Evening star., 1900-08-18
IN THE CHU RCHE S

| Washington Catholics feel more than a
passing interest in the coming centennial of
st. Alphonsus' Church, Baltimore, which.
| although it will be 100 years old in Octo-
Der, was consecrated thirty-one years ago.
| The services, which will constitute one of
the most important events in the history of
this archdiocese, will begin October 20 and
| continue until the 2Sth. inclusive. Ser
mons in both German and English will he
| delivered by some Of the most prominent
priests Of the church in this country. Car
dinal Gibbons has accepted an invitation to
| be present, and 1t Is expected he will oele-
brate solemn pontifical mass.
| The nucleus Of the parish known as St.
| Alphonsus was formed in 1799 and inside
of a year there was erected a small brick
building. which was dedicated under the
name Of st. John the Evangelist Rev.
Frederick Reuter- was the first pastor of
| the church. After serving in this capacity
four years Father Reuter- resigned and was
| succeeded by Rev. f. Brosius. The latter,
| however. remained there but one year.
when he gave way to Rev. Nicholas Mertz.
Father Mertz continued in charge Of the
parish for fifteen years.
There We're numerous char ges In the ma g.
torates of the church between this period
and 1S41, when Rev. Father Alexander was
placed in charge. At the same time the
pastor became head of the order of Re-
demptorists in the United States During
the latter part of 1871 the old edifice was
torn down and May l. 1912, the corner stone
Of the present structure was laid. The
church was completed in 1S45, and in March
was dedicated by Archbishop Eccleston.
Being in debt, however, 1t could not be con-
secrated. After many years of laborious
1859. paid off, and that year the church was
consecrated by a well-known missionary,
Rev. ]. Vessel.
The, most solemn event in the history of
a Siyta
of the conservation of the edifice Nav &
1888. On that occasion nearly all of the Re-
demptorist fathers In this part of the
United States were present The serrnon
was delivered by Cardinal Gibbons MANY
improvements are now being made to the
church but all are expected to be com
| pleted in the course of few weeks.
| The annual camp meeting of the Ma
| tional Local Preachers and Exhorters' AS
sociation. of which Rev. DR.. John R. Wright
of Washington is president, began Wednes-
day near Elkton, Md. DIR. Wright will he
| present until the close of the camp. but. at
his request, Rev. William T, Hammond
| will act as general manager
| Among the ministers who have promised
| to take part In the exercises during the
continuance Of the meeting are Rev. P.
Ledner of this city. Revs. r. L. Dickey of
| Baltimore, Louis johnson, Brooklyn. N ".
Robert Watt OF the same city; William
Farris. A. W. Davis. George Abel, OF Del
| aware: William Lambright, James Whiting
nam, GeorSe 1. Leach ana r. w. Hackney,
all of Baltimore; s, T. Sherwood and Louis
johnson of Brooklyn. N. Y; Isaiah Biddle
Of Maryland. and number of others from
various states The music Of the camp is
under the direction Of Rev. w. W. Van
SAINT of Union. Del. and Mrs John L.
Moore Is organist-
A large number Of colored Baptfsts OF
this city went to Culpeper Court House,
| Va, Sunday last. on an excursion, which
was given for the benefit of Jerusalem Bap-
tist Church. Washington. of which Rev. q,
| H. Harris Is pastor. During the day three
sermons were preached at Cedar Hill Park,
| the rendezvous of the excursionists-the first
| by Rev. W. ]. Howard. pastor of the Zion
Baptist Church. South Washington; the sec.
| ond by Rev. George H. Harris pastor of
Jerusalem Church. Georgetown, and the
| third by Rev. L. L. Marshal, pastor of Mt
Olive Church, Culpeper Court House. Mr,
L. Carpenter was chairman of the com.
mittee Of arrangements. and Mrs. q. Mills
was the head Of the refreshment commit
tee.
The present year of the Central Union
| Mission will close in a few weeks It is
| stated on authority that the finances of the
| mission are in better condition than ever
before, as is also the Industrial department