F 526 .B62 Copy 1 ^:^'if|i^| IT THREE HCOBE. K(iH Tin-: liioNKirr (>]•' nn-: ]' IIESB YTEll [A.\- CH i: irCH f OF LEBAXOX 'FA/NT. VET PURSUING. E-2- TiaiE :e=-£uS1'o^ J- ft '^^^^^ LEBANON : M. M. MANNKK, I'KJNTEK AND lUNDEK. IS 7 9. ^t ^••':*.v.i^'n lid) f'WV- LIFE i:n^ it^di^:n'^ IT THREE SCOEEi FOR THK BENEFIT OF THE FRESB YTERMX CHUBCH OF LEBAA'-OJV. F A I y T YET F U E SV 1 N G.' 22-2" TIEgZIE ^-^STOTS. LEBANON : M. M. MANNFK, PRINTF.U AXO I'.INDFK. r w^ *- 6^^ LYTPiOD rCTOR Y JVOTES. 1. No pre-eiiiiuence of sacrifice or success need l^e claimed in this review. Living and departed men and wo- men in the Presbyterian and other churches in Indiana are wortliy of double honor. '1. To move beyond a State or Synod is hazardous for a minister of moderate al)ility. His capital can not be trans- ferred. 8. Itemizing the advantages of different fields, city or country, new or old churches, large or small salaries, and comparing them, leads to contentment. 4. Expenditures of money and labor for religious pur- poses are good investments. 5. No minister or church with a ^' single eye" to God's glory need fear the want of material aid. — Ps. 37. (j. The church furnishes the safest insurance office and the best of society. 7. It is better to wear out than to rust out — dotage comes from non-use. 8. The Session of a Presbyterian Church, after its Ladies' Social, is its chief power. A faithful elder elected for life, and serving a struggling church for years, is a most honora- ble man. 1). The (■hurch ol' all denominations is one. The field is the world. 10. Young ministers and young members of the church, be of good courage. (rlorious things of Thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God. (irace, all the work ^hall crown, Through everlasting days ; It lays in Heaven, the topmost stone. And well deserves the praise. A RETFvOSPECT, And TiiEv Glorified God in Me. — Gal. 1:24. The Rev. John Newton, the friend and pastor of Cowper, the poet, himself the author of some of our best Hymns, says in his autobiography : '^ Reflection on this text awak- ened my first desire to preach the Gospel.''' Paul wrote it when, for many years, he had made full proof of his minis- try. It is, therefore, a good text for the young candidate and for the old minister. Paul understood the principle that the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him for- ever. Realizing this was a sweet and sufficient solace for all his self-denials and sacrifices. Properly estimated or not by others, lie found satisfaction in this result : They glorified God in me. This is no uncommon experience in the church or the ministry. It might be universal. The students of Lane Seminary, under the teaching of Dr. Lyman Beecher, were never led by liim nearer to the Savior, or to a deeper consecration, than when that grand old man rehearsed what he liad seen and of which he had been the chief actor. Once he prefaced his reminisence with this re- mark: ^'The most important period of church history for a young minister to study is that portion immediately before his own era ; and yet tliat very portion is the most inacces- sable.'^ ^'And now,'' said he, ^^ I'll tell you about it." Then, what graphic views we had of Long Island, of Litchfield, of Boston, of Cincinnati, of Nettleton, of Taylor, of Jeremiah Evarts and of Dr. J. L. Wilson ! And so I have longed for the church history, locked up, often unconsciously, in the experience of old men in the ministry. 1 have scarcely been satisfied witli Dr. M. M. Post's classic sermon, ^^A retr()s])ect of thirty years' minis- try at L<)gansj)()rt ;" or, J. 11. Joliustou's valuable discourse. 4 IJFK IN INDIANA "A iiiiiiistrv oi' lorty years in Indiana ;'' or, even witli Albert Barnes' ^^ Life at Three Score and Ten/' I craved more egotism, more distinct ])ersonal reminisence. Wonld that Revs. W. W. Martin. J. M. Dickey and J. A. Oarnahan had been i>arrolous and liad printed a few paiies of personal his- tory. It is true, the world conld not contain the books we lonii" for, but we lonir for them. Kiskinii" much in the otlier extreme, these pages are i)re- l)ared and presented to the young ministers of the Presby- tei-ian Church in Indiana. Be this my high ambition, that some of tliem may glorify God in me. I was born in Lexington, Kentucky, April 2, 1819, and was