The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1891-10-19
1see-1s91.


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In carnations
The combination choir consisting of
Misses Allen. Brown, Knight, Morrison.
Kicker, Tarbox, Long, Mrs. Sturgis, Messrs.
Baker, Duncan. Hall. Barnard, Follansbee,
Merrill, Nickerson and Pierce, rendered the
anthem praise Him" beautifully, after
which Rev. d. B. Randall offered feryent
prayer.
DIR. Fem read letters from Rev. DR.. A. P.
Plumb. who presided at his installation,
and Rev. John o. Fiske of Bath, who was
moderator of the council of installation and
who delivered the charge to the pastor in the
evening. Mr.. Flske's letter bore testimony
to the helping agency of Mrs. Fem in the
success of her husband. A letter from
Bishop Medley was also read, regret
ting that a festival in his own church, the
celebration of st. Luke's day, prevented his
prensence. DR.. Fem announced that Rev.
John G. Perkins had also written letter.
"High street church." said DIR. Fem, sis
the llneal descendant Of the Second Parish,
and, therefore, it is with great pleasure that
Introduce to you as the first speaker
the pastor of that church, Rev. DR.. j. G..
Merrill. DR.. Merrill said that 1t was thought
at the time most heroic act to send out 40
of its members to form High street church,
but the fulness Of time had shown the wis
dom of 1t. The Second Parish had not Ian
guished but had gone on and prospered, and
so had High street. He then formally greeted
DR.. Fem on behalf Of his church and himself
and said thst he wished not to confne them
to the pastor but to include his excellent
wise. He did this, he said, following the
precedent of no less person than the Apostle
Paul, who although called the greatestwoman
hater of the Scriptures, nevertheless when
| he wrote letter to the church at Rome
greeted not only Aquilla but Priscilla, and
put Priscilla first. DR.. Merrill kindly and
forcibly bore testimony to the great benefit
of the pastors wife to the pastor He char
acterized her influence upon the pastor as
the greatest, and upon the parish as second
only to that of her husband. He closed with
graceful tribute to Mrs. Fenn's public spirit
and helpfulness to the city at large and the
state outside of all church relations
DR.. Fem briefly thanked DR.. Merrill and
| CORTLAND Robinson, pastor of the Park
otIcob L IocUy tofldu CuuICus
| MIR. Robinson expressed his great pleasure
at being present and extended the congratu-
lations of his church to this church. He
then said that to him more forcibly than to
| any other minister present the lesson of DR..
Fenn's long passionate was potent what
| can be more inspiring to young man jast
| enteringon his first pastorate than the specta
| Gle of minister and people dwelling togeth
| er tremendously for quarter Of century?'
| he said: II believe In long pastorates, the
| more because my father is now in his
s0th year with one church, aud realize that
man can only come to know his people
thoroughly after so long and to be able to
| minister to them to his best advantage and
to theirs. believe he.can do better on the
last 10 years than the first, and in the last
| five of these than the first five."
Rev. Abiel II. Wright was introduced as
kind of st. John who was loved by all and
whose words touched all deeply. He COM
pared the coming of DR.. Fem to High street
to marriage and the present occasion as a
silver wedding. s"Twenty-fve years ago.,
| said he, there came young fellow from
Manchester who was married to High street
church. and we are here tonight to celebrate
the silver wedding. There are two factors in
this long pastorate. The first is the
intellectual vigor of the pastor, who is es-
sentially preacher to his people. and one
who has preached longer and with less repe
tition than almost any other; the other Is the
loyalty and love of the church to the pastor.
This is characteristic of the church. In six
ty years there have been only three pastors.
Mr. Wright said he thought,the Divine spirit
was In 1t and that the church was destined
for and could do great work.
After hymn by the choir and congrega-
ton, Rev. d. M. Pratt, pastor of WillIston,
was introduced as the worthy successor of
the worthy founder of the mighty young
peoples movement in the church.
Mr.. Pratt brought congratulations of the
granddaughter of High street church to her
grandmother and spoke Of his own personal
gratitude to DR.. Fem, who presided at the
council that settled him over Williston. He
stated the fact that out Of 241 Congregational
churches in Maine only five have had equal
or longer pastorates than DR.. Fenn's. He
then congratulated DIR. Fem for his denomi-
national standing and spoke at considerable
length Of the strength and good work of the
Congregationallst body. Its unity, Its spirit
Of piety and withal its great liberality W ere
eulogized as elements Of great strength. He
closed with the wish Of many years added to
the many already passed in the happy union
of pastor and people.
Rev. DR.. Asa Dalton was introduced by
| DIR. Fem as one broader than any one
church, most important factor in the scien-
tifc and literary life of the city and lastly as
| the one clergyman whose term Of service was
| longer than his own.
DR.. Dalton pleasantly alluded to the many
years of companionship between himself and
Dr. Fem, stating that they had always been
able to work together in harmony and con-
graduating him upon the occasion. He then
paid strong tribute to DR.. Fenni as one Of
the leaders of thought, characterizlng his
| Sunday evening services as most beneficial
| to the whole city. He said that their I'M
portance could not be overestlmated as lead
| ing people when they wished toiturn to new
avenues Of thought Dr. Dalton then spoke
| of the life Of the church at large, scouting
the idea that it was dying and declaring that
| it waf growing stronger day by day. He
stated his doubt of the ultimate supremacy
of any denomination, but rather that they
were growing side by side. He said that
while he gloried in the history of his own