A history and record of the Protestant Episcopal church in the diocese of West Virginia, Part 24

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At a meeting of the Annual Council of the Diocese of West Virginia, held in May, 1884, on the recommendation of a committee appointed to consider a suggestion made by the Bishop, the following resolution was adopted:

' That the Bishop appoint a committee, of such composi- tion as to number and Order as he shall think best, to at- tend the celebration of the Centennial of the Diocese of Vir- ginia and represent this Diocese.'

In pursuance, then, of the resolution aforesaid, and by the appointment of our Bishop, we, a delegation of Clergy and Laymen, appear among you on this auspicious occasion to represent the Diocese of West Virginia.

For 254 years (1607-1861) under the same political rule; for 271 years (1607-1878) in identical relations, whether hinder- ing or helpful, with the Church at large; for 87 years re- joicing in the personal supervision and ministration of the same Bishop, we cannot, in a day or week, forget that long and eventful connection, and we promise ourselves that while remembered by us or by our children it shall not be ignored. Today the mother keeps her birthday, and the

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daughter, an only child, fearless of presuming on her privi- leges, comes back to the homestead to pay her filial respects.

In our opinion the history of the Church in Virginia, and especially of its revival between the years 1814 and 1845-a period which includes the consecration of Bishops Moore, Meade and Johns-should be known to the Church people of West Virginia as well as to those who march under the standard of the old Diocese. To us it reads like a romance.

Contemplating the depressed condition of the Church in the infant Commonwealth at the close of the Revolution, and the failure for thirty years after of every effort to re- vive her, we are drawn into a realizing sympathy with the hopelessness, if not the apathy, which seemed during those dark days to have fettered her hands. Served only by minis- ters holding their commission from a Church identified with an alien Government; stripped of her property by the acts of her own legislators, many of whom had followed her sons in their struggle for liberty; regarded as legitimate prey by hostile Sectaries of every name; reduced in number of Par- ishes to less than one-half, and in Clergy to the pitiful count of twenty-eight; suffering in several instances from the im- moral conduct of her ordained representatives; without Episcopal supervision, without clerical organization, with- out power to increase her ministry, we cease to won- der that the religion of her people took narrower forms than those encouraged by her teaching, and that scepticism and worldliness ran riot in our Zion. The necessity of an outward organization of the Church for the · preservation of the faith, once delivered to the saints,' was never perhaps in history more thoroughly exemplified.

But to our minds the other side of this picture is not less striking nor less full of instructive lessons. The first Con- vention of 1785, and the consecration of Bishop Madison in 1790, were efforts after organization, which, to a great ex- tent failed of their object. The additions to the strength of the Diocese, made in the ordination of the Rev. William

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Meade and the consecration of Bishop Moore, however val- uable in themselves, seemed utterly inadequate to the task of resuscitating the dying. And the burning of the Richmond Theater, in 1811, was an event as foreign as possible to our conception of the conditions of Church growth. Yet these incidents combined-conspired, let us rather say-to raise the Church in the State of Virginia from the throes of im- minent dissolution to a position of commanding influence in the State and Nation. It is very wonderful, and yet not more so than the record of the awakening itself. For not like an invalid recovering from wasting illness, but like a giant re- freshed with sleep, the Church spirit of the Old Dominion, throughout its borders, and by a single impulse, bestirred it- self. The Valley of the Shenandoah, then a new land and full of lusty life, called to the regions adjacent to the sea, and the fertile many-fountained slopes, lying along the mount- ain's feet, repeated the summons and echoed the ready rply.

To a mind in sympathy with the people among whom this movement took place, and especially with the cause it fur- thered and whose success it assured, few epochs in our his- tory are more affecting. Jerusalem awoke and put on her strength, careless, men say, of the beautiful garments in which that strength should be arrayed, but majestic in the earnestnes of her purpose.

In 1815 Bishop Moore made an encouraging report to the Convention; in 1830, there were one hundred organized Par- ishes in the Diocese; in 1845 two hundred Parishes, one hun- dred Clergy, and fifty persons studying for the Ministry, gave full occupation to two Bishops. A period, we remark, of thirty years, which it is impossible not to contrast with the thirty years preceding, during which the Clergy list, small to begin with, had steadily decreased until only seven could be gotten together for the important work of electing a Bishop.