educated in Miami University and Lane Seminary. I came to Indiana September 2, 1844; induced to this choice sud- denly, wliile thinking of some young ministers who had formed in the Seminary an Indiana Society of Inquiry. They were settled as follows: S. N. Steele at Marion, he died in New York in 1854. A. Lemon at Gilead, he died in Minnesota in 1869. T. S. Milligan at Rochester, he died in Indiana in 187H, and W. M. Oheever at Monticello, he died at Kansas (-ity in 1878. S. S. Thompson, now Professor in Wabash College, the only survivor of the band, was at * Delphi. Samuel Kidder, who had spent a vacation at Fort Wayne, ex])ecting to retu.rn, died in the Seminary, a senior, in 1848. All but Kidder received their college education in Indiana, at Wabasli College, except Clieever, who was a graduate ol' Hanovei'. Tliis beloved band drew me to In- diana. They still attract to Heaven. A few other ministers of our churcli were in Northern In- diana, from other Seminaries, older men, wliose lil'e work mingles in the <'lu'is1ian civilization ol' our State. The Jiorthern tier of counties liad a more intimate relation in civil and religious things witli Michigan than Indiana. My settlement was at Plymouth. My ordination took place in Lupoi'te, Ai)ril, 184.^. Marshall county, Plymouth, the county seat, was then mostly covered with a dense forest. Only a few years before the Indians roamed over it. Traces of tliem. in lamilv reservations, i-emained. An earnest. AT THREK SCORK. D eiilerprisinii, white populaticMi was coinilig in. The excite- Mient to a young minister was intense. The tirst meeting of Presbytery I attended was at Oxford, Tippecanoe county, in October, 1844. M. M. Post, J. A. CJarnahan and others were there, and then acquaintanceship began, which grew to admiration and love. Tlie Synod followed at Indianapo- lis. Dr. J. Bhmchard, a delegate from Cincinnati Presby- tery, was keeping the Indiana Synod sound on slavery and advocating the Watchman of the Valley as a church or- gan. But the ever memorable event of that Synod was a missionary meeting, when James Thomson swayed the au- dience sublimely : '^ When my brother William went to Palestine in i8o7, a college classmate wondered that a man of such promise should bury himself in that far off land. Who is buried now, the young missionary or the lawyer V^ The pastor of the second church, where we met, was H. W. Beecher, Henry Ward not then written in full, and he then only famous in print i'or lectures to young men, and editorials in the Indiana Farmer. Father Dickey, J. H. Johnston, in the ministry, and Elders Judge Stevens, S.Merrill and others were there, earnest and hopeful. Henry Little and R. Hawley are almost the only survivors of tliat gener- ation. Others rest from tlieir labors and their works fol- low them. With the exception of tlie Synod of 18-1:0, when I made a mistake aiul remained at home to nurse a growing re- ligious interest among tlie people, and a meeting of Pres- bytery in 1848, it has been a ])rivilege to be present at eacli of these courts since I came into the State, and to hve General Assemblies I have been commissioner. Sucli has been the personal and family liealth and ])rosperity, that full and i)rompt attendance has been given to every busi ness meeting of each. For tliis favor gratitude is certainly due to the Master. To return to Plymouth. That church having been organ- ized on May -27, 1888, and left, without ministerial care, a few meml)ers scattered and disheartened, were found by S. N. Steele, and re-organized in 184-->. Peceiving an ini r; IJFK IN INDIANA pulse from the poshive aiul liery Steele, and supplied a lew months by an Oberlin student, W. A. Westervelt, I found a devoted and hopeful membership at Plymouth. But it was the industrious swarm of bees without the hive. And this was the way that want was met : There was in the village a commodious room erected for school and meeting uses, the only public room besides the Court House. The organic law of this building was that strangers had preference over resident ministers. No preach- ing was i)ermitted in the Court House. At my second Sabbath, after having preached in the morning and while preparing for evening service, a citizen introduced a minis- ter who had traveled all that day with his family from Rochester, twenty