Morning journal and courier., 1891-09-17
LAYING THE CORNER STONE.

~~~~ | Exercises at the Incep-
 ton of the Summerfield Methodist Church-The Address by MT. Dow-
 ney-The Ceremony at the Building | Site.
 The foundation of the new summerfeld | Methodist Episcopal church, whose com municants worship at present in alittle | chapel on Dixwen avenue, was laid yes terday evening by moonlight, in the pres ence of large crowd of spectators. The new building is to be erected on the tri- angular plot of ground at the junction of Dixwen and Shelton avenues The edi- fee will be 60 by 102 feet, and the seating capacity of the auditorium will be $50. In the lecture and class rooms 400 more people can be accommodated. It is ex- pected that the cost of the building will be nearly s25, 900. About half this sum has already been raised by subscription.
 The exercises proceeding the laying of the corner stone were held at the Metho- dist chapel. The little church was packed with listeners, and even standing room could not be obtained after the speaking began.
 uo Pld01oIA "dS OCCuHiCu Oy Uuc IScf Dr. J. w. Beach, presiding elder of the New Haven district; Rev. Samuel Tolles, pastor of the church; the Rev. A. V. Alb bolt, Rev. MT. Saunders of Hamden and Rev. MT. Smith of the East Side church. The principal address of the occasion was delivered by the Rev. D. G. Downey, 6 young minister of Mamaroneck, N. Y. The exercises began at 7:30 p. m. At the opening of the service Rev. MT. Saun- I.1 .--- oG the 25th chapter of Mark. After singing of the hymn No. 6 in the Methodist Hym- nal the pastor made few introductory re- l marks. The names of the articles to be placed in the corner stone were read. MT. Tolles also announced that the Sunday school of the church would give festival next Monday evening under large tent to | be erected on Charles street.
 The entertainment is for the purpose of | raising money to meet the heavy expenses | of the Summerfeld church in erecting it's | new building
 Rev. MT. Downey was then introduced | by the presiding elder. The discourse that followed was "The Philosophy of Genuine l Greatness" In connection with the sub l feet the speaker took as his text Matthew xx, 26-28: ''But whosoever shall be great among you, let him be your minister; and | whosoever shall be chief among you, let him be your servant, even as the son of
 man came not to be ministered unto, but
 to minister. and to give his life ransom for many"
 By way of introduction Mr. Downey re-
 told the story of Salome and her request that her two sons might sit at the right
 and left hand of Jesus in the kingdom. | The verses just recited are the answer of Christ to this wish of @ mother for honor
 and power in behalf of her children.
 "The desire for greatness and high po-
 sition is not necessarily wrong one,
 said the speaker, Eff it is held in no bad
 spirit The wish to be somebody is natu
 ral to every thinking person. It is not the
 Uriah Heep style of humility that we
 should strive to cultivate. Whatever sir
 there may be in our outward conduct con
 sists in the motive underlying the act, the
 spirit which animates us.
 ''The grand and central idea of the tex
 before us is service, helpfulness, ministra
 tion This constituted the secret of Jesus
 wonderful influence, and this is what h.
 enjoins on all followers of his. Tha rela
 tion of this thought to the character ant
 aims of humanity will lead us to the es
 sence of true greatness. We see life frs
 in it's lowest forms, the animal coming int
 existence with all his functions devel
 oped and after few hours of activ
 ity passing completely away. He exist
 solely for himself and does no
 need the cooperation of othe
 beings. The same is the case with the bar
 barians. He gets his subsistence withou
 continued toll; by war or the chase, an,
 depends wholly on himself and the boun
 tifulness of nature. Like Ishmael, hi
 hand is against every man and every man
 against his.
 With-civilization new element enter
 in. Instead of the simple food and drin
 damanded by the savage come dissatis6e
 wants, which cannot be satisfied by ind vidual exertions. The rule of every ma
 for himself, which prevails in a lowe order, has to be sacrificed to the law of co operation and mutual help. Every perso | that can help his fellow man by supplyin some important need or want of civilizs tion is really great man, and has tn right to respect, position and honor. } A similar development may be traced i t l the moral world. A man who has receive
 some education wakes up one day and find in himself innumerable mental and spiri ual wants. lie is utterly discontented an sees no attractions in the world about hin Now as Columbus filled the need of th ,. | world for new territories and Gutenber supplied the lack of means for the un versal diffusion of knowledge, so did Jest
 
 for divine being to be loved and yer r erated by every class of men. In ik F manner every follower of the master, wh desires to become great, may truly elevat himself not by selfish toll in his own 1T terests, but by supplying a spiritual an 8 emotional need of the world. This pat , to greatness may be through the dar . shadows and failures of life may pas 3 through Gethsemane and the valley c 3 death; but he who steadfastly minister F to the service of humanity shall ultimate : ly obtain heaven and the smile of th 3 eternal father.
 , In closing MT. Downey exhorted th people of the Summerfeld church to co1 l tinue in their self-sacrifcing work of be f tering those about them. After the SCI l mon the audience and speakers adjourne 7 to the site of the new building. whel 3 brief exercises were held A box we 3 deposited in the corner stone, containin the names of the church officers, copies ( 7 the daily and religious papers, and othe ? articles of historical interest. The usus l ceremony at the laying of corner stone } was read by Dr. Beach and prayer offere by one of the ministers Dr. Beach the , pronounced the benediction and the ston l laying was at an end.