, having said it, I will not withdraw it-as I listened to him it seemed to me that he had found a word that described the spirit, the motive, the purpose of this age in which we live. That word is Justice. On that word he hinged this colossal pension system of the Church, for which he so eloquently pleaded. This age is sometimes called a commercial age, an industrial age, a mercenary age, a money getting and a money seeking age. But it has its ideals. There is one thing about our commercial accent and organization of life: I think it does bring out strong and foremost the sense of justice. In the long run it works for righteousness and fair play. The Bishop of Massachusetts has found the word which speaks the con- science of today.
As I look around these tables, every one, it seems to me, is a familiar face. I have not seen all of them habitually, perhaps not at all, from the pulpit of St. Peter's, but they are friends of St. Peter's, they desire to pay her honor and show their love of St. Peter's, and so I want to tell you something. I think that she carries her two centuries very handsomely. (Applause.) I see you concur in my im- pression.
For thirty-seven years I became more and more ac- quainted with St. Peter's Church in Albany. I knew what it represented. I knew its point of view. I gave it my heart and the work that comes from the heart. During those thirty-seven years it seems as if I held in my hand a chalice, and into that chalice the wine was pressed from the grapes of your love and loyalty and trust.
I love St. Peter's Church for what she stands for. I. love her for what she works for. I love her for her sweet and noble motherhood. (Great applause.)
The banquet closed with the singing of the Doxology.
As a result of Madam Culp's singing the following cor- respondence passed between Mr. Frederick E. Wadhams and his excellency, the Minister from the Netherlands:
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FRANK SILL ROGERS, Mus. D. Organist and Choirmaster since 1892
Albany, N. Y., 78 Chapel Street, November 27, 1916
To his Excellency,
Chevalier W. L. F. C. VAN RAPPARD,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Washington, D. C.
Dear Sir :-
During the past week St. Peter's Church of this city has been celebrating her two hundredth anniversary with religious and social observances.
On Thursday evening a large dinner was given which was attended by the clergy, members of the parish and prominent citizens of this city and vicinity.
It happened that Mme. Julie Culp of Holland was giving a recital on the same evening in this city and at the urgent request of the committee in charge of the celebration she consented to sing three songs at our dinner after the con- cert. Our Rector, who presided at the dinner, said, " Mme. Culp's sweet graciousness has added a touch to the occasion which only the music of a great artist can give."
As evidence of our appreciation of Mme. Culp's great kindness, we beg leave to send you the enclosed check, the amount to be used in accordance with Mme. Culp's wish for the Red Cross work now being carried on in Holland.
With an assurance of our high regard, I am,
Very respectfully yours,
FREDERICK E. WADHAMS,
For the Bicentennial Committee.
KONINKLYK GEZANTSCHAP DER NEDERLANDEN
Washington, D. C., December 13, 1916
In reply to your letter of 11th instant I beg to inform you that I have received with thanks your check for $100,- being the proceedings of a recital of Madame Julie Culp, destined for the Red Cross work in Holland. Madame Culp has also written to me about this remittance. I shall not fail to transmit this money in accordance with your and her wishes.
The Minister from the Netherlands, W. L. F. C. VAN RAPPARD.
Mr. FREDERICK E. WADHAMS, 78 Chapel Street, Albany, N. Y.
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The Order of Seruire
for the
Own Tundredth Anniversary
of the
Firat Servire Feld in St. Peter's Church
in the City of Albany
Saturday, November 25, 1916
Eleven o'clock
Reu. Charles O. harriman. Rector
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The Order of Sernire + +
Organ Prelude in E flat (St. Ann's) - - -Bach
Rendered by Walter Henry Hall, Organist at St. Peter's Church, Albany, 1890-1892, and now Professor of Choral Music at Columbia University.
Professional Gymn 311 Solemn Te Deum - - -Lutkin
The Office of the Holy Communion (According to the Book of Common Prayer, page 221.)
Kyrie Credo Sanctus
Benedictus Agnus Dei
in E - -Jordan
Gloria in Excelsis)
The Callert Preceding the Epistle and Gospel
LMIGHTY GOD, who hast in all ages showed A forth Thy power and mercy in the preserva- tion of Thy Church and in the protection of all those who put their trust in Thee: Grant that the people of this Parish may show forth their thankfulness and praise for all Thy mercies by dedicating themselves anew to Thy service, and by such a love toward Thee, that they loving Thee above all things may obtain Thy promises which exceed all that they can desire; through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle Tiebrems xi: 32-40
The Gospel St. Matthew u. 1-12
A Bidding Prayer
This prayer follows the Nicene Creed and is to be said by the Bishop, the People standing; after which the Bishop shall say the Lord's Prayer, the People repeating it with him.
YE shall pray for Christ's Holy Catholic Church, dispersed throughout the world, and especially for the Church in the United States of America.
And herein I request you most expressly to pray for the President of the United States of America; for the Ministers of God's Holy Word and Sacraments throughout this Land; for the Governor, and Legisla- ture, and the Judges of this State; and for the Mayor, the Aldermen, and the People of this City.
