Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-03-02
CLOSING EXERCISES.
Opportunities of COngrcgntiO sni
Discussed by DIR. Gladden..

The commemoration of the centennial
was brought to Il close Sunday night when
every scat in both the body of the church
and the gallery was taken; II large num-
her of chairs were placed in all available
space ana these also were occupied. The
order OF the service was as follows:
Organ Prelude-Andante from Sonata in
ID Minor ......................No lchmar
Hymn--"O Where Are Kings and Empires
Now"
Prayor-The Rev. G. G. Atkins, d. D.,
pastor of the church.
Anthen-"Awake Awake: Put on Thy
Strength O Iion.'
Evening Iosson-Thc Rev. Evan Thoma 5
of Essex Junction.
Tenor soo--"iIod Thou Ny Hand"
Gounod
Franklin W. Riker.
Oncrtory
Contraito solo-"Crossing the Bar" Mrs.
G. l.. Howes.
Address-"'rhc Opportunities of Concrega-
tonalsm," The Roy. Washington
GLADDEN., II. D., LII. u.
Iiymn-''Ne March, We March TO VIC
tory"
Prayer and Benodiction.- The Rev. Dr.
GLADDEN..
Fostlude-Allegro Moderate from Sonata
III u Mlhor.. ..............Fo lchmar
The pastor. the Eev. c. G. Atkins. in
PRODUCED the speaker of the evening. who
Is moderator Of the National Council Of
congregational Churches. an author OF
wide reputc. a leading light in his demon.
ination and ore of the most eloquent
preachers in this country TODAY
DR.. GLADDEN. took for his theme 1.-The
Opportunities OF Congregatioralism. "
and he handled that great subject i'm +;
great way. He said that it was YER,
pleasant TO bring the greetings firm tn,
Congregationalists of the interior, and
from the different parts of New England
which he had visited. lie referred to tn,
recent Des Moines council as n rcnas
sance so to speak. of CONGREGATIONAL.
ism. Congregationallsm, he said, had
done much to develop personality and in.
dividuality. but it Is also essential I,
band together for good work. We hav,
| come To n point where reconstruction i.
necessary. Changes are everywhere TAX
ing place Tho progress of social ant
| industrial life is certain to take Tho
form of cooperation, rather than com
petition, upon which the old order has
rested. There is tho same mOvemen,
ni0ot among nations, and the idea OF
the federation of the world is now less
like an evanescent dream, and more lk,
a reality than at any time since the world
began.
| Con.rcgatonalism Is rising up into a
fuller and larger life. The old theology
has been shattered by tho evolutionary
theory. When the old special creation
theory withored and blew away. and wa,
replaced by the doctrine of evolution
there were some who thought that the
moro we knew of nature. the less VIC
knew of God. This period of confusion
~ nov happily passing; people are be
-ianing to believe that the order oi
nature reveals God more than the in
torruption of nature. We no longer think
Of God as outside OF his universe. lie Is
ever present, the one Force which moves
all things the Llfe which lives In al
things. The laws OF nature arc but u
very thin veil through which we may
see God. The constancy OF this indwell
ing is the lesson which Is daily being
brought home tn u.s. The very drift OF
the latest and greatest philosophical
thought is toward the spiritual integttc-
tation OF the universe. Thus the svS