The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-08-19
CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
Ccont!nued from Second Page.l

one dHulHeF TOT everything Wnlcn mas been unworthy of the Christian pro- fession, fervently praying for the splr- it and presence of Christ in the pres ent transaction, and In all our future proceedings. We do now solemnly and as we hope with sincerity of soul, agree and covenant with each other to walk in fellowship as a church of Christ, acknowledging Him as our only head, and taking His instruction for our guide in faith and practice, worship and discipline, We promise to counsel and admonish one another, as 1t be- cometh saints, and with Christian hu- millty to be subject one to another. We mutually engage to uphold the in stitutions of Christ, and will make it our endeavor, as God shall give us opportunity and ability, to obtain the settlement and provide for the support of good minister of the New Testa- ment. This we covenant and engage with each other, in dependence on the grace of Christ to enable us to fulfill our covenant" Here then we find in this document that the chief founda- tion stone of this beloved church were laid in spirit of charity, of good will, of Christian fellowship. What more could our good fathers of 1795 have done? They might have done far less in the way of concessions and compromises and been vindicated I think we shall all agree that they met their brethren of the old churches more than half way. Indeed they seem to have aban- doned everything and left no stone un- in a O1ip a footing of peace and charity with all. And surely on the pages of his tory it does look as though it were more blessed for them to give than to receive, and we to-day delight to hon. or that spirit, and to feel that it has lived through all the century, and still abides.
 Of the further exercises of that day we should like to know more. But we do learn that on that same day three more men were added to the membership, making fifteen in all, And one more thing we know. The record of baptisms tells us that at that time nineteen children were baptized by the Rev Noah Williston, the minister pres ent from West Haven. What sight it must have been! That long array of infants. Even though that plain and ancient meeting house which we are told was so unattractive had none of the artificial decorations which ours has to-day, we cannot be rid of the im- pression that it was a scene of great beauty, from the presence of those chil- dren. How ominous for the future of the church that children were pres ent and had some recognized relation to the church at the time of it's incep- tion. Behold here the germ of church that should ever reach out toward the young. Behold here the prophecy of all the organizations through which ef- forts are made to foster the young. I call upon our Sunday school, and Junior Endeavor society and Boys Bri- gade to answer back across the cen- tury the fulfillment of this prophecy, a church that belongs largely to the young.
 And so the work of that day was done, and the church was launched on it's mission of peace and good will. So were ended the series of struggles for religious liberty. Hereafter there was to be freedom without molestation for the people to worship God where and when and how the spirit moved them. And surely the church had o mission in this community. It may be remarked in passing that the church of Christ in this land had a peculiar mission at this time. It was a time of infidelity and laxness. The elder President Dwight of Yale college, who came into his office in September, 1795, found that hardly any among the stu dents were protesting Christians at that time. Temperance principles even among the clergy were far from what they are now, as Is shown by such vote as this passed in the New Haven West association as late as 1872, that in all future meetings of this associa- tion ardent spirits form no part of the entertainment" It implied that they had before. And in the records of the New Haven West association in the year 1797 we find these signified words, Especially at such day as the present, when infidelity and many other gross errors, with great profane- ness, liceniousness, and irreligion are spreading themselves in the country, and menacing us with their destruct- i've influence" Thus we can see that our church began its career at most important epoch and has shared in the work of most important century in Christendom.
 The history of the first forty years of the church has been we'll given by MT. Putnam in his discourse delivered in 1876, to which this can only be sup elementary. The first meeting house stood on Hamden Plain where the Meth odst church now stands, and was built in 1793, though not finished till some years later. It had a steeple and bell square box-pews, galleries on three sides, and a high pulpit over which hung sounding board. No stove or other means of heating it were pro- vided until after many years, when stove YVES introduced, although such novelty was strenuously opposed by some, who felt that the churchgoing zeal of the people was better cultivated by means of cold church. No means were provided for lighting the church, so that no evening meetings were held there except when the people carried cash their own candles. Some fami- lies had a Sabba' day house across the road with a. fire to which they would resort at the noon intermission and