The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-11-22
DEDICATION 0F M. E. CHURCH Services at Dexter Avenue
 Edi6ce. BISHOP MORRISON BREACHES Last Dollar of Indebtedness Has
 Been Paid Of. other Congregations of the Denomina- tion in the City Suspend Their Merains Services and Take
 Part in the Ceremony--
 Some History.
BISHOP MORRISON BREACHES

With the last remaining dollar of the indebtedness paid, the formal dedica- tion of the Dexter Avenue Methodist Church took place Sunday morning at 1l o'clock at the church. Bishop H. c. Morrison of Nashville, Bishop of the M. E. Church. South. preached the ser mon on The Gospel and the House of God.r and pronounced the dedication services.
 The church was crowded with the members of the congregation. together with. the members of the other Metho- dist churches in the city, whose morn ing services were suspended The in- terfor of the church was beautifully decorated with flowers and plants. and the pulpit was one mass of potted plants and ferns. Rev. H. T. Johnson. the present pastor of the church, pre- sided and special musical program was rendered.
 Although the church has been occu. pied for several years. the occasion Sunday morning marked the formal dedication, which only can be perform ed when the debt has been paid. The last $3,000 of the indebtedness was subscribed this year, and the last dol- lar was collected a short time ago.
 Bishop Morrison took the text for his sermon from Romans l, 16 and Second Chronicles. vii, Is. The Bishop showed that the church was essen tially spiritual. and that 1t was organ ixed and intended to be the medium of spiritual life to dead humanity. The mission of the church. he said. was to raise the race from the dead.
 In part. Bishop Morrison said:
 Power of Cross.
 "The power of the Cross affected both the human and the divine mind, and 1t was through the Cross that God and man were united. God him. self gave all power into the hands of the victim of the Cross. As God sur rendered, all to this victim. so are we also to surrender everything to Him. If 1t affected the divine mind, 1t ought to affect the human mind.
 sThe ruin of man was through sa- be met and mastered by divine infiu- ence. So 1t is between the lion of tine tribe of Judah and the dragon of the pit. So 1t Is between Christ and satan. That influence which Christ surrendered Is sufficient to capture the race and bring t. back to God.
 Gods choice gives significance to everything and in choosing the house. He chooses you as members. The house has no significance except as an expression of your love and loyalty to Him. Just as the chief city of any country throws influence over that country 50 the church nings moral influence over the world. Tho chief city has magnetic influence and draws into 1t the finest works of man. so the church draws unto it the highest man. hood. the noblest life and the broadest unse1nshness."
 Concluding Bishop Morrison said that just as the chief city of coun- try was the gateway of commerce to the nations so the church was the gateway of commerce between the two worlds, the heaven and the earth.
 The former site of the church was at the corner of Dexter Avenue and Bainbridge Street. where an old grocery store stood. There the first prayer meeting was held in January, 1888. The first sermon was preached the first Sunday in February to twelve persons At the close of that year the mem bership was seventy eight. With the adtenta of December, 1909. twenty-two years have elapsed since the first ap- pointment was made to the church. Tn 1887 Bishop Keener appointed Rev. J. P. Roberts to the Dexter Avenue Church.
 Rev. G. M. Sellers had charge of the work during the next two years, and the membership of the church was greatly increased. Rev. J. B. Cum ming, Presiding Elder of the Pratt vile Distrist, was pastor until 1883. The congregation grew and 1t was during his administratio nthat the lot