USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > A history of the Harriet Hollond Memorial Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, Pa. > Part 7
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humanity than have those with hundreds of members whose only evidence of Christianity is that their names appear on the church registers. For, after all, it is the upbuilding of Christ-like manhood and womanhood that counts. It is in this direction that Hollond has rendered a far-reaching service. It has never failed in its insistence that for a life to ring true, creed and conduct must go hand in hand. Through its influence, character has been developed, homes have been refined, and social life has grown purer and more wholesome. Eternity alone will reveal the results of the quiet and beautiful ministry of those who have here been taught to stand bravely in life's hard places for "whatsoever things are true."
That the church is dear to many may be inferred from the following portion of a letter recently written by one of its workers :
" What a powerful centre of usefulness our dear Hollond is ! How helpful is the influ- ence of the truly consecrated lives we have in our church family ! The services are reverent and uplifting, and the entire atmosphere a joy and a benediction. It is a holy place-a place for the truly penitent soul to get into close and helpful touch with its Saviour. I am always spiritually stronger after a Sunday of sweet content passed within the walls of our beloved Zion. I am thankful that there are so many
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good and true friends of Jesus among our mem- bers, for I know that he is always present for their sakes, and maybe for the sake also of what I long to be, and because he knows that I have so much need of his presence. My daily prayer is that all of us may so labor that our work may be as lasting as eternity ; that when we shall pass into the great hereafter we may see from the heavenly heights many precious sheaves gathered from our sowing."
Nor is this feeling confined alone to those who now labor with us; a young lady in a dis- tant city writes :
" I do not know what the influence was, or wherein lay the charm, but I do know that I always loved and revered my associations with Hollond far above those of any other church. Although I have now been away from it ten years, yet even to this day a great longing pos- sesses me every Sabbath to be there whenever I hear the church bells here ringing. Dear old Hollond ! I wonder if you know just how much your children-whether they be near or far-love you !"
Several of our young men, who received their inspiration and training here and who gave in return much helpful service while they were with us, are now in the gospel ministry, and all have charges. Their names and addresses follow : Rev. Charles A. Oliver, York, Pa .;
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Rev. Robert H. Kirk, Coleraine, Pa .; Rev. Peter Rioseco (who is doing an important work as a Sabbath-school missionary of the Presby- terian Board of Publication and Sabbath-school Work) Havana, Cuba ; Rev. Samuel Semple, Titusville, Pa .; Rev. W. F. S. Nelson, Ambler, Pa .; Rev. Cleveland Frame, South Hermitage, Pa .; Rev. Charles G. Hopper, Georgetown, Delaware; Rev. Ray H. Carter, assistant pas- tor of the Walnut Street Church, Philadelphia ; Rev. Harry W. Bloch, assistant to Dr. W. M. Paden in the First Presbyterian Church, Salt Lake City, Utah ; and Rev. W. H. Dyer, Audenreid, Pa. Although Messrs. Kirk and Rioseco were not members of our church, yet they were so intimately associated with us as to be always included among "our boys."
THEODORE H. LODER
OLD LEADERS AND NEW
Under God, much of our spiritual and nu- merical growth was due to the faithful pulpit and pastoral ministrations of Drs. Paden and Miller. With a fidelity seldom excelled, they devoted themselves, to the extent of their ability, to the work, and it is not surprising that they won the love and confidence of all their people.
During the latter part of 1891, Dr. Paden's health became impaired, and early in January,
1892, he was granted by the ses-
DR. PADEN sion a leave of absence of three
THE SOUTH
IN months, which was afterwards extended to nine, in order that
he might recuperate. He spent much of the time in the mountains of North and South Carolina and was greatly benefited. His first sermon, after his return, was delivered in the chapel on the 2d of October. He said in part: " If there was one desire uppermost in my heart as I entered the new year, it was to make it the most active and effective year of my ministry. As a pastor, a preacher, an
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apostle of good courage, an organizer for the day of church-occupation, and as a useful as- sistant in the thousand little things which some one must know about in an era of church building, I desired to shoulder and carry my share of the burden. Instead, at the beginning of the year I was laid aside with grippe-pneu- monia, and have spent the months for which I had devised unusual industry, in inactivity, while nature made her kindly, but tedious repairs.
