The Portland daily press., 1900-12-17
|Nzw woODFoRDs CHURCH.
First ssrv ices at Clifton street Place OF
worship.

the Woodfords Universalist church o
Clifton street. Inc morning preachin
service which Is held at 1915 O'Clock
was attended by about 175 persons. In
interior OF she chapel as well as Its entir
composition and arrangements has beel
! previously described in these columns
The chapel, while perhaps not imposinI
on the exterior, Is ON the interior
modef-of neatneHs and beauty. The regu
lar order OF worship was followed at tn
services of yesterday. The choir undel
the able leadership OF Mr.. Charles W
Briggs, furnished excellent music FOL
the services. The choir OF this churoi
which was recently enlarged, in com
posed as follows: Mr.. and Mrs. O. W
Briggs, Mr.. Fred l.. Tower, Mr.. william
Read, MIR. w. Il. Whipple, Mrs. X. t.
Greene. Mrs. W. II. Davis, MIR. and Mrs.
=. ). Gilbert, Miss Lou Lawrence, Miss
Lillian III. Rose. Ma j. @. +. Strout
and Miss Maud Goodwin; organist, Mrs
j. o. Il. Strout. During the services the
choir rendered this anthem praise the
Lord, Oh My soul" by Watson. also the
hymn anthem "God Is Love-" sung as a
solo by MIR. W. e. Whipple, with refrain
by the choir; Mrs. q. W. Briggs and Mrs.
s. 5. Gilbert were also heard to good ad-
vantage In the duet "Ihe Lord Is My
Shepherd" The sermon by the pastor,
Kew. Harry h. Townsend, was Of the
usual interesting order, Mr.. Townsend
taking for his subject, Fer What Par
a
spoke from the taxi as found In Mat
thew, 18th chapter, 4th verse: ''rhen
answered Peter, and said unto Jesus,
Lord, It is good for us to be here
Mr.. Townsend prefaoed his sermon with
few words OF welooms to his hearers,
both of the church and friends OF the
church assembled. Mr.. Townsend in
the course of his sermon, said: We are
apt to think Of the past as only nams
as perhaps memory. The past is some
thing more than history. We shall mp
on examination find that the past Is
alive. The history OF the church has
been one Of SUCCESS, born in Lewis hall
three years ago, and nursured there un-
til IL has taken It's place In the history
OF the community. The days OF small
things Is not to be despised, Our sue
cess is due today to the loyalty and piety
Of the men, women and children who
have laid the foundation strong and
deep. These things are Tor moral and
spiritual life. Mr.. Townsend then re-
ferred to his settlement over the parish
as Its pastor Is months ago, and said;
1--WE have as pastor and people walked
and worked together. God has blessed
us. Friendship has warmed our hearts,
love inspired US and made this building
practical success-a result OF the loyal
ty Of all of our parish for this cause.
Eighteen months ago this society was
holding It's services in Lewis hall. Those
were the days of small things. Since
then we have grown, noisslessly, and
today receive recognition ms strong
church. The preacher answered the ques-
ton implied by two answers. First, he.
cause We ought to be here, and, second,
because the community needs liberal
church. Ours Is the church that stands
with truth for authority, not authority
for truth. We have gathered together as
a parish 100 families. l admire the spirit
in which they have come, namely, with
a desire to establish the kingdom of GOD
right here
MIR. Townsend said that when he To-
Gated at Woodfords he decided that with
the help of the people church should be
built. The second aim was to erect q
libsral church in the broadcast sense OF
the term, church that stands not only
for God and Christ, but church that
also stands for music and art and all of
the beautiful things OF life; chu rob
that gives the right to the individuals
to think for themselves. We have endeav-
ored to establish here a church that puts
the largest Interpretation upon the word
Of God and Man, q church which is the
child OF progress. We are here to estlb-
lish a church that stands for the spirit
Of the new day. 10 establish church
for works of practical religion, re-
Iigion that builds happy homes, that
oiesses all the joys OF life.'
The pastor con .luded by urging his
hearers to renewed efforts in the work
Of the society and the enlarged opportu-
mites.
The ushsrs at the new CHI APPEL are
Messrs, Lester NJ, Hart, Ernest W. Gun
bingham and Carl z. Stevens. The first
session OF the Sunday school In the new
chapel was held at the close of the
service. Services are to be held
regularly on Sunday mornings hereaf-
far and commanding In Januarv and
through February, series
Of evening services are to be held and
as the 'School OF Life" to
consist of a series of lectures by we'll
K nown men and women OF Portland.
The lectures ara to be delivered in tn in
terests of both the older and younger
of the parish ana the communi-
by. The dedicatory exercises OF the new
chapel are to be held early in January.