USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > Annals of the First Presbyterian church of Cleveland, 1820-1895 > Part 6
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Now one very serious hindrance to the practical fulfillment of this social mission of the church is met with in the modern parochial system. It is what I may call the "ecclesiastical club" idea of the church. Whatever system of church support may be used in a parish, whether it be by pew rents or by the "free- church" method, the idea is very likely to become deeply imbedded in the minds of the contributing members that the church belongs specially, if not exclusively to them, just as the "Union Club House" on the Avenue, for instance, exists to furnish cer- tain material luxuries-good dinners, pleasant lounging places, and entertaining literature, amuse- ments, and society-exclusively to its contributing members, so the church is thought of very commonly as a kind of ecclesiastical club house. It is to furnish
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certain religious luxuries-eloquent, or at least,
interesting preaching, fine music, an aesthetic worship for the spiritual delectation, and perhaps edification of those who pay for it. And the result is frequently a one-sided conflict between the church's duty to the community which surrounds her and the claims which her supporters make upon her. That is the explanation of the up-town fever which so per- sistently and virulently attacks our city churches. The contributing members have moved up on the ave- nues and they demand that the ecclesiastical club house shall follow to a convenient proximity, and so the church is continually on the move away from those who most need her, to those who best sup- port her.
Ah, my friends, if those who support our churches were possessed wholly of the true christian spirit they would feel that they had no more exclusive or even especial claim upon the ministrations of the churches to which they contribute than they have to the bene- fits of the missions which their gifts send among the heathen, or the benefactions of the hospitals and char- ities which they help to found. They would give the means and say, "Let the ministrations be given wherever they are most needed." And then we should see-not the anomalous and unchristian ar- rangement we have now-the great churches, with their beautiful architecture and inspiring services, crowding the avenues, which are already replete with social and religious advantages and luxuries, while the deserted slums and centers of population are dotted
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here and there with a puny mission chapel, with dis- mal appointments and unattractive services; as one has aptly put it, "all the dough in one pan and all the yeast in another and the hopeful people waiting for the bread to rise," but we should see our stringent efforts focussed where the greatest need lies, our great forces with the most inspiring worship of praise and prayer and their most effective presentation of the gospel message at the great centres of our population- the centres likewise of our sin and vice.
It is only as the church does that, that she can solve the vexed problem, how to reach the masses; it is only so that she can possess and inspire the civic and social life-in a word it is only thus that she can fulfill her duty to the community.
I am sure I am speaking for my fellow-workers in Christ, the pastors of the neighboring congregations, and for all who feel the pressure of the church's social responsibility, when I say that we are proud of the Old Stone Church because she is inspired by just that true christian spirit which I have been discussing; because she is striving faithfully to fulfill her God- given duty to the community that surrounds her. She feels that she has been put here by God to do a work and by God's grace she means to stay put. Her towers are to stand in the midst of all this rush and din of absorbing and sometimes sordid business activ- ity, as silent but effectual witnesses to higher things. Her services, with all the effectiveness that the best preaching and the most inspiring worship can give them, are to abide right here in this centre of teeming
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life to exert their uplifting influences upon the masses of humanity that daily surge about her doors. Her ministrations, missionary, educational and social, are to radiate from this strategic point and penetrate the surrounding portion of our city, where ignorance and sin do so abound. So is she striving to realize the ideal relation of the church to the community, and therefore do we thank God and pray His richest blessing upon her noble efforts. "We wish you good luck in the name of the Lord."
THE CHURCH AND RELIGIOUS PROGRESS.
REV. L. L. TAYLOR.
It seems almost a pity that Dr. Haydn, by assign- ing us topics, should have made it impossible for us who are here to-night with the greetings of the sister- hood of Cleveland's older churches, to speak all the time allotted to us in the expression of those senti- ments of fellowship and congratulation which find their way so readily from heart to lip on such an occasion as this.