miles distant. He claimed his right and preached that night. I was indignant. Befoi-e breakfast next morning, with Ero. J. L. Wertervelt, a most energetic Elder, we had planned a home for the Presbyterians of Plymouth. W. G. Pomeroy, a Universalist lawyer gave us a lease on a good lot for five years. Bro. Westervelt donated an old warehouse. People of all classes furnished needed work, lumber and other material, and on Thanksgiving Day, less than a month after we began work, we held services in a neatly finished room, 20x32 feet, free from debt. The outlay of money for this building was less than $100. Dr. Milton Badger, Secretary of the Home Missionary Soci- ety was much pleased with our success and published an account of it with some of its lessons, August, 1845. Looking l)ackward it seems like this was the key note of my life. Ever since I have been associated with congrega- tions in tlie cliurch building business. That year we began in tlie woods, east of Plymouth, the erection of a log meet- ing house. A small congregation was formed in that vicin- ity with James O. Parks as Polder. It w^as a mutual gratifi- ciition a few months ago, for the first time since the Sj^ring of 18-lr(j, in company with Bro. Parks, to retrace the past and with difficulty recall the tall ])()plar groves on the site of the flourishing village of Bourbon. Two years completed my work in ^Farshall countv, but the ])ictui-e i>rows brighter as AT TllRKK SCORK. » lime rolls on. The forests, the streams, the newly opened roads, the rude dwellings, the stir of the new settlements, the genuine hospitality, the meetings for religious worship and other purposes in groves and cabins, the dear families, the few aged people, the many in the prime of life, and the little children, the first funeral and the flrst wedding, and above all a blessed revival, come vividly before me, and 1 ask myself, can any memory be more pleasant than a Minis- ter's of his lirst love ? And the nearer he reaches Paul's ambition, not to build upon another man's foundation, the sweeter the retrospect. The ague conquered. After a long struggle, compelled to seek a different climate, with a long lingering look, I left Northern Indiana. The second church of New xVlbany was my field from Oc- tober, 18-16 to October, l8o(). The current newspaper of the day had this item : ^'Mar- ried at Oxford, Ohio, on Tuesday morning, November 10th, 184(), by the Rev. D. Tenney, Rev. J. M. Bishop, of New Albany, Indiana, and Miss Lucy D. North, of the former place." If any of these reminiscences are worth repeating, and if any church has reason to remember me kindly, it is largely owing to help obtained from this union. At the close of this period (1850,) the review showed the following results of four years labor : Sermons Preached ".. 292 Pastorial Visits 1,093 Funerals Attended 59 Additions to the Church 98 Infants Baptized -17 MONEY RAlvSEI). For Salary $ 2,350 00 Benevolence 1,540 00 Church Building 11,020 00 This church building was the great visible event. Aside, however, from consultation in session meetings and general oversight, the Pastor had little to do. The subject was S I- IKK IN INDIANA scarcely iiient ioiicd iVoni llic pulpit. Elder W. C Conner devoted more than a year of constant personal care to the work. Most cheerfully, patiently, noiselessly was this duty discharged. The retrospect of this era is pleasant. The con- trast is striking between PlymontJi and New Albany. At the latter place everything was organized. Such a bench of Elders and Deacons is rarely seen. A note of discord was never heard, even in the choir! With supreme pleasure I record the names of the Elders and without comment muse their praise : Jacob Simmers, William C. Conner, James Brooks, KalphH. Hulbert and John Loughmiller. Only the last one lingers on eartli. The Rev, James Gallaher, who assisted in a glorious revival, suggested and urged the erec- tion oi' the new building and gave valuable lessons from his own observations as to its arrangements. From New Albany we removed to Bedford, to supply a smajl church in that place and undertake a wide missionary work. No attempt will be made to recall this itineracy in in detail. For over three years I rode oji horseback more' than three thousand miles annually, Irom Bedford to Bloom- ington, on the north ; to the Ohio River at Leavenworth on the south, west to Duboise county and east to Seymour. These and intervening places were regularly visited once a month. The field contracted, but during ten years, after leaving New Albany, the journeyings on horseback were not much lessened. In these years much church building and repairing was overseen. Neat houses were erected at Mitchel, Leavenworth and in Duboise county. The Bed- ford building was repaired, and a Universalist house at Bloomington was purchased and improved. Considerable consultation was also given with ministers and others which aided in the erection of ])uil(lings elsewhere. What diverse agents co-operated with the minister and were essential to success ( What women there were in these fields ! Bless- ed commentaries OP Ro. 1(3:1,2 and Phil. 4:3. Mrs. Eliza Shields, of Seymour who died November 13, 1866, Mrs, Jane Seward, ol Bloomington who died August 15, 1865, and Mrs. Lovey Blackwell. of Bedford who died April 19, 1878, were At THREE SCORE. 9 typical of otliers of equal faith and works who shine on earth or in Heaven. And what will Heaven be! Where the saints of all ages in harmony meet, Their Savior and brethren transported to greet! After the lapse of years it is not unprofitable to read over the list of names of co-workers. It throws light on the chapters of names in the Bible. It awakens pleasant mem- ories, bright anticipations, mingled with instructive repent- ings. In the Bedford graveyard lie the bodies of our departed children, Lewis B., Susan N., Robert and John, and still our living children say with Wordsworth's Little Cottager, ''We are Seven !■' In 1860 we moved to Bloomington and remained there until 1867, without essentially changing the field of labor. The second church of Bloomington was organized by me in June, 1852, so the period of fifteen years may be regarded as one pastorate. But now begins the rail road era, and the faithful intelligent horse is sold with regret. The Civil War and re-union of Presbvterians occupy the public mind and heart. The University of the State, and its learned men, in the Faculty and elect youth under their care contrast with former associates. But all these public affairs are foreign to the aim of these simple annals. Are not these matters pre- served in the archives of the State and Church? The little White Church around the corner and its little congregation had a mission. Such fidelity, singleness of aim, primitive love, I have not seen surpassed. Austin Seward, well called Yulcanus All heart, what an Elder! Pure mind- ed and faithful Deacon M. W. Helton, and Father T. Carter, were well matched with others alive and dead. The times change, and it is not time serving to change also, if the Master's voice is heard. The cloud moved and the mission- ary period ended. Dr. Plumer well says : Whenever it can be done young ministers should spend some time in mis- sionary labor It is one of the best schools on earth. It is very i)leasant labor too. Whoever spent a part of his early 10 LIFE IN rXDIAXA life in this service and did not d3light to speak ol* it in his old age ? (Pastoral Theo. 201.) In 1867 I was called to Rockville and was Pastor in that refined town until 1872. This was the essential re-unoin period. Two strong churches in Rockville, well organized, and with the marked peculiarities of the two branches, came harmoniously into one, just before the General As- semblies united. The formal union took place by order of the two Presbytries, December 29, 1869, A subscription was in circulation in each church for new buildings and the corner stone of one was laid, but consolidation took place and a substantial and costly building was dedicated January 15, 1871. The dedication was especially memora- ble by the presence of Charles C. Beatly, D. D., L. L. D., of Steubenville, Ohio, who began his ministry in Parke coun- ty in November, 1822. Having organized a church in the vicinity of Rockville, he anticipated a permanent settle- ment with that people. He was, however, turned aside by Providence and had not re-visited the field until a half a century had passed. What a day was that when we retrac- ed the ploughed field to find the stones of the foundation of a log church! And as the venerable man recognized a log of the old church in an old stable, which