Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-05-24

that day upon the Philistines, and dis
lcomfited them; and they were smitten
before Israel. And the men OF Israel
went out of Mizpeh and pursued the
Philistines, and smote the Philistines
until they came to Bethcar," Then as
a memorial of what the Lord had done
| for them Samuel set up this stone,
with the inscription which we have
selected for our text today. This stone
would serve double purpose. 1t
would commemorate this great victory
and thereby inspire gratitude for Gods
mercy AS long as 1t stood 1t would
serve as reminder Of this great event.
Future generations would, upon inqu1-
ry into its meaning, be told OF GODS
signal .nterposition in behalf Of their
fathers. 1t would also serve to in
spire hope for the future, and encour-
age them in other troubles to rely'upon
the intervention of him who proved a
present help in this time OF need.
Our service today is a commemora-
tive one. Our aim Is not to magnify
self or call attention to what we nave
done, but the double purpose just re-
ferred to, viz: to record with graft
tude Gods mercy to us as congre-
CATION in the past, and from review
of the past to seek encouragement tor
the future. Twenty years ago, on Fri
day before the third Sabbath of May,
| [ as a young minister cast in my lot
with yours and since that time we
have labored together for the ad-
vancement of the Redeemers Kingdom.
For whatever measure of success mas
attended our efforts, we are all ready
to ascribe the glory to God, and say,
Not unto us, o Lord, not unto u.s.
but unto thy name give glory for thy
mercy and for thy truths sake" We
can say truthfully for the past, and
hopefully for the future,
| 1.-The Lord Of us hath mindful been,
And he will bless us still;
He will the house Of Israel bless,
Bless Aaron's house he Will.
Both small and great that fear the
Lord
He will them surely Dless
The Lord will you, you and your seeu'
Still more and more increase.
While the purpose before us Is to
review the present pastorate, l think
brief sketch of the previous history
o. the church would not be inappro-
pirate, and l shall give as concisely as
possible the leading facts that have
been preserved.
1t may not be generally known that
Bethany was organized from Beershe-
ba Presbyterian church, and owes its
origin to the Introduction OF hymns
into that church. UP until about 1873
ali the Presbyterians in the vicinity
of Kings Mountain worshipped to-
gether, and the principal churches
were Beersheba in this county and
Lcng Creek in North Carolina. Some
where about the date given change
was introduced in the manual of praise
used in the churches, which led to the
withdrawal Of a respectable minority
who regarded the introduction OF hymns
an innovation to which they could not
conscientiously submit The Associate
Reformed presbytery Of the Carolinas
was their only hope for preachers, and
Andrew Ferguson and John Miller
we're sent to that body to petition for
supplies There is a tradition that
Mr. Newman McElwee was to have
been baptized on the day the rupture
took place The names Of those who'
with their families, Withdrew ana
formed the nucleus of the new organi-
zation. are as follows: William McEl-
wee. Sr, who was an elder in Beer
sheba, and his sons William and John
McElwee, William Henry, Alexander
Henry. James Henry. James Crawford,
William Crawford, Francis Rea, James
Dunn and Joseph Carroll These, with
other families in other communities IN
the same condition, petitioned for the
services of Mr.. William Dixon, IL