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The Order of Service
+
Finally ye shall bless God for the two hundred years of prayer and activity with which He has blessed this Parish; for all those which are departed out of this Life in the Faith of Christ who were members of this Parish; and for those who have served the Parish faithfully as Rectors in times past:
THOMAS BARCLAY
TIMOTHY CLOWES
JOHN MILNE
WILLIAM B. LACEY
HENRY BARCLAY
HORATIO POTTER
JOHN OGILVIE
THOMAS CLAPP PITKIN
THOMAS BROWN
WILLIAM F. WILSON
HARRY MUNRO WILLIAM TATLOCK
THOMAS ELLISON WILLIAM CROSWELL DOANE
FREDERICK BEASLEY
WILLIAM A. SNIVELY
Gymn 418
Sermon by the Reu, William Thomas Manning, D. D. Rector of Trinity Church, New York City
Offertory Anthem - -Brahms
TOW lovely is Thy dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts! For my soul it longeth, yea fainteth, for the courts of the Lord; my soul and body crieth out, yea for the living God. Blest are they that dwell within Thy house, they praise Thy name evermore!
Prayer for the Church Militant
After the prayer for the Church Militant the Bishop of Albany will proceed with the Communion Service, assisted by the Clergy of St. Peter's Church.
All are requested to remain throughout the Celebration of the Holy Communion, but it is expected that only the Clergy within the Chancel and the Churchwardens and Vestrymen will Receive at this service.
Closing Prayers and Benediction
Nunr Đimittia
-Gregorian
Recessional Gymn 17G
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Sistariral Notes
1704 First Church of England Service held in Albany
1709 First English Congregation formed
1712 Queen Anne presented Communion Service
1714 Queen Anne granted Land Patent
1715 Building of first St. Peter's Church
1716 First Service held in St. Peter's Church
1758 Remains of Lord Howe buried in St. Peter's
1769 King George the Third granted Charter of Incorporation
1803 Second Edifice erected
1850 The Rector, Dr. Horatio Potter, elected Provisional Bishop of New York
1859 Present Edifice erected
1868 Primary Convention of the Diocese of Albany held in St. Peter's Church
The Rector, Dr. William Croswell Doane, elected First Bishop of Albany
1869 The Rev. Dr. Doane consecrated in St. Peter's Church
1915 Lord Howe Memorial Tablet dedicated
1916 Bicentennial Celebration
+
Rertors of St. Peter's Church in the City of Albany
1708-1725 The Rev. THOMAS BARCLAY
1726-1737 The Rev. JOHN MILNE
1738-1746 The Rev. HENRY BARCLAY, D. D.
1750-1764 The Rev. JOHN OGILVIE, D. D.
1764-1768 The Rev. THOMAS BROWN
1768-1777 The Rev. HARRY MUNRO
1787-1802 The Rev. THOMAS ELLISON
1803-1809
The Rev. FREDERICK BEASLEY, D. D.
1813-1817 The Rev. TIMOTHY CLOWES
1818-1832 The Rev. WILLIAM B. LACEY, D. D.
1833-1854 The Rt. Rev. HORATIO POTTER, D. D.
1856-1862 THE Rev. THOMAS CLAPP PITKIN, D. D.
1862-1866 The Rev. WILLIAM T. WILSON
1863-1866 The Rev. WILLIAM TATLOCK, D. D.
1867-1869 The Rt. Rev. WILLIAM CROSWELL DOANE, D. D.
1870-1874 The Rev. WILLIAM A. SNIVELY, D. D.
1874-1911 *The Rev. WALTON W. BATTERSHALL, D. D.
1912 The Rev. CHARLES C. HARRIMAN
*Made Rector Emeritus 1911
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The Bicentennial Sermon
Preached on Sunday, November 25, 1916, the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the day when the first service was held in St. Peter's Church by the Rev. William T. Manning, D.D., Rector of Trinity Parish, New York City.
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters, and He had in His right hand seven stars, and out of His mouth went a sharp, two-edged sword, and His countenance was as the sun shineth in His strength .- Revelation, 1:14, 15, 16.
The occasion which brings us here this morning is one of great interest to this Diocese, and to the Church at large. We are gathered to commemorate the first service held in St. Peter's Church, Albany, two hundred years ago today. When this venerable and famous Parish was founded, Trinity Church, New York, had been in existence less than twenty years, and the bonds between the two Parishes were very close. You gave us our second Rector, Henry Barclay, whose name holds high and honorable place in our annals, and hanging in our vestry room there is a fine painting, by Copley, of another of your Rectors, the Rev. John Ogilvie, who was a most esteemed member of our staff of clergy from 1764 until the day of his death.
At the time your Parish began its life, New York was a town of a few thousand people, and Albany a frontier post for trade among the Indians. These two centuries that have passed have seen amazing changes and develop- ments.
Those who attended that first service in St. Peter's Church little dreamed that at your two hundredth anniver- sary this country would be covered from the Atlantic to the Pacific with a population of more than one hundred
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million people; that Albany and New York would be only three hours' ride apart; that the human voice would make itself heard with ease across this continent; that battles would be fought by men flying in the sky; and that our isolation from the old world would be ended by the passage to our shores of vessels, both of war and commerce, travel- ling invisible beneath the surface of the seas.
It is not my part at this anniversary to speak of the past. That has already been brought before you by one preeminently qualified to tell of it. You wish me today to bring some message as to the present and the future. I propose, therefore, to speak of that which is of grave con- cern both to the Church and to the Nation, and as to which I think the Church ought now to be speaking to our people in trumpet tones.
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