The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1881-01-07
Why we should help the Baptists build a
Church.

First, because they need q church.
Every society needs home as truly as
. family. And the Baptists have no
homo. They occupy the Court House
for the time being, by the sufferance of
the judges. Not only have they no
house of worship in Middebury, but
none In Weybridge or New Haven or
Salisbury. One third of the people of
Cornwall can be best accommodated in
Middlebury; and some of the Baptists
of Bridport are already asking admis-
sion to the young church here. There
cannot be less than one hundred Bap-
tist members in the towns mentioned,
that have no house of worship in their
own; and about sixty of them are in
Middlebury. Thirty-nine have already
been received to the church, and three
others have just sent in letters to unite.
Twenty-Five others are known WHO
have not yet united. Such body of
laborers, with views of christian doc
trine 80 distinct and strongly felt, sure
ly need home of their own. They
cannot do the best work for Christ or
humanity, to say nothing of being hap
py, without one. A Baptist church here
would add materially to the prosperity
OF the place. The chief wealth of q
town as of a nation is its people. With
their increase there is an increase of
wealth and all kinds of business. 1t
must be wise therefore to invite, BY a
generous and paternal policy, Baptists
IS well as Others to make it their home
with us. There are already many
things TO at ract the better class of PEG.
pie here; the college, the graded school,
cultured society, II beautiful place.
Still IL csnn0t be expected that many
Baptlsts, especially tie well-to-do and
conscien ,ious, will como to stay unless
they can find spiritual home they will
60 elsewhere. Ii is affirmed BY all in
tei,igent Baptist, long resident in
town. that enough Baptists have lett
Middlebury during the past twelve
years because there was no spiritual
home for them, 10 constitute :, lf->up
porting church. All these, and n.nn,
more VINO have peen detrIiid Irui
coming here by the same reasni,, hav,
Deem lost to the growth aud bu>in,.s
and moral power Of the town, tor Il 0
want vi Baptist church.
1t wun'd help the College. This is
al insiitn ion " hich cannot be- cherish-
ed too wurml. by the town. Rigb Y
managed and susl siued, il will be II.
the future as IL has been In the past
tie brightest jewel IN her crown.
Lut il needs more students, a,,d to This
ehu more cordial suppIrt from all
dem mutations In this part If the state
There have always been Baptist STU
dents In lis halls. Some of the ablest
Baptist divines, for instance, Doctors
Chase, Ide, land Conant, graduated from
Middlebury. But there should be
moro Baptist students here, and there
were IN former times. and Baptiste in
Ito teaching force and in the corpora
tion. Given good Baptist church
here, and by and by, perhaps, an able
Baptist professor in one of its chairs,
and who can doubt that much larger
attendance of Baptist students would
follow? Conscientious parents do not
care TO send away their sons and daugh-
tors for four years, during the forma-
tive period of their faith and culture,
where there Is no church of The order
that they hold most sacred.
They need help. They are compar-
lively few III numbers, land not wealthy.
They cannot do the work alone. Eve
rything must be constructed from the
foundation. Their spiritual temple
must be built, the scattered elements
gathered; then lot bought and home
erected. In the mean time they can
not support preaching without help
from their State Convention. This
manifest need appeals to every senti-
mont Of fraternal and neighboIly kind
ness, as well as christian sympathy, for
help.
And they are worthy of Il, for they
Are earnest christian workers, firm and
unyielding In their principles, and yet
ever cheerfully according to others the
full liberty OF belief and practice which
they claim for themselves. They are
full Of hope, strong in the Lord and in
the purpose Of success, helping them
selves nobly according 10 their means,
before asking others to help them.
Now shall we leave this young sister
church Of Christ, needy and deserving,
70 struggle on alone, thanking God the
meanwhile from our own beautiful
temples, that we are not as other men,
even the poor Baptists No, but the
rather, with the generous spirit of the
good Samaritan, lend them a cheerful
liberal hand In their efforts to build a
house for the honor and worship of our
common Lord. So shall we secure
FROM the blessed Redeemer that most
precious and desirable Of all testimoni-
ais, "lnasmuch ss ye did 1t unto one
OF the least Of these my brethren ye did