Denominationally, I stand related to this occasion in a somewhat peculiar way. I am here as a Congre- gational minister and as the pastor of a Congregational
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church. But both my church and I were once Pres- byterian, and we were Presbyterians -- my church and I-for just about the same length of time ; she, in the early fifties ; I, in the early nineties. And though something less than three years sufficed us, our greet- ings are brought to you with a sense of kinship which strikes some of its roots, I am sure, into those days when we shared your honored name.
But I have been asked to say a few words on "The Church and Religious Progress." I presume we are pretty well agreed that there has been religious progress during the past seventy-five years. Whether it has kept pace with our national progress, may be questioned. But a most interesting parallel might be established between the progress we have made in the control and useful application of the forces and sub- stances of the material world, and the progress which is way-marked by the broader application of the truths and powers of the spiritual world to the whole of the complex life which it is given us to live in these days. Some how or other the steam got out of James Watts' tea-kettle and went to work in the world. Some how or other the lightning was induced to stop playing with Franklin's kite and went to work in the world. Some how or other the Gospel has broken loose from our sermons and hymn books and gone to work in the world, with an energy and manifoldness of impact never known before. Some how or other men are coming to realize that religion is coterminous with life. In this last fact, if we had no other, we shall have a proof of religious progress. If territorial
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extension represents religious progress, how much more truly does the social intension of Christianity !
But while we rejoice and ought to rejoice in the present-day achievements of the Gospel as a sound and intellectual influence, we must guard against the tendency to disembody the Gospel. There is a tend- ency on the part of many to do just this thing-to disembody the Gospel, to separate it from the ordi- nances and institutions with which Christ saw fit to identify it. I, for one, do not believe that the Gospel has outgrown the Gospels. I do not believe that Christianity has outgrown Christ, the Christ who said, "Preach and Baptize ;" the Christ who not only loved me and gave himself for me, but loved the church, and gave himself for it, that there might be a church; that there might be everywhere churches, glorious, holy, without spot or wrinkle or blemish. Many things are done and have been done in the name of the Lord Jesus. In His name men have cast out devils, have prophesied, have done many wonderful works. In His name vast sacrifices have been made, vast enterprises undertaken, heavy burdens borne. But I question whether any one thing, done in His name, has ministered so directly to the advancement of His cause and to the glory of the Father, as the gathering together, of men and women and children, to live the Christ life of His church.
God bless this gathering together in His name which our great city delights to honor as the Old Stone Church, and whose faith and labors of love are known through the length and breadth of the land !
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THE CHURCH AS A WITNESS TO THE TRUTH.
REV. LEVI GILBERT, D. D.
Dr. Gilbert brought the greetings and congratula- tions of the Methodist churches, and spoke of the similarity of the problems and duties facing the Old Stone Church and the First Methodist, growing out of their down-town location, and pledged his church to remain with the Presbyterians, on ground so needing churchly ministrations. The theologies, once antagon- istic, have now come together. Those were great men-great Johns-John Calvin, John Robinson, John Knox and John Wesley, and all our churches can speak from the one text: "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John."
"The Truth" is a large subject, but none too large for the capacity of the gospel. The church should witness to the unity of the truth, to the "one God, one law, one element," to the one testimony given by nature, history and redemptive processes. Preaching, therefore, has a large field, all truth at last leading up to God, who is Truth. All creation has emanated from Him, and therefore returns to Him, linking itself into the divine on the side of its higher moral and spiritual significance. But it is particularly Christian truth- the truth "as it is in Christ Jesus," to which the Church witnesses.
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It is therefore to the great historical facts of Christianity that it bears its testimony-a rock-bed of historical verities unmovable. Christianity is not a product of speculation and cannot be overthrown by speculation. It has not been elaborated from the ratiocinations of any philosopher-spun from an argu- mentive brain. It is not a plant grown in the studio in-doors, but based on proved and proveable facts that have withstood the destructive attacks of hostile criticism of nineteen centuries, and can assuredly challenge the future.
