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Watcli ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you. like men, be strong.'5 I Cor. xvi, 13.
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DURHAM, N. C, JANTJAKT, 1895. :
TTol. 1.
No. 8.
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A HAPPY NEW YEAR.
With the heginning of 1895 many
of us bcfn'n the years vrk differ
ently under different j'circum-stanr-
from tho-e of 1894. If to
us tSit-y are pleasarter or more pros
per u Jot i;s lie thankful and strive
to I in- re for our fellow beings
ics fortunate.
With the New Year let us resolve
to help each other at anvj cost,-to
seize our opportunities, for doing
good, willingly and eagerly.
Thai where we've been unkind or
unobliging we will retrieve the mis
take. If. we have been impatient,
make an effort to learn gentleness
and forbearance. If we've spoken
falsely through pride or vain glory J
think of the discourtesy! the dis
I honor, and make an effort to repair
f it Remember the Old, old story'
as your incentive for doing good,
and cheer every heart that is lonely
or sad. Kindly greetings are inex
pensive, and yet what a wonderful
amount of-good they-da. Tis not
to be reckoned; for a smile or bow
can be as full of God's trrace as
things of apparently far greater
magnitude. The smallest deeds are
often fraught with the greatest good,
and we not only ilo His wilt in each
and every one of them, but prove
ourselves grateful for our own bless
ings in these little deeds of kind
ness. Forthe New Year all these
thoughts and resolves are eminently
fitting, and we - surely make our.
hearts the lighter and our blessings
the brighter in keeping them. . How
many of us made new resolutions
atyJ beginning, of; the old year,
471 cnofr, alas, that now they are
biit'nicniories ! With, the iojd? year
they arc gone, and in their places
wc have pure, fresh leaves on whic,h
writ. our ncxi. year -"jsxm,oiu.
Will we make it worthy tne reading
of Him from whom no secret is hid?
4 'The poor ye shall have 'with you
always," and when we extend
helping hand, to the oppressed, we
do our duty, .but when we do it in
love and kindness, we barrow the
light divine and add a jewel to our
immortal crown. 1 (
Do not let us forget 4Jat
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"One more year has closed its record,
1'ycry pagt complete and whole.;
What is written there remaineth
Till the looks of Clod unroll."
With these few suggestions, let
us again wish that the New ear be
tilled with brightness aiul prosperity
for each and all, and should the
clouds cast their shadows,? may the
"silver lining" gleam throughout
it all. V
OUR CHILDREN.
CONTRIBUTED.
The Church Discipline says:
1. Let the minister diligently in
struct and exhort all parents to
dedicate their children to the Lord
in baptism. as early as convenient.
2. Let him pay special attention
to the children, speak to them per
sonally and kindly, on experimental
and practical godliness. j
3. . As soon as they comprehend
the responsibilities involved in a
public profession f faith j in Christ
and give evidence of a sincere and
vaniv ri u. iLt iiiimiitwii i uioiiaiv j
the same, see that they be duly I
recognized as members of the
rhnri-h norreahle to the orovisions !
of the Discipline.
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It is a plain duty that every
parent owes to his church and child
to have the sign and seal of Christ
put upon him or her. Vet how fre
quently this duty is neglected.
How many children in Trinity con
gregation who have never been
baptized? A large number, I am
sure. f
Somebody is guilty of criminal
neglect. Who is it ? Are the parents
blameless?' Have the pastors done
their whole duty in this particular?
Baptized children coming lb the
years o( accountability and giving
evidence -of a sincere and earnest
determination to live as christians
should be taken into the church.
And yet how frequently this-duty
is also neglected. How few are in
the church. Many Methodist chil
dren duly baptized are left to grov
up in ignorance and wande off i. to
forbidden paths. . They are" as frly
out ot i!ie chu-ch as tho-.e, imba;
tized. They irrow t;t) in open nou-
membership and ar
rerar .ed as
sm:.e;s.
' Who are to blame for this? Gen
erally pareu: and pastors." Is 'not
something wrong among us; as to
this matter? .
I hold that it is possible so to
rear our children that thev shall be
converted from the cradle, and grow
up in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord some without a break.
I believe with Dr. Hudson, that if
christian parents and teachers were
consistent and were in the true faiih
of Jesus Christ, generations of chil
dren might be bi ought up who
never would know the point at
which the transition was made.
