The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-04-11
ST. THOMAS JUBILEE YEAR
FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF OR-
 GANIzATION OF PARISH.

at the Morning Service Yesterday by the
 Rector-Large Collection Taken to be
 Devoted to an Endowment Fund-Ser-
 vices Largely Attended.
 The f1ftieth anniversary of the organ ization of the parish of St. Thomas church was celebrated yesterday. The services though not elaborate were beautiful and effective. The music ren- dered by the surpliced choir was very pleasing.
 A fund to be known as "The Endow- ment Fund of the Parish of St. Thom- as Church." in memory of it's late rec tor, the Rev. B. Edwards Beardsley, D. D., l.. L. D., was recently created and the collections taken yesterday were devoted to that fund. About $1, 900 was collected.
 The Rev. William A. Beardsley yes- terday preached sermon giving the history of the church since it's founda- tion. His text was from Leviticus, the 25th chapter and 11th verse, which reads "A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you.''
 He spoke as follows:
 One hesitates to turn away from the great theme which this day suggests, and yet an occasion such as this is sufficient justification for his doing so. We must not forget however that on this day the church of Jesus Christ commemorates the crowning event in the earthly career of her divine head. We must not let the joy of our parish anniversary crowd out completely all thought of this greater anniversary. But with the resurrection of Jesus Christ in mind, all that it stands for in the life of man let us come to the sub- ject which naturally must occupy our thoughts to-day.
 This Is the fiftieth anniversary of our existence as a parish. This is our year of jubilee That the event should be marked by a sermon of an historical character is only right and fitting. The IDuudlllS5 OuL ol tletiL ct SGbtuiy SCi tainly calls for something more than passing notice.
 Now I know that the history of this parish has been told before, and told by one whose life for forty-four years was coincident with the life of the par ish, who indeed was it's first rector know that there are a few still among us, who, as original or early members could from their store of personal rec ollection tell me many more things than I can tell them. But notwith- standing all this I venture to say that the majority of the people who consti- ute this parish now are quite unfamil- jar with the story of it's formation and therefore I propose to give that story as if it had never been told. Such is my excuse then, if any is needed for going over ground which has been gone over before, though perhaps not quite so minutely as I shall go over it. Fifty years have witnessed great changes in the life of the Episcopal church in New Haven. Let us see
 what it's condition was in 1S4S. There were at that time three parishes, Trim l ity, St Luke's and St. PauFs In 1S44 about thirty families of colored people,
 belonging to Trinity church, withdrew and organized themselves into separ- ate parish under the name of St. Luke's. For many years St. Pauls had been a chapel-of- of Trinity | church. but in 1S45 it became an inde- | pendent parish. There were then two | parishes within the limits of the city, for we may leave St. Luke's out of con- sideration-at the time of the incep- tion of St Thomas. Those two parish
 es reported that year 6S0 families and | 7S4 communicants. That then was the | strength of our church in a city num- | bering about 22,000 inhabitants. It may 1 be interesting just at this point to con- l trast the present numerical strength of
 the city and the church with their
 numerical strength fifty years ago. | Last year our churches reported 3,728
 communicants, and the population of
 the city is probably little over 100, ,000. l There has been a decided increase in | both you see, though the growth of the l church has hardly kept pace with the | growth of the city But now was there
 need for a third parish in New Haven?
 Dr. Craswell in his parochial report for | 184S says: By the organization of a
 new parish est. Thomas0 within the
 limits of the city, provision has been
 made for the increasing demand for | church accommodation, and by the | withdrawal of several families from
 the older parishes, room has been af- | forded for the constant accession re- ceived from other sources" Why as | early as 1880 he reported that the pews
 in church and chapel, with very few
 exceptions, were rented and occupied.
 And yet it was eighteen years before any attempt was made to organize a
 third parish. It would seem therefore
 from what we can gather from the re- l ports of the then existing parishes in | New Haven that there was real need | for another church.
 But who were to organize it? Not
 the men who were best able to do so,
 and thus give it a financial backing which would insure its success at once, l but men of humble means, young men | for the most part. In the brief history
 of the parish in the old register, it is
 stated that .'the enterprise was the con
 ception of men in moderate circum-
 stances. It is not certain that the en-
 tire property of the original movers, | if it could have been thus used,
 would have procured the erection of a