The story is told in brief on the monument of Bishop Moore, which, almost hidden among the trees of Shockoe

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Hill cemetery, is yet a shrine towards which the feet of every Virginia Churchman should at some time be turned. Part of the inscription runs thus: . In the Convention that called him to the Episcopate there were only seven mem- bers; at the time of his death there were ninety-five Clergy men in the Diocese of Virginia.' Truly, God's ways are not our ways, and the indications of His providential care over His Church, afforded in the events to which this slight ref- erence is made, we of West Virginia would not fail to re- call, if for no other reason than this, that from there we may gain renewed assurance of the divine favor on a similar task, which in His name we have set for ourselves.

Nor would we forget the men whose names are identified with this noble movement. Bishop Moore-with many distin- guished qualifications for the work of revival-gracious, elo- quent, and loving. Bishop Meade, wise, untiring, indomitable, and, in the discharge of duty, at home and abroad, absolutely fearless. A born leader of men, his figure would be conspicu- ous in any group where he may be found. Wilmer and Norris, who brought to us from Maryland their varied gifts and ac- quirements in answer to our appeal, 'Come over and help us.' Balmain, generous and disinterested, occupying an advance post in the good old town of Winchester. Syme, who, by virtue of a blameless life and a commanding position on Court House Hill, held the fort in Petersburg. Buch- anan, the approved preacher, the unequalled reader, the genial companion, the bounteous friend, of whom a con- temporary wrote immediately after his death: The Saviour said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' These two laws were written on the tablets of this excellent man's heart.' No Christian ever had a higher eulogy.

And side by side with these as from the section of the old State from which our Diocese is framed, we particularly

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mention Benjamin Allen, of whom it is recorded that in his ministry he left few neighborhoods in Jefferson and Berke- ley unfrequented, and by reason of the fact that he read, meditated, and composed, and perhaps, like Caesar, wrote on horseback, was ready to preach wherever he came. John Thompson Brooke, whose first charge was Martinsburg and Hedgesville, and whose finished sermons were written only on the pages of his wonderful memory.

Joseph Doddridge, M. D., who, besides ministering to a congregation on the hills of Brooke County, and preaching in Wheeling, confers upon Virginia the honor of sending the first Episcopal missionary into Ohio, where he organized five Parishes. John Armstrong, first Rector in Wheeling, whose ministry, whether we know anything else of it or not, has one infallible seal, his worthy son William succeeded in time to the father's work. In these men, their virtues, and the memory of their labors, we here claim a heritage, which for West Virginia and her children we desire to make per- petual.

But West Virginia is a Diocese, complete in equipment, developing in strength, already, comparative statistics being the witness, holding no mean place among the Churches. Adopting the language of the preface to the Prayer Book, we think proper to make here the grateful acknowledgment that the Church we represent ' is indebted under God for its first foundation and a long continuance of nursing care and protection' to the Church in Virginia.

It is a source of gratification to us that many of your Clergy-among them Bishop Whittle-ministered in our Parishes; that the first missionaries from Virginia, to Vir- ginia west of the Alleghenies-the Rev. Charles Page and the Rev. William Lee-were sent by the Association of the Val- ley, an organization which, under the name of the Valley Convocation, by its generous disregard of State lines, still binds the two Dioceses together; that for years the occu- pants of most of our pulpits were assigned to their posts by

REV. GEO. W. EASTER.

RECTORY, UNION.

ST. THOMAS, WHITE SULPHUR.

ALL SAINTS, UNION.

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the Bishop of Virginia; that our Clergy were from the Vir- ginia Seminary, and our Laity took lessons in Church Legis- lation in your Councils. If, in this last connection, it should ever be agreed that improvements have been made on the copy, surely the teacher will rejoice in the pupil's aptness.

It is not, however, characteristic of our Western people to dwell long, certainly not exclusively, on the past. Look- ing to a future, to be marked by achievements greater than any we have yet seen, we value chiefly the present as the period in which our part, if done at all, is to be performed. And today West Virginia counts its relation to the old Dio- cese both interesting and important.

