The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-04-11

lIOIH lIlG leAl, tAllu lG said unto Him. if Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence." On the 12th of August the congregation assmebled for the first time in their new chapel the rector on this occasion preaching from the text, "The taber- nacle of the upright shall flourish The parish was no longer worshipping in hired room but in it's own building. In faith that little band of men had started the enterprise of third parish in New Haven, and God had prospered them thus far. There were those, of course, who looked upon it as a doubt full undertaking, and who did not hesl- tate to say so, There were many obsta- cles that had to be surmounted But work begun and carried on in faith as that was, could not fail.
 But the parish was destined to ac- complish greater things yet. It soon be- came apparent that the chapel must be replaced by larger and more preten- tious building. And so the wardens and vestry in their annual report to the parish in 1853 took up the matter, and recommended the appointment of a committee to inquire into the cost of erecting suitable church, and also to ascertain how much stock would be taken within the parish, for that was the way they proposed to borrow their money. That committee was appoint ed, and when at an adjourned meeting of the parish they reported that $S00O of the stock had already been taken and that S12,000 could be disposed of within the parish, they were immedi- ately empowered to procure plans for a new church. Well, to pass over de- tails, plans presented by Wills and Dudley of New York were accepted and on Sunday, March 12, 1854, the last ser vice was held in the chapel, and the erection of the new church commenced at once. It is worthy of note that the matter of a change in location came up for consideration at this time. It would appear that some members of the ves- try had it in mind provided they could sell to an advantage A proposition was also made by men connected with Trinity parish, offering certain induce ments to remove to the vicinity Of Broadway. But "the interest and as- sociations of the people all centered here," and here the "second temple" was built. The cornerstone was laid April 24, 1854, by Bishop Williams in the presence of fifteen clergymen, and large gathering of people. While the building was in process of erection the congregation worshipped in what was then known as Brewster hall,'' large room above what is now the Second National bank. The church was conse- crated April 19, 1855, by Bishop Brow- nell, Bishop Williams preaching the sermon.
 The parish now had a church suita- hle to its needs, and one that compar- ed favorably with other church edifices < in the city. But you must not think that nothing more remained for them to do. They had their church but they had not paid for 1t. St. Thomas church was built, you will remember as I think Trinity and St. Pauls were built, by issuing stock. In 1858 the parish de- ter1nining to raise, if possible, $15,000 toward the payment of their debt, and during that year that amount was raised much to the qualification of all concerned. They kept at it. you kept at 1t perhaps should say, until at last < in 1878 the purpose was accomplished, and the parish freed from debt l need not give the history of the erection of X the parish building. and of the many changes then made in the chancel of the church, for all that is so recent X that you are quite familiar with it.
 [ have thus tried to place before you the story of the formation and growth of this parish. You have doubtless ob- served that I have said little-of him who under God did so much to make the parish what it is to-day. For ob- vious reasons it would not be becom- ing for me to say too much, and yet think I may be permitted to say what know is in your minds, that the wisdom, and prudence and devotion of the rector, who for the first forty four years of its existence guided the destinies of St. Thomas church, are re- flected in It's excellent condition to-day and in the loyalty and generosity of the parish as a parish. To his wise man. agement we who come after owe much. But while saying that I would not un- derrate the support of the men and women who in all those years had the parish and its affairs near to their hearts "A rector can do much, but he cannot do everything A great deal depends upon the men and women back of him. If they are loyal to their par ish because they love it, not because they want to gratify some personal ends, they can be relied upon to do their part in maintaining the work at all times, and in holding up the rec tors hands when the battle seems to be going against him. Faithful men and women make the strong and stable par ish. The strength and stability of this parish are evidenced in the long ten- ure of office of it's first rector, and of it's officials in general. Including the present officers the parish has had five senior wardens, the first two covering tfirty-one years, eight juniors war dens, six treasurers, one covering twen- ty-eight years, and seven clerks, two covering thirty-nine years. There is certainly no evidence there of change merely for the sake of change. Ninety four men have served on the vestry, and thirty have represented the parish in the diocesean convention. Now while I do not regard statistics as of very great importance, while do not think the absorbing purpose of a church should be to show larger figures, for after all they are very misleading as to the real condition of church, yet per- haps you may be interested in few -+atiettos dealing with the half cen