The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-10
ANNIVERSARY
 FOR CHURCH Dr. AnderSon'S Retros- pect of Central Church FOR FIFTEEN YEARS PASTOR The Fine History of the Church
 Reviewed. In Its Life, The Church Has Raised Sss,OOO--Over 400 Members.
 Building Too
FOR FIFTEEN YEARS PASTOR


 Neal l. Anderson's pastorate of the Central Presbyterian Church was cele- brated yesterday. Dr. Anderson preach ed at the morning and the evening ser- vice. His morning sermon referred directly to the work of himself and of the church during his pastorate. In the evening he preached upon "The Church and the Saloon," and though his speech was temperate and moder- ate, his sermon was replete with strongly frank expressions of his views upon the topic.
 The pastors fifteenth anniversary message to his flock told the history of his life during his residence in Montgomery After speaking feelingly of the love which alone could have thrown the mantle of charity over the many mistakes and shortcomings of one who came to you fifteen years ago, an almost untried youth" Dr, Ander- son narrated his coming to the church. In 1925 his uncle, Rev. Samuel Wat son. of South Carolina, came to Mont gomery from Princeton, and minister ed to the second Presbyterian organi- zation in Montgomery in the court house of the county. From the same seminary, pr. Anderson came in
 
 second Presbyterian organization in Montgomery in the court house for two years. His father, Rev. J. M. Ander- son, had also visited this city in 1892 as a commissioner to the General As sembly of the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America. The church of which Dr. Anderson is pastor is organized July 30, 1891, with thlrty-two charter members. The pres- ent enrolment of the church is four hundred and one. The sum of $S3,O00 has been raised by the church, and all but $1,OOO of the building debt has been paid. The congregation is doing much in the domestic and the foreign mis- sionary field. The following 'anniver- sary notes" are interesting:
 Of the first corps of Sabbath School teachers elected by the Session, MT. A. w LeBron, Mrs. T. M. Vass, Mrs. J. Lu- cius Gaston and Mrs. Frankie Mccall, are still members of the congregation; i; MT. James Caldwell and Miss Nellie Jackson have been called to their re- ward.
 Mir. Bradford Hardie, MT. A. W. Le- Bron, and Mir. w. F. Thetford, Jr, have served the School as Superintend- ents. Mfr. Hardie Is still doing pioneer work for Presbyterianism in the young Westminster Church at Fl Paso, Tex.
 The first regular meeting of the Ses- sion was held at the residence of Mir. John W. Durr, ST.
 Mrs. W. P. Redd, nee Mss Kate Gaston, was the first member received after the organization of the church.
 Miss Annie Warren Jones was the first Infant to be received into the church by Baptism
 Mir. c. W. Barnett served the church r.a n-A ,A for fourteen years; he has a worthy successor in Mr. l.. L.. Gilbert.
 The ohuEch building was erected un- der the direction of Finahce Commit tee of which MT. Bradford Hardie was the chairman. and Building Commit tee, MT. J. W. Black. chairman.
 The church has been bereaved in it's official household by the death of Rul- ing Elder, Judge John Bruce.
 The church Building was used for public worship for the first time on the second anniversary of the beginning of its first pastorate, December 1893, and was dedicated April 1, 1894.
 The following are the church's of- ficers:
 Pastor, Rev. Neal L. Anderson, D. D.
 Ruling Elders, A. W. LeBron, Clerk, T. M. Vass. Robert Brown, S. J. Cassels, G. W. Barnett, w. F. Thetford, Jr Harry B. Collins.
 Board Os DeacOns.
 L.. L. Gilbert, President Treasurer; J. W. Terry, Secretary; J. L. Gaston, Frank Mcdonald, Percy F. Black, w. SI Keister, Frank McPherson.
 The audience that heard Dr. Ander- son. yesterday morning taxed the seat ing capacity of the church.
 He took for this text Phil. i'll 13, IA, 15. "Forgetting the things which are behind and reach forth to the things which are before, l press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us there fore be likeminded.'
 After a brief introduction unfolding the meaning of text as found in the passage from which it is taken, the speaker took it's words as the message for the sermon on the fifteenth anni- of the beginning of his pastor ate in Montgomery.
 The dead line for the individual is not the arbitrary age limit fixed by the celebrated modern surgeon, Doctor Os Ter, but is the spirit that finds its sat isfactiOn with present attainments-the spirit of the old man that dreams, dreams, 1t lives in the past. It Is the