The endowment of $5,000, received when we were starting our organization, has, with other funds, enabled us to pro- vide a substantial and commodious house for our Bishop, situated on a hill overlooking one of the most beautiful val- leys in this country, and not less desirably located ecclesi- astically.

The position accorded us on the Board of Trustees of the Seminary of Virginia is a gratifying one. Whether we had any voice in the management of the institution or not, we believe it would still be 'our Seminary,' but under the pres- ent organization the bond is even closer and more secure.

Our contributions for religious and theological education are handed over in bulk to the Virginia Education Society, and the act is regarded by us, not as a return for the aid afforded us by that Society, but as a recognition of its gen- erosity.

For the benefits, therefore, which at this very time the Dio- cese of West Virginia is receiving from Virginia, we take this occasion of general gathering and mutual congratulations to express our obligations. In Smith's History of Virginia it is related that 'the first religious services in the Colony were held by the Church of England-Chaplain, Good Parson Hunt-under an awning and common tent.' So small was the beginning of the Church to which we give our allegiance.

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How that tent has stretched! The dimensions ascribed in an Eastern story to a shelter of that kind are not worthy to be its measure-that the creation of an Oriental imagina- tion, when folded, could be carried in the hand, but, when pitched, accommodated an army. The awning under which the Church in Virginia first gathered has spread its folds over a State !- two States !!- may we not say half a conti- nent? And still the command comes to lengthen our cords and to strengthen our stakes. Truth is stranger than fiction. In our case, as well as in that of the world at large, the prophecy has been fulfilled: . The little one shall become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation.'

Brethren of Virginia, the West Virginia delegation is here today to mingle with your thanksgivings for favors received in the past. We are here also to supplicate with you the Throne of Grace, that in love and in zeal we may walk wor- thy of the vocation wherewith as Christians and as Church- men we are called.

Such an answer to our prayers, as we may reasonably ex- pect, will furnish ground for renewed thanksgiving a hundred years hence."

On the next day Judge Sheffey, from the Committee ap- pointed to prepare a reply to the congratulations extended by the Diocese of West Virginia, reported the following res- olution :

"Resolved, That the Council of the Diocese of Virginia, de- sires to express its cordial and grateful appreciation of the Centennial greeting, so eloquently and s› affectionately ten- dered to the Diocese on yesterday by the Bishop and other Deputies from the Diocese of West Virginia. In this, the hundredth anniversary of the orderly reorganization of the Church in her borders in 1785, the Mother Diocese with warm heart and just maternal pride returns the greeting of her daughter, and rejoices to point to her as one of her jewels; and she humbly prays that the mother and the daughter may continue to walk together in love and in the unity of common

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spirit to set forward and maintain the precious 'faith once delivered to the saints.' "

Respectfully submitted, ROBERT A. GIBSON, Chairman.

The Council of 1886. Charles Town.

The Ninth Annual Council met in Zion Church, Charles- town, on Wednesday, June 2d. The Bishop presided. The Rev. C. C. Pearson preached the sermon. The Revs. J. B. Fitzpatrick and H. T. Wirgman were ordered Priests. There were present nineteen Clergymen and sixteen Laymen.

The Bishop announced the movement for a Hospital, Or- phanage and Home in the Kanawha Valley, begun in Jan- uary. Receipts to date, $2,768.41.

Deputies to the General Convention: Rev. R. R. Swope, Rev. R. A. Gibson, Rev. L. R. Mason, Rev. R. A. Cobbs, Gen']. Wm. P. Craighill, Mr. N. S. White, Mr. R. J. MeCandlish, Maj. Thos. L. Broun.

Alternates: Rev. R. D. Roller, Rev. T. H. Lacy, D. D .. Rev. Dallas Tucker, Rev. C. C. Pearson, Prof. R. C. Berke- ley, Mr. Cruger Smith, Mr. E. I. Lee, Mr. Ben Hurxthal.

From the Bishop's address:

Church Music.

