, 1875-10-04
THE WORK OF BUILDING UP.

kAhAh EAls 6EA1lb1 HF TUE REV. Dr. TuoXAA
The Aer. Fl. ". Thomss for threo years pas-
tor Of the First Methodist Church. preached hia
farewell sermon last evening. taking for his taxt,
And now. brethren, commend you to Odd aud 70
the Word Of His grace which Is able build you up
.na to s.ye rev sn inheritance among them which
lie spoke as follows:
lily labors in Chicago hare now Axtonded
ovor period OF at1 yeara,-tbsee IT. Psrk Aye.
nue aod shree In thus church. Tbcse yeare have
been full Of hard work, aud not free from cars
and responsibility. But In al this hare found
support aud = rich compensation IN the concous-
ncaa Of ttying to help forward tho CAUSE Of
Christ and humanity. mud in the mora than
cordial sympathy and Cooperation of tho ooo.
gregat!ooH Of these churcho., and tho favor and
encouragement Of generous public sentin1eut
64x yesra ago loft the gathered friendships Of
earlier dAya aud came among vast city full OF
strsngosa. I know but two famihes. Now ro.
tolce in the valued acquaintance and f1Isndshio
Of thousands. ! hare seen our city burned down
and rebuilt again. have tasted In some measure
It's BOTTOM aud lts joy, and 4ayo been permitted
to tako what psrt could In lta moral snd rolia-
tot,s struggles anil controversies, and hare come
to feel that 1t is my hum0 could not houe to
bare wholly escaped cFitictam or cvan cousure
for IA have PASSED through periods of intense
public e1eitelnent and therc hare arisen oues-
ttons on which the wiseat have not been
ahlo to aeseo. Tho temperance crus&do.
tito Swing .r:al, and tho Philosophical Bociety.
ali attractcd wide public attontlon, and thoie dis
cuss.ons ragged Gercely nbout uA here. can
oniy eay now that in all those things took Sue.
part ~, under the circumstances, I thought
proper, and conecientiously atood for what b.
lleretl then. and believe now, to have been true
aud right. aud with consclouancss of weakness
sui liability to off, more present to myself than
they can ba to others, leave tho results with
tho public aud with God.
As'de from thsho eoso public nattera we have
bad onr o"n main but moro qniet work
Of trylug to build up and carry forward our
epecia! religious and church tutoscats IN this
part at th" GUY. Three years ago We began our
services IN . little wooden chapel on Harrison
street. with an an audience Of less thaa
hundred. Then alter q time We rot ,uto tbe
ssssuse.Foon q .hs bs'!ainE, and fnaiiy tn.othe
tlingH that take pleasure in mentioning, and
God.
The first ia that We have been blessed with M
There has not tn the three years bsea one isr or
d!teozdnns feeling between pastor and psople, Of
betwcen suy Ut the members at the church We
have dwels together IN love. Whea va xemea,-
Der how many churches about us have beep torn
asunder with uttifes aud d!sseuulona aud lsye
known onlS bitterness and wTanEllng, ne cannot
bo too grateful that We Aava csc ned such csiar-
~, and been permitted to apopd our days In
dong dong good In building up instead OF tcas!ug
Another thing that has afforded ms sgess
pleasure has been the steady and rapld
growth OF our Young people in intelligence,
call noltaty exception to thia statement; Ill
arn Inovln. Ill the right direction, aud not . feW
will 10 time roach naces Of exalted usefulness.
Dy the side at thcse, I have witnessed with
NJ FtHnt Eta n3tf
tho faw aged olios WHO havo long walked iu tllia
better way. aud whose peacetal presence still
l.ngesn to counsel and bless sAa church.
:, Another master OF mutual r"lotcing has besn
tha steady growth And Increasing interest La our
public services. THO actual membership OF this
CLUTCH ia amall, uat over 1an and these Ase
scsttured frnn Ersnston TO Englawood. and
thare is uot, suee tho fte, u dwell.nR.hpnse In
this rart Of 4,s city. hut with Vii ths, tLa con.
gregatioH has gruwu to 10 one at the best 10 tbs
city, aud possibly no one OF our churches hs4
bud ia ts services .uote strangers than hsvs beea
here. 1t is probably low estimate to say thA1
quo strangers attend Worship uote each Sabbath
That would make oo0 iu the past year. 1t ia
certainly nu small work to hs ab1o 10 reach 90
n many persons nn, from every city sud part Of our
Wherever have goue Out Of tLe city,
esss or west it has seemed
h.on PASTORAL visitation. for At a1most eYory
station ~ hnd town have met those Who hava 1t
chana'ng conditions Ne haye uot at any tina
been able to have any extended revival, but thore
has been good spiritual work going ou In thu
regular safvices, and tn the clsss sud prayer
msatlnga mauY have fouud the new life, aud
We shall look Ii. the lAst day to see ripaned
sheaYea Rnthars4 homo ftoua All thla scatta,et
seed. God grant that it may DO 70.
Under the action at church law, limiting shs
p1atoEsta to three years, my aAbors here draw to
close. Tho OCCASION cantot pAsa without mAaY
questioning ths wisdom OF such positive Ilpi.
tatton. There are arKumsutd on both sides Of
the question. Often tho rule seems to work =
greatest usefuluoAs and often, ~ sxpe1tsuce
shows such removals Ars attended BY 3 loss 70
the c6usches. Thon sgalu tho rale Eomstiwaa
sozk& rslief 10 both psstos aud people in gss-