Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-01-26

sion. His own church. standing IN
the shadow Of the Washington Elm and
over the way from Radcliffe College, Is
I'm the midst Of people of cultivation.
He vas not content to minister to sucb
people only, to be the pastor OF the
saints anu the instructor Of the learned.
He went out. taking his young men
and women with him. and carried
warmth and light and benediction into
a less favored locality. He interested
himself in clubs for the boys and sew
ing classes for this girls. And in the
cour.e Of time ne saw notable results.
The same spirit took him into the
Associated Charities, Of which he has
long been one Of the vice-presidents.
1t made him sometimes the originator
and always the supporter OF almost
every form of practical beneficence
which has been undertaken in Cam
bridge One day in 1886. Edward john
son came walking idly out from
Charlestown and found himself in the
MIDST Of a considerable plain where he
heari the beating Of a drum. He
asked the next man what the drum
meant, and was informed that Mr..
Shepard was about to preach in the
westinghouse. Johnson went to hear
the sermon. and the next day he
bought piece Of ground in the neigh
EOrhood of the church that he might
hear that kind Of sermon every sun
day. Thus DR.. Mckenzie's earliest
predect ssor built up the town. Dr..
Mckenzie, under different conditions.
without the sound Of drums. has gone
in search Of Edward Johnson and John
Jones and Peter Robinson and other
strangers and stragglers in the town.
and has carried the church into their
lives. There is fine0 big rooster on
the top of his stceple, which from the
elevation Of another spire in Boston
saw the chests Of tea tumbled into the
harbor. Now il looks out over Cam
bridge. the symbol of an activity
which wakes early. and of 4 vigilancy
which is on guard against the invasion
of the devil. 1t signifies that the
church beneath is still allied, as in the
old time. with all the good forces of
the community.
When the Cambridge Historical So
ciety was started a year or two ago.
Dr. Mckenzie was made its first vice
president. He had for good while
fostercd an historical society in his
own parish. When Cambridge cele-
brateI the two hundred and seventy
fifth anniversary Of the founding of
the town, he was one Of the chief
speakers. No man who took part il
that notable occasion represented a
wider range of influence. a better de-
votiCn to the general good, or nobler
service Of the city.
In connection with this article the
Transcript has this to say editorially:
1.-THE tribute which Dean Hodges Of
the Episcopal Theological School pays
elsewhere in this issue to DR.. Alexan-
der Mckenzie Of the Shepard Memorial
church in Cambridge will call atten-
ton. as have the celebrations in the
church this week, to one of the longest
pastorates>in the recent history of New
England Congrega tionalism, and to a
man whose repute as a preacher of the
imaginative and mystical type has be-
come more than local or sectional.
Forty years is eight times as long as
the average pastoral term in these days
Of shifting and change, and of hiring
clergymen for limited terms rather
than installing them. 1t implies a
stability in the Cambridge congrega-
tioH and fertility and variety in the
preacher which are unusual. Men so
rooted in a community strike usually
deep into its life and come to have
power in the pulpit other than that due
to the homiletical art they display.
They know communal and family ira
ditions. They bind the past with the
present. They conserve as we'll as in
spire A pulpit under the caves OF a
great university like Harvard during a
period Of history Of change Of thought
and aim such as the Christian Church
has passed during the term Of DR.. Nc
kenzies' pastorate is a strategic place
for shaping the destiny Of life. per-
sonal and national. DR.. MckenZie's
message has been irenic and spiritual.
He has contributed to make relations
between the Trinitarian and Unitarian
wings Of the Congregational denomi-
nation friendlier than they We're when
he came to the place once filled My
AbieI Holmes. That his eulogist is
the dean OF a Protestant Episcopal
theological school tells much about him
as we'll as about the eulogist."