I want to say a word to the Council on the subject of the music of the Church. It is a very important subject, since so large a part of our service may be musical, and since the hymns and chants not only form a pleasing feature and afford a grateful variety in our worship, but contain also, in familiar and beautiful form, the most precious truths of the Gospel of our Saviour, Christ.

These hymns and chants are for all, and when a large part of the congregation is practically barred from using them, or · systematically discouraged in trying to do so, there is great impropriety committed and great injustice done. Not to speak of music that is light and unseemly, it is far too often

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the case that its newness or its difficulty, practically, ex- cludes the greater part of the people from joining in it.

If the Book of Common Prayer is to be looked upon, not only in the nature of a guide to public worship, but also in the light of a compact between all who mutually accept it, we may well demand, in behalf of a large part of those who worship in our churches, that they be not thus debarred from taking part in the service. By what right do a few persons monopolize the magnificent verses of the Te Deum, or those sweet Psalms of David? Surely it cannot tend to edification to have the great mass of the congregation pain- fully and impatiently waiting, while the choir is making such intricate progress through the words of the chants, that al- most every feeling of devotion is lost in a natural anxiety as to whether they will safely reach the conclusion.

Although this is, confessedly, a most difficult matter to deal with, yet the Minister must face the responsibility, and not allow so important a part of the public worship of God, to be so often shorn, as I fear it is, of all its power. I do not desire Council to take any action on this part of my ad- dress, but I do desire, in all seriousness, to bring this matter to the attention of the Clergy, and to beg them that they will try to promote the spirit and edification of our services by greater care over the music, which the Church puts under their charge.

The Bishop's Visitations.

It is impossible, in a widely extended Diocese like that of West Virginia, always to time the Bishop's visitations to each Parish, so that it will be most convenient to the Rec- tor and most helpful to his work. On the one hand, it is an advantage to have such a time as that of the Bishop's vis- itation to look forward to, as it may help some persons the better to realize the necessity of decision in spiritual things, and lead them to look upon such visitation as an opportunity that ought not to be neglected. But on the other hand,

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harm may be done if direct effort to bring the wanderers into the fold is relaxed at other times, and the idea gains credence that no one can formally identify himself with the Church, and thus confess Christ, except on the occasion of an Episcopal visitation. There is express provision for admit- ting to the Communion those who are ready and desirous to be confirmed, and I would that our Clergy more frequentiy availed themselves of this liberty.

Everybody ought to know that our church doors are al- ways open, and that while we do not undervalue special in- strumentalities, or the help that we find in stated seasons of special service, yet, that we look mainly to the regular min- istrations of the Sanctuary, and to the preaching of the word from house to house, in the regular pastoral work of the Clergy, for the awakening and ingathering of souls. So the Parish work can everywhere be carried on without hindrance, and the people may grow into the idea that the Minister is always ready to receive them into the Church; admit them to the privileges of Communion, and enroll them among those to be confirmed by the Bishop whenever he may make his visitation.

The Council of 1887. Weston.

The Tenth Annual Council met in St. Paul's Church, Wes- ton, on Wednesday, June 1st. The Bishop presided. The Rev. R. A. Gibson preached the sermon. There were pres- ent fourteen Clergymen and nineteen Laymen.

The Rev. R. D. Roller was elected Secretary, vice Rev. R. A. Cobbs, resigned.

The Bishop referred to the proposal to change the name of the Church as follows:

There is one point, however, which seems to demand some further mention; I mean the effort made to change the name of our Church, or at least to omit the word "Protestant" from the Title Page of the Prayer Book. I am glad to know that both propositions were steadily opposed by the Depu-

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ties from this Diocese. It does not become us to denounce those who favor such a change as disloyal to our Church, or to interpret too freely their motives, except so far as they are avowed. No doubt some are actuated by the sentiment of the thing, some by what appears to them to be a severe logical necessity, some are fascinated by the vision of an all-embracing Church which scorns any name of limitations, and others thoroughly dislike the word "Protestant," and everything it implies. But we must remember that if we re- sent, as insulting, the dogmatism which would relegate all opposing such change to the position of ignorant and nar- row minded Sectaries, we must be careful lest we also are offenders, by accusing or suspecting those who differ from us about such matters, of unfaithfulness to their ordination vows, and as cherishing secret designs to carry us toward Rome, if not actually to Rome.