The Church is the witness to the Person of Christ, and preaches a personal salvation by the personal trust of a person in a Person ; by the Christ himself, and not by believing some statements about him, are men saved. The movement of our times is a "return to Christ"-to Him who was "the Way, the Truth and the Life." He was the way, not simply showing it ; the way to God because the Truth and the Life, and these two are one because He is one. The truth is a vital and vitalizing truth, and the life is a truthful life. We find truth by living, we get to God through life and not by abstractions. We arrive at truth by being "willing to do His will." The best witness to Christ is the witness of a life. The best translation of the Bible is to translate it into men and women. The best creed is the incarnation of truth-the reproduction of Jesus. The distinction between dogma and life is somewhat artificial and arbitrary. It is said that life is always more than dogma, and said truly, for there is a natural climax in "the Way, the Truth and the
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Life." But truth is not truth unless it is alive, and can be built up into a life, contributing to a higher existence. And, of necessity, life must always feed itself on dogma, doctrine, truth.
The pulpit is not, therefore, to spend its time in over-refined, subtle, metaphysical discussions, but should be eminently practical, showing men the truth by which they can live. It is to take the great facts and truths of Christianity and apply them to the needs of men and communities to-day. It is to ask earnestly, "What is the truth ?" with reference to labor, capital, wealth, justice, and every burning question uppermost at the time. A Christianity which is not applied, is a Christianity denied.
The Church is to witness to a growing truth, grow- ing and expanding into greater grandeur constantly, because it is living. "Time makes ancient good uncouth." We are to put the "old truths in a new light." Theology is a progressive science, like astron- omy, geology, botany, biology, though its fundamental facts, like the stars, the rocks, the flowers and life, remain from age to age the same, only the intepreta- tion and expression varies with increasing discovery and revelation.
The Church is to witness to the truth, rather than to commit itself for the sake of "authority" or "safety," or "fixity," to systems of "orthodoxy," or "heterodoxy." Its preachers should refuse any brand or technical tag, should be larger than any school, and be free to seek and welcome truth from whatever quarter.
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The Church is to have a divine passion for the truth, blinking nothing, being utterly unafraid. It should lead in scientific research, and not come ingloriously lagging in at last, reluctantly accepting what has been long obvious to the world. It should claim all truth as its own and as God's truth, accept- ing the oneness of the kingdoms of nature and of grace, and, with every new discovery, crying, with Milton, "Hail, holy light!" Infinitely better this than the scant courtesy, suspicions and antagonisms of the past. It is to have the glorious enthusiasm for the truth of Him who proclaimed it the end of his birth and of his coming into the world to bear witness to the truth.
Finally, the Church is to be a witness to the truth, not a pettifogger for God, chopping logic for Him, defending with miserable argumentations what needs no defense. It is to proclaim out of its own expe- rience and self-consciousness the divine truths of God, Christ, the Spirit, the soul, salvation. It is to witness to the eternal validity of the Scriptures with a wise dogmatism, strong with reason and true faith. It is to witness to Him who is the Light that lighteth every man coming into the world, who said that whoso- ever followed Him should not walk in darkness, but have an inner illumination-the "light of life." It is not called on to refute every vagrant objection which might appropriately have originated in a lunatic asylum, but should preach a positive and constructive gospel-the everlasting yea being sufficient answer to the everlasting nay. It is to preach not diffidently nor
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apologetically, but with absolute confidence that, in its message, there is a solution for every perplexity and problem of this and all times, and believe that truth is mighty and will prevail. It is to preach a gospel not simply individualistic, but a corporate salvation-a Christ who saves communities, society, humanity, the world.
May this Old Stone Church and all our churches preach such a gospel, and in the midst of all doubt, uncertainty and denial, in the babel of mammonism and mercantilism, amid the clamorous and discordant noises of this old, weary world, lift up its testimony, calm and strong, to the immortal truths, the everlasting, living verities by virtue of which we are men-by which individuals and nations enter now and evermore into eternal salvation and life !
