The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1892-10-07

i'm the life of the chirch. The sermon car
ried In 1t the lOftiest idea of the living,
working body of believers, truly i'm the
thought of God the spirit of Christ, ''using
the tools of science and civilization for the
redemption of lfe," evoking all that is good
in man, resisting all that is hurt to society,
until the thinking brain and the beating
heart shall encompass all humanity, making
the church stand for God, and for humanity,
under the arch of its splendid purpose. Zone
is your master, Christ, and ye are brethren, -
then the structure-this stone-shall surely
be tie house of God.
After an anthem by the choir, the formal
dedication by responsive reading, led by
the pastor, took place. The morning SER
vices closed with a prayer of dedication by
Rev. Reitze.
THE AFTERNOON SERVICES.
The services at p. IN. were of unique
and original character; following out the
the thought expressed in the morning SER
mon, that the church stands for all the in
terests OF organized society the various
labor organizations and the military COM
pany of the city occupied the house, making
one of the most suggestive, and inspiring
audiences ever faced by any speaker. The
subject for the thought of the meeting
was, Christianity and the Social and Indus
trial Problem;" the sermon was by Rev. Il.
Il. Davies former pastor, now OF Sandus
ky, D., man keenly in touch with this
| foremost question of christian thought and
specially fitted for the work of the hour.
| lie q d9llvered such an address as characterZ-
ed the services as an event. to appreciate
the discourse one must have it in printed
form and make it a study, so profound in
principle, so thorough in treatment, so warm
and touching in spirit that it will not sub
NIT to synopsis. 1t defined the social
and industrial questions, then defined
christianity, showing that the industrial
| question was not mere question
of mere capital and labor, of supply
and demand, of work and wages-but a
question of humanity and morality, that the
social question was one of divine law and
| relation, to which christianity with the
spirit of Fatherhood i'm God and brotherhood
in man must constantly address itself; it
was not problem that could be solved by
cold mathematical rules, but question
which, treated under educational methods,
would gradually yield to the growing light
and love OF Christian society. AS some
thing entirely original and timely, i'm coli
| nectlon with the dedication of q church
| building, the sermon, to such an audience.
by such master of thought touching the
subject, made the afternoon services a his
tory-making event, bringing home to the
people, in manner never to be forgotten,
the special urgency of these questions of
humanity and morality now disturbing our
life social, industrial and political and point
ing out the way of usefulness to that church
which can and will exercise the true Christ
spirit.
THE EVENING SERVICE.
AT 6:45, the time on the programme for
Young Peoples meeting, found from six to
eight hundred, mostly young people, in the
building. They gathered into the audito-
rum, suggesting that hopeful feature of the
Christian church--young, vigorous, promis-
ing life. The subject Of this hour was:-
''The Meeting House of the Fathers and
the Meeting House of their Children"
The Rev. III. Marshall, pastor of the Con-
gregatiOnal church i'm Vernon, gave an adj
dress on the first part of the subject, with q
description of the New England meeting
house, with the ideas, associations and uses
of the same.
Rev. John Claflin, pastor of the Congre
gational church at Ovid, spoke on the Sec
ond part of the subject, showing the larger
uses of the more convenient, modern house
bringing home the thought that unless care
simplicity and rugged righteousness be in
sisted upon, we of this age of elegance and
convenience, will fall behind the fathers in
character building.
At7:30 in the evening at least twelve hun.
dred people were packed in the various
rooms of the auditorium floor--it was cul
minating meeting, with an address forming
a fitting climax for the occasion. Rev. G.
e. Creegan, ID. d., of Boston, Mass, one OF
the secretaries of the A. b. g. +. NJ, was
the speaker. He commenced by speaking
with highest praise of the building and OF
the services of the day as making ian idea
dedication" His subject was 1.-THE LOca
Church and the Worlds Mission," taking
his theme from the Oft-repeated Lords pray.
er, ''Thy Kingdom Come" Defining the
kingdom as that which stands for all good
ness, usefulness and beauty in the building
of splendid civilization. He traced Its
coming in heart life, home, commonwealth
nation and the world, emphasizing the glo-
rious triumphs worldwide under the ausp
ces of the different mission boards; giving
sketches of individual heroism and success
in such pleasing, graphic style as to instruc
and delight the large audience for nearly al
hour. DT. Creegan's stirring address was 6
magnificent widening of the horizon of the
day, and gave the people to feel that moth
ing is too costly nor too good to dedicate t.
the large work of the redemption of man
kind.
One of the features of the day was the
fine music. Miss Helen Duff presided a
the organ and greatly pleased the audiences
by her playing. The singing was lie,
by G, G. Duff, and as usual, was of higl
standard. Compliments were bestowed
freely upon the choir.
THE NEW BUILDING.
The Congregational meeting house is
model of its kind. being original i'm design ant
rich in finish. The building is unique il
design. 1t is Gothic i'm that the roof is point
ed and slopes until the caves almost toucl
the ground at certain parts and yet it fol
lows the general rules laid down by Roman
esque architecture.
The several parts of the structure ar
nicely balanced, and the supported piece
have an adequate ratio to their parts
This gives the building stability and repose
The foundation of unbroken boulders ]
eight feet in height and three feet in thick
ness, resting on solid foundation of cement
The boulder finish above this is battered an,
put together with the best cement that coulC