The Portland daily press., 1891-01-12
WHY MANY DO NOT GO TO CHURCH.
Rev. Or. cIyner Points Out the Main
Reasons.
Interesting Services at the Wood
fords CongregatIonsI.
Re-openIne Of the Church After Full
Repairs.

There were several interesting and i'm
portant church services yesterday. principal
among them being the re-dedicatiOn Of the
Woodfords Congregational church, and the
sermon on non-church-goers delivered at the
Pine street Methodist Episcopal church by
the pastor, Rev. Dr. Clymer.
Re-dedIcatIon ar atwoodford's congre-
gatlonal Church.
Yesterday the services Of rededication
were held In the Woodfords Congregational
church, beginning in the morning at 1O.30
The services throughout the day were very
impressive.
The services began with the Doxology,
"Praise God from all blessings fow." After
the invocation by the pastor, hymns and
Scripture readings. all appropriate to the oc-
caslon, the pastor, Rev. Edwin p. Wilson.
preached tie conservation sermon from
Psalm 27: 4-"One thing have l desired Of
the Lord, that will seek after; that l may
dwell in the house Of the Lord all the days
of my life, to behold the beauty Of the Lord.
and to enquire in his temple"
In beginning. Mr.. Wilson referred to that
beautiful temple erected on the heights OF
Jerusalem nearly 5000 years aga light
house, not only shedding its light over Jeru
salem. but over all the world. He gave some
of the reasons why we should love Gods
house-why we should love this house. Be-
cause this love always ennobles and exalts
those who love the sanctuary. Those who
honor God and love his house shall them
selves be honored: The differences were
shown between villages where there Is
sanctuary and where Is none; on the one
hand thrift, intelligence. and all those fruits
from the tree of knowledge which are for the
healing Of all nations. On the other hand,
sQualOr, intemperance and Ignorance are the
leading characteristics. Our civil liberty is
the result of our religious liberty: The
church is the foundation OF our civil liberty.
When Stanley In the depths of Africa saw
little church, erected by French missionaries,
the cross pointing toward the Dlue heaVen,
that church was glad sight 10 MIN, IL stoOu
for Christ and civilization. We ought to
love Gods house because Christ loved IL.
Our Saviour loved the temple Of Jerusalem.
At the age Of II years we hnd him there
arguing with the priests. AT the age OIL 30,
on his second visit, he made scourge and
drove out the money-changers, thatH IS
Fathers house might not be edesecrated. We
ought to love Gods house because 1t Is the
symbol of God. 1t Is the fittest symbol Of
Jehovah. The Lords supper Is symbolic OF
the cruclfxion-the broken bread represent
ing the broken body of Christ. the wine the
blood of the Saviour who died for the remts-
sion Of our sins. Other houses are dedicated
to merchandise, to pleasure-but this house
stands for God. Let US love and cherish it
After the sermon came tne service of dedi-
cation, the audience standing and Joining IN
the reading by the pastor. Prayer was Of
fered by the pastor, after which the eDngre-
CATION joined In singing the following hymn
OF dedication, composed by Mrs. Clinton A.
Woodbury.:
Lift up your heads with gladness,
Ye doors swing wide your portals,
Who is the KING of Giory?
The Lord OF Hosts Is He,
The Father, Son ana Spirit,
The Holy Trinity.
We come with glad thanksgiving
And bring our Eift 10 Thee,
This house our hands have builded
We "Ofer willingly"
From Thine own hand IL c0meth,
We give Thee but Thine own;
o use it for Thy footstool,
Make every heart Thy throne.
We come'our sins confessng
Before Thy mercy-Seat;
Grant US Thy full forgiveness.
Thy benedtcIion sweet
0may Thy gracious Spirits
Abiding presence bless;
Thy priests elothe with salvation,
Thy saints with righteousness.
Rise to Thy place Of resting.
Thou and Thy ark Of strength;
Thy glory fill this temple
And every soul at length,
Rear In zach home Thine altar,
Be by all hearts adored.
And every tongue confess Thee,
Redeemer, King and Lord.
Benediction, pronounced by the pastor
ended the morning service.
In the afternoon many people went from
the city to attend the services, which were
churches of this city, namely, Rev. DIR.
Fem, of the High street. church; Rev. +. T.
Bayley, Of State street church; Rev. Dwight
M. Pratt, of Williston church; Rev. A. IL.
S. K. Perkins, OF West End church, and
Rev. K. M. Cousins of Saccarappa. The
meeting opened with the DJxology. Then
reading OF the Scriptures BY Rev. 5. K. Per-
klns. The choir sang. beautiful anthem,
Praise Ye the Lord" Responsive reading
of Psalms 121 and l22 by Rev. E. NJ. Cousins.
Rev. A. FL. Wright offered prayer. The con
gregation united in singind the hymn, 'Here
In Thy Name, Eternal God"
Rev. DIR. Fem then delivered shors ad-
dress congratulatory of the occasion, on
the beautiful house Of worship. 1t is
popular in these days to believe we can wor-
ship as we'll at home. oh, what terrible
mistake it is. We should come into Gods
isn't worship. The man who delivered the
most teautiful prayer that was ever adj
dressed to a Boston audience, that man
prayed for the ears Of men and not to God
Many a preaching service isn't worship
There Is too much difference to man-tOO lit
| tie alteration, intercession TO God. Those of
| us who are Christians rejoice in house Of
| God. In the olden times God manifested
| Himself there. The house flor this worship
is the home Of my soul We believe In the
| communion of saints who share each others
| joys and feel each others woes. Wherever
| there are two or three gathered In His name
| there Christ has promised to be.
Rev. Mr. Bayley was glad OF the privilege
OF uniting in this service, the supreme privi-
| God. Material things take new value from
i association. The pen that sigued the eman-
| cipatien proclamation may be duplicated by
| the hundreds, but that bit OF steel which by
| a single stroke freed an enslaved multitude
| Is unlike any other pen, aud no sensitive or
appreciatiye mind can fail to see the the DIFF
| ference. Is this house to be Gods house
| 1t will have its greatest value In Its conse-
| Grafton. How much shall this house mean
| to you? Give it now into the hands Of the
Rev. ID. NJ. Pratt said the church Is a sym
| boil Christianity. There Is nothing in the
line of architecture that Is Sc. pleasing to me
| as a church edlfice. 1t is depressing to q
child Of God to witness beautiful business
blocks, but no church spire. 1t Is wise
thing to put wealth into the church. God
dwells In this beautiful church only as he
dwelleth in you. The highest mission God
ever gave to man Is to win souls to Christ.
Other brief remarks were made by Rev.
E. NJ. Cousins, who said his church sent
congratulations and were In heartfelt sym
pathy with this people.
Rev. S. K, Perkins said he had worshipped
| In small, unpainted sho0l houses In Western
prairies, where there was sincerity and true
wo ship. He was glad to see this beautifu
edifice erected for the worship Of God.
The evening service was devoted to praise
and prayer, with addresses from the mem
bers of the building committee, the board ol
deacons, the parish committee, laymen, etc
From these addresses we learn that thu
church was organized in 1872 largely through
the efforts Of Mr.. John j. Chen
cry, (n0w deceased, and Mr.
Edward Newman with oilers. Mr.
Newman contributed largely when tn,
church was first built, and was one OF thl
most active workers; and he must feel mucl
| gratifed at the outcome which necessitateC
| an enlargement. About six months ago the
church edifce was given into the hands OF |
| hnfI aonmiffaa with fha fOlfOWinU re