USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > The Old stone church; the story of a hundred years, 1820-1920 > Part 23
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Four years later Dr. Meldrum married Miss Ella Herrick, daughter of Mr. Gamaliel E. Herrick, for many years a trustee of the church. She was also a granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sherlock J. Andrews, who came to Cleveland in 1825. Mrs. Meldrum passed away on August 20, 1914, and of her life and charater Mrs. William E. Cushing gave this tribute :
A child of the Stone Church from infancy, she claimed for herself a place in its membership in 1885. She belonged to the third generation of a family that had looked upon the Stone Church as a part of its valued heritage since 1825. She never wavered in her loyalty to the church, whether as the gentle maiden or as the thoughtful matron.
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In her girlhood she radiated happiness in her family circle. In her womanhood she became center and soul of the family circle in her husband's home; while we who saw her unfailing interest in his and her church wondered that so much love and kindness could be shed abroad by one person. Each one of us who watched her, the old and the young, could have said "This is my beloved and this is my friend." Her quick mind, her appreciation of the amusing side of the situation, the sound quality of her friendship manifested in all possible ways, her ability to express the sympathy she felt, were some of the quali- ties that drew us all to her. It was said of the New Eng- land poet, Emily Dickinson, by a niece, "Aunt Emily never forgot to be lovely." We too have had one among us "who never forgot to be lovely." The spirit of her life, so full of grace, adaptability, and love that was not withheld, seems interpreted by an expression of Emer- son's, "The only gift is a portion of thyself." We can associate neither grief nor tears with the thought of such a person. Her memory is more than a transient survival in loyal hearts - it is an immortality.
Upon the wall of the auditorium, near the church entrance, there is a beautiful tablet bearing this inscription :
In loving remembrance of Ella Herrick Meldrum, June 4th, 1868 - August 20th, 1914. Wife of Andrew B. Meldrum, D.D. There is no death:
What seems so is transition; This life of mortal breath Is but a suburb of the life Elysian, Whose portal we call death.
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On March 24, 1915, a tablet, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Tyler, was dedicated to the memory of the Reverend Hiram Collins Haydn, D.D., LL.D. After the dates of his birth, death and pastorates in the Stone Church there is this just tribute:
A strong man in faith - pure in life - eloquent in speech - fearless in the proclamation of the gospel of Christ - a power in the religious and educational life of the city of Cleveland - beloved by his own people - honored by all who knew him. "He being dead yet speaketh."
Probably no pastor emeritus was ever more satisfied with the ministry of his successor than Dr. Haydn was with the successful pastorate of Dr. Meldrum. Neither of these ministers of a down-town church ever depended upon sensational advertising for the sake of obtaining audiences. One of Dr. Haydn's younger assistants once prepared a handbill on which was printed the one word "Hell" in red ink. This was first scattered over the down-town district, and then followed by an explanatory announcement in the papers; while another associate conducted a mu- nicipal reform campaign bordering upon the sensa- tional, but that comprised about all the advertising of that kind that has ever emanated from the Stone Church.
This does not mean, however, that its audiences have not listened to virile preaching, all the more potent because the worshipers had not come to church keyed with high expectation of the sensa- tional.
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For a few years before the electric sign was secured bearing the name "Old Stone Church" and now brightly arching the front of the church, there was hesitancy as to its use and even slight opposition to the plans of its promoters. Dr. Meldrum advertises in the Saturday papers, but of late his sermons have been announced by reference to the chapter and verse of the text and not topically. Those who attend the Stone Church, however, are reasonably certain of a pungent discourse in which smiles are often elicited by the humorous tinge of many sentences. There is a strong personality behind Dr. Meldrum's sermons, and so forceful have been many of these that in recent years there has been an increasing demand for their publication, and issued in neat book- let form they have been the means of doing much good. Ten years ago, the year in which fourteen members departed this life, the sermon, "The Grave and the Garden" was issued, followed by "Four Square Man" and "Fidem Servavi." The next year "The Stars Also" and "Salt" were published.
