The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-03-16
HISTORY OF
THE CHURCH
Story Of Church Of Christ
Told by MIR. Dunn.
WORK DONE IN MONTGOMERY
Is Following the IDEAS Of the New
Testament.
FER An Things Done ITS Members Ask
TA.t There shall be q ''rhus
ssyeth the
LORD.
WORK DONE in M0NTG0 MERy

The Churcn OF Christ ana It's f4is~
tory" was the subject on which John
=. Dunn delivered q strong and force-
full address in the church building on
the corner Of Church and Catona Street
at the morning service yesterday morn
ing.
The address was historical. dealing as
1t did with the history OF the church
and it's work In Montgomery. sy-
nopsis of Mr.. Dunn's addressed. pre-
pared by a leading member Of the
church. follows:
IN giving q history Of the Church of
Christ in Montgomery 1t Is proper to
mention q reformation inaugurated at
the beginning Of the nineteenth cen-
tury in the central and Southern States
OF the United States OF America. This
reformation was inaugurated by Barton
w. Stone in Kentucky. Thomas Camp
bell. and his son. Alexander. in Vir-
Efnia, Cyrus White In Georgia, Taylor
in North Alabama and a number OF
other brethren In various parts OF the
country whose names are not so prom
inent in history.
1t was never the purpose Of these
brethren to establish a new church or
another denomination. They deplored
division among the followers OF Christ
Their aim was to return to the new
Testament In faith, doctrine ana prac-
from the FIRST has been, where the
Bible speaks. we speak; where the BIZ
BILE is silent we are silent" "A thus
saith the Lord for all faith and prac-
ticeg The people In this country de-
string to be known as being simply
Christians or disciples Of Christ have
never claimed to be the only Chris
tians, but they do claim to be Chris
tians only. They call upon all every
ID In
lirion, in name, faith. doctrine and
practice for which thus saith the
Lord" can not be given and be one peo-
pie only In Christ Jesus. They hold
that the church established by Jesus
Christ became living, active, work
Ing body on the day OF first pentecost
after the resurrection of Christ from
the dead ana in every century from A.
D. SO 70 the present time there have
been people IN the world who believed
taught and practiced as did the Chris
tians Of the FIRST century.
This system Of teaching took root
and began to spread In Central and
south Alabama during the first half
az the hath century. Early In lie
through the teaching Of his motner, =:
a. Barnes embraced Christianity ana
tor the last half OF the century has
done more TO spread the gospel and
build up churches OF Christ than any
Dther one man in this section OF coun-
try. In 1881 ]. "a. Barnes and 8. Jor-
dan of Highland Home, Ala, began
preaching in Montgomery. It was 9
missionary EFFORT on their part. This
work continued irregularly for six
years. In November 1887 the little
meeting house ON Heron street was
purchased from the Methoaistis and
regular systematic work began in earn
est.
These people have met every Lords
day from then till now TO worship
God and teach the Word. Desiring
a more favorable location and lerg-
err house for the growing congregation
they bought from the Jewish congrega-
ton their synagogue on the corner
OF Church and Catoma streets. when
the work began twenty-eight years
ago there were eight or ten members
in the city When the church was
organized on Heron street there were
thirty one members. Evangelist W..
j. Haynes. of Grady Alabama. has been
an Important factor in this work Tor
twenty years. We now number be-
tween four and five hundred members
This church owns Its property on the
corner Of Church and Catoma streets
and q good house and lot in West
End. The church Is now free from
debt. We have from the first met all
of our obligations promptly. We have
never resorted to entertainments. baz-
airs, fairs. festivals. or any thing OF
the kind to raise money. The members
have given of their means as the Lord
prospered them; a few friends Of the
church who were not members have
from time to time given freewill Offer.
inRs to the church. This church
stands as a monument to the individual
effort and personal conservation of the
Cody men and women who have work
ed 80 heroicaIly from the start.
we are a united church; we pre-