The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-11-14

the pastor, Rev. ]. A Thayer; chant by
the choir and congregation, the Lords
Prayer then came choir selection,
Except the Lord Build the House" by
Gilchrist Responsive service followed,
led by Rev. w. A. Bosworth, Of Fair
selected feature taken from the prophetic
musings Of the far off past when the
church listened to the spoken words Of
those sent by the Most High.
Gloria Patria" followed, and then
hymn, led by the choir and joined by the
congregation.
The scripture lesson followed, and was
from the thirty-seventh chapter Of Isaiah.
Prayer was offered by Rev. L. P. Broad
and no more really earnest effertory was
ever given in this city. Rev. Mr.. Broad
has been through ell the hardships of
the local church and has been instru-
mental in steadfastly holding the society
together during trying times, and the
eloquent prayer of thanksgiving which
was given forth in the hour when he
realized that new era had come to the
church in this city, spoke fervent1y OF his
feeling and gratitude for the accomplish
ing of all he had worked to effect.
Mrs. F. w. Bentley next appeared and
rendered a selection from the Creation"
which added not little to the solemnity
and impressiveness of the occasion.
Rev. D. NJ. Fisk. D. D., Of the First
Congregational church in Topeka, then
gave the dedicatory sermon. Dr. Fisk is
new conner in the state, having come
from the east to succeed the venerable
and respected DR.. Blakesley DR.. Blakes-
ley served for twenty-four years as pas
tor of the First Congregational church in
Topeka, and his often offered resignation
was as often turned down. He had bap-
tized, confirmed and other wise officiated
spiritually to a generation of communi-
cants, and no more worthy successor
, could be found than DR.. Fisk It is no
discredit to any minister of the gospel
who ever appeared in a pulpit in this
city, to say that the learned and instruc-
tive sermon delivered Sunday morning
by DR.. Fisk was one of the best ever
listened to by a Wichita audience The
text was from Isah 54:4 The theme
was Not An Apology But a Challenge"
He dwelt at length on the thought that
Christianity had no need to render any
apology for its faith; on the other hand
1t stood in a position to challenge the en-
tire field of science. philosophy. meta
physics, art and general research, with
the confident feeling that at last all
must come to the side Of the doctrines
the Man Of Gallilee He quoted from all
the ancient PHILOSOPHERS, beginning with
Confucianism Shintoisn, Parseeism.
Buddhism, Taoism, Zoroastrinasism, No
manned, and all the ancient systems of
scholastic reasoning down to the more
modern schemes Of higher criticism. and
in vivid graphic style showed the falsity
of all OutwOrn creeds, and the lasting
stability of the enduring Christianity of
the Christ He declared that even agnos-
ucism was reverent, and from sheer force
of evidence was obliged to grant the seri-
GUS possibility of all the precepts given
forth b ythe Nazarene. Spencer, Huxley.
Darwin and all the rest of the material
lists, and the so-called later school Of
the evolutionary scholars, were freely
quoted from, and the final resume was,
that no longer. if ever, did the Church of
Christ need to explain or apologize for its
position or attitude, rather. on the other
hand, 1t was strongly fortified behind the
stern, indisputable fact that all phjloso-
ply, scientific research, and later study.
made the grand old scriptures more and
more true and acceptable to all rational
thinking people. The sermon was lis
tened to by the vast audience with pro-
found interest, and when the speaker
closed his finished and learned discourse.
there was a suggestive quiet throughout
the large rooms, as though they wished
for more.
After the sermon there came a ladies'
trio entitled Blessed Feet Of Jesus"
rendered by Mesdames Bryant. Darling
ans Wilson.
The pastor. Rev. Thay>- as chairman
OF the building committee, then gave a
statement showing that the new edihce
had cost $1,000. and al provided for. The
Congregational Church Building Society
had loaned the local society Sc so of this.
payable in ten years without interest
Liberal contributions from the member
ship and those outside Of The church had
made M the rest. The Dews. however.