Among other printed discourses there have been, "Theodore Roosevelt, a Study in Personality," "The Universal Brotherhood," "Victory and Thanksgiving (1918)," "Such as I Have," "Burning and Shining," "The Royalty of Manhood," "The Simplicity of Religion," "The Yoke of Rest," "Our Journey to Spain," "Grace and Grit," "Nevertheless," and "The Wealth of Youth." In one year four thousand copies were judiciously distributed.
Hotel guests spending Sunday in Cleveland have,
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after their departure, sent for copies of sermons to which they had listened, and this casting of bread upon the waters has been assisted by the deacons, who have systematically visited the hotels to dis- tribute church attendance invitations.
Every year-book issued during the present pas- torate has contained a "Report of Pastor's Assist- ant," an annual review prepared by the late Elder Livingston Fewsmith, and his reports never failed to dwell upon the increasing power of the Stone Church pulpit and the efficient work of the church societies. Thus we read in the year-book of 1913:
Dr. Meldrum's preaching during the year has been per- haps the best that he has ever given us. Our congregations have kept up well, both Sunday and Wednesday evening. Our choir has done its usual excellent work, the trustees and deacons have been as faithful as ever. This church is certainly richly blessed in the personnel of its official boards, composed as they are of as fine a class of men of high character and devoted interest as can be found any- where. Our women's organizations are composed of a body of earnest, faithful, devoted members such as it would be difficult to duplicate. We are proud of our young people, from the boy scouts up to all ages. They are a splendid group, to whom we look for great things as they come forward to fill places of the older members who are rapidly passing from us.
The year 1918 brought to a close the life of Mr. W. S. Tyler, who, although not a member of the church to which his wife belonged, was for ten years president of its board of trustees. Mrs. Tyler is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James F. Clark, who were loyal to all the interests of the Stone Church. The
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beautiful individual communion set used since 1911 is one of her many gifts to the church loved by her parents, her husband and herself.
In the early years of his Cleveland pastorate Dr. Meldrum conducted the Friday Noon Teachers' Class, a task demanding careful study and prepara- tion in detail, in order to assist those who the follow- ing Sunday were to teach. Sixty different schools were represented in this class, whose average attend- ance was one hundred twenty-five.
Dr. Meldrum, furthermore, throughout his Cleve- land pastorate has probably delivered more lectures, dedication and installation sermons, and addresses for annual meetings, commencements and various functions of the Masonic Order, in which he is the Grand Prelate of Ohio, than any of his ministerial brethren. The demands come not only from all parts of the city, but also from distant places. One of his lectures, entitled "Scotland and the Scotch," has de- lighted many audiences. This response to so many calls, without ever slighting church duties, entails a heavy tax, but in some way the Stone Church pastor accomplishes effectively all tasks.
The late Reverend William Gaston, D.D., for a quarter of a century pastor of the North Presby- terian Church, was known as the "Marrying Parson," a title more recently bequeathed to Dr. Meldrum, and that without any effort to secure it. Strange to say the trend of matrimonial business was not toward the Stone Church when the Probate Court was in the old court-house, but since the street leading to
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the new court-house runs alongside the church, those who escape the Justice of the Peace scouts and desire a religious service are wont to stop at the door of the Old Stone Chapel. It is needless to state that Dr. Meldrum employs no "runners" in this business, which is conducted with the same degree of dignity that characterizes all the Stone Church work.
The reports in the year-books issued during the last eighteen years reveal unabated activity in every church organization. The Ladies' Society has never relaxed its various charities. A sample taken at ran- dom when Mrs. George A. Garretson was president in 1909 reveals the wide scope of activities. That year the society supplied material for Miss Weaver's missionary service to the poor; for such charities as the Rainbow Cottage, Perkins Day Nursery, Louise Nursery, Lakeside Hospital, Babies' Hospital and Dispensary, Harbison Cottage, and other organized charities. One thousand three hundred ninety-three articles were made; five boxes were sent to home missionary families in Idaho, North Dakota, Ne- braska, and Virginia, while seventy-six calls were made upon the shut-ins of the church.
