Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-07-02
NEW HOUSE WORSHIP
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT PLACES
CORNER STONE IN POSITION.
Ceremonies Under Auspices of Grace
Memorial Reformed Church-Ser-
mon by DR.. Hoffheins.

An interesting event in the history of the
Grace Memorial Reformed Church occurred
| yesterday afternoon. when President Roose-
welt, who is communicate member of the
congregation, officiated at the laying of the
corner stone of the new edifice With a
small wooden gavel the President tapped
the stone lightly and repeated the following
words of the ritual:
we here lay the corner stone of a house
TO be erected under the name of the Grace
memorial reformed Church, and to be de-
voted to the worship of Almighty God. In
the name of the Father and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost Amen"
Upon the conclusion of this ceremony
President Roosevelt shook hands with the
stone mason, John F. Duncan, Architect
Paul j. Pelz, Contractor Joseph Richardson
and Superintendent w. Walker, after which
he walked to his carriage, accompanied by
Secretary Cortelyou.
A squad of twenty five police officers. in
charge OF Lieut. ByrneS and Acting Capt
Sw1ndels, was present during the Presi-
dents stay.
The services We're impressive but void of
ostentation. The platform, from which the
exercises were conducted, was in the south
west corner of the lot and shaded by a
large tree. Upon the platform besides the
President and Secretary Cortelyou were
Rev. DR.. ]. NJ. Schick pastor of the church:
Rev. j. A. Hoffhens, D. D. of Martinsburg
W. Va, who preached the sermon; Rev
Gustav Facius. of the German Reformed
Church; Rev. ]. G. Butler. of the Luther
Memorial Church of this city and the fol-
lowing out-of-town ministers: Rev s. M
Roeder. Manchester. Md; Rev. J. r Ros-
sitter d. D.. of Baltimore; Rev. C. L. Sla-
gel. of Westminster, Md. and Rev. A. s.
Weber. d. D.. Rev. Robert j. Pilgram,
Rev c. E. w. Levan. Rev. NJ. Zacharias
Rev. f. r. Deitrick, Rev Paul Wienand
all of Baltimore.
Program of Exercises
Following an anthem by the choir the
invocation was offered by Rev. DIR. S. NJ
Roeder. after which the congregation sang
the Presidents favOrite hymn. How Firm
Foundation" The hymn was announced
by DR.. Rossiter and Rev e. r. Dietrich
read the address and offered short prayer
Inc reading of the 96th Psalm was led by
Rev. DR.. a. S. Weber.
After Dr. Schick had placed the box of
articles in the hollow of the stone. Archi-
tect Pelz handed the President the gaveI
and the corner stone was placed in position.
The Apostles Greed was then recited and
Rev. c. S. Slagle made a short prayer
The sermon by Rev. DR.. Hoffhens follow
ed the singing of a hymn. In the beginning
of his address. DR.. Hoffheins said it was a
most suspicious OCCASION and that the Pres
1dent of the United States by his presence
had set the seal of his approval. On be
half of the Reformed Church of the country
gregation that their plans were being shap-
ed into visible form.
Matter of Comment.
Continuing he said:
1T has been matter of comment and
surprise with many that the Reformed
Church having her beginning as dis
tinctive denomination with the birth throes
of the reformation. and whose planting in
the virgin soil of this new world dates back
OF our national independence, has had
scarcely place to worship in in all the
vast and ever-growing city of Washington.
1t is indeed a matter of surprise that
the church which gave to the trainers of
our national constitution the high ideals of
the form of government under which we
live should have left it to the beginning of
the twentieth century to make herself
known and her influence felt in the city
where we trust the seat of government
has been established for all time"
He said the opportunity was now pre-
scented for greater usefulness in Christian
work by the denomination in this city and
that the laying of the corner stone a
pledge that the obligation thus set would
be fulfilled. The speaker referred to the
growth of the denomination and said:
Strength Of the Church
Eve are now 5OO,OlO strong in the United
States alone. The time was and not long
since, when our vision of the concern of
1
tended only to those of our own household;
but today we claiming the whole world
our field we are laying larger and broad
er foundations and we are now doing work
In Christian missions scarcely thought pos
sible a decade ago Our educational insti-
tutions are sprfnging up all over the land
and have become our pride"
In concluding the speaker urged the men,
bers of Grace Church to realize their oppor-
tunity and not to let it pass unimproved.
and he predicted that the time would
come when the church would declare it's
independence of the mission board.
Rev. c. w. Levan led the congregation in
reciting the Lords Prayer and after the
singing of the hymn. Behold the Sure
Foundation Stone" by the congregation.
Rev. Gustav Facius pronounced the bene-
diction.
The Inscription.
On the smooth surface of the corner stone
are the figures '1ss1-1902" designating the
year in which the church was founded here
and the time of laying the stone. In the
hollow of the rock were placed the fol-
lowing articles: Bible, a copy Of the
Heidelberg Catechism, directory and wor-
ship of the church. hymnal, minutes Of
the Maryland Chassis, Potomac synod and
general synod. copies of the Messenger,
Christian World, Reformed Church Her.
aid. Washington Evening Star and other
city papers; history of the congre cation
and the new church building, pictures Of
the Olu chaptI ana proposed new edlflce, q
list of the communicate members of the
church. the consistory, officers of the Sun
day school and church societies cards of
the architects, p j. PelZ and A A. Rich
ter and the card of the contractors,
Messrs. Richardson & Burgess The box
is 41ax412x13 inches and Is made of copper
In order to prevent the possibility of air
getting into the box the interstices be-
tween the articles have been filled with wax
and the whole has been securely sealed.
The contract of the new edifice was let
May 10, and ground for the foundation was
broken about ten days later. When COM
pleted the proposed structure will cost
about $4,000.
Capitol Hill Branch