"Just now, I would talk about things just ahead, rather than of things just past-with this one exception: I am eager to say that one of the divinest touches which has ever come into my life, has come through your affection - ate and prayerful interest in me during these months of absence. None of you will be jeal- ous when I give Dr. Miller the place of honor in this ministry of love. He has served you for me, and me for you; and all of us for Christ in a very Christ-like way. Other loving-kind- nesses have come into my life through the wise and prompt provisions made for me by the session; the words of love and good cheer from one and another of the people; and through the Spirit of Love which brought me boundless comfort through my confidence in the unspoken affections of the many whose love has been none the less real because silent."
GEORGE D. MCILVAINE
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Dr. Miller was away from the city from March 27, 1893, to the middle of the following May, during which time he enjoyed an ex- tended trip along the Pacific coast.
In the fall of 1895, Dr. Paden received an invitation to spend the winter in Paris for the purpose of taking charge of the
DR. PADEN evangelistic movement which had GOES TO PARIS for its main object the reaching of the English and American art students in the Latin Quarter of that city. At first, he virtually refused to consider the pro- position, deeming it inexpedient to leave the work of Hollond even for a season; but after much conference, he finally determined to ac- cept. The session took the following action:
WHEREAS, Rev. Wm. M. Paden, D.D., has been invited to take charge of highly important evangelical work among the American and English students in Paris for six months from the Ist of December prox .; and
WHEREAS, A careful examination by the pastors and session of the opportunities thus afforded indicates hopeful promise of large influence for good; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Paden is inclined to enter upon the work if it appears possible to do so without impairing the efficiency and usefulness of the Hollond Memorial Church. Therefore it is
Resolved, That in the opinion of this session it is possible to carry out the plan suggested in
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the foregoing preamble, and therefore that Rev. Dr. Paden is granted a six months' leave of absence from the pastorate of the Hollond Memorial Church, the dates of such absence to be determined by his own convenience; and it is further
Resolved, That Mr. W. H. Dyer be em- ployed to assist Rev. Dr. Miller in the addi- tional pastoral work during and caused by the absence of Dr. Paden, and that Dr. Paden's place in the pulpit be filled by the engagement of other clergymen as supplies.
Dr. Paden sailed for Paris on the 21st of November, 1895, and returned on the 5th of June, 1896. Dr. Miller, who spent July and August, 1896, in Europe, thus wrote: "It was very pleasant in Paris to hear good reports of Dr. Paden's work among the students. Most of those who attended his services are now away from their artist haunts, but I had the pleasure of meeting with two or three of them, and was delighted to hear them speak so grate- fully of Dr. Paden and so confidently of the value of his work and influence. Dr. Thurber, pastor of the American Chapel, spoke without stint of the value of Dr. Paden's services."
During Dr. Paden's absence, Dr. Miller re- ceived invaluable assistance in the pastoral work from Mr. W. H. Dyer, a member of Hollond, and at that time a student in Prince- ton Theological Seminary. He greatly en- deared himself to the people by his faithful
CHARLES HUNTER
H. P. FORD
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and sympathetic devotion to the work. Dur- ing Dr. Miller's absence in Europe, he con- tinued to assist Dr. Paden.
Among the prominent clergymen who ap- peared in our pulpit while Dr. Paden was away, were Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler, Brooklyn, New York; Dr. L. Y. Graham, Philadelphia; Dr. J. R. Danforth, Philadelphia; Dr. Charles A. Dickey, Philadelphia; Dr. James O. Murray, dean of Princeton University; Mr. Robert E. Speer, secretary of the Board of Foreign Mis- sions; Dr. Charles Wood, Philadelphia; Rev. Charles A. Oliver, York, Pa .; Dr. J. F. Dripps, Germantown, Pa .; Dr. Arthur J. Brown, sec- retary of the Board of Foreign Missions; Dr. William R. Taylor, of the Brick Church, Rochester, New York; Dr. S. W. Dana, Phil- adelphia; Dr. Maltbie D. Babcock, of the Brown Memorial Church, Baltimore, Md. ; Dr. Alexander McKenzie, Cambridge, Mass .; Rev. Stephen B. Penrose, president of Whit- man College, Washington; Dr. J. D. Moffatt, president of Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Pa .; Rev. Henry E. Cobb, of the Collegiate Reformed Church, New York, and Dr. William Brenton Greene, Jr., of Princeton Theological Seminary.