In this centennial year the Stone Church Session consists of Elders George F. Boehringer, James H. Burris, Sereno P. Fenn, James N. Fleming, F. C. Gor- ton, L. B. Hall, A. B. Marshall, W. C. Mccullough, Thomas A. Munro, H. B. Ormsby, Claude C. Rus- sell, Philip A. Ryder, and T. A. Torrance.
The Board of Deacons is composed of Mark Blinn, Ray V. Crooks, James Dunn, R. H. Ellsworth, John
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P. Farley, J. M. Gemberling, Roy R. Moffett, Paul G. Moore, T. J. Morrison, J. R. Petrie, J. F. Rankin, Henry A. Raymond, Harry R. Taft, Elliott H. Whit- lock, and Edward M. Williams.
The Sisters in Charge are Mrs. J. N. Fleming, Mrs. S. S. Gardner, Mrs. G. A. Garretson, Mrs. H. Judd, Miss Kate McFarland, Mrs. S. P. Fenn, Mrs. C. A. Nicola, Mrs. S. A. Raymond, Mrs. T. A. Torrance, Miss Jessica Eyears, and Mrs. A. B. Marshall.
The Board of Trustees consists of Martyn Bonnell, president; Charles A. Nicola, Charles W. Bingham, Sereno P. Fenn, James N. Fleming, Lucien B. Hall, and Edward M. Williams. A. B. Marshall serves as treasurer of the society.
The Bible School makes its one hundredth annual report this year. Elder S. P. Fenn as superintendent and Elder P. A. Ryder as assistant superintendent, are ably supported by the following officers: Junior Department, Miss Dorothy Ruth; Primary Depart- ment, Miss Hazel Francisco; Home Department, Miss Hazel Foster; Mothers' and Homemakers' Club, Mrs. J. N. Fleming; treasurer, J. P. Farley; secretary, Rob- ert M. Jack; Syrian Department, Miss Mabel Rogers; Chinese Department, Miss Marion Trapp; Church of the Covenant, Miss Clyde Abernethy; pianist, Miss Anna Bruce; chorister, C. S. Metcalf.
The present enrollment in the regular school totals three hundred eighty-one, a gain of fifty-three over the previous year; adding the Home Department Cradle Roll and kindred organizations, the whole en- rollment is seven hundred forty-three. The receipts
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of the Bible School for the year were two thousand three hundred thirty-seven dollars. The Sisters in Charge, Mrs. S. P. Fenn, president; Miss Jessica A. Eyears, secretary; and Mrs. S. A. Raymond, treas- urer, distributed last year gifts amounting to five hundred seventy-five dollars. The Syrian Mission, a new venture, meets on Sunday afternoon at four o'clock in Bradley Court. Miss Mabel Rogers is superintendent, and thirty-five pupils are enrolled, composed of Syrians, Greeks, and Mexicans. Gospel services have been recently discontinued on account of the death of the Reverend U. E. Fattoosh. Many of the Syrians attend the Stone Church Sunday School.
The Mothers' and Homemakers' Club has forty- one members, officered by Mrs. J. N. Fleming, presi- dent; Mrs. J. H. Burris, vice-president; Mrs. M. W. Zimmer, secretary; and Mrs. Ola O. Boehringer, treasurer. This organization is affiliated with the Cleveland Federation of Women's Clubs, Consum- ers' League, and Congress of Mothers.
The Young Peoples' Society of Christian Endeavor is in its twenty-eighth year. Hugo K. Hannaford is president; Robert Johns, vice-president; Mrs. F. A. Ebeling, corresponding secretary; Miss Alice Black- well, recording secretary, and Harold J. Smith, treas- urer. Mrs. H. K. Hannaford, Miss Margaret Jack, and Miss Florence King serve as pianists. There is a membership of fifty and over one thousand dollars was raised last year and distributed in missionary work.
The Westminster Guild has a membership of
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twenty. Florence Marceaux is president; Florence Pitcher, vice-president; Margaret Jack, treasurer; and Mrs. F. A. Ebeling, secretary.