THE CHURCH IN HER FELLOWSHIPS.
REV. A. G. UPHAM, D. D.
The church universal is the body of Jesus Christ. The fellowships of the church grow out of the believ- er's union with his living Lord. Are we members of Christ ? Then are we members one of another. We have fellowships of faith, and hope, and love. We are one body in Christ. We have unity of life. We may
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differ in points of organization and of doctrine, but in all that is vital and permanent, we are one. Our differences are earthly and temporal, our unities are divine and eternal. Great denominations have grown up in Christendom, each having its own history and traditions, its own convictions and vested interests. I do not know what the future of them will be, but in our desires for the organic union of Christendom we must not forget the essential unity which we already enjoy. Our Lord's high priestly prayer for the unity of His disciples may not be fully answered, but it is receiving what the older theologians used to call a "springing and germinating fulfilment." There is such a thing as a Christian character, a Christian life, a Christian service. May "Christ dwell in all our hearts by faith ;" "that we, being rooted and grounded, in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the length, and breadth, and depth and height ; and may know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that we may be filled with all the fulness of God."
Why should not Presbyterians and Baptists have fellowship with one another? We worship the same God, and the same Saviour, and preach the same way of salvation through faith in Him who was crucified and is risen. We may differ in some of our interpre- tations of the Scriptures, but our rule of faith is the same. Interpretations are human and liable to imper- fection, and therefore there is, and always will be, room and call for progress in Christian doctrine, as we come to see better what the Bible is, and what it says. No one church has a monopoly of the truth.
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Every denomination owes something to every other in helping the church universal to the knowledge and doing of Christ's will.
We owe much to the Presbyterians, and we gladly confess our indebtedness. Your great theologians are ours, your missionary heroes and martyrs, your edu- cated ministry, your consecrated men and women. As a humble member of the Body of Christians who are called Baptists, I greet you in the name of the Lord.
It is fitting that these greetings should be borne on this occasion by the pastor of the First Baptist Church, for in the beginnings of their history the First Baptist Church and the First Presbyterian Church had much in common. Some of the Baptist pioneers in this city worshipped and worked with you until the First Baptist Church was organized in 1833. Our two Churches have grown up side by side, their roots being closely intertwined in the same soil of divine grace. May we not say that both are "trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified ?" Seventy-five years does not mean old age to a body that is full of the love of Christ. It only means char- acter, life, power for enlarged service. May the goodly heritage of the past be an inspiration to a still better future.
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THE FOUNDERS OF THE FIRST CHURCH.
BY TRUMAN P. HANDY.
I am requested to speak of the "Founders of the old First Church," and in doing so I shall be pardoned if I refer briefly to that part of its history embraced in the first twenty-four years of its existence, during twelve of which, from 1832, I was a member.
This Church was the outgrowth of a Mission Sun- day School organized in 1819, with Mr. Elisha Taylor Superintendent, and Moses White, a leading Baptist, the Secretary.
It was organized by Revs. Wm. Hanford and Ran- dolph Stone, with fifteen members, six of them on confession of their faith. At its formation it was voted to be under the watch and care of Portage Presbytery; the mode of its government was left to future con- sideration. Rev. Randolph Stone was its first minis- ter. He preached one-third of the time for the year ending April, 1821. On the first Sabbath in January, 1822, Rev. Wm. McLean commenced his labors and was employed for three-fourths of his time for one year. In September following Rev. Stephen I. Brad- street was engaged for one-half of the time, and con- tinued his services till January 20th, 1830. Rev. John Sessions was then employed in June following. His labors were brief, and the Church was without a stated minister until June 10th, 1831.
