Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1903-06-12
GREENE COUNTY. MISS. e9,<- Y I5ag
As4&e4@ee@e@eAA44aa @A4A!
Where the President
Goes to Church.
BY Gabrielle Marie jacobs.

|
"Y HAT Theodore Roosevelt
should have chosen one of
Washington's smallest and
least pretentious churches as
his place of worship was characteris-
tie of him as man and President.
Grace Reformed Church occupies the
rear portion of a valuable piece of land
at the northeast corner of Fifteenth
and o streets, just at the eastern bor-
der of Washingtons most fashionable
residence section In common with
many other small churches, whether in
! city or village, it represents years Of
supreme sel.-denial on the part of a
| few devoted souls-in this case the de-
scendants of those sturdy pioneers
wha came from the Rhine Palatinate
| early in The eighteenth century. and
| settled in Montgomery County and
other eastern counties in Pennsylva-
MA. The adherents OF this denomina-
ten, later known rs "The German Re-
| formed Church in the United States"
| spread upward along the Hudson and
| downward into North Carolina, estab-
fishing places of worship and found
| ing Institutions of learning, and other-
wise SO deeply taking root in the fer
tile soil of a free country that at its
second general synod, held in Dayton,
Ohio, in 1869, the word German" was
| dropped from its name. and it became
known as the Reformed Church in
! the United States"
Its worship is Iiturgical and its gov
ernment presbyterian. The first of its
ministers who came to this country
brought with them the liturgies of those
sections of Germany and Switzerland
from which they emigrated, preference
being given to that of the Palatinate.
This, with few notifications, contin-
ued in use until 1866 when the present
order Of worship was reported by a
committee appointed for the purpose.
! Each congregation is governed by a
consistory. composed of pastor. elders
and deacons. The elders and deacons
are ordained by the laying on Of hands.
The Washington congregation was
organized in 1877, and the church at
4 Fifteenth and o streets was built two
or three years later. 1t is a small
building, of red brick, crowned by a
modest spire and cross. The sloping
ceiling is frescoed in a delicate shade
of blue with friezes in neutral tints
and the windows are of stained glass
in a simple, yet tasteful design. Over
the altar are three black tablets, bear
ing in gilt letters the Lords Prayer
the Apostles Greed and the Ten Com
mandments. At the left of the altar 6
slightly elevated inclosure forms the
choir loft.
Every Sunday morning, just at The
stroke of II, a voluntary sounds from
the sweet-toned chapel organ. 1t il
followed with an anthem by the choir
during which an usher escorts to tn,
second pew in the middle tier the Pres
ident of the United States, usually ac
companied by one or two of his chill
dren. He leaves the White House
few minutes before II, and with rapie
strides passes up Sixteenth street
scarcely slackening his pace when h
gains the brick walk leading to tn
door of the church Taking his plac,
reverently in his pew Mr.. Roosevelt
| follows the order of worship and singI
l. the hymns with reverence BETTING
descendant of the sturdy Netherland
ers who fought kings, popes and tn,
J ocean itself, and during their warfar,
, planted and nurtured the seeds of al
. undying faith. When the benedictioI
! has been pronounced the worshiperl