The Ladies' Society has existed sixty-four years. Mrs. S. S. Gardner is president; Mrs. S. A. Raymond, vice-president; Mrs. R. H. Ellsworth, second vice- president; Mrs. J. N. Fleming, recording secretary; Mrs. J. M. Gemberling, assistant recording secre- tary; Miss Anna P. Oviatt, corresponding secretary; Miss Carrie B. Smith, treasurer; and Mrs. E. C. Gulliford, assistant treasurer. Last year two thou- sand one hundred eighty-five articles were made. Naturally during the recent years much has been done for war relief in addition to the local charities. The receipts for the year amounted to almost two thousand dollars. This society possesses a number of endowment funds, such as the Louisa Austin, the Sarah Parsons, the Blair-Whitaker, the Mary A. Fenn, the Elizabeth Blossom, the Emma S. Ray- mond Endowments, amounting in all to four thou- sand five hundred fifty dollars.
This is the forty-sixth year (according to modern reckoning) of the Woman's Missionary Society, whose officers are Miss Carrie B. Smith, president; Mrs. H. B. Ormsby, first vice-president; Mrs. S. P. Fenn, second vice-president; Mrs. S. S. Gardner, secretary; Mrs. R. H. Ellsworth, alternate secretary; Miss Josephine Eyears, home mission treasurer; Mrs. J. R. Mclaughlin, foreign mission treasurer; Mrs. W. C. Mccullough, secretary of literature. The financial receipts for the year were: home missions, one thou-
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sand one hundred twenty-six dollars; foreign missions, one thousand five hundred sixty dollars.
For the work of the missionary assistant, almost fourteen hundred dollars was disbursed. The Auxil- iary to the Ladies' Society, an organization five years old, is planning a sinking fund for the printing of Dr. Meldrum's sermons. The officers are Florence McEachren, president; Julia McClurg, treasurer; Mary Mix, secretary; and Melissa Peters, chaplain.
The Church of the Covenant is in care of Miss Abernethy.
The membership of the Stone Church reported to the last General Assembly was seven hundred twenty- one; congregational expenses, twenty-four thousand five hundred fifteen dollars; miscellaneous expenses, thirteen thousand three hundred dollars; benevo- lences through church boards alone, twelve thousand sixty-four dollars. During the pastorate of Dr. Mel- drum twelve hundred thirty-two have been received into membership. Congregational expenses have been four hundred fifty-three thousand, six hundred sixty-six dollars; while the benevolences reported to the General Assembly alone have amounted to over three hundred fifty-three thousand dollars, or a total of nine hundred nineteen thousand dollars for church support and benevolences.
In his semicentennial sermon Dr. Goodrich esti- mated that during the half-century one thousand seven hundred thirty-five had been received into the Stone Church membership. At the seventy-fifth anni- versary Dr. Haydn estimated that to that time three
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thousand nine hundred ninety-one had been re- ceived. Upon those estimates the total additions for the century have been five thousand four hundred seventy-four, fourteen hundred eighty-three having been received during the last twenty-five years.
According to the last manual issued forty-one persons now connected with the Stone Church have been members over forty years. Of these the following eleven have been members over half a cen- tury: Mrs. Martha Eyears, sixty-seven years; Mr. Frederick Backus, fifty-nine years; Mrs. Charles W. Bingham, Mrs. Mary A. Cole and Mrs. Clara Simmons, fifty-eight years; Miss Emily A. Harvey, fifty-six years; Mr. Sereno P. Fenn, fifty-five years; Mr. James H. Cogswell, fifty-four years; Mr. Lucien B. Hall, fifty-three years; Mrs. Samuel A. Ray- mond, fifty-one years and Mrs. Eliza A. Pierce, fifty years.
