Morning journal and courier., 1884-10-27
CHTRCH DEDICATION.

Church Formally Dedicated Accord
 ing to the Methodist Episcopal Form
 Address By Bishop Harris.
 The formal dedication of the Haven Me morial Methodist Episcopal church on Sperry street, which some time since withdrew from the African Methodist denomination, took place yesterday afternoon. The audience room was handsomely decorated with flowers and autumn leaves. There was large au- dience present, many of them being white people from the various Methodist churches in the city.
 The opening form of dedication was con- ducted by Rev. Dr. Goodseu in accordance
 with the ritual of the church. Following, the hymn commencing "Great is the Lord our God" was sung by the choir. Prayer fol lowed by Rev. MT. Chipp. A voluntary was then sung by the choir and then appro- priate scripture lesson was read by Rev. Mr. Bridge. The hymn commencing And will the great eternal God?" was read by Rev.
 c. B. Ford of the George street NJ. E. church
 and sung by the choir and congregation.
 Rev. Mir. Johnson, pastor of the Bethel
 church, then introduced Bishop Harris of the Methodist Episcopal church. In his
 
 made man for capacity for worship, and
 wherever sincere worship is made it is profit
 able to God. Whatever interest God may
 take in worship, believe he takes an inter
 est in public worship. FtHe loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob" In olden time there were fixed times for public worship and there were feasts and lasts, and God required public acknowledgement of his sovereignty his glory and his power. So throughout Chris tendon we have houses erected for the wor- ship and service of Almighty God, where all men can come and see our obedience to his commands and reverence for his name. I will invite your attention to the words in Psalms, 70 Lord, send now prosper ity" It would seem that there could bS no difference as to what is church pros perity. Yet say that the prosperity of any church does not consist in the numbers. It is not the number that indicates the real prosperity of the church nor neither it's wealth. You cannot measure the prosperity of church by it's outside internal decora- tions. Much more godliness has been exhib- ited in the log cabin than in splendid churches. The church is prosperous when it accomplishes the purposes for which
 churches exist. For what do they exist? To
 build up believers in the faith and bringing
 men to belief in the Lord esus Christ. An
 earnest, faithful preaching of Gods truth will promote church prosperity.
 It is a ministry of truth, a ministry
 of piety, and such men are worth regiment
 of smart men whom people go to hear as
 they would go to Q show. The man who
 stands in the pulpit must preach earnest, plain truth. He must show that he has a hatred for sin and an infinite love for holi- ness. Then I would have consistent piety on the part of members of the church. In order to the largest influence in society it is necessary that the members of the church Jo- I1Ir- ArroT ty of church depends largely upon the edu- cation of the young at home and in the Sun day school, but yet the latter may become Q ministry of evil when parents trust to the Sunday school alone to bring their children up in the nurture and admonltion of the Lord There should be a uniform attendance upon worship and all the means of grace. You will never know what you have lost to the day of eternity, how much you have missed | by your not attending church and losing 1 even one sermon. The very sermon that you 1 fail to hear may be the one that would have ] been best suited to your case. If you want the minister to preach be in your place and encourage him by your presence. Let me urge you then to be always present at church ] services at the prayer meetings and the class meetings, then the divine spirit will come down upon you. Again, take lively inter I est in the conversion of those around you; urge them to come to church and exercise a
 
 | others to Christ.
 Then would exhort you to active operations in the benevolent objects of the day, although you can do but little. Be liberal and Gods l blessing will be upon you and your work. You need one thing more and that is the l blessing of the Holy Ghost, which can only be obtained from your heavenly father, which is gift with only the asking
 The history of this church will go on and I beseech God to send it prosperity.
 Rev. Dr. Goodsel followed and asked for contributions, which were quite generous. Those who had subscribed came forward and deposited the amount on the table in ] front of the altar, which amounted to over $1OO Dr. Goodsen announced several $25 subscriptions from members of other Methodist churches. The collections did not fall short of $500.
 The church has been laboring under seri-
 ous difficulties for many months, but it is
 hoped that under the new order of things
 confidence in the church organization will be restored and that all embarrassment hanging
 over them will be removed, and that their
 usefulness among the colored people will
 continue.