The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-01-24
DEDICATION OF THE BEAUTIFUL
UNION CHURCH At WAILUKU

I hour appointed the church was invad
ed by an army Of Japanese, Chinese
and Hawaiians, and when the services
began there was q fair representation
of every ntionality in the community
All the hymns we're sung in four Ian
guages and there was also preaching
in each. zee Kui spoke in Chinese
Rev. Stephen l.. Desha in Hawaiian,
Mr.. Kuboh in Japanese and Rev. W.
B. Oleson and DR.. A. B. Weymouth in
English.
The ladies of the Hawaiian church
of Wailuku rendered the ministers and
delegates a luncheon In the Wailuku
town hall on Monday and provided an
immense store of Hawaiian and other
dishes. Rev. Stephen L. Desha made
brief and informal address to the
ladies who served the luncheon, in
which he thanked them in Hawaiian
for their hospitality and their kind
ness to the visitors.
THE MINISTER'S EXAMINATION.
A formality, preparatory to the ded-
ication of the church, was the exami-
nation of the pastor, Rev Rowland
Backus Dodge, Saturday afternoon, bY
the installing council of ministers Of
various denominations and from vari-
Gus parts of the islands Ordinarily
this function would be a mere form
but in this particular examination
several pointed questions regarding
the minister's theological tenets elic-
tied from him a statement of dogma
which several of the council seemed
to regard as dangerously liberal and
the examination proved more severe
ordeal than was anticipated The
council, in closed session, finally ap.
proved of Mr.. Dodge's installation and
matters of dogma were waived
The meeting was held in the church
building and Rev. Rowland Dodge pre-
scented a paper in which he gave his
Religious Experience and Theologi-
cal Belief" In part he said:
Statement Of Faith.
In a brief hour it is impossible to
fully state ones experience with God.
1t is a task, too, from which most
people naturally shrink. The inner
life is always difficult to analyze. It
is still more of a problem to state
clearly in expressions others will I'M
derstand ones position in regard to
the great questions always arising
concerning God, His relations to men,
and theirs to Him.
Personal life is a growth. The de-
velopment of a mans theological
views should show growth He should
keep abreast of the times. His think
ing should become clearer, his life no
bier, as he strives to do his work I'M
der the conscious direction of Him
whom he serves.
II shall try to give an honest re-
view of my religious experience and
state clearly as | can my position in
regard to what consider the great
in theology"
He then entered upon an intimate
account of his religious faith as boy
and his subsequent education for the
He was born in Westboro,
Massachusetts, and two years after
his birth his father entered the min
istry, and he himself had fully deter
mined to follow the same course at
the age of sixteen. He graduated
from Amherst College, and between
courses in the seminary spent two
summers at Heidelberg and Marburg.
He pays tribute to the influence of
Juelicher, of Marburg, and MacKen-
zie and Beardslee, of Hartford Semi
nary, as instrumental in shaping his
religious thought.
Searching for Heresy.
A declaration of faith followed in
which Mr.. Dodge said nothing which
was later brought up by the examina-
ton in their search for heresy In
closing, he said:
"The presentation of the truth that
is revealed to a man day by day from
his experience, the experience Of
those about him, the revelation
that comes through the study of the
Bible, and through prayer is the work
of the minister of the gospel of
Christ"
With the close OF this paper, Rev.
w. b. Oleson of Honolulu, who acted
as mediator of the council, announced
that questions would be in order Aft
er some hesitation the questioning be-
gan and the minister gave satisfaction
to all his interrogations until he was
asked; DO you believ in the deity of
Jesus?"
81 had hoped, said Mr.. Dodge, that
that question would not come. / shall
have to answer it in the historical
sense. | believe that Jesus had the