The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-06-05
the PEOPLES Caurch. 8

--.------1-------
The PEOPLES Caurch.
LAYING OF THE CORNERSTONE OF THE 81 y,
BUILDING. s.5 s-y .@ !,,ssj
great mass OF people assembled at the
corner OF Columbus avenue and Berkeley4
street Yesterday afternoon at 2 o'clock to
witness the laying Of the cornerstone OF the
Rev. j. w. Hamilton's {. Peoples church,"
The exercises were opened with brief les
son from the Discipline, read by the pastor,
and a hymn beginning, as l,aEs 50.
This stone to thee, III faith. we lay. g. "
The Divine blessing was invoked by the
Rev. L. r. Meredith, Of the Tempiecstfeet'
church. An anthem by the, CHOIR Oh the,
church, under the direction Of DR.. Iouf!ee'
followed, and the services We're t0rtner con,
tinued by selection from the ,Rsaiter, lea
by the Rev.:G +. Pentecost, pastor OF the
Warren-Avenue Baptist church. \ scrip.
ture lesson was read by the Rev. W o.
Ssudlcy, of the Tremont.Street Methodist'
church. after which Mr.. Hamilton made an
address. giving some account, OF the purpose
Of the building. This purpose has been al.
ready stated in the Daily AdceTt'Ser, pue IL
may be we'll to repeat the substance OF what
Mr.. Hamilton said. 1t is to he Tree church,
free to all people absolutely, without as
:inction Of race, color, or person. iue
upper attic pcws, said Dir. Hamitton,,
"wbcre the colored people have. so long
leaned over to see the white men worship
God, are 10 be brought down into the
broad aisle. Black and white alike are TO
be invited to drink from the same sacra-
mental goblet; and when they so select,
will be permitted to join their fortunes IN
matrimonial vows at the cnUrch aitar.
"Short addresses OF neighborly greeting"
were made by the Rev. ". r. Mailailcu, u.
D., the Rev. j. NJ. Manning, D. D., the Kew.
J. B. Dunn, and the Rev. Phillips BROOKS.
Mr.. MalIalieu said the enterprise mad MS
heartfelt sympathy. He took occasion To-
say that il the Tabernacle had done nothlnS
else, it had shown how the poor OF a great
city could be reached by the Gospcl:;, INT
Manning said they were always glad 10
helm the MethotlistS. 1t had been thought
that the church had been located in q rather
noisy place, so near the railroad; :but
he believed good Methodists were not
afraid Of little noise. II a. rivalry OF
that kind should grow up between tine
church and the railroad, he was; prett!
sure the stean-whiStlc would get the WORST
OF il. ILaughter.1 Different denomlna-
tions were made necessary by ON different
natural dispositions. SoIns, people, he be-
iieved, were foreUrdalned to be Metbodists:
1Laughter.] But denominatlonalisms bouia
be kept subordinate to the great idea OF
Christianity. At the close OF Mr.. Man
ning's remarks hymn was sung by the coz,
gregation. Mr. Dunn said he was relolced
10 be present, irecolecting his visit i've years
ago to the grave OF John Wesley. bespoke
OF his surprise during the rebellion at the
small number OF men hit in battle in COM
parison with the number OF bullets tired.
lie found on going to the field, however,
that the soldiers forgot their directions and
fired high. The secret OF the Methodists'
success was that they fred ton. AS Mr.
Hamilton had said, they, gained the top OF
city by beginning at the bottom.
Mr. Brooks said he welcomed the new en-
terprisc which had planted itself so hope
fully there. Whatever people might say,
nobody in the thick OF the fight had any
doubt that there was need OF more working
and faithful churches. They had something
Of the feeling OF soldiers on seeing fresh
battalions marching to their aid. lie felt
that there was something deeply solemn in
the act they were about to perform; not so
much in the conservation OF the spot to the
worship and service Of God in the present
time as in the thought OF what that worship
and work might be when this generation Is
the truth and sing the praises Of God as we
do? He was sure that larger truth would
arise, and it was in the conservation to the
larger hopes OF Christianity and bet
ter understanding OF Christ that the
deeper and more intense solemn!ty OF the
occasion came to him. We reloiced that
certain illiberal ideas and denominational
lines had passed away;- butii they were to
give place to nothing better there would be
little cause for congratulation. He was con-
WINGED that there would be a deeper posi-
tive life in the Christian Church itself; a
deeper realization by Christians OF per-
sonal Christ, as the sole rule OF faith and
the sole guide to duty. He did not believe
that this church waste be regarded as dis
tinctively 4 "peopie's church." All the
churches about there were peoples
churches. 1t would be the peoples church
because it was ,Christ's. That church
which afforded the most unhindered search
ing after truth and the highest worship of
God would lind itself "the peoples
church - before he knew it. [Applause.]
Mr. Sankey was announced TO sing Cos
pei song, but he did not appear, and the
congregation sang Praise God from
whom all blessings fiow."
Mr.. Moody then made an address. &c
said there was but one name which had
brought the congregation together and
kept them under the hot sun for two hours.
1t was the name OF Christ. That was what
had brought him. He would not 60 across
the street to see the laying of the corner
stone OF Methodist church. This was to
be 4 church where the Gospel OF Christ
would be preached, and he suggested for
one cornerstone justification by faith and
free grace for another, and most import
ant Of all, the atonement. Our churches
might be improving, but they could never
get anything better than that. That was
what Paul preached, and though there were
pretty good preachers in Boston, none Of
them were better than Paul. For another
cornerstone he suggested the resurrection.
In conclusion he offered an earnest prayer;
after which the pastor announced that the
stone would then be laid.-Boston ADDER
tLser, '2SM. l. -. : .. <>''''
[f Mr.. Moody believes in miscegenation
he had best keep out Of the Soulful " -.
A good story is told at the expense OF the
sheriff OF Coos county. Judge Allen was