he saw fifty years before, we could well realize the power of sacred relics. The Rockville building cost over $14,000. Elder John Ott was the leading member of the building committee and relieved others of the burden. The most important and far reaching event of this period in the Rockville church, was the sending out a band of missionaries to Persia. The newspaper had the following notice: ^'Married at the Presbyterian church, July 17, 1872, by the Rev. W. Y. Allen, assisted by Rev. J. M. Bishop, Rev. J. M. Oldfather and Miss F. N. Rice ; an^l in the same ceremony Rev. W. L. Whipple and Miss M. U Allen." This double wedding was the consummation of an interest which had absorbed the community for months. The Rev. J. Little, D. D., said of it : "If there is any such thing as putting jewels in the crown of ministers before they die, it is the having AT THREE SCOR*:, 11 foreign missionaries ^o from the fields of their labor, especi- ally when they go to lands starving in multitudes." My pastorate began in Rockville with the regular Prayer Meeting on Wednesday, October 23, 1867, and ended with the regular Prayer Meeting, October 23, 1872. M. Henry says : Family worship, morning and evening, is like a good hem on a piece of cloth, it prevents raveling. And so it may be said, there is a security in a prayer meeting at each end of a pastorate. I was free from pastorial care the month of November, 1872, the only interval since October, 1844. It would have been longer but for a wise remark of the late Rev. W. 8. Rogers, of Oxford, Ohio, which is worth repeating. He said to me: ''I made a mistake in getting out of work at your age. After a while the difficulties of getting back increase." I hastened to put on the harness and accepted an invitation to supply the Lebanon church, beginning my service Decem- ber 1, L^72, and after two months trial accepted a call. Unless very much mistaken, the voice of the Master says this is the way walk ye in it. (Isa. 30:21.) Paul was re- luctant to enter Europe, (Ac. 16:6-7) and yet found his chief happiness in yielding his will to the manifest rulings of the Spirit. So we may believe it always will be. Bax- ter notices it in his own case. Woe unto Jonah ! And here we are, as at Plymouth in 1844, and uninter- ruptedly since, with a people who have a mind to the work of church building. The burden and the joy in large meas- ure all these years has been the same, church building! After Rev. F. M. Symmes had left Lebanon and before I came, the people, without ministerial advice had sold their old building, bouiiht a lot, and were soliciting for a new building, to cost not less than $10,000. The foundation stone was laid September 1, 1873, and the basement prepar- ed and opened for a place of worship December 24, 1874. With varied changes and incidents of heroic sacrifice, the debt was nearly extinguished on a $12,000 building. Sick- ness in the Pastor's family called for a change of climate, and Presbvterv was asked to dissolve the pastoral relation. 12 J.IFE IN INDIA'S' A The eougregational consent was given Sabbath, September 22, 1878, and on Wednescla}^ following tlie storm came and in an instant the loved building was a pile of ruins ! The bewildered congregation soon rallied. The action just taken for seperation as Pastor and people was suspended. The Pastx)r's sick wife cheerfully acquiesed in the indication of Providence. The Presbytery and Synod commended our case unanimously to the favor of the Board of Church Erec- tion and the christian public. Ready money in large and small sums came in, as if windows had been opened in Heaven. And the organization was saved. And here we are hopefully, cheerfully at work, with a very much embarrassed people, at Three Score Years, in this Divinely indicated task. The Apostle not older called himself Paul the Aged. (Philm. 9). But his services in the church were harder than ours, as he witnesseth in all of his autobiography, especially in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, 6:1-10, 11:23-33. May we all follow him as he followed Christ, and then each one for himself can say : ''And they Glorified God in Me.'' STOBM THOVGHTS. BY SAMUEL L. HAMILTON. Suggested by the ruins of the beautiful and costly Pres- bj^terian Church edifice at Lebanon, Ind., that, after six years of patient toil and self sacrifice, by the pastor and a poor congregation, in rearing, almost to completion, was, in the twinkling of an eye, totally destroyed by a tornado, September 25, 1 878. THE COMPLAINT. We toil through pain and wrong ; we fight — we fl\% We love, we lose ; and then, erelong, stone-dead we lie. — [Proctor. AT THREE SCORE. 