Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1907-05-22
Rev. Daniel A. Penick, ID. De-
An Appreciation

Rev. Daniel A. Penick, ID. d.
An Appreciation
Following are excerps from an
appreciation published in last
weeks Central Presbyterian Of
Richmond Oh the ministerial Ia
bors of Rev. Daniel A. Penick, D.
D., for q third OF a century the
pastor of New Monmouth Pres
byterian church of near Lexing-
ton.
"On Sunday, the 14th day OF
April, 1907, the Rev. D. A. Pc
nick, D. D., closed his passionate
of thirty-three and a half years at
New Monmouth church, in Rock
bridge county, Va. After the
resignation of DR.. Samuel Brown,
of blessed memory, the question
of his successor was a vitcl one in
the minds of the staid, conserva-
tivs people of Monmouth. We
we're a country folk, but we had
been used to good preaching and
knew good preacher when we
heard him. Though nothing
was said to indicate it, yet in our
hearts there was secret pride in
the fact that our church had been
served by DIR. Baxter, DR.. James
B. Ramsey. Rev. j. X. Harris and
DR.. Brown.
'In faithfulness to their trust
the old elders, nearly all of whom
have now gone to their reward,
were heavily burdened. Who that
knew them-McCowan, Adair,
Gilmore, Moore, Dunlap--can
doubt in their hearts they cried,
% Lord, undertake for u.s..
Their feeling of responsibility was
intensified by the fact that there
were many young people in the
families of the congregation who
were not Christians. And who
that knows the result of the pas
torate just closed will doubt that
God did undertake for them when
Mr.. Penick, then of North Caro-
lima, came tS them at the earnest
and unanimous call of the church?
"The writer of this sketch,
then a lad of seventeen, recalls as
distinctly as if it were yesterday
his first sermon. 1t was from the
text. BE not deceived; God is
not Knocked; for whatsoever a
man soweth, that shall he also
reap. For he that soweth to his
flesh. shall of the flesh reap cor
ruption; but he that soweth to the
Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life
everlasting The sermon went to
many young hearts, for it was our
sowing time, and the able and
practical presentation of the great
theme aroused our fears as to the
coming harvest. The truth was
solemn, well calculated 10 stir the
heart. but the earnestness OF this
man made US feel that he had u
message from God and that in his
preaching he was seeking the sal
walton of our souls. This first
sermon, which wac of unusual
power and fervor, struck tine key
note of his ministry of thirty
three years at New Monmouth
church.
;FWith a field extending from
within sight of Lexington to the
North Mountain, and reaching
from the borders of the Golfers
town congregation on the one size,
To the borders of Bethesda on the
other, he has in pastoral labor
ministered to all the people, bap'
tizing and marrying their children,
burying their dead, comforting
them in their sorrow, sympathlzing
with them in their reverses, coun-
selling them IN their perplexities,
adjusting their difficulties, and re-
ioiclng with them IL all GOOD
things. There is scarcely a
cabin in all this stretch of coun-
try into which he has not entered,
ninistering in the name and In
the spirit of his Divine Master.
"His work in these last years is
a complete refutatiOn of the popu-
lar view that a church met have
young man in order to do ag-
gessive work, and that short pas
torates ale preferable to long ones.
He lays down his work, leaving
the church in better condition
than ever before, and in selecting
his successor the church should
sgain cry, % Lord, undertake
for IS.
1.-The writer feels that DR.. Pc
nick, more than any living man,
has moulded his life. If there
has been in it anything of inspira-
ton, he owes it, under God, to the
beloved old pastor OF Mon
mouth"
To Bring Gen. Lees Body Back
to Virginia
.nhn Gnnrnin Sociafv of NpW York