The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-11-03
FIRST DONATION FOR NEW CHURCH
Congregation of Indepen- dent Presbyterian Church
 to Build New Edifice

The first donation made to the build ing fund of the Independent Presby- terian church with which that congre- gation plans to erect handsome church building, was made last night by a large audience who heard pr. Henry M Edmonds preach a very in- teresting sermon at the Lyric theatre. The new church building of the In- dependent Presbyterian congregation is planned to be one of the finest edi- fices of its kind in the south. It will be located at Tenth avenue and Twenty first street, South, where lot with a frontage of 220 feet has been purchased for the purpose. A special building committee is now at work drawing up plans for the building with the assist ance of architects and details of the structure are expected to be announced within short time. As soon as the plans are finished work will commence and the building will be rushed to completion as soon as possible The new church will cost between $500, 900 and s5oO.OoO
 At the services last night at the Lyric, Dr. Edmonds announced that the contributions of the evening would be turned over to the building committee as the first subscription to the new church building. He stated that it was the desire of the congregation of the Independent Presbyterian church that those attending the Lyric meetings should be the first on the list of a aCt afrih tf.rs, l., gave large sum of money in the ag- gregate towards the erection of the church
 Taking his text from the ninth verse of the 18th Psalm, "Wherewithal shall young man cleanse his way" Dr. Edmonds delivered a very impressive discourse on subject of Cleansing a Young Mans Way" He pointed out that only by substituting the way of Jesus Christ for his own way and obey ing the precepts and laws of Christ can young man cleanse his way through life and live right
 Tn talking with young men I have found that they most often want to know what attitude they should take towards Christianity and religion . said pr Edmonds "In discussing and thinking about the subject the tendency is often one of doubt towards Chris tianity and oftentme they feel tempted to throw overheard the precepts and laws of Jesus Christ They should at least stick to the solemn oath to abide by the ordinary precepts of the Chris tian religion and leave the theories and meaning of religion until later day.
 'I believe if I were to ask any of you what are the three best ways a young man can keep straight you would answer: First, by falling in love- se- cond, by giving him a job big enough to bring into play all of his energy; and Third, by giving him new notion of the dignity of his own life. Now apply them to His way. Religion really means falling in love with Jesus Christ. He has things you admire and would like to have yourself and would like to see in other men.
 And then 1t is a real job to be a Christian and hard one. It is job that should take all of your energy and lead you to higher things. And then the force and good example of Christ and its potential effect on every man will tell you that you are built for better things and larger purposes than all the stuff and sordidness of the un- clean path. It will plant a dream in your bosom and make the young man work all the harder to follow in His way"
 Another large audience heard Dr. Edmonds at the regular morning ser vices of the Independent Presbyterian church held in Temple Emanu- Fl on Highland avenue The subject of his Sunday morning discourse was Loves Labor Not Lost'