Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1892-09-30
THE CORNERSTONE LAID.
CEREMONIES AT THE
METHODIST CHURCH.

y The cornerstone of the new church
which the Methodists of Middlebury are
building, to replace the structure burned
last January, was laid with appropriate
ceremonies on Tuesday afternoon. The
weather, which had been threatening for
some days. was all that could have been
desired. The skeleton of the church is
up and the floors, both of the platforms
and the audience room, were down.
Temporary seats were taken in and the
large audience were very comfortably
provided for.
Rev. j. Nj. Webster, presiding elder of
the Burlington district, presided. Seated
with him on the platform were Rev. F.
G. Heaxt, the local pastor; Rev. T. G.
Thompson of Burlington. Rev. j. G.
Kunz of Bristol Rev. j. w. Dean of
Bridport, Rev. w. H. Crawford of Pitts
ford, Rev. w. w. Carr of Lincoln, Rev.
G. G. Morehouse of Brandon, Rev. DR..
j. Fl. Coleman of Troy, n. Y; Rev. DR..
Horace Crane of Bombay, India; Rev.
Thomas Bell, rector of st. stephens;
Rev. j. L. Fort, Jr., of Weybridge and
Rev. S. W. Bidwell of East Middlebury.
Mr.. Sawyer of the college presided at the
organ. The opening anthem was sung
by quartet composed of Dr. Sheldon
and Messrs. Woodward, Cushman and
Hubbard, and the remainder Of the sing
ing was by them and the ladies of the
choir, Mrs. Jackson, Mrs. Thomas and
Misses Royce, Langworthy, Barton and
Youtt. This was the
ORDER OF EXERCISES.
Anthem.
Introductory Address. Pastor.
Hymn SCI.
Read by Rev. w. Ii. Crawford.
Prayer. Rev. w. w. Carr.
Responsive Psalm. Rev I. G. Thompson.
New Testament Lesson.
Rev. Geo. G. Morehouse.
Address. Rev. j. ii. Coleman, ID. d.
Hymn S5S. Read by Rev. j. G. Kunz.
Laying OF the Stone. Rev. F: G. Heaxt.
Prayer. Rev. j. NJ. Webster.
Benediction. Rev. Horace Crane.
The speaker of the occasion, Rev. j. H.
Coleman, D. D., pastor of the 9Th avenue
church, Troy, n. Y, was introduced by
Presiding Elder Webster, who sketched
briefly the steps which led up to the cree
ton of the new church. DR.. Coleman
spoke of the relations of the church to
the community and to the government
and talked forcibly, clearly and well.
He said, among other things:
1t is difficult to set forth adequately
/
for the worship of God. Ii is a structure
unlike any others in the community eX-
cept the churches of the several denoml-
nations. God becomes in an emphatic
sense resident of the town when you
have built for him place in which to
live. Your town is therefore to be con-
graduated that another abiding-place for
him is going up. There are no structures
of so great Importance to community as
its churches. Many towns talk proudly
of their manufacturing industries, but
they are of little consequence to it as
compared with its churches Schools are
necessary, but not of so great impor-
lance as churches. 1t is in the church.
es and there only that the Bible, the only
complete revelation of Gods will to men,
is studied, and no other means has been
provided by the maker of the universe
lOl TIC odlNdtlOu VI tilC ldSC ludu llt
preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The tendency in our day is to rule out
the supernatural; but the Bible proclaims
a supernatural religion, and if we haven't
that we haven't any. Unbelief in super
natural religion in certain quarters does
not alter the fact of the existence of that
religion. There are those who have not
found out that facts remain, whether
they believe in those facts or not. Our
fathers believed in this book just as it is,
and they found salvation; but there are
people today wiser than Christ himself.
God has but one church, though there are
various denominations, and in that church
center interests to be found nowhere else.
We have great, growing and prosperous
country. Why? Our religion has done
nation than anything else. The Saxon
blood is not responsible for it all. 1t is
not every form of religion that is worth
having in this way, and because it con-
duces to prosperity, if for no other rea-
son, l would be for the uphOlding of our
religion. Our religion is based on indi-
vidual responsibility and on the rights of
conscience, and it Is that feature of it
which has put the old flag on its staff and
has made 1t to wave from sea to sea. 1t
is sometimes said that this is priest-rid-
den country. The skeptic who doesn't
like it is at liberty to 60 elsewhere.
There are spots on the globe, as in Chi
ma, Africa and Japan, that are not
troubled with Christianity, and he might
go thither. The truth is, though, that
the two countries which have been most
markedly prospered are those in which
the teachings of the Bible have been most
closely followed. If the churches of
Mlddlebury were to be closed the popu-
lation would rapidly decline and in two
years the value of every piece of property
would be reduced 80 per cent, the college
would lose Its students, the bank would
have little or no business and everything
would be disorganized. The safety and
well-being of the community depend up
on the preaching of Gods word. The
early Methodist itinerants made society
possible, and the time will come when
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