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This was then a missionary field, explored and aided by the Connecticut Missionary Society. In a copy of the Evangelical Magazine, published at Hart- ford in June, 1801, Rev. Joseph Badger writes: "I expect to be in Hudson next Sabbath and spend the rest of my time on the western and northern part of the Reserve unless I return to New England or go in September to the Shawnee tribe of Indians; George Blue Jacket, son of the great chief, wants some one to go with him and help him tell his people about religion and see if they will not be willing to have some Mis- sionaries come among them and teach them how to live. The prospects of the country are very flattering, respectable people are flowing in from every quarter. The friendly disposition of the Indians banishes all fear of danger from them. If the Lord should make this wilderness as a watered garden by planting and nourishing his church in it, there will be no place more desirable to live in."
This same Missionary again visited Cleveland in 1820 and with others organized this first church. Its officers were Elisha Taylor and S. I. Hamlen. In April, 1832 its Elders and Deacons were Stephen Whitaker, John Gabadan, S. I. Hamlen, Alanson Pen- field and Harmon Kingsbury.
The Elders were elected for life and usually led all the religious services when no minister was present. This order was afterward changed by vote of the church and they were elected for only three years, though eligible if desired, to a re-election.
This gave the growing Church an opportunity of
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selecting such new members as might seem best. This feature of a rotary eldership has been since adopted and approved by all the Presbyterian churches in this city. In 1831 Rev. Samuel Hutchings began his labors and closed them in the autumn of 1832, having been called as a Missionary to Ceylon, where he and his wife spent several years in the service of the American Board, ten of which were given to the revision of the Tamil Bible and the compilation of the Tamil English Dictionary. His health failing, he returned and died at Orange, N. J., on the first of September, 1895, at the age of 89 years. He was an earnest and devoted minister. The Church at the close of that year num- bered about 70 persons.
For the twelve years prior to his coming, services were held in the old Court-house and in the school- house on St. Clair street, and were often omitted altogether. The Sabbath was disregarded. Many of the first settlers, it was said, either embraced infidelity or inclined towards it and were indifferent to Chris- tianity. During the ministry of Mr. Hutchings the American Home Mission Society in New York aided in his support.
It had no house of worship at this time, nor was there one in the village except Trinity Church, then a small frame building standing on the corner of St. Clair and Seneca streets. Its services were held in the third loft of a building where the American House now stands. The erection of the first stone church was commenced in 1832. It was completed and dedi- cated February 26th, 1834. The erection of a house
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of worship in those days was attended with difficulties. It had been under discussion for two years previous, but owing to the great scarcity of money and the inability of the people, it was deferred, and progressed very slowly till the latter part of 1832. Donations were made in stone, lumber and other building mater- ials, some in store pay, and not until a loan of $10,000 was secured did the work go on to completion.
It was plain in its exterior, built of gray sand stone, rough hammered. Its size was 55 by 80 feet with a commodious basement where its services were held for a year prior to its completion. The loan was made by the Commercial Bank of Lake Erie and paid during the ten years following. I believe I was the treasurer of the society in that year.
It had 84 pews and a gallery suspended from the ceiling by iron rods. In 1833, Rev. John Keep of Homer, N. Y., was invited to supply the pulpit, and commenced his services in December of that year. Mr. Keep closed his labors in April, 1835, a number of the members having, at their own request, been dismissed to form a Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, then Ohio City, to which Mr. Keep was called as Pastor. A few years later he removed to Oberlin, where he died.
A unanimous call was then extended to Rev. Samuel C. Aiken, of the First Presbyterian Church, Utica, N. Y., to become Pastor of the church. It was accepted and he removed here with his family, com- mencing his labors on the 7th of June, 1835, and Nov. 24, was installed Pastor. He was a native of Vermont, a graduate of Middlebury College, and had been a
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successful Pastor in Utica seventeen years, succeeding Rev. Henry Dwight of Geneva. He had a long and useful ministry in this church as many living can bear witness.
His character both as Pastor and preacher was fully established, and his influence in laying founda- tions for Christian work was felt not only here, but throughout the churches in Northern Ohio. During the earlier period of his Pastorate the churches in this portion of the State were agitated with the slavery question and many extreme views were held in regard to many subjects.
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