Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1915-04-12
MR.. MCDOWELL
TO STAY HERE
FOR A MONTH
viii Delay Removal to BaIti-
more at Request of Lo-
cal Church.

Rev. John Mcdowell, pastor Of
Park Presbyterian Church, will prob
ably not sever his pastoral relations
here until the second or third Sunday
in May. He has decided to give up
his house, 142A Broad street. after
the first of next month and will board
during the remainder of his stay in
Newark.
While Mr.. Mcdowell is ANXIOUS to
take up his duties as pastar of the
Brown Memorial Church, ~ Balti-
more, as quickly as possible, he has
been requested by the official board
of the church to help in securing a
temporary pastor before he leaves
and will probably do so.
There will be a conversational
meeting at the Park Church tonight
to act upon the pastors resignation.
The Newark Presbytery will meet to
morrow night and formally release
Mr.. Mcdowell.
There were large audiences at both
services in the Park Church yester-
day. Mr.. Mcdowell preached in the
morning upon "The Religion We
Need" taking for his text Isaiah 40
81. They that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength
Mr.. Mcdowell spoke in part. as fol
lows:
I'VE are hearing much in these
days about religion. 1t lis the central
theme of thought and conversation
today. No argument is needed to
prove that men need religion, the
only question now Is as to the kind
of religion needed Men differ rad
ically as to the type of religion need
ed for modern life. Some tell Js that
the religion needed is social religion,
others tell US ethical religion, still
others rational religion, and many
others are insisting that the religion
needed is practical religion. Undoubt-
edly all these forms of religion
have merits; the wise man, however,
will not cast his vote for any one of
them, but will insist on having q re-
ligion which includes all of them, and
this religion Is found, and found only
in the Bible. The Bible religion is in
elusive, it embraces everything that
is good for the individual and the
betterment OF society.
What, then, Is Bible religion?
What does 1t do in a man. and what
are the practical issues of it? Bible
religion, according to the teachings of
the Scripture, is more than doctrine,
more than forms of worship, more
than modes of administration, more
even than doing good deeds. 1t Is
waiting upon the Lord. They that
wait upon the Lord is the prophets
definition of religion. Mark you, he
does not say waiting for the Lord. No
one ever has to wait for the Lord.
He is always ready to bless His peo-
pie. Gods problem is that of getting
people to receive. The modern world
Is in danger of losing the art of wait
ing upon the Lord. There are many
who begrudge even an hour on Sun
day now to wait ON God in worship.
They think it is a loss of time. The
loss of this art is seen in the think
Ing of modern life, in the passing OF
the heroic from life. The religion We
need Is the religion which will bring
back this habit of the soul In waiting
upon God In prayer, in praise. and in
meditation.
"The direct result of such q re-
ligion, according to the prophet, 10
the strengthening of human life.
They that wait upon the Lord shall
strengthen their life This is true
in every sense of the word. 1t Is true
that waiting upon the Lord renews
the physical, the mental, the moral
and the spiritual life of man. The
real problem of modern life is how to
renew strength. All kinds of inyen-
tions are being tried-sucn as travel
games, amusements. All of these have
value, but none of them can take the
place of the regular habit of waiting
upon God. The man who grows phys
ically, and not mentally, is an idiot
tt11 y16 n4
morally Is criminal. The man who
grows morally, and not spiritually,
is apt to be one-sided. Only by devel-
oping the spiritual can We have full
orbed development. and this calls for
religion, and religion, when it is real,
calls for worship. Real religion is al
ways q source of strength to the in
dlvidual and to the community.
"The practical values of such a. re-
ligion are three. First, inspiring
visions, They shall mount up on
wings as eagles;' second, unlimited
energy, They shall run and not be
weary third. nnfailing patience.
.They shall walk and not faint These
in these days-yision, energy. patience.
We need them in business. in politics,
in education, in religion. Let the
people return to the Bible for their
religion and they will find the re-
ngion they need for time and eter-
nifty"
The annual report OF the Park Pres
byterian Church, from April /, 1914,
to March 81, 1915, shows that 100 new
members were received by confession
of faith and transfer from other
churches. Twenty-nine were dis
missed to other churches and ndne
died during the year. the net gain
for the twelve months being sixty
two. The total enrolment for the year
is now 1872. officers. teachers and
scholars in the Sabbath school num-
Der 538 and the various church socie-
ties have a total membership Of 800
Contributions for church support and
|benevolence were s1S,3O1.98. The year
has been the best in Mr.. McDowelrs
ten years as pastor.