During the recent European War all the Stone Church societies "did their bit" in one way or another. The pastor served on the Mayor's War Committee, and from the congregation the following went forth to military service, forming the Honor Roll of the Stone Church: Arthur Austin, Frank S. Backus, Ser- geant Frank R. Beemer, Earl W. Burrows, Harry Cattrell, Frank Chan, Sergeant Fred. Claire, Captain Irving L. Daniels, Earl M. Donoghue, James Douglas, Louis DeSimonde, Lieutenant George Garretson, Lieutenant Hiram Garretson, George Gilleron, Max Golberg, Clarence Hall, Hugo K. Hannaford, James
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Henderson, Captain Sherlock A. Herrick, Robert W. Johns, Albert Kuebler, Fred Kahn, Stewart Kuhns, Harriet M. McDonald, John F. W. Mckay, Henry Meinke, Lieutenant Douglas G. Meldrum, Michael Nassif, Sergeant William S. Petrie, W. B. Powell, Ensign S. Edward Raymond, Julia Raymond, Jona- than S. Raymond, John Russell, Joseph Schanda, Edward Sills, Charles H. Simpson, Sergeant Harold J. Smith, Charles Todd, Lieutenant Samuel K. Well- man, Corporal Ralph E. White, Lieutenant-Colonel Elliott H. Whitlock, W. L. Witherspoon, Robert S. Wilson, and Walter E. Willock.
Since returning home Miss Harriet M. McDonald, who had served as reconstruction aide, Orthopedic Unit, Base Hospital 114, American Expeditionary Force, has been engaged in an interesting work, at present conducted under the auspices of the Stone Church. At first a free dispensary was opened in the Primary Room of the Stone Church Chapel, where Miss McDonald gave massage to wounded soldiers; also serving them with tea and refreshments. Then a Christmas party was given the soldiers in the Ladies' Parlor, and in return the soldiers gave an entertainment when they were guests of the church ladies. When Mrs. Dudley Blossom gave her Euclid Avenue home to the American Legion Club, she at the same time offered Miss. McDonald the use of a suite of rooms to which she has transferred her dis- pensary. The session of the Stone Church now par- tially supports this work.
Ten years ago the Stone Church celebrated the
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ninetieth anniversary of its founding by a modest program extending over three days, beginning Sun- day, October 16, 1910, at the Sunday School hour, when Elder Charles L. Kimball, an ex-superintendent who had been a member of the school from 1864 until he removed to Chicago in 1898, was given a glad welcome. At the Sunday morning church serv- ice the sermon was delivered by the Reverend Henry W. Hulbert, D.D., a former associate pastor, whose theme was, "The Past as an Inspiration." Prior to the sermon, however, Dr. Haydn, pastor emeritus, was introduced and spoke as follows:
That I am spared to see this day and share this ninetieth anniversary with you I am very grateful. It was said of Moses when one hundred twenty years old that "his eyes were not dim, nor his natural strength abated." It was a fine thing to say of him. It was evidence that there was good stuff in him yet. Something equivalent is need- ful in long-lived institutions, that Christ's old churches may still be virile. One happening around this corner on a Sunday morning will be likely to say, "The Old Stone Church corner is still alive." Live people make a live church, and especially a live pastor makes one. I am happy that still the tokens of life are many upon the old church, and the prophecies of decrepit and fore- shortened days oft writ upon it are as though writ in sand. It is natural on such occasions to eulogize the past. We have a past to thank God for, and especially a record of beautiful, useful, and loving lives upon which to dwell; but let us strike the note that is full of hope for the future. Let us anticipate our century age, in hope of coming up to it with generations of youth able to take up the record of the past and carry it on with credit to themselves, and a history full of the spirit of
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their fathers. That is the prophecy of the Old Stone Church Sunday School for each Lord's Day. May these days quicken our faith, and set our faces with a forward look and a resolute heart full of high purposes upon the work of the future. May there be no faint heart here in this day of great things and surprising achievements.
These were among the last of Dr. Haydn's public utterances, and the exhortation applies to the present centennial occasion as well as to the one of a decade ago.
At the Sunday morning service the congregation sang a hymn, written in honor of the occasion by Professor Howell M. Haydn, son of the venerable pastor emeritus.