They would be taught to love Christ
and -to -adopt the great christian
element of character love and by
it to cast out evil, to build, and to
acquire habits and experiences, so
that when they come to man's es
tate it would not be through all the
tanglements, besetments and rail
ings of an ordinary earthly expe
rience. They would come honor
able, truthful, loving, full of faith,
full of hope, full of, purity from the
cradle to the church.
"At the same time came the dis
ciples unto Jesus, saying, Wrho is
the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven? And Jesus called a little
child and set him in the midst of
them, and said; Verily " I say unto
you, except ye be converted,' and
become as little children, ye shall
not enter into the kingdom of , God.
Whosoever,, therefore, shall hurubJc
himself as this little child, the same
is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.H
And whoso shall receive one such
little child in my name, receiveth
me. I3ut whoso shall offend one
of these little ones, which believe in
me, it Were better for him that a
millstone were hanged about his
neck and that he. were drowned in
the depth of the sea.-'
AMERICA'S SOCIAL QUEERS.
She had an ambition to be one of
America's social queens. What a
pity, her ambition was not higher.
Why not have taken in eternity,
and been ambitious to be the daugh
ter of the King of, kings and have
consecrated all the God-given' gifts
to the highest' service? O, what
mistakes women, to say nothing of
men, are making ! Their ambition
is bounded on the north by self-
interest, on the south by. selt-mter-est,
on -the west by self-interest, on
the east by self-interest. And the
length of time' for all that they covet
to be enjoyed is a few'short years.
and then a boundless eternity: It
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seems to me, it our eyes were really
opened to see things as they are,
all we would need would be to read
the daily papers to discover how
poor is worldly ambition. "
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suppose me anumion is icautu,
and you become one of the social
queens of society, how- long will
I am thinking of one
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now who did attain 'the height of
her anumion: our an me an umi
money could command could not
hide the incurable disease, and her
reign, of course, was short. Not
that I do not think it right to be
ambitious. I do, but I would have
an ambition worthy of an immortal
nature. I would have you 'siy: '
"Perishing things 'of clay, .
Iiorn for but one brief day,
' Pass from my heart away,
. Jesus is mine;
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And that means eternal life,:,that
means a reign of brightness, a feiri
of God-like nobleness, and then you
will, know power. There is a fasdi
nation in the word; we were made
to have power, made to reign, made
for a throne, and. all that is neces
sary is to put in the word imperish
able O, dear daughters, do aspire,'
do strive for a crbwn, but let it be
an incorruptible crown, ia crown of
life. Error is always the shadow
of truth, and it is so infinitely sad
to 'read, as sometimes we are per
mitt.'d to do live tragediejs of human
fif';o.see a 'perfect trust given i:
the human, the sinful human, the
wil! utterl ;' yielded to be led ju t
where the sinful guide; w-. ul. take
lis. The question, most. vMal-of all
questions, 4 -Is it right ?" is put aside,
and blind passion is taking the
reins. T think the time has come
when righteousness should be
preached, not only in the, pulpit,
but especially , in the homes, and
the one question, beginning when
the children are -young,) should be,
"Is it right?" a good question for
us older ones also. Margaret Bot
lome, in X. Advocate. 1
HISTORY OF TRINITY! CHURCH
BY JAMES SOUTHGATE.
chapter 11. j
. In the year 1872 Revp J. J. Renn
was tent to this charge,; and served
four years. " We learnTrom him that
when he came to this place, Durham
had-about 300 inhabitants and all
of Methodism was embraced. in one
congregation. About that time the
town took a rapid growth and Meth
odism with it, Durinjg the year
1872 the church building was an
unfinished . shell, but through the
efforts of the Ladies' Aid Society
the first fair and festival ever seen
in" Durham was held. It continued
for two days and nights and was
immensely popular. Enough money
was secured to make important re
fpairs to the church, such ns-fpdaster-
iing, remodelling thepulpr furnish
ing new pews anq painting the
.building inside, and j out. - This
church ii tMpi c aire ',f?at" vac on5cf
nine composing the Durham circuit
the other, churches ' being Orange
vnurcn, neasantAjrcen,iew jaeinei,
Mount Bethel, Hebron, Stagville,
Fletcher's Chapel, Massey's Chapel.
