Los Angeles herald., 1907-03-25
new BETHLEHEM
CHURCH DEDICATED
REV. DANA BARTLETT WANTS
NAME CHANGED
Would Call institutional Church ain.
splrational," and Avoid Sem
blanee Of Running by
Machinery


pirate services the new Bethlehem In
stitutional church was dedicated yes
terday morning at the corner of Rail
road and Main streets and despite The
pelting rain a good-sized congregation
was in attendance.
Rev. Dana w. Bartlett, the founder
and pastor, ofIiciated and preached the
dedicatory sermon. simple dedi'
catory service was read by the pastor
with responses by the congregation
which was peculiarly adapted to the
work of the church, and which is as
! follows.
ITO the glory of God. the physical
mental and spiritual development and
moral education of man; to a larger
! fellowship and a truer brotherhood be-
tween man and man; to the cleansing
of the body and the soul; to the giving
of food for the physical and spiritual
life; to the awakening of the social
conscience and the training of citizens
for the better city that is to be, to
the preaching of the spiritual message
and an effort to lead all men to prac-
tice the presence of God and to live the
Christian life, we dedicate this house
and pray Gods blessing upon all who
may gather here"
Miss Edna L. Roof of Pomona col
lege rendered two vocal solos, "Cal-
vary" and Come Unto Me-"
Rev. Mr.. Bartlett said in part:
lnspirational Features
II wish to place as much force as
possible upon the inspirational feature
of this and other churches. Jesus
Christ was not a creator of a system
of doctrine. He lived in loving and
serving. He longed to bring all into
infinite grace and knowledge of God,
His '5as life of communion and the
best in this world. He lived in Galilee,
simply doing his work and in encour-
aging others in the right way. 1t was
the beginning of a great institutional
work He lived that simple life and
above all his spirit was a mighty
power, and when he passed away the
people talked about him and told the
story over and over again.
I'm Rome the work of our Savior
grew rapidly and the institutional work
was the natural sequence. The pastor
in Rome became stronger and as his
power grew he was made the pope.
And so along ecclesiastical lines it is
good to see the growth.
I'VE had the dark ages. Martin
Luther came and several religious sects
came to light. Moody and others came
to the heart of God and expressed his
will. We are coming to a new spirit
in the air and surely God is moving
and things built up by man are be-
ing dropped and their places are be-
ing filled with the spiritual working |
of God"
Wants Name Changed
Here Rev. Mr.. Bartlett threw in a |
personal point that his choice would |
be to have the name changed to Beth
lehem Inspirational church; that all
churches should be conducted by in
eNtra lN.,, I,s
"In an inspirational church." con-
tinued the speaker "the inspirations
are given to others through the divine
presence. 1 believe it matters not
whether Catholic or Protestants are
their religion, can have an
altar of my own anywhere. Then ev
cry bush will be fire of God. / have
had the divine spirit come over me
while sitting on a stone.
Il believe that it is not the man that
is up in the languages and great
traveller that does the most good in
religious work. But it is the man who
has been on the Mount of Inspiration
and comes down and works among
the people and touches heart to heart
in gospel, love and fellowship.
'The church of the future must be
to inspire people to larger living and
the cleaning up of their lives. There
hTe HdHy lOudy WHO nave SOlu IIlem-
selves for gold and I believe that the
or Institutional church
can help such men to return to better
lives.
Build Protecting Fence
at seems to me that I have stood
near the cliff and seen men mangled in
falling over it. But in order to stop
this we should build a fence of pro-
lection strengthened by Gods love-
This love makes a home a temple
which stands for the church of God.
If a well-dressed man comes into a
church and he is shown a cushioned
pew and a poorly clad man follows him
and is pushed back into corner, that
does not show the right Christian
principle. L think that your job in
your shop is as holy as that of the
in the pulpit. 1t is the low
ing life and the holy work to live any
where.
"Our Bethlehem church is to lend
helping hand. When a uniformed man
from this church goes to meet the
stranger at a railway station it means
much to that man in a strange place
to be shown that our church can aid
him. This and many other common
acts of love bin6 our church to the
work of material and spiritual help
through Jesus Christ"