13 "Ascended Lord ! Thou hast remembered still The beauty of each earthly vale and hill ; " The crystal waters of each babbling brook Thou leadest down tlirough shady glen and nook, From where Thou hast distilled them at the fount Upon the bleak and eagle-haunted mount- E'en till the unpolluted beverage come To mingle in the depths of its ocean home. Sweet lilies of the vale ! How thou dost smile Upon their matchless grace, and kiss, the while, Their upturned lips with heavenly zephyrs And Thy beauteous sunliglit ! Gentle sparrows Build where Thou dost point their safe retreat , And Thou, Supernal One, dost stoop to meet Them there, and teach them architecture's law — Wherein no human skill can note a Haw. Thy breath, at each returning spring-time, broods In blessings o'er unconscious earth, and floods The heart with joy, when from the cold, dead Fallow-land, outspread like waves of molten lead Before the ken, there starts to life the buried grain. That nods and ripples back its glad refrain 'The summer through, on every passing breeze- Till e'en the garner holds its ripened sheaves. The cattle on a thousand hills, and all The throng that doth inhabit— great and small— The forest, air and deep unfathomed sea. Do ever find Thy guiding hand, and see Their certain mission pictured by the light Of instinct, faintly glinting on their sight. All these are Thine — Thou lovest them ; and oh I Thine ear hath heard the cry of us who know In whom we trust ; our souls have felt thy touch. And answered to the Spirit's call for such As shall be named Thine own— bespeaking love Far richer than descended from above, To any of Thy creatures here beside, And vet, it seems. Thy manner is to hide 14 l.IFE IN INDIANA Thy face, and leave our I'eeble minds to grope In doubtful search for Duty's path, in hope To win approving smiles by righteous deeds. And lo ! we stuble, for Thy presence leads Us not ; the seal of Thy displeasure stamps The fruit of every best intent, and dam])s The fervid wish of honest, holy zeal. THE ("ONSOLATION. Some falls are means the happier to rise. — [Shakespeare. As fragrance from the trampled rose, that smells The sweeter for him Avho tramples it, there wells Within the soul a mystic essence born Divine, pursuing darkness like the morn. With kindly voice, in softened tones, as mild As angel whispers to a dying child, It says, or seems to say — know this ; pure gold Comes not from gentle handling of the ore — As images in snow by lingers deft And slight; but in the fire and 'neath the heft Of hammers, precious grains are purified And costly worth compressed. Who thinks no guide Doth lead man's steps, thinks neither deep nor true. What seemeth good and that which man would do To honor God, He knows would fail, because It fails to sanctify tlie doer. His laws — His plan — require tliat God be glorified In man and not by man. Who's sanctified Must meek submission to His process bow And rest with firm reliance on His vow. In mercy, God respected not the gift Of Cain, because no token of a power to lift His soul out of the wreck that Sin had made. Was mirrored in the offer. Hast thou laid Thy gift upon the alter of a ('ain # That (Tod may see tliy work 'i Then hope is vain. His glory is not seen, because the heart Reflects it not. No handiwork of art. AT THREE SCORE. 15 Howe'er well done — no gift of high esteem. Alone, can satisfy the King Supreme. ''Faith wrought with works-' in Abraham, and God Was glorified, because the i^atriarch Was sanctified ; for, now the little si3ark Of heavenly light that gleamed in Abram's breast On Mamre's plain, up to the crowning test On old Moriah's sacred top, had grown A flame, whose constant radiant brightness shone On Calvary. "And Abraham was blest In all things by the Lord." Art thou in quest Of duty ? Then proceed, at every step, ''In singleness of heart as unto Christ,'' Nor stop to long inquire if thou art led ; But count all things as blessings kindly shed, By Him whose glory is man's chiefest