St. Paul daily globe., 1895-11-18
TO WORSHIP OF GOD
Scandinavians Dedicate the New
Mission Church.

On rainy Sunday during last May
great crowds of Scandinavian worship
ers gathered at the corner OF seventh
street and Tenth avenue south to wit
ness the laying of the corner stcae Tor
the new Swedish Free Mission church.
Now the building stands ready, and
yesterday the same crowds assembled
under the roof of the beautiful temple
to take part in the dedicatory services.
From ten in the morning till late at
night the services were carried on al
most necessarily, and during the
greater part of that time the church
was packed with people. The majority
of those present belonged to the con-
gregation, but there were many mem
bers of other churches present, and
probably every Swedish denomination
and every Swedish church within this
city were represented by larger or
smaller delegations
At 10 a. m. the series of services was
opened with prayer and scripture read
ing by the pastor of the church. Rev.
J. G. PrinceI. Prayers were also Of
fered by Rev. A. G. Nilsson, of Center
City, and Rev. Frank Peterson, of this
city. The whole congregation then
rose to sing one of the old Swedish
choral hymns, especially suited to
such occasions. The first address Of
the day was delivered by Rev. Princell,
who spoke as wollows:
Welcome to this our own house and
church, you beloved friends and fel-
low workers in the cause of Christ,
faith and hope, and which has induced
and enabled us, so far, to build this
house. Welcome all, you friends who
come to see, hear and rejoice with us
today. Welcome, you friends from 9TH
er churches. These doors shall always
stand open to you. Come often, come
when you can. Our principle is: To
live and let live Welcome also ye all
who are as yet strangers to US and
our God, to our and your own Savior.
come to our and your Father, to grace
and mercy, to peace and joy. Wei
come, ye fellow messengers of the gos-
pei of salvation; welcome to hear and
be heard, to see and be seem.
What do we mean by this building?
Simply a suitable meeting place for
united praise, prayer, testimony and
religious work, the work of saving
souls, of edifying the saved, Of warn
ing, admonishing and encouraging ev-
cry one according to his particular
needs. Welcome here young and old,
rich and poor, learned and unlearned.
Here we are to meet before our Maker
on a plane Of equality. May the rich
themselves and to rejoice in the cleo
tric touch of kinship with all human-
ity. May the lowly come here to re-
joice in a sense of elevation of spirit
brought to them by the brotherhood
with their heavenly Fathers greatest
and best children in heaven and on
earth.
This house is to be a mountain top
where we gather to seek and find more
light, where we are to watch for
brighter day, and, while watching, en-
courage one another and help others
to the same privileges. This house ts
to be Bethany where many Mary
may sit at Jesus feet, where many
Lazarus may be awakened from the
dead. It is to be a workshop of the
holy spirit, taking out stones from the
| great quarry of humanity and fashion
| ing them for the heavenly temple.
These Christian temples in our great
| cities, in our towns and along our
| country roads, are a sort of living mon>
| ument to the great Savior, hives OF
| spiritual industries, not tombs or burial
vaults or mausoleums over dead hero.
| It is, therefore, well that those living
| monuments to Him who was dead, but
who IS now living for everyone, be as
| suitable and as beautiful as they can be
| made by the people desiring to offer to
God the best they are capable of and
| the best they have"
Rev. Princell thereupon stated brief
| ly the financial situation of the new
| church. The lot has cost $1,000, while
the building when fully completed, WY
have cost about $4,000. OF that sum
several thousand dollars still remain
unpaid, but subscriptions are coming in
all the time. and the congregation
hopes to see its church freed from
debt with in a future that it is not
| very far off.
The morning service ended with a
short, but powerful sermon by Rev. M.
| Ahnstrom, of jamestown, N. Y. In
| the afternoon the Sunday school pupils