Because of the length of the roll, it was necessary that the resons be extremely short. On one occasion, just at the opening of the prayer meeting, the light went out. By the end of the revival, the church numbered more than 400 members—a majority of whom had been baptized by my father.
UPLAND BAPTIST CHURCH. 13
PUBLIC .MEETINGS
HISTORICAL ADDRESS
The founder's Sabbath School continued until he moved to Upland in 1847. Chester had only about nine hundred and fifty inhabitants in the year 1847, and it was a very old and dried up town.
16 FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
During the mentioned period, writing was taught in many Sunday schools in this district. I believe that memorizing God's Word was more prevalent in ancient times than it is today. He had a close acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures and was one of the salt of the earth.
This is how these two men lived and this is how they died, leaving an impact on their families who are church workers and on the village population at large. At this very point, as I spoke about the two deacons, I must also pay tribute to the other members of the church. Early after the church organization was perfected, the assembly plan was fixed, which has remained unchanged to this day.
The shutdown of some of the factories in Upland has caused quite a change in the population, and the school is now somewhat smaller, as we have not yet been able to associate the new arrivals with us. The contributions of the church for various charitable and religious purposes were large.
FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
The Lord has laid upon us all the work of bringing souls into His kingdom, of raising men to a better life, and of giving a living answer to the question, "Who is my neighbor?" and as the Master illustrated when he spoke the parable of the wounded man and the Samaritan who cared for him. In all these works we are one and we can rejoice together as souls are converted and the kingdom of our Lord and Master expands.
ADDRESS
The intellectual life of a community must be expanded if a significant proportion of the people living there systematically study the Bible and follow a faithful interpretation of the Christian scriptures on Sundays. He said that he was astonished at the intelligence with which the common people of New England listened to the discussion of the deepest problems of political philosophy. There is not enough sunshine in the moonbeams to ripen the strawberries, and not enough endurance in the preaching of mere ethics to develop a solid manhood in the hearer.
At the age of fifty, the Upland Baptist Church is healthy and vital, because its members of great wealth and social position have given themselves over to the support of the Church and to the expansion of its influence. They voluntarily contributed to the maintenance of Sunday morning and evening public worship, to the maintenance of the weekly prayer meeting, and to the maintenance of the Sunday School. The Upland Baptist Church is large and prosperous because of the loyalty and personal sacrifice of its members who live here in the village.
Their loyalty to their pastor, their kindness to him, their generous cooperation with him were the greatest value and the greatest importance in the operation of this church. Sinton, who was over eighty years of age, and who, as many of us remember, lived in the old Penn home before the race, was present at a prayer meeting, and at the close of the meeting someone said to her, "Why, Mrs.
UPLAND BAPTIST CHURCH
I have often stood on some higher ground in this vicinity, from where the whole village can be seen. For me, the most attractive sight is always the steeple of the house in which we are gathered - that silent finger constantly pointing to the sky. The highest and most powerful influence is that which springs unconsciously from holy character, and the unconscious influence of this church and its members, and the resulting unforeseen good, interested me greatly.
To what has been said of what this Baptist church has done in shaping the character of this Upland county, I can add my heartfelt testimony. Businessmen, residents of other places, spoke highly of the fast and accurate habits of the people of our village in their monetary transactions. I need not say that it did not come from lectures or addresses or any planned effort; it is the atmosphere of prevailing business relations with which people are in close and daily contact.
The large number of young people of both sexes who have left this community to take up important and trustworthy positions is a testament to the quiet power that permeates their everyday lives. I am sure none of these men: thought of the great Christian truth they illustrated, a truth which distinguishes the Christian church from every human being.
29 organization, nor did they dream of the future effect of this silent ac-
However, anything like a complete performance of the task is considered impossible at a glance. The comforts of life are multiplied; rapid transit brought the ends of the earth together. The second half of the nineteenth century, a period that ends with the history of this church.
A happy product of biblical and historical learning is to place the emphasis where it belongs. Modern hands have cleaned the canvas, and the features of the divine Son stand out with a new distinctness. In the search for truth, in the interpretation of facts, everything depends on where the emphasis is placed.
By false triangulation how many high fences have been built across the appointed path of soul progress. In a broad perspective, they are real reasons for rejoicing, especially in light of the work that remains to be done.
UPLAND BAPTIST 35
In life, no two of us have identical problems, nor should we be expected to work out identical solutions. What is true of the individual human being can be said to be true of our various denominations. By being faithful to our various missions in the life of a denomination, we best serve our common Christianity.
I am expected to speak only a few words, and those of an informal and fraternal nature. You will easily understand why he did this, for he spoke to me yesterday at our Society meetings, after listening to me preach for a little over an hour. It is easy to understand why he would tell me that my time is very short tonight.
It is a double pleasure for me as pastor of the New Tabernacle Church to be invited to this celebration, as one of my predecessors, Minor G. Levy, is currently a valued member of our church, and he was also present and took an honorable part in the service of recognition.
37 to ric church of Rome, to which Paul's greatest epistle was written. It
We may have misjudged who is big and who is small, who is a pillar and who is an uncut stone. God's evaluations of us may be different from our own or those of our loved ones, so we speak with reluctance and mistrust about the great and the small in God's church. In conclusion, I thank the Committee of Arrangements for the privilege of participating in this Jubilee, and sincerely congratulate all those donors and workers and faithful and devout believers whose interwoven lives and united action have accomplished such a great work for God and the world in this place and in the regions beyond.
UPLAND BAPTIST CHURCH. 39
SERVICES ON THE LORD'S DAY
SERMON
Referring to a past filled with blessings, the text says of the favored one, "He shall not remember the days of his life much, for God answers him with the joy of his heart." The mode of evaluation implied here is unique. I do not dwell much in the past, because of the extensive demands and intense interests of the present. The better the past, the greater its direction and impetus to meet the need of the present.
Lake Erie has done so much for that stream that it forces the source to be forgotten. The joy of selfless endeavour, the joy of the cross, the eternal joy of the Father's house. This is strikingly suggestive of the New Testament envy: "The church that is in one and another's house." Although occupied with so many interests and himself an employer, he found time to visit the sick and express sympathy.
He wrote: "I hope hereafter to erect a building to be dedicated solely to the worship of the living God." This purpose has long been realized in our present house of worship. The gift was a loved one's gift for the eternal care and preservation of the he:J.kind Father.
Let the constant joy of our hearts and earnest activity in the service show grateful appreciation for the inheritance received. Failure to meet the demands of the present blinds us to the value of the past and the future and diminishes the importance of the development in which we participate. Let a man take his place with ability, and his eyes are opened to realize the value of the work in which he cooperates.
Many a thought is considered not worth thinking simply because the thinking does not deserve to be called a thought. Much study is not worth doing because the doing is not worthy of being called study. No one can read the records of the early years of this church and fail to be impressed with the earnestness and earnestness of those who took part in its affairs.
They had a great idea of what constitutes Christian character and of the relationship of members to the church. Church membership, for them, meant that one felt the pressure of the cross.
