Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1893-12-01
IN THE LOCAL FIELD.
GUILFORD.
The 10Th Anniversary of Christ
Church.


Historical Address by Rev. A. u.
Brown, with other Exercises.
The parishioners of Christ church, Gull |
ford, could have had no finer day for the |
celebration of the 10Th anniversary of the |
organization of the parish than last Sun
day, Nov. 26, when the event took place.
Although few in mum Ders, the attachment
of its communicates is strong and they took
much pleasure in decorating the church
with flowers and ferns. At the 1890
service, when some 80 were present, morn
ing prayer was said by Rev. Allan D.
Brown, deacon in charge, followed by
celebration of the Lords supper, with
sermon by Rev. Alexander V. G.. Allen,
d. D., professor in the Episcopal theologi-
cal school at Cambridge, Mass, an init
mate friend CT the late Bishop Phillips
Brooks, and of the present Bishop Law
renee. DR.. Aliens father, Rev. Ethan AL
len, was rector of the parish from 1855 to
1867, and he is buried in the cemetery adj
joining the church.
DIR. Aliens Sermon.
The doctor spoke first of the mingled
feelings of pain and pleasure with which
he stood in that pulpit, endeared to him by
his fathers memory, and of the now un-
seen congregation upon which in former
days his eyes had rested, recalling the
names of those who had been fathers and
mothers in Israel in his boyhood's days,
and even the very pews in which they once
sat. He said that
when be had received the invitation to be
present at the 10Th anniversary, he felt that it
was call of duty, and he had gladly accepted it,
that he might come and talk to the peOple-not
preach, but simply talk some of the problems
pfh fp md Of ltA
/ text the book of Job, the oldest book In the
world, the book which every great mind has ad-
mired III ali ages and which was the first great
/ epic poem the world had ever known. Alter
reading It's beginning and its ending, he called at
tention to the fact that this was but the history OF
possession, loss restoration. And TINS same
| theme was played upon in another book, book
read by every school boy he prepares for col
lege: a book which always thrills the heart as it
is read, for 1t, too, tells the story of life-the
| book of Homer, in which Ulysses is depicted as
victor, strugger and reganer. So, too, OF the
great Latin epic of Virgil, who takes for his
! theme the history of .Eneas possessor and loser
of Troy, but the founder of a city greater than
| Troy had ever been. And when Milton after
many years of dreaming over what he wished to
/ be the greatest epic the world should ever see,
began his work, he took for his subject Paradise
Lost but he could not leave it so, for he recognZ
! ed that it was not complete restoration must be
provided to make it fit the facts of life, and then
| he wrote Paradise Regained And so, too, with
Goethe in Faust; at first he left him IN hell, the
| loser of what he had once possessed; but he also
| was unsatisfed with the ending, and later wrote
! another part to the great poem which brings his
hero back again to restoration, purged by the fres
through which he had passed. So it has been
| with all our modern poets: their deepest strains
! are set to the same eternal theme OF struggle
| from light through darkness unto light again.
Here the spea ker quoted with wonderful feeling
| some stanZas of " ordworths "lntimatons OF
Immortality " bringing out clearly the one song of
| all true poets before or since. Then he went
back to the book of Job and the greater book OF
which it forms part In Genesis we have pos
session and loss; and all the other DOCKS are Out
! parts of the great struggle of the race, some
| times upward, sometimes downward, but always
onward until, at its close we find the restoration
| for which mankind is ever looking. No good thing
| is ever gained without a struggle aud TINS IS the
| meaning of life to build up our characters and to
| bring us nearer to the divine image
The sermon closed with the recitation OF the
well known hymn of Bernard,the monk OF Cluny,
Jerusalem, the golden, dear to countless
Christian hearts for nearly 200 years
Dr. Allen shows plainly the influence
which Phillips Brooks exercised upon all
with whom he come into close contact:
the same sympathetic quality in his voice,
the same enthusiasm for humanity, the
zone sermon" which the great pre- cher
said he always preached, that in every
child of man, however fallen, there still re-
NAMED some trace of the divine image
which might yet be restored. The doctor
is the author of most excellent article on
Bishop Brooks thought by many to be the
best and most comprehensive yet written
which was printed in the April number OF
the Atlantic Monthly.
The Afternoon Service.
At the 2:3O service the congregation
numbered over 100 persons, nearly every
one of whom had, in one way or another
snecial ties interesting them in the ole
church and parish. Evening prayer was
said by Rev. VIM. II. Collins, and the his
torical address was delivered by Rev. AllaT
ID. Brown.
After stating that he did not propose t.
give a detailed history of the parish, and
Short preface relating to the history of thu
town of Gullford, especially to the numDe
of its people which rendered the Dulldln!
4 of so large structure Zone that Will sea
400 people) not at all unreasonable, Mr.
Brown spoke substantially as follows
Rev. A. ID. Browns Address.
I'VE learn from the records, that on March
1917 n number of persons in the east part oil TN
town of tiuilford, being DESTROYS OF aSsocatln
p together for the purpose OF erecting sultanl
bnus,. for the worship of Almighty Gou, ana De
mo- moved nv that de sire did meet and chose
committee to circulate subscription paper WI
the understanding that unless Sl9OV was spsci! ~
ed the pledges were not blndlug; March 81
1917 the committee reported that the hectssaI
sum had been obtained, and the meeting voted l
proceed with the erection OF "a nous q
IN.
be Guiltord East Parish. Lana was ouuSnu q
Enhraim Gale for $500. and IA walTantee deed CIV
en- Feb %, 1918, the slips We're sod auu Al
the Is we're bought, May Is. ISIS, the piudeutlt
! committee was authorized TO invite Rev wa
Riddle TO preach by the sabbath, but hotIih
| appears to show that the invitation was accepted
/ some time in August, 1878, Rev. Daniel bdroer {
! Claremont, n a. held the hrst Episcopal chuIc
| service At this time there were nut TWO praye
| hooks in the town. During the summer the noe
sssn,s To have been without shepherd, dependln
unnn the services of such passing ministers
re gosDel as they could secure. Oct. 4, lSlo' *
! Rpv Alexander Y. Griswold bishop OF the cas-
ern diocese, otficiated, being then on WISH |
this norton of his jurisdiction. Tradition asserl
that the bishop was man of great personal MAJ
nstisIn: and this must have been the case Tor III
rssnit of tins visit was certainly remarkauie
nesting of the society was held the next day' 4
which # was voted TO have preaching the ems!
inc wear Reading between the lines we nor
that at this time they agreed 10 receive az tle
leader a lay reader, candidate lor oruers
Rhode Island ana to place themselves under u
ii,sIrisdict,on Of the bishop Four weeks late
Nov / 1878 Mr. Alfred Baury appeared ma
inC, hen sent by Bishop Griswold, ana Tot
,y.lfs after that Nov. -, 1878, the formal chahR
Of name and relation took place;
nh. sGulford east parish in legal manner az
nv a formal vote changeu their society lhIo y
u TpotesIant Episcopal church ana society III oui
Ford ana 20 residents OF Gulliord east par ~
npnded their signatures as corpoIhIoIs VI "
new organization. AT the same meeting ~ we
Voted 10 unite with the society IN the lnluuie
th,. town for the support OF an Eplsc3paliaHi
istar : and with the signature OF eight resluen
81 GniIfnrd Centre TO the act OF corporation