Morning journal and courier., 1892-04-01

Anthem-Let the People Praise Thee, o Lord
Christian Endeavor Chorus.
The Faces We Miss. Rev. D. NJ. James
Hymn.
Let saints below in concert sing
With those to glory gone;
For all the servants of our King
In earth and heaven are one
One family-we dwell in him
One church above, beneath;
Though now divided by the stream
The narrow stream Of death.
One army of the living God
To his command we bow;
Part of the hosts have crossed the flood,
And part are crossing now.
Ev'n now by faith we join our hands
With those that went before,
And greet the ransomed blessed band
Upon the eternal shore.
Doxoioay.
BenedctiOn.
Organ postlude.
The pastor, Rev D. NJ. James, presided
His very interesting address on 1.-THE
Faces we Miss'' follows:
These commemorative exercises cannot
justly close without making some refer
ence to those whose faces are not seen in
our church gatherings. The persons who
have gone from US during these forty
years are nearly equal in numbers to those
who remain with US. Out of the S1S per-
sons who have been enrolled among the
membership the faces of about 400 are
missed from the services. Some of these
have removed by letter and are enrolled
among the membership of other churches
throughout the land. Some of them have
moved from the community, but still re-
tain their membership with the home
church These two classes contribute a
large number Of beloved and honored
members Many of them spent their earlier
days and best strength in the service of
the church during the period of its early
struggles, and others are the children Of
parents who rejoice to-day over the
achievements of past years in church ser
vice. The memory of these lives with US
on such an occasion as this. Occasional
visits to the home church are met with q
glad welcome.
There are others who are gone from US
for whose coming we wish not. They
make up. the roll of the hon
ored dead who fell on other fields
and were mourned of other churches
and were buried in the presence of those
with whom they had walked in Christian
friendship. Many of them rest in silence
80 close to the church of their choice that
| if conscious spirit life hover DER their
graves they can still hear the familiar call
of the old church bell summoning the peo-
pie to worship. Most of those who were
among you forty years ago or those who
planned and practiced self-denial that they
might contribute to the support of the
church, and many who Joined in the first
burdens that rested upon the original pro-
morters of the church, are with us day
only in the memory of those who worship
ped with them and in the church as We
know it which they aided in establishing
We cannot tarry to recall their names or
to mention their part in the labor of those
early years. Some, no doubt, were better
known than others on account of tho act
i've part they took in the church life. The
best known are not always the most
worthy of honorable mention. While you
remember with tenderest affection the
men and women who were the acknowl-
pass by the humble, quiet, unobtrusive
members whose smaller gifts but perhaps
greater faith and more fervent
prayer secured for them and for
you the richest of spiritual
blessings. While you honor the men
| whose names have appeared among the
officials of the church, pass not by the
| men and women who toiled in unofficial
places and who thought and prayed in
secret for the cause which they loved as
truly as any of their associates. Some fell
in matured age. They were once with us,
but are now absent from US.
We miss their faces, but we remember
their devotion and service in behalf of the
church and their growth under the infu-
| ence of the church life that surrounded
| them.
We mention them here not to cast =
| shadow over the brightness of this day in
| the annals of our life, but to deepen the
| affection of the church for them and to
awaken regard on the part of those of us
who In some sense have inherited their
labors.
We appropriate the thought of Sir Ed
| win Arnold as suitable expression of our
| attachment to the departed: Glove lasts;
love never will die; and we know that
though dead, they have never died."
The hymn which we unite in singing is
| one expressive of our faith in the unity
and universally of our fellowship.
The address by Rev. DR.. Hart was a
| brilliant aud beautiful tribute to the hour
| and occasion and was heard with deep in
! terest. DR.. Harris long residence and
services as q pastor in Fair Haven, his
| scholarship and eloquence, notably quail
fed him to do justice to the topic assigned
him, viz: "This Pulpit During Forty
Years."
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CHURCH EDIFIoE.
Rev. E. G. Sage, pastor of the Grand
| avenue church, spoke on the Changes in
Methods" He said: I am the only one
on the platform that is not q true blue
Congregationalist, yet the architect of
this church was Baptist, Mr.. Larkins, q
and whom see here in the audience to-
| night. Yet it is a good structure, IS it
has stood we'll nigh to half a century
without seams or cracks. The principal
change in forty years is that the congre-
cation mingles more generally together in
church work. The church chapel is a re-
| sultssof this general tendency.
The reception from to 5 p. m. was an
| exceedingly pleasant reunion of members
of the church and few invited guests. It
was held in the chapel rooms, which had
partments. In the Sunday school room on
| the second floor, where the guests were
| received by the reception committee, the
| decorations were very attractive. There
were tables illuminated with banquet
lamps, decorations of cut flowers and foli-
| age plants and other devices, making it q
handsome apartment. The reception was
very enjoyable occasion, especially to
| the older members, as they revived memo
ries of the early churcn lie.
From until supper was served on the
first floor of the chapel. There were seven
tables decorated with cut flowers and illu-
mined by gay colored banquet lamps. In
the center sat the fourteen surviving mem
hers of the ninety-three who constituted
the church forty years ago: Willet Hem
ingway, Judge Charles A. Bray, Mr.: and
Mrs. Henry Mallory, Mr.. and Mrs. Gilbert
Gaylord, Deacon Lucius Rowe, Mrs: James
Il. Woodhouse, Mrs. Sarah B. Howard,
Mrs. Louisa 9. Hemingway, E. Allen
Huntley, Mrs. Jane G. Smith, Mrs. Lucre-
| tia Rowe and Mrs. Henrietta N. Gessner.
The tables looked very attractive and q
| splendid supper was served by the ladies
| of the church to about 300. A string
| quartette furnished music.
THE RECEPTION COMMITTEES.
The reception committee was az follows:
Henry Hults, John Lancraft, James Hem