Evening star., 1926-04-11
DIR. DURKEE WILL BE FOURTH
PASTOR OF HISTORIC CHURCH
Plymouth, in Brooklyn,
Clings TO Spiritual
Atmosphere.
Made Nationally known
Bv HI. w. Beecller and
His Successors.

! By the Associated Press.
! NEW YORK. April l0.-flymouth,
the congregational church in Brook
lyn of which Rev. Henry Ward
! Beecher was the first pastor, is to
have it's fourth minister after more
J than three-quarters of q century of
| existence.
On Orange street the dignified sub
! Stantial walls of the old meeting
house stand like a rock in the shift
ing sands of change that three gen.
erations have brought to New York
| since it's founding. Located in Co
i lumbia Heights, one of the choice resi-
dence districts of the society of old
Brooklyn, the place of worship stands
! fourSquare against the alterations
forced in its vicinity
Gentility still has its habitat in the
old Heights neighborhood. but into
| Plymouth locality trade has come.
Small shops have pushed close 70 its
| sturdy iron gates. In Fulton street
nearby fast trains roar by. In
neighborhood where once the Kings
English was the only tongue there
are now the liquid vowels of mixed
races.
Church Unchanged.
But despite the shifting scene of
/ its background Plymouth stands to-
day almost unchanged spiritually and
physically. Since the day in January.
1850, when DR.. Beecher preached his
first sermon in the new structure,
the church has taken a notable place
in the discussion of religions and ma
tional policies. The young preacher
who had come to the temporarily
housed congregation nearly three
years earlier from pastorates in In
diana brought oratorical power and
a quality of leadership that filled even
the largest auditoriums.
The pastorate OF Rev. Dr.. Lyman
Abbott. from 1883 TO 1890. and Of Rev
DR.. Newell Dwight Hills. from 1899
until 1924. carried on and added to
the traditions of the 40 years service
of DR.. Beecher. Now, as then. Ply
mouth attracts a congregation that
includes persons who come from New
Jersey. Connecticut. the eastern end
Of Long Island and upstate New York.
Most of the older members, who knew
the church in the days when ultra
fashionable men wore silk toppers and
went about in rigs drawn by snappy
spans Of bays, continue to make it
their place of worship. Some of the
younger generation have elected to
attend smart new churches in other
sections of the city. but this detection
has been offset by youth of another
| ideal
DIR. Durkee Called.
Plymouth sent call to Rev DR..
| James Stanley Durkee. president OF
Howard University. Washington. d.
! c. 1t became apparent that DR.. Hills,
who suffered n breakdown in health.
would be unable TO resume his pulpit.
! Under the Plymouth roof have been
! heard speeches that shaped the des-
| tiny of the Nation. and under its
| shelter Presidents have worshiped.
| Abraham Lincoln attended divine
service the day he gave. at Cooper
| Union. the speech on What the
Fathers Thought About Slavery" On
! that occasion the tall statesman shar
ed his book with a short usher. and
with the book tilted between them the
| two joined in singing THE Shining
| Shore"
! 1t was from the church platform on
a Sunday in February. 1860, DR..
/ Beecher sold at auction to his con-
gregation the 9-year-old mulatto slave
girl Sally Maria Diggs. His hearers