The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-10-05
CALVARY BAPTISTS REJOICE
lcontinued from First page. }

AulnOTS as MdIle SoTTelll, aVOWlnS an indestrYctible loyalty to Jesus Christ, have yet conceded that the church is a worn institution which must be displaced by some other. The mental food of the masses has been furnished largely by such writers as Carlyle, and Emerson, and Louisa M Alcott, all of whom have taught that morality and religion are sufficiently possible with out Jesus. It Is not to be wondered at that at the meeting of the Evangelical Alliance in New York In 1873, President Woolsey should have produced such a sensation by quoting 8 verse of fa- miliar hymn.
 1t was at the time when Prof. Tyn- dall had proposed his prayer test, that the Christian world should pray for the inmates of one hospital and not for those of another, and so prove that prayer is answered, Some of us feared that skepticism regarding prayer would become universal, and 1t was Tn answer to this fear that President Woolsey made the quotation from well known hymn of Bishop Coxe: ''Oh, where are kings and empires now, of old that went and came? But, Lord, Thy church is praying yet; a thousand years the same"
 As the force Of that blessed yet" was felt by the Christian audience the response was instantaneous and uni versal Shouts, waving of handker- chiefs, clapping of hands, stamping of feet, all attested the grateful amen of the congregation until applause end- ed in tears. That was about two years only after the founding of Calvary church. Yes, the church continues to pray, but not because it is encoraged to do so by an unbelieving world. The fact I have mentioned may serve to show that this church was born during one of the great periods of fierce as- sault upon the Christian faith, and that it's cradle was rocked by the widest storms of doubt and denial If God had not been it's Father it never would have been born at all, and unless it had been upheld by His everlasting arms it would not have continued to this hour. s #
 It ought not to surprise us that at such a time the spirit of God should have moved the hearts of His people to a new and great effort for the advance ment of His kingdom. It is in accord ance with the inspired principle that when the enemy cometh in like flood, the spirit of the Lord shall life up a standard against him. It was an evi- dently providential arrangement by which Brother John M. Davies was brought to reside in New Haven, find- ing there a company of broad minded, x,,;1. 1,a ,io%so men and women, who were fit asso- ciates for a great enterprise. few days ago I re-read a letter which l received from him at the time we were about to elect our first deacons, and I was surprised to see him eminently scriptural and at the same time ad- vanced were his views of the nature of the deaconship. At that time he held the view which I positively took after more than twenty years of pastoral ex- perience. Brother Davies was a man of practical wisdom in matters outside of 5 his business, and it is the glory of his last days that he devoted that wisdom to the building up of Gods kingdom upon the earth.
 But 1t was his happiness to find a considerable company of good men and women, who could appreciate his ideas and emulate his generosity, and this made it possible for Calvary church to be founded upon a large and noble plan which ensured success from the outset. Most churches are born, like some infants, so puny and feeble, that prolonged life is very uncertain But for once there were enough people and sufficient resources to give immediate vigor and ample supplies. One of the first sites in the city, a commodious and attractive house of worship and inspir- ing congregation, large Sabbath school, and in a little while church of 100 members, among whom was an extraordinary proportion of ability of every kind; these were the happy con- ditions under which the first pastorate began.
 And these were the conditions under which it continued, though the death of MT. Davies at an early age of the en- terprise was a sad drawback. Still there remained a large and devoted company, full of enthusiasm, and ready to believe that if they sowed plentiful ly they should reap also plentifully. HIS CIloi Cll WdS AOuhdC4 piiI StlA AACei on upon the principle that large invest ments deserved and would receive large returns. And so, it seems to me, it has been. At the end of the passionate of the first church of about four years, the church numbered 272. That was not a bad showing, if you remember that this was not paper membership, but, for the most part, an actual working force, present and ready for service. Even from the first the congregations aver aged well LID to those of the older and larger churches of the city, and all de- partments of it's operations were car ried on with larger numbers who are counted, not upon the earth, but in heaven amount to an aggregate of 1,561, which abundantly justifies the large expectations of those who pro- jected the undertaking. But the results effected by such an organization cannot be shown by figures, nor told in words. They are such great spiritual benefits and gains as elude our detection, and even conn rehensoin. Not until eterni- ty disclos what time has produced, not until aur faculties have expanded by the gro yth which ages have effect ed, will it be known what God hath wrought through this twenty-five years