Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1892-04-13

Wiiiion years IN Heaven Will haSo Nc
power To dim my memory of the glori-
Gus times we had in that first tabor
naclc. which. because of it's invasion
OF the usual style of church architecture.
was called by some "Talmngc's hippo
drome," by others, Church OF the Holy
Circus" and by other mirthtul nomcn-
claturc. But ~ was n building perfect
for acoustics, and stood long enough
to have it's imitation In all the large cit
les of America. and To ccraplctcly rcvo-
lutionizc church architecture People
saw that II was the common-scns> way
OF seating an audience. Instead OF y.it-
ting them In an angular church. where
each one chiefly saw the back part oi
somebody else's head. the audience were
arranged in semi-circlc. so that 1hsy
could see each others faces. and the
auditorium was great family
circle seated around fireplace.
which was the pulpit IL was
an Iron structure. and, we supposed.
iirc-proof, but the insurance companies
looked ut IL and, after we had gone toe
far To stop In It's construction, they de-
clincd To insure IL except for mere
nothing, declaring that, being OF iron,
IL tho inflammablc material between
the sheets of iron took fire, ne
engine hose could play upon H. And
they wcrc right During those days
we educated and sent out from n lay
college under our charge some oOa
young men and women, many OF them
becoming evnngelists and many OF them
becoming regularly ordained preachers,
and meet thcm i'm all parts OF the LAND
toiling nightly for God.
One Sunday morning i'm December.
1872, the thermometer nearly down To
zero, was on my way To church. There
was an excitement in the street and
much smoke In the air Fire engines
dashed past But my mind was ON my
sermon l was about To preach. until
someone rushed up and told mo that
our church was going up In the same
kind OF chariot that Elijah took from
the banks OF Jordon. That Sunday
morning tragedy, with It's wringing OF
hands. and frozen tears ON the check OF
many thousands standing in the street.
and the crash that shook tho
earth, h as vivid MS though
IL were yesterday. But Il was
not n perfect loss All were anx-
ious 10 do something. and. IA, on such
occasions sensible people are apt 10 do
unusual things, one OF the members, at
the rislS Of his life. rushed in among Tho
fallen walls, mounted the pulpit and
took "a glass of water from the table
and brought Il I'm safety 10 the street so
you see IL was not total loss. Within
an hour from many churches came kind
invitations Co occupy their buildings.
and hanging against lamp-post. near
the destroyed building. before - o'clock
that morning, was "a board with the In
scription; The congregation OF Brook
lyn Tabernacle will worship tonight Ina
Plymouth Church
Mr.. Bccchcr mndc the opening PRAYER.
| which was full OF commiscration for ma
and my homeless flock, and I preached
/ that night the sermon that | intended
| 10 preach that morning In my own
church, the text concerning the pre-
cious alabastcr box broken at the feet
| OF Christ, and sure enough we had one
very precious broken that day. We
were, as "a church, oblitcrated But,
arise and build" said many voices An
other architect took the amphithcatrical
| plan OF "A church, which I'm the first i'm.
stance, was necessarily somewhat rude,
and developed 10 into an elaborate plan
that was Immediately adopted. But how
20 raise the money for such an cxpcn-
sive undertaking was the question
| pcnsive not because OF any senSeIesr
adornment proposed, but expensive be-
cause OF the immense size OF the build
| ing needed 90 hold our congregation.
i IL was at that time when for years our
country was suffering. not from finan.
cial panic, hut from that long-continued
/ financial depression which all business
men remember. as the cloud hung heavy
year after year, and commercial cstah-
lishmcnts without number went down
| Through what struggles we passed. the
eternal God and some brave souls to-day
remember Many time would / have
| gladly accepted calls 90 some other
field, but could not leave the fiock in
the wilderness. AZ last, after, in tha
interregnum. having worshiped in
our beautiful Academy Of Music
on the morning OF February %
1877, the anniversary Of the Wash.
/ inRton who conquered impossibilities
and on the Sabbath that always
celebrates the resurrection, DR.. Byron
Sunderland, chaplain OF the United
States senate, thrilled us through and
through with a dcdicatory sermon from
/ Haggni H., o; "The glory OF this house
shall be greater than that Of the former,
/ saith the Lord OF Hosts" The corner
I 'ARAH VI tAAAb huiiNAuK mao Dffn lHt0
/ by the illustrious and now enthroned
/ DR.. lrenmus Prime. On the platform
on dedication day sat. among others,
/ DR.. Bowling Of the Baptist church. DR..
I Crook Of the Methodist church. SIR.
I Beecher Of the Congregational church,
and DR.. French OF the Presbyterian
church. HOsannahi Another s35. 900
was raised on that day. The following
I Sunday 82s souls were received
I into our communion. mostly
I on confession ~ faith. ~ two other
I cOmmunions over 500 souls Joined a.
each one. AZ another in-gathering 62s
souls entered this communion. and 50
many 81 those gathered thrOngs haVs
already entered Heaven that vc expect
to feel 40 home when wc get there
Ny. Ny. Won't we be glad 20 see
them the men and women who stood
by us In days that were dark and days
that were jubilant H0sannahi The
work done in that chhrch on Schermcr.
Ia. 80