It is but just to state that it was expressly stipulated by Dr. Paden that the expenses in- curred for pastoral assistance and for pulpit
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supplies during his absence in Paris should be paid out of his salary account, which was done.
The year 1897 brought to the work its most serious losses. In April, Mr. Robert C. Ogden, whose business required him to be permanently in New York, re- THE LOSSES
OF 1897 signed the superintendency of
the school. He had given to it eighteen years of the most faithful and helpful service. Other losses were to follow-the res- ignations of Drs. Paden and Miller.
Dr. Paden spent his summer vacation of that year in Utah, and during his visit preached in the First Presbyterian Church of Salt Lake City. Soon after his return he received a call from that church to come to it as its pastor. After careful consideration of all the interests involved, he determined to accept the call. This decision he announced from the pulpit on Sunday morning, October 3d-his four- teenth anniversary as the pastor of Hollond.
The next day Presbytery took the following action:
" At a meeting of the Presbytery of Phila- delphia, held October 4, 1897, the Rev. William M. Paden, D.D., presented a request for the dissolution of his pastoral relations to the Hollond Memorial Church. Whereupon it was
"Resolved, That the congregation of the Hollond Memorial Church be, and the same
T
CHARLES A. CHEW
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are hereby cited to appear by commissioners duly appointed, at a meeting of the Presbytery to be held in the Assembly Room, 1334 Chest- nut street, on Monday, October 18, 1897, at 2 o'clock, to show cause, if any there be, why Dr. Paden's request be not granted."
On the 14th of October Dr. Miller sent to the session the following letter:
" My relation as a worker in the Hollond Memorial Presbyterian Church had its origin in an invitation from the boards of the church. It has reference only to the pastorate of Dr. Paden. If therefore Dr. Paden's resignation be accepted, my relation to the church is at the same time ended without any motion of mine.
"But to remove all uncertainty in the matter, I hereby tender to the session my resignation, to take effect on and after next Sabbath, Oc- tober 17th.
"I would have it understood also that this severance of relations on my part is final; that I could not consent to return to any pastoral relation in the church. The nature of my other duties to the Church at large, in my editorial position in the Board of Publication, devolves upon me ever-increasing burden and responsi- bility, making it impossible for me to assume again the additional labors of a pastorate or co-pastorate.
"Any assistance, however, which I can
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render the Hollond Church in securing another pastor, I will cheerfully give. Any visiting of the sick, burying of the dead, or other such ministries as I can perform, until a new pastor is installed, I shall gladly render.
" I must thank the session, the other church boards, and the people of Hollond, for the courtesy and affection which I have received during all these years of my connection with the work. I have tried to do my duty, but no one can be so conscious of the inadequacy of my service as I am myself.
" While I shall no longer have any official connection with the church, I shall never cease to have the warmest affection for it and the deepest interest in its growth and prosperity. I have put too much love and toil and prayer into my nearly seventeen years in Hollond, ever to forget the church.
" I shall cherish the memory of these years of close fellowship with Dr. Paden. For ten years he was a member of my own family and we shall always hold him in most kindly regard. My prayers will rise to God for him in his new home and work, and I shall be affectionately interested in his personal happiness and in the prosperity of the important work to which he believes he has been so clearly called of God."
A congregational meeting, to take action on
CHARLES A. HOEHLING
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Dr. Paden's request, was held in the chapel on Friday evening, October 15th.
CONGREGA- Dr. William H. Gill, at the re-
TIONAL
MEETING quest of the session, acted as moderator. Dr. Paden spoke briefly as follows:
"On Sunday week I tried to make it clear that my request to be released was not due to any lack of confidence in this field; it is one of the very best in the city, a church set on a fruitful hill. It is in good financial condition, and is in every way a desirable charge. I want you to understand that I do not resign in a fit of discouragement; that I am not trying to get away from a church that I feel has reached its best. I want to leave you full of courage as to the undeveloped capacity of this field.
"I tried, in the second place, to have you understand clearly that I do not go, or ask you to release me, because I distrust you, or the loyalty or love of the members, or any of the members, of this congregation; and I want to emphasize, that least of all do I distrust the loy- alty and love of the session of this congregation, for our records will show that for fourteen years there has not been a divided vote.
