Omaha daily bee., 1902-11-28
THANKFUL FOR BLESSINGS
UhurOh People Gather in Union Meetings
t. and Express Gratitude.
LARGE ATTENDANCE At ALL SERVICES
-Episcopalian Churches of the City
Unite At Cathedral for Thanks
giving for the First Time
I'm Eight Years.

For the FIRST time in eight years the
Episcopal churches OF the city Of Omaha
united in Thanksgiving service at the ca
thedral. In each Of the churches morning
prayer had been held earlier in the day
and at 10 o'clock the congregations gath
cred at the cathedral. There we're present
the choirs from ST. Martins, South Omaha;
st. Matthias. st. Barnabas, III Saints and
the Good Shepherd. The choirs main
tanned their separate organizations and
marched behind the crosses, headed by the
choir OF Trinity cathedral.
Right Rev. A. L. Williams, coadjutor
bishop Of Nebraska, was 0elebrant. assisted
by Messrs. Mackay, Williams, Moore, Craig,
Davidson and Bell, pastors Of the parishes
represented at the service. The musical
feature was prominent, but partook more
Of congregational than choir work, as the
different choirs had not practiced together.
A hymn was substituted for the Venite and
the TIE Deum was sung by the united
.choirs. Mr.. Lampman. organist at st. Mat
thias church. and Mr.. Sims, o~rganist at
All Saints church, played the organ solos,
while Mr.. Wright, organist at the ca
thedral, accompanied the service.
The sermon was preached by Bishop Will
iiams, who took as his theme "~Thanksgiv-
INK, DIS I6Al DeluB Luhb lGsfos POl NhAO
whomsoever much is given Of him shall
be much required" He said that giving
and receiving are reciprocal. not only in
Abe spiritual and moral world, but in the
physical world. It is impossible for anyone
TO receive something of value for nothing
and that to receive one must give and that
liberality Of giving will be rewarded. One
must be thankful for opportunities rather
than for material benefits.
Hanscom Park Churches.
Union service for the First Baptist, st.
Mary's Avenue Congregational, Westmin-
ster Presbyterian. Hanscom Par Metho-
dist Episcopal and CASTELAR, Presbyterian
churches we're held at the First Baptist
church, which was SO crowded that many
persons we're compelled to stand. The
sermon was preached by Rev. Robert Yost
of st. Mary's Avenue church and with him
on the platform sat Rev. J. w. Conley, pas
tor of the First Baptist. and Rev. DR.. Rey-
nolds OF CASTELAR, church, both Of whom
participated in conducting the service.
For his text DR.. Yost selected Psalm
cxv ~. 1.-THE Lord Hath Been Mindful Of
Us; He will Bless U.s." remarklng as he
announced the text that he believed he
might with the same appropriateness have
chosen any verse OF any of the psalms.
Some people, DR.. Yost said, attended
church on Thanksgiving day because 1t
was a tim~e-honored custom, as had been
announced in the proclamations and to
that sort of church-going he would apply
the words: 1.-THE letter killeth and the
Spirit maketh alive" People who acted
from that motive placed themselves upon
a level with the Cinnamon who did things
from custom. still another class came, he
believed, from a sense of duty and that he
considered better than not to come at all,
but the ones who came in the right spirit
were those who came to glorify God for
the good he had done to mankind.
Mr.. Yost said that he believed the pres
ent age to be more religious than any
other in the worlds history. but he felt
that men had got too far away from the
supernatural In religion. This country, he
argued, had been made through blunders
and from It's earliest history only the
%BnnIpotent wisdom of God working through
the means Of the plumbers of men had
brought 1t to its present greatness. Co
lumbus had started out to find a new route
to the Indies and had instead discovered
America. Our Pilgrim ancestors, had they
been Of the sturdy stun OF Martin Luther
and John Knox, would have stayed where
they were and suffered martyrdom rather
than TO leave, but through their weak
ness God worked to found the little colony
here. The independence OF the United
States from British rule he attributed to
a mistake Of George III and the fact that
the colonies had overleaped themselves
and gone beyond the original intention.
Following the history of the country fur
Their, he referred to the Intervention Of
the United States in behalf OF Cuba and
the vast consequences which 1t had en-
tailed in the way Of expansion.
At KOuntze Place.
The united Thanksgiving services of the
Knox Presbyterian. Plymouth Congrega-
tional, Emmanuel Baptist and Trinity
Methodist Episcopal churches were held in
the building OF the last named, at Twenty
first and Binney streets. The sermon Of
the morning was preached by Rev. NJ. d.
Long of the Knox Presbyterian church.
He said in part:
while we have cause and do give
thanks individually on this day, the sig
nihcance of Thanksgiving is largely po-
itical. We meet as citizens to render a
united thanksgiving. Our civil, social and
political affairs are a part of Gods gov
eminent, and We thank MIN for the pro-
Gress we are making under .Ils guidance.
we nave reason 10 DE thankIul TOT so
many things-for bountiful harvests, our
schools and our churches; but passing aside
these things Which are generally recog-
Aized and felt without dwelling upon them,
I want to speak Of the occasion we have
TO be thankful for the power OF righteous
ness and the lessons that the people are
learning from 1t. AS never before we are
beginning to learn the truth-this great
truth that righteousness shall triumph.
The world has gone on with a c~easeless
warfare that dates back to neurological
and prehistoric struggles and comes up tc
the present time. In each struggle, in each
battle, as a people and as individuals, we
have learned our lessons, and have gained
in the strength OF righteousness. Con-
stantly are the people learning these les.