Los Angeles herald., 1907-06-17
EPISCOPAL CHURCH
HAS ANNIVERSARY
FIRST AMERICAN SERVICE WAS
HELD 800 YEARS AGO
Rector Of St. PauI's Pro-cathedraI
Tells Important Part the Church
Has Played in Making
History

The 300th anniversary of the hrst
Episcopal service held in America was
observed in the Episcopal churches
throughout the country yesterday with
commemorative services.
At st. Pauls pro-cathedral the day
was observed with a commemorative
celebration of the holy communion ana
a masterful sermon delivered by Very
Rev. DR.. J. J. Wilkins, dean and rector,
on "Three Hundred Years of Chris
tianity." The following is the sermon:
"'And this day shall be unto you for
memorial Elk. 12:14. And thou
shalt keep the feast unto the
Lord thy God with tribute OF Iree-
will Offering of thine hand, which thou
shalt give unto the Lord thy God, ac-
cording as the Lord thy God hatn
blessed thee.' Deut. 1910.
"The texts explain themselves. They
need no broidery of words and 40 rhe-
torical embellishments to set them on.
we are assembled together here TO-DAY
to commemorate with prayer ana
hymns and eucharistic Thanksgiving,
the most significant event, believe, IN
the history of the American people.
Ana we have come, I trust, with a
tribute of a free-will Offering in our
hand to give unto the Lord our GOD
according as the Lord our God hatn
blessed us.
ssIn things temporal, religion is oe-
pendent upon the state. In Things
Spiritual and moral the state is de-
nendent upon religion. In the history
of no country has this axiom OF gov
ernment been more luminousiy ana
abundantly illustrated than In the MS
tory of the United States. Religion ana
civics Ceasar an the church have
1, the earliest
dawninss of our American republic.
The colonial epoch-ti-e planting ana
the seed time of republican govern
Ioent on this continent-was essentlally
ana yitally religious. All its laws anu
nurposes and plans blended the spirit
nal and moral with the political ana
material ad caused civics and renglon
To flow in common channel Wne1
our great political forefathers framed
the constitution of the Unlted olales'
thew wrote in their preamble tnese
words. .oDne in the year of our Lord
777s., And of the states that adopted
their constitutions, after this constltu-
ffon was adopted, every one empooieo
in its instrument the recognition OF Al
rn,ohtv God as the Governor OF the
moral and spiritual universe. Tnus
God was put into the constltution' tnus
this nation was made a religious ma,
tion. 1t has always recognized Gouu u
q supreme and his authority as para
s,,ount. and 1t cherishes all those senti-
ynents of religious duty and RESPONSE
bilityr which are of the very essence OF
reljgious faith as distinguished from
atheism and infidelity. Herein lies the
secret of our exalted station among the
nations of the world We have grown
great not by disregarding but by con-
serving spiritual agencies ana inter-
ests. Religion is not simply a Iasnlon
with us; it is a fixed and vital force.
1T permeates our society," le6iSio'tioii
and jurisprudence.
q TT was Christianity said Chris
tian woman to the late Robert q.
Inrersoll that prevented you from De-
ing the governor of the great state Oh
IIlinois.' To dispense with religion we
should have to change the whole struc-
ture of our national life and provlde d
new plan for all political institutions;;
1T would be necessary to repuolate anu
reverse, EVERY chapter OF our natiorai
history.
What Institution is Responsiblef
..How shall we account for this?
whence did it spring? Ideas, sentiment,
principles are conserved, perpetualeu
and made operative by institution. by
what institution, then. by what sys-
ana religion SO closely blended in this
land of ours that they have been in
separable from the beginning OF our
history to this day of our natlonal
greatness and power?
"By English Christianity. BY the re-
lirion of Jesus Christ as represented
and administered by the church or the
English-speaking peoples or the Worla.
Christianity was established IN tnls
- of tin hl1f NV
the Anglo-Saxon race. Never forget
that brother men, nor the tremendous
responsibility it puts upon us VINO
have inherited the duties of our Anglo
Saxon forbears. This American lano
was possessed and won by the Anglo
saxon race and by the church of the
Anglo-Saxon race. She established
Christianity here. She laid the foun-
fiation of our republican form or gov
ernment. She first administered tne
offices of religion here. The first words
praved in English on the American
continent, says Dean Hodges, were
PRAYER book words She administered
The first baptism here. August 13, 1887,
fhe chaplain of the Raleigh expedition
officiatirlg. she baptized Virginia Dare,
the first white child born in America;
August 90 1887, she baptized Manteo,
the first convert from the American
Indians. IheSe were lHe IrSI liultS
of Christianity on American shores.
On San Francisco's Site
''Ten years later she celebrated the
first holy communion here. On the first
Sunday after Trinity. A. D. 1897 the
Rev. Francis Fletcher, chaplain of the
Drake expedition. said morning prayer,
preached and administered the holy
communion on the shores of "a fayre
and good baye.' That is commonly sup
posed to be the site of our suffering
sister city, San Francisco, and the
words that are being used this very
hour in celebrating the holy commune
ion on the 'fayre and good baye,' are
the very words that Chaplain Fletcher
used there 300 years and more ago.
"Ten years later, the next recorded
service within the United States was
held at jamestown. Events have been
swung by the maker of histories and
men from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The Rev Robert Hunt, chaplain. said
morning prayer and preached, We did
hang an awning to the trees says the
chaplain, to shield us from the sun.
Our walls were rails Of wood. our seats
were unfewed trees. our pulpit bar
of wood And here on an equally
rustic altar was celebrated on the third
Sunday after Trinity. A. d. 1907, Just
300 years ago today, the first holy COM