The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-06-14

o Church, thou hadst thy trials then,
Thy numbers were but few,
Yet they were men of sterling worth,
And to their trust were true.
Their strength was in the God of
Hosts
Whose counsels cheered their way;
They worshipped Him with all their
hearts.
And kept His holy day.
And, through the long protracted
Of conflict, toll and strife,
They met, and at their pastors hand
Received the bread of life.
From towering hill and meadow
green,
Where brook and fountain play,
We hear in thought, the choir that
Two hundred years, to-day.
A thousand memories handed down
From veteran sire to son,
On history's glowing page record
The victories thou hast won.
Thy Grand Consolation yields
The firm unbonnded sway
That fired with zeal a Christian band,
Two hundred years, to-day.
And now, beneath coIunbia's flag,
The standard of the free,
o Church of Christ, we pledge anew
Ourselves, our all to thee.
o may we follow in the steps
And live as pure as they
Who hail in heaven with US on earth,
Two hundred years, to-day.
Afternoon Program.
AS soon as possible afterward the
afternoon session was called to order
that the long program might be COM
pleted by four o'clock, as some of those
present were from distant places.
Because Edward T. Bedford, who
was to preside, was unable to be pres
ent, he sent his regrets and took the
occasion to write some bits of local his.
tory and give expression to his appre-
citation of the large place the church
fills in the community in a letter which
was read by the pastor. Rev. Charl-
ton Bates Strayer, the pastor, who then
introduced Judge John H. Perry Oh
Southport, who presided, presenting
the following program:
Devotional service, Rev. Henry
Schlosser.
The Four Meeting Houses, Deacon
George P. Jennings.
The Parish, Ancient and Modern,
Rev. Frank S. Child, D. D.
The Struggle for Religious Liberty in
Connecticut, Rev. Charlton Bates
Strayer.
There was some excellent singing by
the choir composed as follows: Miss
S. Belle Blackstone, organist and di-
rectress; Mrs. Ernest S. Maxim, So
prano; Miss Ruth Child, contralto;
James F. Mahoney, tenor, and Ernest
S. Maxim, bass.
The contralto soloist, Miss Legere,
who sang in the place of Miss Ruth.
Child, was for three years a memb
of the choir. She rendered a solo,
THE King of Glory" making re-
markable impression as she stood be-
aff q
ton, simply gowned in white, with a
plain, black straw sailor hat and with
out notes, sang the stirring anthem
wonderfully well. 1t was one Of thu.
finest things heard in long time. Sht
is the contralto soloist at the Wash.
ington Park Methodist church in this
city.
Historical Address.
The address Of Deacon George P.
Jennings was historical. Much of its
from the book of records kept by Rev.
Daniel Chapman, the first pastor of
the church, the writing in which,
though nearly 200 years old, being SO
clear and the data SO definite that il
proved of great value. Other books
down the years, but not all are to be
found. He showed that the church il
the Oldest in the town of Westport.
That the first one, the present one, be-
ing the iOurtn 10 occupy the site, was
a square building without a chimney;
the second one was larger and had a
side entrance beside the front one, and
has a spire. That one was burned by
the British during Gen. Tryon's raid.
After seven years another one was
built on the present site. This was
also destroyed by fire in the year 1852.
The present one is Colonial in design
and has been beautified by very hand
some windows. A bronze tablet by
Borglum was unveiled on Sunday last,
comm emorative of these four edifices.
Mr.. Jennings paper had been care
fully prepared, after much research,
and will prove valuable historical
record for those who come after.
The Parish, Ancient and Modern.
AS was to be expected, the paper by
Rev. Frank S. Child, DID,, on the
Parish, Ancient and Modern" was
scholarly and filled with valuable data.
Because of limited time he did not
read it ali.
THE parish he said, signifies
nected with the state religion. We are
familiar with the difficulties which
speedily arose in these various COM
munities. Where the suffrage was re-
stricted to church members the plant
ers debarred from this exercise soon
expressed dissent and then appealed
to their brethren for the right to vote.
The first adventures were generally in
full membership with the church, but
as time elapsed, and other pioneers
crossed the sea, the class not in active
fellowship with the church increase
These not only wished for the ballot
but they demanded that their children
be baptized. So the wise minister.
reverting to former practices in the
church of the mother country, devised
the halfway covenant, which per-
mitted the parents who had been bap-
tised but not received into full mem
bership to bring their children to the
church for the sacred rite.
There was violent opposition or,
the part of strict religionists. The dis
cussiOnS often assumed tempestuous
forms. At length there appeared in
Connecticut various religious bodies
which dissented in one way or another
from Congre gationalism. The people
thus dissenting were granted the privi-
lege of distinct organization AS a
consequence the word parish gradually
assumed another meaning. 1t was no
territory presided over by an incum-
bent supported by town tax The word
and the thing assumed a social mean
ing. Parish finally came to signify
the people who were connected with
certain church. These people nigh.
live within the territorial bounds of
the ancient parish or in the bounds OF
some other parish. There might be in
cluded within the limits of the old or
iginal parish a dozen, seventeen Or
twenty five churches belonging to dill,
ferent denominations, as has become
the condition in the original Fairfield
parish. These churches may have ter
ritorially the same parish or they may
n orNiO cid