St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-11-30
ADAY OF "REMINISCENCES.
Close of the Anniversary EXERCISE
tat jackson Street Church.

sermon. taking for his text Hebrew Xi., /:
..Now faith is the substance of things
hoped for. the evidence OF things not
SEEM"
The nrincipal points from which his SER
mon was elaborated were: Faith as
means of seeing the invisible; faith IN God
as creator of worlds; faith in God as a
redeemer; faith in God as an object OF Wor-
ship. -,
In the afternoon a love feast was held.
with a fair attendance. The exercises were
opened with singing and prayer, and after
the scripture lesson bread and water, SYM
bolicaI elements of the love feast, were dis
tributed.
Rev. Bolles made the opening remarks.
He said: 81 feel a peculiar sensation in
standing here and looking back twenty
eight years, almost generation to my first
relations with this church. l see but very
few that were here then. During these
wears children have heen born to us ana
died. friends have come to us and departed,
our ranks have been thinned by the reaper,
and a few of us still endure, merely walt
ing. like myself for the pale boatman."
The speaker referred to some OF the
changes wrought during that time, and SAID
that in those early days the district was nan
in Wisconsin, there not being Methodist
churches enough in Minnesota to support a
district. A letter from Dr. Hobart
of Red Wing was read by
tba nastor. which acknowledged the
receipt of an invitation to the anniversary
services. expressed his regrets at his neces-
sarv absence and promised a copy of his
Recolections of My Life to the proposed
church library.
In remarks made by Rev. Brooks he
stated that he came to Minnesota thirty-twO
wears ago. At the conference in Fond du
Lac in 1858 the bishop asked him one day
if he could wade Sloughs and swim rivers.
He knew what that meant, and at the close
of the conference his name was read of for
the District of Minnesota. He arrived in
st. Paul perfect stranger, and assumed
the labors and hardships Of his charge, but
he had longed for frontier work and was
satisfied.
Bishop Foss spoke briefly on the personal
relations between Christ and His followers
stating his belief in the personal recogni-
ton by Christ of the Christian in the here
after.
Short remarks were made by number
present, many of whom related reminls-
cences of the earlier days OF the church.
The services were closed with remarks by
the pastor, Rev. Robert Forbes, who ex-
- -
good, old-fashioned Methodist feeling. He
was firm believer in Methodism and its
peculiar features, and their peculiarltles
are what has given the church its power.
THE CLOSING SESSION.
The evening services drew large at
tendance and were very interesting. Rev.
Robert Forbes opened with few remarks,
saving that he felt honored i'll his success
sion to that pulpit-at being one with the IL
Iustrious line which hadpreceded him. He
expected that during the coming two years,
which he expected to devote to this church,
he would see the erection of magnificent
church edifce that would be the
pride and glory OF Minnesota
Methodism. He had heard 1t
stated that all the ministers who had occu-
pied that pulpit were yet alive. This was
corrected by Dr. Brooks, who stated that
Rev. Kinney had died some years ago. To
occupy that pulpit seemed to contribute to
longevity. He stated that the meeting would
probably be rather lengthy, and if any
wished to leave at any time they were free
to do so. asthe collection had been taken up.
REV. GRIswoLD's REMARKS.
Rev. DR.. Griswold, a former pastor, was
introduced, remarking that as this was the
time of "reminiscences, his talk would be in
that strain. He spoke principally Of the
circumstances attending his former pas
torate here. About eleven years ago he
came to this pulpit from Red Wing, at a
time when the church was in rather
critical condition. The situation was criti-
cal for three reasons. At that
time the Grace II. E. church was
organized, drawing heavily on the member
ship of the older organization; 1t was at the
time of a financial crisis which crippled the
of{ oh, h. fba oh nod
confidently expecting and ardently hoping
for the return of Rev. McChesney, who. in
stead. was assigned to a Minneapolis pull
pit, and this disappointment had its effect
on the best interests of the church. During
his pastorate the Baptist church was
formed, and for some time that OrganiZa-
ton worshiped in the Jackson street edi-
flee. Many things had TRANSFERRED to endear
the people of the church to him.
DIR. EDWARD NEILL'S ADDRESS.
Dr. Neill the historian of Minnesota and
who has written much on the history of
Methodism in this section, followed
with an eloquent and interesting
address, dealing largely with the early his
tory of the church in ST. Paul. He said
that among the many cheering signs of the
age is the recognition of the broad truth
that professed Christians of all classes, ma
of the Holy Catholic church. Much of this
spirit is due to the labors of John Wesley,
one that Christian denominations all over
the world love and are proud to remember.
Methodism did not begin with any inten-
ton of building up q massive ecclesiaSticiSm.
He was present at one time in q large city
where q big floral conservatory took fire. 1t
was in the winter, and the engines soon del
uged the building and its contents with wa
ter. He walked through the building the next
day and saw everywhere roses, chrysan-
themums, and the myriad other beauties of
the place encased and pendant with spark
ling ice. The blooms had been killed, but
the plants were not dead and the stems
would again be awakened to life. SO with
the Church of England and the days of
Wesley. The church was coated with for
malties and was lifeless thing of stems.
Wesley did not believe in church to de-
light the ear or lure the eye. He believed
that church could exist III an upper room,
under the blue, open sky, wherever two or
three had gathered together in His name"
His ideas went forth to the slums of Lon
don and to the mines of Cornwall, to the
wharves of Liverpool. taking deep root and
rapidly widening their hold. AT the time
of the Declaration of Independence in
America there were but ten Methodist min
listers in this country. BY the census of
1880 there were at that time 1900 900 COM
municants, representing population of
10, 600, 900. When we look at these changes
we can but believe that God sanctioned the
methods of this church.
In 1S49 the first territorial legislature of
this state convened in St. Paul in building
just back of where the Mann
heimer block now stands. Upon re-
quest, the speaker said. he made
The opening prayer just before Alexander
Ramsey. the territorial governor made his