It is well for us, however, to note in regard to this partic- ular measure that it comes mainly from those who differ most widely from us in their view of the nature and func- tions of the Church, in the whole operation of the Divine sys- tem of grace upon the heart of man.

I am trying simply to state the facts of the case without argument. We cannot avoid being influenced in the first place by such considerations as those I have mentioned. but I trust we would have the honesty and manliness to avoid blind prejudice against any measure simply because we dis- agree with many who promote it. We find, however, on fuller examination that we cannot accept the arguments which are advanced as in favor of such changes, come from what quarter they may, The most formal confession of faith that this Church has made-after the Catholic Creeds -is to be found in the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, and they are thoroughly Protestant. It would, I think, tend very much to promote good feelings and a clear understand- ing among those who, in the providence of God, find theu- selves often opposed to each other in such matters, if there

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were a more distinct avowal of our general position. If there be those who would like to get rid of the Thirty-nine Arti- cles, or modify them, so that they should contain a more ex- clusive definition of what constitutes the visible Church of God; should affirm a more close and vital connection between the outward and visible sign, and the inward and spiritual grace in the Sacraments, and should relax somewhat the statement that those five rites, commonly called Sacraments, are not to be counted as such, for this, among other reasons, that they have grown of the corrupt following of the Apos- tles, and should allow tradition to share somewhat more with the Church the authority now claimed for the Scriptures. I say if there be such persons we will not denounce them-let them speak their sentiments; but when we come to know their views on such like points as those I have just spoken of, it must necessarily be that we shall be made very cautious in following their lead in other matters. In the meantime we claim for ourselves the liberty we desire always to allow others. We will not try to narrow this comprehensive Church of ours in one direction more than in another. We affirm our adhesion to the Articles as they stand, and without the glosses which have to be put upon them to make them- as we think-teach anything else but what has been accept- ed as always according with the name Protestant. We are satisfied with the wording of the Sixth Article, as it sets forth the Rules of Faith. We are satisfied with the wording of the Nineteenth Article, when it defines the Visible Church. We are satisfied with the wording of the Twenty- fifth Article, when it tells us of the two Sacraments-with the Twenty-seventh Article, when it tells us that in Baptism Faith is confirmed and Grace increased by the virtue of prayer unto God, and with the Twenty-eighth Article, in which we are taught that the Body of Christ is given, taken and eaten in the supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. In other words, we do not think that this grand old Church of ours has been going along in a poor, halting man-

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ner, during all these years, and now is to have its doctrinal standards revised, and its Ritual changed by the introduction of things which were intelligently discarded three hundred years ago.

We are opposed to such things and shall resist the changes, and because this word Protestant has, in the course of events, come to stand for that system of faith and practice, which was in the exercise of her undoubted right, set forth as of authority by our Reformed Church three hundred years ago: therefore we mean to keep it, not only as an old landmark, but because the very sound of it is grateful and pleasant to our ears. There are other aspects of the question which could be very much enlarged upon were it necessary to do so. I will only add this, that since the adjournment of the General Convention, I have seen statements from prominent advo- cates of the measure, in which they acknowledge that the present time at least is not a favorable one for the change, we may therefore hope that it will not be pressed so strongly in 1889. We must, however, be on the alert. and not forget the avowed purpose of many who are encouraged by the past history of the proposed measure. In my judgment it would be inexpedient in the last degree to make any such change, compelling us to be on the defensive and making our Church an object of suspicion, where now she has the most favorable regard. We want no narrow, unreasoning conserv- atism, but we do want an intelligent understanding of the real questions at issue, and of what they involve. We do want, and I trust we shall always have in this Diocese, a staunch adherence to the Doctrine, Discipline and Worship, which this Church has received, and which she commits to us to hand down unimpaired to those that shall come after us.

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A history and record of the Protestant Episcopal church in the diocese of West Virginia, Part 24

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