" The next Sabbath I tried to show to you the other side-the overmastering reason I had for going. I tried to give you a glimpse of what I considered to be providential indica-
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tions that my going west is a part of God's plan for my life.
"My conscience is perfectly clear on this subject. I cannot be true to my conscience without hearing the ' Woe be unto me' if I obey not this call, which I have every reason to believe to be the voice of God.
"I simply ask that you join with me in re- questing my release of Presbytery, in order that I may obey these beckonings of provi- dence. Only a glimpse of these beckonings have been given to you, because God's deal- ings are very personal with man. I simply ask that you will trust me, and trust God's providence. Never once in these fourteen years has this congregation said ' no' to any- thing for which I asked. And you will under- stand, I think, that this is a matter which is more personal to me than anything I have ever asked of you before; and I say that the way in which you can best show your confidence in the saneness of my judgment, in the sincerity of my desires to follow conscience, and what I believe to be the voice of God-the best way in which you can show your affection for me, the best way and clearest way, is by joining with me in asking for my release.
"Yes, there is one way that is better; there is one way that you can show your loyalty and love to me better, and that is by standing by
GEORGE H. KELLY
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this work after you have released me, and I am gone.
"God grant that the future of Hollond may be the best testimony that could possibly be made to the fact that good work has been done here during the past!"
Mr. W. L. Cooke read the following resolu- tions, addressed to the Presbytery of Philadel- phia, which were adopted by a standing vote -no one speaking or voting against them:
I. That we hereby acquiesce with Dr. Paden in his request that the pastoral relations between himself and this congregation be dissolved.
2. That we take this action with unfeigned reluc- tance and deepest regret, not of any voluntary motion or desire on our part, but because of Dr. Paden's insistence that it should be done, he having both pri- vately and from the pulpit declared it to be his sol- emn conviction that it is his duty to accept the call recently tendered him by the First Presbyterian Church in Salt Lake City, Utah.
3. That in taking this action, the Hollond Memor- ial Presbyterian Church and congregation hereby de- sire to express their very high appreciation of Dr. Paden as a man, a Christian, a preacher and pastor, and as a man of high literary culture and attainments, and to bear testimony to the sincere affection and respect with which he is universally regarded, not only by the people of his immediate flock, but by the community at large.
4. That we take pleasure in bearing testimony to the success of his ministry amongst us both from a material and spiritual point of view. When Dr. Paden
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was settled over us as pastor fourteen years ago, the membership of our church was hardly more than three hundred, while at the present time it numbers nearly twelve hundred ; and it has been during his adminis- tration also, and owing in a goodly measure to his persevering efforts, that our house of worship on Broad street has been erected. No one has recognized more generously than Dr. Paden that, in carrying for- ward all this great work to its present prosperous con- dition, he has been ably seconded by the Rev. J. R. Miller, D.D., who, at the request of the session, has been associated with him during nearly the whole of his pastorate, and whose services on behalf of the church have been as unremitting as they have been invaluable, the two striving together for the glory of God in the upbuilding of Hollond.
5. That in parting with Dr. Paden, whom we love, our sorrow and perplexity are rendered all the greater because the nature of the relation existing between him and Dr. Miller, whom we also love, is such that the severance of the one tie carries with it and in- volves the severance of the other, so that we are, as it were, bereft of two pastors at one stroke, leaving us a pastorless flock, as sheep without a shepherd. Never- theless, we face the future hopefully, confident that He, whose work it is, will constantly watch over us, and in his own good time send us another or others of his servants, who will take the oversight of the flock and give to the work a still greater enlargement than it has even now attained.
6. That we will ever cherish the most grateful re- collections of these years of unwearied and self-deny- ing labors for Hollond on the part of both these be- loved brethren; that we will enshrine them both in our hearts and remember them in our prayers, pray- ing that they may long be spared, each in his own
AMOS DOTTERER
S
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sphere, to aid in the upbuilding and extension of the Redeemer's kingdom; and for Dr. Paden, whose call removes him not only from our church but from our city, that a success even greater than that he has achieved here in Philadelphia may crown his labors in Utah, or wherever God in his providence may order his lot.
