The Robesonian., 1918-03-18
SPECIAL SERVICE IN NEW
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Services in Magnificent New TempIe
OF Worship For First Time Yes
terday-Beautiful and Impressive
Service at Which Corner Stone Was
Laid.
For the first time all regular ser
wees were held yesterday in the new
presbyterian church, Chestnut and
Tenth streets, and at $3.50 in the after
noon a special service was held TO lay
the corner stone Despite cold rain
winch made it unusually disagreeable .
! out OF doors, this SPECIAL service was
attended by crowd which comfor;a-I
bly, filled the main auditorium of the
church, and 1t was a most delightful |
service IN which the pastor, Rev. DR..
y. Il. MOOrchOuse, was assisted by pas
TORS OF others churches in town, and
every denomination was represented
IN the congregation
i Order of Service
The order of the service was as
follows: Voluntary; Nicae; invocation
by the pastor; hymn; Scripture les
son, read by Rev. w. D Combs, pas
tor Of the Gospel Tabernacle; PRAYER
by Rev. r. E. Sentelle, superintendent
, OF the Lumberton graded and high
, school; hymn; address, "The value of
!: the Church to the community" by
Rev. DR.. &. l.. Greaves, pastor of the
; First Baptist church; address, "The
Church's One Foundation" by Rev.
DR.. R. C. Beaman, pastor of Chest
: nut. Street Methodist church; hymn;
address, "Our Own Church." by Mr..
}: T. Russell, one Of the elders of the
l church, in the absence Of Elder J. A.
} McAllister, who was not able to be
present; address, "Our Present
Needs" by DR. Mo ,rehouse, in the a. =
. sence of Mr.. A. w. Mclean, one of
t deacons, who was out Of town; Of
e fering; anthem, "Arise, Shine; laying
e OF corner stone; prayer; hymn; bene-
e diction.
: Value of the Church to the Community
Each of the speakers packed into
: the 10 minutes to which he was i'm
tied splendid speech. Drs Greaves
and Beanan prefaced their remarks
J. with hearty congratulations upon the
completion Of this beautiful house cf
worship. Dr. Greaves said he had
. coveted a good church building fo1
I the Presby tellans, for they had Sc
many other good things. He gave
three reasons why the church is OF
v value to community: 1st, because ii
is the one place where Christian
IS standards are applied to our lives and
conduct. Men may spend the week il
ways, that are questionable, in trivia
# business trivial pleasures, trivia
# thoughts, but when they come to tht
i church they are lifted into realms O.
# higher values. loftier ideals. TIL,
" church does not fill it's mission unless
h it does that. Second, it is a plac,
: where men are made aware of thei1
God-consciousness We can see Coo
d in the flowers by the wayside, we cal
< hear Him in the murmur of tn
q streams is everywhere-bu
70 sometimes we are not conscious of Hi
- presence, other things crowd him out
v. but when we come to the house of Gct
q we are reminded of Him. And thi
ii church, he said, new now, as tn
N years go by will gather into it shea
a. of sacred memories. Third, it is
R center of fellowship, where you be
IN come conscious Of how dear you ar
/ to one another, where you enjoy th
IN rapture that only the children of CO.
feel. A building does not constitut
y church, but the love that binds.
"a The Church's One Foundation.
~ Touching at the outset of his re
" marks upon the harmonious blcndin,
u Of the architectural lines of thl
u u church, it's superb churchly dignity
,+ DR.. Beaman also paid a high compli
10 lnent to Lumberton. Its churches, h
o. said, should always type the intellec
h tual and moral life of community
r., 10 and SC the visitor to Lumberton, see
" " ing it's splendid church buildings
N would be bound to conclude that the.
~ ~ were the expressions of a people O
10 lofty spiritual ideals. Addressing him
s, self to his subject, he said in part
Other foundation can no man lay tina
,e has been laid, which is Jesus Christ
% the chief corner stone. The churc
Fl is not built upon theory, dogma,
IN creed or the shifting sands of huma
rs expediency, but upon an eternal foun
nj dation. Christ is the foundation Q
Us the church and it is going to live a
I'd it has lived through all the storm an
ID stress of the past and the blood Q
ID ID it's martyrs Men sometimes ge
~ alarmed about the church and wor
der if it is not giving away and break
ing up. The church was never NOR
secure than at this hour, in spite Q
s. the war; for out of the hell of thi
war the church is coming with great
ed er life. Some things are going t
e.; the junkheap, but the Church will d
OF her work We need not get nervou
and put forth unholy hands to stead
b, the ark of God; we need not lose slee
g over the Church going to pieces. Th
st Church has wonderful mission. II
mission is not to entertain, but to sav
Mt life from darkness to light, out c
animalism and conmercialism int
lit the glory and beauty of genuine spil
nt ituality. God pity the Church when
goes into competition with the Worl
in the entertainment business. 1
Il, business is to grapple with the awfl
problems of human life; not to laug
as and reduce life to a merry -go-roun
n BUT to bring men to realization cf II
ng awful fact of sin. He was glad,
he said, to know that the pastor nat 7
10, or fbic irTo 81