The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-10-27
QUAINT DAYS IN CHURCH
ROBERTS PARK ANNIVERSARY
WILDLY RECALLS THEM.
Many Long I'm Service Take Part In
the Celebration-PrOgrn of
Papers for To-Day.


the sixtieth anniversary Of Roberts Park
M E. Church were continued yesterday
At all of the meetings there was pleas
aat atmosphere of the old days when the
church organization was in its infancy
and the day was very much enjoyed.
love feast. in charge of the Rev. Z. b.
Rawls. presiding elder. opened the serv-
ices at $50 O'Clock. Letters from num-
Der of absent members were read at this
meeting. including some from Brooklyn
~ ", and Los Angeles. Cal. At 10 o'clock
DR.. Rawls. assisted by the pastor of the
church, Rev. c. z. Bacon. held sacra-
ment service Rev. John s. Tevis, Rev. I.
A. Goodwin and others assisted in this
meeting.
The Ageless Church was the subject or
a sermon ar II o'clock by Rev. c. +.
Bacon, who has been pastor of Roberts
Park Church the past five years. The
church was appropriately decorated for the
occasion and pictures OF the old building
that was known as Roberts Chapel, photo
graphs of former officials. a picture of the
original board and other interesting scenes
relative to the history of the organiza-
ton adorned the walls. Prior to his ser
mon, Dr. Bacon read letters from the fol-
Lowing persons who have been connected
with the church in various ways: Rev.
| T. J. Coultis of Newark, y. j.; Rev.
| Thomas Nelson, OF Brooklyn, n. Y; Rev.
S. NJ Vernon, Philadelphia; Bishop Thomas
Bowman, of East Orange. n. j.; Evangel-
| ist L. W. Munhall, of Germantown, Pa;
Mrs. ]. H. Bayliss, of Evanston, Ill, and
Mrs. John Hull, of this city.
The pastor took as his text, Christ Jesus,
| the same yesterday, to-day and forever
| re said in part: These words represent
continuity of the unchanging life or our
| Lord, and He imparts that life to HIS
church. With Christ life had no beginning
| and no end. Again and again He united
with life the word everlasting. He could
say with consciousness of the fact that
you and l could not conceive, Before
| OF subsection in His life. but II nows on
| In an unbroken current; 1t Is stream
without a fountain or beginning. river
| Christ He is the author of the church,
| He built her, He set her keel. He trimmed
her sells He stands am at her rgddef ae is
THE church brings to us an ageless mes
sage; its essence Is an ageless Ire. ana
its reward an ageless immortality. Inc
ages. Its great truth never can be thread
| bare. The Bible is not emptied, 1t is not
worn out Its aseiess message Is ever , new
| The message which truth brings never
| ages.
4 The AGELESS LIFE.
There is an ageless life which Is the
| essence of the ageless church. This life is
the life of God 1t is infused into the
soul of the Holy Spirit 1t is an unchange-
| able life, although its forms of expression
change. 1t belongs to this age because it
| belongs to all ages. The church proclaims
| an ageless immortality. This Is limited at
/ by the sense of incompleteness in our lives.
| We feel that there is something grander in
us than has ever found expression. We
| live in a vast order which not only unfolds
| to US, but touches us SUCCESSFULLY to teach
us the largeness of our real life-our spirit
| life. We look at the sky and watch the
rise and fall of tides to discover afresh
the unity which binds planet to planet
| across the vast distance of space. Death
| comes to teach us another, an outer world
| illness. All hints and suggestions and
| prophecies of nature grow dim before the
clearer revelation of Immortality in the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus we be-
| long to an ageless church which binds
generations and cycles into an unending
/ unity"
In the afternoon a Sunday-school meet
| ing was held at 2:30. The regular Sunday
| school exercises were held and at the con-
| clusion of these the time was given up to
| hearing from persons who had been con-
| nected with this part of the church for a
long time. The service was a very enjoy
| able one and many stories of by-gone days
| were talked over by those who attended the
Roberts Park Sunday-school many years
ago. Colonel John w. Ray spoke first and
| recalled many interesting things about
| the Sunday school when ne was at its
head in 1878. At this time there were 352
| names on the roll and all but three were
members of the church. Colonel Ray re-
minded the present superintendent that he
should not consider his school a good one
until he could make such a boast. Mrs.
Anna c.. Baggs followed with sort talk,
| in which she caused much amusement by
| saying that the reason the Sunday school
| of this day does not have as large an at
| tendance as the one OF former years Is
| on account of the fact that large families
| are not as prevalent as they were in earlier
| times. She has been a member of the Sum-
| day school for fifty-seven years.
EARLY SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Mr.. Geo. w. Powell then made decidedly
interesting speech, in which he told of his
| first experience in a city Sunday school,
and gave the young folks some good ad-
| vice concerning their attitude toward this
| adjunct of the church organization. c. A.
| Heath and Thomas E. Smiley also made
| brief remarks, and the meeting adjourned
| TO let the young" Sunday-schOOl pupils of
former times talk over the old days.
Last night the meeting was in charge
| song service was held. An interesting part
| of the meeting last evening was the recita-
ton of poem by Professor Clark, written
| what is now Roberts Park Church. The
piece was recited by Miss Edna Brown i'm
| a most pleasing manner. 1t was written
| by the man who built the organ which is
vet used in the church and was read in
1876
The celebration will be continued to-day
and will end with the meeting this even
ing. This afternoon. at 2:30. a reunion OF
the women's societies of Roberts Park
Church will be held. The following papers
will be read at the meeting: How the
Organ Was introduced into the Church,
by Mrs s. Behmyer; "Women's Home Mis-
| sionary Society,"" by Mrs. Rose Coleman
"Women's Foreign Missionary Society,"" by
| Mrs Kate c. Newcomb. and Business and
Social Union" by Mrs. Flora Wulschner
Tonight, at 1880. the young peoples socie-
ties of the church will hold a meeting
! Henry w. Tutewiler will read a paper OF
1.-The Ames Institute" and THE Y. p
s. s." will be discussed by John A. Will
| kens. Miss Margaret Gray and Martha
Feller will tell about the work in the Ep-
worth League of Roberts Park Church.
Il