The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1875-05-21

MI. hSnkln 81 the emo OF seven
years deemed the church of Strait
Creek able to support minister all
his time. Such had been its pros
perity during the seven years of
MIR. ltankin's services that it had
b. come large and strong church.
consequently, he resigned his
charge of that church, and relin-
pushed hundred and fifty dollars
oil his salary to give the church of
ripley his whole time, which for
some years was unable to give
more than three hundred and fifty
dollars a year, and Mr.. Rankin had
no talent for getting salary.
lie suffered often great inconYen
fences through the want of COM
petent support. During twenty
three years the church was very
harmonious ant prosperous. 1t in
creased from thirty-six members TO
two hundred and twenty. During
the twenty-fourth year of Mr.. Ran.
kin's service Two of the wealthy
members of the church took Offense
at Mr. Rankin, without any Justify
Ing cause. At the commencement
of the trouble Mr.. Rankin express
ed his Willingness to have the pas
toral relation dissolved, but the
congregation voted largely against
1t. Some time afterwards Mr.. Ram
kln sent his son, A. L. Rankin, to
preach to the church, and read to
the congregation = written request
from his father to take a vote and
release him from any further serv-
Ice as their pastor. The congrega-
ton broke up in confusion, and re-
fused to take the vote. On one
time, when some of the members
were absent, by depriviDg q color
ed man from voting, the majority
of one was gained in favor of dis
solving the pastoral relation. A
majority of the church members re-
Inonstrated against dissolYing the
pastoral relation, and proved that
the majority was wrongfully OBJ
tanned. The Presbytery, instead of
dissolving the pastoral relation,
should have ordered another vote !;
but they forthwith Dissolved the re-
lation, and that gave the house 10
the wealthy part of the congrega-
ton, and turned tbs poorer part out
TO build q house for themselves.
The party thus turned out declared
that they would disperse, rather than
unite with those who had acted so
unjustly. As they had shown firm
ness and loyalty to their pastor, he
continued to serve them. They
were named the second Presbyteri-
an church of Ripley. They went to
work, as if one family, on the fret
of August, and collected together
all the limbers, plank and shingles,
and employed carpenters. Two
merchants, Robert Mcmillan aud
James Reynolds, men in moderate
ly good circumstances, employed
two men to mould ten thousand
bricks daY, and gave each of them
two dollars day. They soon mould
ell enough to build the church.
They employed q man to burn them
aud soon had them in readiness for
laying up. Mr.. Mcmillan left his
store, and he and Mr.. Rankin gu :
perintended the work of putting up
the church, and assisted in prepar-
ing material for building. AS they
progressed, they took up what sub
scriptions they could obtain. Nc
MILAN and Reynolds subscribed
largely. Mr.. Rankin subscribed
two hundred dollars. A church
forty-four,b by sixty-four, with q base
ment above ground, nine feet from
the floor to the ceiling over head,
and an audience room, twenty
three feet high from the fiooc to the
over head ceiling, was erected, Mr..
Rankin was preaching in the base
ment by the first OF January. Du-
ring the spring it was entirely I'm
ished, with bell and cupola, all in
good and neat style. Mcmillan and
Reynolds paid all the workmen.
This brought the church twenty
two hundred dollars in their debt.
The division of Mr.. Rankin's
church was one of the sorest Attic
tons of his lie, but It put him into
a church that at that time had no
equal between Ripley and Cincin-
natl.
The second church was during
some years in debt to Mr.. McAiil-
Ian and Reynolds. They were gem
erOus, and never asked the church
to pay, but the debt was there and
increasing, and it was just debt
that ought to be paid, and to be in
debt Injuries Q church. Mr.. Rankin
was discouraged about il, and
doubted the ability of the church TO
pay. He went to Mr.. Mcmillan and
Reynolds and proposed making an
effort to have the debt paid. They
said that they did not believe that
it could be done. Mr.. Rankin pro-
posed tho taking of q subscription,
payable in five annual payments,
with eight per cent. interest. To
this they consented, and subscribed
six hundred dollars. SIR. Rankin
subscribed two hundred dollars, and
he presented the subscription to al
the members of the congregation
aud kept them as long rs he could
up to two hundred, aud then one
hundred, and then to fifty, aud then
TO twenty-five; aud in five days be
took up a subscription equal 10 the
church debt, and Mcmillan and
Reynolds took the subscription FOL
the church debt, aud thus the
church Yves liberated from debt.
-s---.-
The French aud English fisher.
men are said to be quArrelling up il
the Newfoundland regions, and the
Jy,.ancb aud EuUiish Eovarnmanf.