7. That Messrs. John Russell, H. P. Ford, W. J. Barr, T. H. Lodor, and W. L. Cooke be, and hereby are appointed commissioners to represent this church and congregation, and to present this action to the Presbytery.
In closing the meeting Dr. Gill said :
" It has been my pleasure on more than one occasion to speak of Hollond as a united con- gregation. I have not heard a single word of dissension against this people by anyone. It is a very great record for any congregation that is so large, with two pastors associated together for fourteen years, to be at peace among them- selves, to be in harmony and accord as brethren in the Lord. As you love your Saviour, as you serve your God, stand by each other, stand by your Master, stand by the church, and God will take care of you. It is God's church, and his work. He sympathizes with you, and he will see that the work goes on. Workmen may die, men may come and go, but the work goes on forever-at least until the purposes for which the Church has been constituted in the world, have been accomplished."
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On Monday afternoon, October 18th, Pres- bytery reluctantly acquiesced in the request for a dissolution of the pastoral rela-
ACTION OF tionship existing between Dr.
PRESBYTERY Paden and the church. Mr. W. L. Cooke, presented the resolu- tions adopted at the congregational meeting, and made a short address, expressive of the devotion of the people to Dr. Paden, and of their sorrow and deep sense of loss at his going front them. Brief remarks along the same line were also made by the other three commis- sioners present-Messrs. Theodore H. Loder, H. P. Ford, and John Russell. Addresses full of regret, commendation, and high personal regard, were made by the Rev. Drs. A. J. Sul- livan, W. H. Gill, H. A. Nelson, M. J. Hynd- man, J. G. Bolton, J. A. Henry, W. M. Rice, and others.
"There is no man," said Dr. Paden, "to whom I would more willingly commit the work of Hollond at this time than to Dr. Miller. I most earnestly and heartily unite with the ses- sion in asking that he be appointed moderator of the church until a pastor be chosen."
Presbytery granted the request. The Rev. Dr. Gill was appointed to preach on the fol- lowing Sabbath, and to declare the pulpit vacant.
By a standing vote, Presbytery adopted the following :
JAMES C. TAYLOR
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Resolved, That we place upon record our sincere regret at the departure of the Rev. Dr. Paden from the Presbytery ; that we hereby express our high appreciation of his eminent Christian character ; his ability as a preacher, pastor and presbyter ; that we shall follow him with our prayers and best wishes for his suc- cess to his new field of labor.
Dr. Paden preached his last sermon as the pastor of Hollond on Sunday evening, October 17th, his text being " For I am
DR. ยท PADEN'S persuaded that neither death, nor
LAST
SERMON life * * * shall be able to separate us from the love of God." Romans 8 : 38-39. The church was crowded. On the following Wednesday evening, the Ushers' Association tendered him a farewell reception in the chapel. People were in line until nearly eleven o'clock waiting for an opportu- nity to take him by the hand, to express their sorrow at his going, and to wish him God- speed in his new field of labor.
Dr. W. H. Gill preached at both services on Sunday, October 24th. Just before he an- nounced his morning text, he THE PULPIT DECLARED VACANT said: "I am here at the request of the session and by appointment of Presbytery, to inform this congre- gation officially that the request of Dr. Paden- that the pastoral relation existing between him and this church be dissolved-has been granted.
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I now officially declare this pulpit to be vacant."
By virtue of his appointment by Presbytery as moderator of the Hollond session, Dr. Mil- ler continued to perform all pas- toral duties until the pulpit should
SEEKING A PASTOR be filled. Steps were at once taken to secure a pastor. Several committees, consisting of representative men of the congregation, visited nearby cities to hear able ministers ; a number of clergymen, who were preaching as supplies in other pul- pits in this city, were also heard. No recom- mendations, however, were made.
Dr. George Edward Martin preached twice in our pulpit on Sunday, April 24, 1898. He also conducted both services on Sunday, May Ist. At a congre-
DR. MARTIN CALLED gational meeting held in the chapel on the 10th of May, he received a unanimous call to the pastorate. Messrs. William L. Cooke, William J. Barr, Charles A. Hoehling, John Russell and Daniel J. Weaver, were appointed commissioners to present the call to Presbytery.
Dr. Miller preached his last sermon on Sun- day evening, June 5th, his subject being, " Into Thine Hands." Psalm
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