The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-04-20

We expected to pay for the new church
BY the sale Of the old building. The
old one had been sold, but just at the
time we must have the money the pur-
cbasers backed out and we had two
churches and no money. By the help
of God and the indomitable and unpar-
alleled energy Of our trustees there and
there one of them present to-day, but
the most in better world, we got the
building ready for conservation, and ON
September IS, 1870, morning and even.
ing dedicatory services were held.
and in the afternoon the chill
dren, with sweet and multitudinous
voices, consecrated the place to God.
Twenty thousand dollars were raised
that day to pay floating debt. In the
morning old DIR. Stephen H. Tying, the
glory of the Episcopal church and the
Chrysostom of the American pulpit,
reached sermon, which fingered in its
gracious effects as long as the building
stood. He read enough of the Episcopal
prayer-book to keep himself from being
reprimanded by his bishop for preach
ing a non-Episcopal service; and we, al.
though belonging to another denomina-
ton, responded with heartiness, as
though we were used to the Liturgy:
Good Lord, deliver us' During the
short time we occupied that building,
we had constant downpour Of re-
ligious awakening. Hosannah! Ten
million years in Heaven will have no
power to dim my memory of the glori
GUS times we had in that first taber-
nacle, which, because of its invasion
of the usual style of church architecture,
was called by some "Talmage's hippo
drome," by others, "Church of the Holy
Circus" and by other mirthful nomen-
clature. But it was building perfect
for acoustics, and stood long enough
to have its imitation in all the large cit
les of America, and to completely revo-
lutionize church architecture. People
saw that II was the common-sense way
of seating an audience. Instead of put
ting them in an angular church, where
each one chiefly saw the back part Of
somebody elses head, the audience were
arranged in semi-circle, so that they
could see each others faces, and the
auditorium was great family
circle seated around fireplace,
which was the pulpit. 1t was
an iron structure, and we supposed,
fire-proof, but the insurance companies
looked at it and, after we had gone too
far to stop in its construction, they de-
clined to insure it except for mere
nothing, declaring that, being of iron,
if the infammable material between
the sheets of iron took fire, nc
engine hose could play upon it. And
they were right. During those days
we educated and sent out from a lay
college under our charge some 1,20C
young men and women, many of them
becoming evangelists and many of then
becoming regularly ordained preachers
and meet them in all parts of the lane
toiling nightly for God.
One Sunday morning in December
1879, the thermometer nearly down tc
zero, was on my way to church. There
was an excitement in the street ant
much smoke in the air. Fire engines
dashed past. But my mind was on ny
sermon l was about to preach, unit
someone rushed up and told me thai
our church was going up in the same
kind of chariot that Elijah took from
the banks Of Jordon. That Sunday
morning tragedy, with its wringing o.
hands, and frozen tears on the cheek O.
many thousands standing in the street
and the crash that shook The
earth, is as vivid as though
it were yesterday. But it wa,
not a perfect loss. All were anx
ious to do something, and, as, on such
occasions sensible people are apt to Dc
unusual things, one of the members, a
the risk of his life, rushed in among the
fallen walls, mounted the pulpit ant
took glass of water from the table
and brought it in safetyto the street. 81
you see it was not total loss. Within
an hour from many churches came kline
invitations to occupy their buildings
and hanging against aelamp-post, neal
the destroyed building, before 10 o'clocl
that morning, was board with the in
scription: 1.-THE congregation of Brook
lyn Tabernacle will worship tonight il
Plymouth Church"