good. And know, e'en cloud and storm when understood. Crushed walls, inverted spire, and shattered shrine — P^it types of man ere He of Jesse's line Was born — are heights from whence the soul may rise Well plumed for loftier heights toward the skies. dJV APPEAL. BY MRS. PHEBE C. HAKKI80N. Looking, this stormy, wintry afternoon, at the partially covered walls of the Lebanon Presbyterian Church, whicli with new strength and beauty, have arisen from the blast of last September, we find these lines of Whittier running through our heart and brain : "There are moments in life when the li]) and the eye Try the question of whether to smile or to cry.'' When we remember how strangely as a church we have been blessed in the past and how often, (rom unexpected It) LIFE TX INDIANA sources, funds have Howed into our treasury, we i'eel like giving ourselves up wholly to thanksgiving, and yet when we look upon our now scattered congregation and reflect how much remains to be done before we can possibly wor- ship around the old altar, and then when we remember our utter lack of money to further prosecute the work of re- building, fear and sadness creep in upon the soul, rendering its song of praise incomplete. Yet, true to-day, as it has ever been in the past, is the promise ^^Ask and ye shall re- ceive." 80 with no other prelude than this little bit of ex- perience, so common in this world of ours, we send forth this little appeal for money — money to be used, not for self or selfish purposes, but for the building of God's house ; for the glory of Him, whose we are and whom we serve. We ask it, first of all, because we love the good old Pres- byterian church, in whose faith we were born and (God helping us) in whose faith we will die. We ask it for tlie sake of earnest men and women who have borne each other sweet fellowship in toil and self-de nial, who yet consider nothing that they have done worthy the name of sacrifice, praying only in their hearts ''Thy Kingdom Come ! '^ We ask it for the sake of a christian minister, who for the past six years, has led our little flock in all our stormy wan- derings, cheering us in darkest days with his most earnest eff*orts and unfaltering faith, willingly sharing all of our pri- vations, counting '^the work its own reward.'' We ask it for the sake of hands that began the work with us but that are now chilled in death : lor their sake we press forward in the work ihey have laid down. We ask for money to complete our unfinished church be- cause we believe that in that church God's word will be pro- claimed with power, and that thereby christian character Avill become established and the salvation of many souls be accomplished. We ask it because Christ so loved the church that He died to redeem it with ^^His own precious blood ; '' because AT THREE SCORE. 17 it is the liope of earth and throws a liglit on the patli to Heaven. We ask it l^ecause we believe that God never began a work in this world without the means and the money to ac- complish it, and because He has so linked christian joy with christian giving, that those who give are even more blessed than those who receive. A STATEMEMT, On the building destroyed by the storm, we had paid $12,000. A debt rested on it of $650. The estimated cost of rebuilding, $2,600. This sum will give us an unfurnished building, without bell, pulpit, pews, lamps, stoves or other furniture. Our peop>le are sustaining all the current expenses of the church without foreign aid, more liberally than ever before ; and have better views of their responsibility to the church at large and a perishing world, without the Gospel. We are well organized for home work and liave a temporary home, by the courtesy of the Christian Church, and by labor and money contributions are urging on the completion of our new building. Scarcely a day has been lost when it was possible to work, since the storm. After all that has been given from kind friends, at home and abroad, we yet need $1,000 before we can be aided by our Church Erection Board. With confidence that the Divine Spirit will incline to a generous response, from public spirited persons in large or small sums these pages are sent forth. JOHN M. BISHOP. Lebanon, Ind., February, 1879. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS lil|1U|l1 """ n 014 751 203 A 4