Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-05-24
DEDICATED FOR WORSHIP
Trinity N. E. Congregation Occupy Thei1
New Church Building.
Impressive Sermon by Bishop Hurst
ple-The Debt Extinguished.

| The new Trinity Methodist Episcopal
| Church, at the corner of PENNSYLVANIA
avenue and 5th street southeast, Rev. DR..
E. d. Huntley, pastor, which has been In
course of construction for many months
past, was dedicated yesterday by Bishop
Hurst, in the presence of one of the largest
| gatherings of church people that has ever
assembled in a place of worship in WASH
| ington.
| The edifice. which has been heretofore
| fully described in The Star, is one of the
and when few more articles of furniture
have been supplied. will have cost about
| 100000.
The Bishops Comment.
So much impressed was Bishop Hurst, in
| looking over the new building, that he used
these words before the congregation. pre-
| ceding his delivery of the dedicatory SER
| mon: Il want to congratulate the pastor
and the official members, and the congre-
| cation of this church, in fact, the entire
neighborhood, on this perfect day, upon
the completion ofthfs magnificent new build
ing, IN this splendid neighborhood, on this
splendid location. We have the culmina-
ton today of excellent Judgment, intense
prayer and magnificent faith. in this tri-
umphal hour"
The exercises were begun with the sing
ing of the hymn commencing, THE Lord,
Our God, Alone Is Strong" which was led
by large choir. Following this the apos-
ties creed was recited in concert by the
congregation. After prayer by Rev. DR.. E.
L. Hubbard Of Baltimore. Bishop Hurst read
a number of selections from the Scriptures,
among which was the prayer offered by
Solomon at the dedication of the temple
erected by him.
The text of Bishop Hurst's sermon was
the third verse of the eighty-seven.h
Psalm. Glorious things are spoken of thee.
N fy nj
"The church," said Bishop Hurst, has
often been called the city, principally be-
cause, in ancient times and in oriental
countries, the city represented the center
of national life. 1t was usually erected on
the mountain sides or on It's top, in order
to be free from the attacks of enemies, or
on account of the extreme heat which pre-
vailed there during eight months of the
year. So Zion represents the church, and
| in the city which the prophet speaks of
we have the divine conception of the
church. Pointing heavenward always and
everywhere, it is light set on a hill for
the guidance of a world.
lions Glorfes.
I'm every year since these words were
written there have been new and mighty
combinations of it's truth. Not only is
Zion glorious, but it's fame is glorious.
THE church unifies and harmonizes the
antagonisms of men. The rich and the
poor meet together; the Lord is the maker
of them all. There is not question of
society or of labor but what 1t Is the duty
of the church to interest itself in it. and
If difficulties exist to harmonic them. This
vast world in which we live is a neighbor-
hood and all humanity is a brotherhood"
"a few years ago." continued the bishop,
the Engltsh-speaking population was linn
tied to a comparatively few nations, but 1t
is now rapidly becoming the language of
the world. Even in the three northern
most countries of Europe, which are only
f.I
the people know far more about English
than they do about German. A remarkable
fact is that the English is absorbing the
other languages of the world.
The Church Unity.
1.-The churches themselves are coming to-
gether and but little is said in these days
about their differences as regards most of
the essentials A hundred years ago there
was magnificent duel of words between
the Wesleyan and the CaIvinists of George
town. over doctrinal points, and the Calvin
lists called the WeSleyans upstairs. But
these are all passed now, and 1t is the re-
suit of this great feeling Of unification that
is gradually but surely overspreading the
world.
1t has been urged by many directors
that this spirit Of unification is not due to
Christianity, but by what is called the
higher advancement of the nineteenth CEN
fury. That Is a gross error. 1t was the
these things. 1t is true that centuries ago
In Rome, there were sculptors and painters,
and others, whose works have served as
models, and are still used as models. and
whose reputation have survived in all the
centuries which have followed.
But In all these hundreds of years, and
when Rome was at the zenith of her power
and influence, she did not erect a single or
phan asylum or hospital, or any one of
the thousands of charitable institutions
such as exist at the present time in all
Christian countries Nor were these things
thought of until Christ came to earth and
went about healing the sick and doing
good. There is not a charity beneath the
sun today that was not founded through
the influence Of the church.
The Higher Criticism.
Il have never yet seen an explanation Of
what is meant by the so-called higher
criticism Of the institutions founded by
Christianity. The people are so Obstinate
they are SO hard to control; they will keep
on praying, they will meet together, they
will send their children to the Sunday
schools. in spite of all that is said to pre-
vent them, and the only way to account
for this is that they still have faith in the
Bible and in its teachings.
Despite the fact that the year 1896 was
one of the hardest. financially speaking,
that this country has ever passed through,
the contributions for the support of mis-
sions from the regular sources were greater
than ever before in the history of the
CnurCn. Inat means commence, that
means faith, and the experience Of the NJ.
E. Church has also been that Of other de-
nominations. So beg of you to think that
the members of Christ's church were never
SO confident Of the conquest of the world
for Christ they are today. There was
never such spirit of conquest Of the world
as now prevails"
In conclusion, Bishop Hurst said: I'm en-
tering upon the possession of this beautiful
new house Of God you have incurred rev
obligations and new responsibilities Please
do not make the mistake of believing your
work to be done. Let the most ragged man
or child in this neighborhood feel that he
will be perfectly welcome to come In here.
Go out and seek for those who are disposed
to say No man cares for my SOUL"
Bishop Hurst urged that all the members
exert themselves to promote a spirit Of
unity, and said If they did so, the success
of the church and its future history would
be more brilliant than 1t has ever been in
the past.
The Debt Obliterated.
DIR. Huntley read detailed statement Of
the receipts and expenditures for the new
building, and said that all had: been met
with the exception Of about $4,000 or
$4,000 After an earnest appeal by DIR.
Hubbard the entire amount was pledged
by those present