The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-10-07

tortum of the First Baptist church was
occupied last evening at the semi-cen-
tennial exercises In honor Of the found
ing of the church. 1t was the Bible
class school series,: with Supt. Go ge
Riggs presiding and the subject for the
evening was 1.-THE Training Of the
Church.
Following the organ prelude Miss q.
Alcott gave q magnificent rendition Of
Mascagnis ave Maria" with Miss A
Bishop. Miss N. Hope and Miss M. Fur
Der as accompanies. Then Gounod's
Praise Ye the Father" was given by a
chorus and the responsive scripture read
ing followed. Rev. H. F. Stilwell Of
fered an invocation and the primary pu-
pills sang Jesus, Like a Shepherd Lead
U.s." under the direction of Mrs. H. T.
Stilwell.
The intermediate class exercises under
the direction of Mrs. E. D. Babcook, SUI
perintendent, were very interesting, and
the Boys Brigade lead by Capt. Abner
Gran, gave a Bible drill that evidenced
the careful training bestowed upon the
young church soldiers. Everybody join
ed in singing the old familiar Onward
Christian Soldiers" and at the close Supt.
Biggs introduced Mrs. J. H. Randall,
who read very interesting paper on
Primary Impressions" She laid spe-
cial stress on the lessons to be gained
from the value Of influences. 1.-THE hold
Ing of holy thoughts in our own minds
is an essential in training the young
minds" said Mrs. Randall. "Stories
from the Lords own life are valuable in
laying the foundation for the higher
principles that are to be instilled later.
Child study is another essential to the
primary teacher
Miss Jessica B. Wakefield read a Ills
torical Sketch of the School" She
spoke of the pride that those connected
with the Bible study of the church could
feel in the fact that the school was the
first permanently established in Mime
sofa. In 1S47 Miss H. B. Bishop had
come out from the East to found day
school. st. Paul was then a small trad
ing post with the class of inhabitants
peculiar to the frontier town of the pc
Rod. Miss Bishop had seen the lack
of Bible instruction when she found
herself the only praying person in The
settlement. As result of her earnest
efforts the first Sunday school was he'd
on July 25, 1847, in a little log hut
I1lcll 1liu DSSH QSSu DIS a DldckSmlth SHOP,
There were three small rooms with
plain log walls and benches. and in one
of the rooms hen had established her
nest and maintained her position until
driven out by force of numbers. On the
first Sunday there were seven scholars
and one visitor, but by the third Sunday
Miss Bishop found the little cabin packed
with an earnest audience. For a year
she carried on the work unasssted and
then A. Ell. Lavender came out and took
a hand in the work, becoming the first
superintendent. Since then the school
has had fourteen superintendent and
has grown from that small beginning
until the present membership is nearly
400. Miss Wakefield interestingly pic
tured the growth and progress Of the
school to its present prosperity.
At the conclusion of Miss Wakefeld's
paper the girls choir sang 1.-THE Angels
very sweetly and then Supt. Biggs In
troduced Rev J. w. Conley, of Chicago,
who was pastor of the First Baptist
church from 1893 to 1898. Mr. Conley
spoke on 1.-The Church and the Young
People" The church, he said, should
stand in parental relation to the
young people and the speaker laid stress
upon the necessity Of recruiting among
the young. The church should not be
dominated by the younger element nor
by the elder workers, but there should
be a judicious Difference shown to the
experience and wisdom Of the old and the
zeal and enthusiasm Of the younger eie-
ment, both Of which were necessary
for the up-building of the church of
Christ. In closing Mr.. Conley spoke
earnestly against the movement to secu-
larize the public schools and the grow
Ing tendency to let higher education
crowd out the fundamental truths Of re-
ligion.
1.-THE young should, be taught to appre-
ciate their responsibilities he said. ':In
them lies the future strength Of the
church."
The exercises closed with the benedic-
ton pronounced by DR.. Stilwell, after
he had announced that Rev. and Mrs.
Conley will be at home from II until 4
today at 794 Laurel avenue to receive
their friends =
The subject of the meeting this even
ing will be '"The Growth of the Church."
and the feature will be a paper on "The
History of Our Church. by Mrs. H. D.
Gates. Deacon A. H. Lavender will
perside.