Telegram-herald., 1890-04-14
FOUNTAIN STREET BAPTIST


A Cran4 sera.oB PTe4ehea by Ats NS~
Pastor Yesterday.
70 tie Edlter o. the 1ELseGaz-lEEAln
s1niay morning hae tae pleasure
Il attending service II the above ehnren
All u listening 10 a grand sermon
irola tas clergy y ho dshFeTe0 hls
hrst 4 soouFse IN thls city Oh this oce~-
son. / thought feW Of tie mpres-
sons received Nv me would be o. al
le2st passing interest 10 your readers
sho were - unfortunate As not ~ DC
present.
he hrst thing that impressed me
WAS that the traditional pulpit VAS
pushed clear 10 the lsfl Of the platform
and that the speaker made 10 use OF i
whatever. Next, / noticed that The
Traditional written sermon, which e1-
peeted, was slowed away carefully IN
AIS SIDE pocket, Was not produced Al
all. bat that he spoke entirely witaout
notes st24ldlng OF the broad p4aIiofh
with nothing whatever il front oi nm
"a lean upon OF 10 hide him.
Next, l was very fayOTably impressed
with the great prominence gwen 70 the
service OF song; the number OF singers
Ia the cnOif, and the heartiness with
which the congregation joined IN the
singing and the responsive read
ing. And, Mr.. Editor (thls
is priyatel, a fine array Of
beauty aud talent IS represented
IN that choir, | am also pleased 10
record that / was not obliged 70 take
seat III a back corner, but was escorted
% good seat near the platform, and
no one scowled at finding his pew oc-
cupled. Such an audience room and
such a congregation would naturally
prove an inspiration 10 any man.
Sure enough, the sermon Was worthy
of the occasion and fitted adsniFiS!y
into the untradinonal surroundings, Tor
II was far removed from the old-tme
sermons of nifty or even twenty years
ago. There was very noticeable abs
ence of the well-worn phrases which we
hear from the Old "fathers in Israel,
IN and out of the pulpit. No doubt,
the absence of these was a painful sur
prise to the older members of the
church and congregation, unless the
preaching of DR.. Upper has accus-
toned them 10 it, but II was grand
sermon nevertheless. DR.. Jackson ne
longs TO this generation. Traditional
phrases and habits OF thought have pro-
duccd but little impression upon him.
The broad platform upon which he
stood titly symbolized the broad
liberal trend OF the thoughts he
so eloquently poured forth upon
us. The only hint OF narrow
ness about him was 2x4 rug under his
feet which was evidently very annoying
10 him, and which | ached to remove.
Now, you know | am a Unitarian,
and am popularly supposed to be at
least slightly tinctured with heresy;
and some of your readers may think
praise coming from me would do Mr..
Jackson but little credit; but hoping to
spend the rest of my life in Grand Rap
IDS, can truly say the coming to our
city of such clergyman as DR.. jack
son appears 10 be, gives me sincere
pleasure. We need him. He can do
vast amount of good. He seems to
hold firmly to the essentials of pure
Christianity, with none of the narrow
ness and petty dogmatism, so Obnox-
iously displayed hy certain clergvmep,
who are but the dying echoes of by
gone age. The CathOhcity of his spirit
was admirable, and it would seem that no
person present, with any degree of IN
telHgence and moral or spiritual cul-
ture, could fail to yield a hearty assent
to the truths he utters. For the good
of the Baptist Church, and our city as
well, hope DR.. jackson will decide TO
remain with lis. Faithfully,
CHARLES K. GIBSON.