At the Sunday afternoon communion service the meditation was given by the Reverend Thomas S. McWilliams, D.D., then pastor of Calvary Presby- terian Church, but now university professor of re- ligious education on the Louis H. Severance Founda- tion at Western Reserve University. Other ministers participating were the Reverends Edwards P. Cleave- land, Wilber C. Mickey, and Alfred J. Wright, pas- tors respectively of the Bolton Avenue, Bethany, and Lakewood Presbyterian churches, all founded by the Stone Church. Elders representing the four churches distributed the elements.
Sunday evening there were special exercises at the Christian Endeavor Society, followed by the church service with a sermon on "The Demand for Con- secrated Manhood" by the Reverend Paul R. Hickok, of Washington, D. C., formerly an assistant pastor in the Stone Church. Monday afternoon at three-
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thirty o'clock there was a "twilight organ recital and concert," given by Professor William B. Colson, organist, assisted by the choir, composed of Mrs. Anna M. Wanamaker, soprano; Miss Grace Upham, alto; Mr. Edwin H. Douglass, tenor, and Mr. Walter C. Howell, bass.
Monday evening brought a memorial, congratu- latory, and inspirational service, at which addresses were made by pastors of churches founded by the Stone Church, and by the Reverend Henry W. Hul- bert, D.D., and the Reverend Paul R. Hickok. The main address of the occasion, however, was that of Elder Livingston Fewsmith, assistant pastor, who described the organized work of the past, and of the period that had elapsed since the seventy-fifth anni- versary in 1895 he said:
During the last fifteen years we have expended for cur- rent expenses two hundred thirty-five thousand dollars, and for benevolences and all other objects of which we have record three hundred thousand sixty-five dollars, an average of forty thousand dollars a year. It should be noted that for every dollar expended toward con- gregational expenses there has been more than one given to benevolent work.
No one anticipated with greater interest the ap- proach of the centennial celebration than did the late Elder Livingston Fewsmith, who had stood by the side of the Reverend Andrew B. Meldrum, D.D., during almost the full extent of the latter's Cleveland pastorate. The substance if not the exact language of what was said at the ninetieth anniversary fitly
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closes this record of Dr. Meldrum's fruitful work. Probably no church in the city, and indeed through- out the country, is as cosmopolitan in character as the Stone Church. Although from the first it has numbered among its membership many of the wealthiest and cultured families of the city, it has always been the church home of people of moderate means and of those poor in this world's goods, but often rich in faith. Throughout its existence an in- spiring harmony has reigned, a Christian fellowship recognized by the community in general as an ex- ample of what a Christian church ought to be.
The effective pastoral labors of Drs. Aiken, Good- rich, Mitchell and Haydn, whose prolonged service made him a veritable bishop of the whole Presbyterian fellowship in Cleveland, have often been eulogized. Their lives cover the greater part of the history of the Stone Church. Following them as a worthy suc- cessor comes Dr. Meldrum, to whom under God's guidance is largely due the fact that the venerable organization shows no signs of decrepitude, but rather evidence of increasing power. Any eulogy re- garding the work and character of the present hon- ored leader must express the virility, the fearless- ness, and at the same time the sympathetic tender- ness of his preaching; the marked attainments of his life as a man, and the unique position which he holds as a minister in Cleveland. Hope, good cheer, im- perial duty, in short a well-balanced Christianity, have characterized the life of the Stone Church dur- ing the last eighteen years, and under the blessing
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of God these qualities give promise of continuance for years to come.
Church of a noble past, Our hearts' leal love thou hast, In this glad hour. We hail thy wealth of days, And in triumphant lays, Render to God our praise, For all thy power.
A host of valiant souls, Names that illume thy rolls, Have gone before. May we as in their sight, Keep thy lamp burning bright, Waging in God's own might, Our holy war.
We have a fight in hand, If we would loyal stand, Like them of old. Thou need'st our watch and care, Thou need'st our toil and prayer, And we must do and dare, Lest love grow cold.
Church of the hundred years, Our faith upon thee rears, New hopes today. May God who's led thee on, In the dear Christ His Son, Still crown with victory won, Thy heavenward way.
-Howell M. Haydn
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