At the end of that year New Bethe
was taken out, lea viner eight. Near
the cloe of 1 87,3 Durham, Orange
and Massey s ChapeTwete set on in
one paspr's charge and remained
so unin 1075. At ine conierence o
187; Durham was made a station.
When Brother Rehn took charge b
the church in January, 1872, the
membership was 57, j and during
his four years' pastorate there were
added to the membership: By, res
toration, 27; certificate, 67; $bap-
tism and ritual, 60; . which, added
to the former members, 57,. made' a
total of 218.. Removed by death
and otherwise," 17: leaving a total
at the end of the year 1875, 201
members. He informs the writer
that during these four years there
were many gracious revivals, every
year, and from the summer of 1872
the general state of the church was
very good. The . members were
divided into small classes under
competent leaders,- and prayer meet
ings were held regularly in private
houses. Visible results followed
and spiritual strength developed
rapidly. The church paid annually
for the support of the ministry in
1872, $162.30; in 1S73, $169.40; in
1874, $696.95;. in 1875, $781.10.
Its contributions to other objects
developed in proportion to. the
above. We find the- following
brethren on the official board dur
ing this pastorate, viz: j James Stagg
exhqrter; W. W. Gues4,I R. W. Cole,
Washington .. Duke, D. j C. Parrish,
J. S. Lockhart, W. B. Proctor, S. A.
Thaxton, J. W. Gat tis, Alexander
Walker, -A. Nichols, Sr., J. S. Carr,
J. T. Driver, John Ai McMannen,
local preacher, A. Nichols, Jr., A.
D. Wilkerson, Wallace! Styron, ex
hbrter,Wm. Halliburtonj G. F. Watts.
The following '. marriages are re
corded: J. S. Carr and Miss Nannie
G. Parrish; Robt. E. Lyon and Miss
Mary E. Duke; T. G. ! Cozart and
Miss Bettie F. Walker; R L. Duke
and Miss .Mattie V. McMannen;
William Halliburton and Miss Fan
nie M." Parrish; RevJ E. R. Raven
arid Miss Annie E. Styron; Dr. A.
G. Carr and Mrs. Annie E. Moore.
The following deaths of prominent
members are recorded,, viz: R F;
Morris, Mrs. Ann E. Whitt, R. W.
Cole. C. H. Lyon, Sarah Barbee, A.
Nichols, Sr., W.. J. Green, Mrs. Re
becca J. Morris,, Mrs. Caroline Mor
ris, Rev. John A. McMannen. The
last act of Brother R'enn was to
?ead the burial service over the re
mains of Brother McMannen. The
text of his first serm6n to this charge
was "God is Love," and the last,
"The Grace of the Lord Jesu Christ
and'the Love of God and the Com
munion of the Holy-Ghost be with
you all, Amen' He stated that the
memory of those years is a precious
benediction to him now. The light
of heaven seems- to shine on hint
from tHe altar place of the old
church, from the homes of 'he trU
est friends he ever had. and '. fiom
the cemetery where the ashes of
some of them are sleeping. Through
many of the members who were
the- parishioners of . this devoted
preacher of the Gospel of Christ, we
learn that Methodism took a new
and firm hold' upon this community
and that under the guidance of the
Holy spirit many were consecrated
to the work of the Master. Through
his influence also, some of the most
prominent men in Trinity church of
to-rday, arid who; have in greaf meas
ure dictated its policy and yatched
with concern its progress from year
to year, were brought y to Christ
during the refreshing seasons, of re
vival iii the year just mentioned.
Probably the most important work
of Brother Renn was to harmonize
the discordant elements of the com
munity and bring back to its com
munion several promirient families
who had left in 1871 to form other
congregatipns. This policy seemed
10- ue in accoruuiicc wiin tne 111
junction in Holy Writ. "If a brother
be overtaken in a fault ye which are
spiritually-minded should restore
such a one in the spirit of meekness
and brotherly love." Rev. J. A.
McMannen was one of the most
noticeable of those restored, and . he
lived thereafter in peace-with all
and died in the faith of that gospel
which he. had so often proclaimed
to others. ! 1
Rev. W. H. Moore succeeded
Brother Rennin the year 1876,
when the church had been made a
station, and the principal work of
these years was its organization as
a separate charge, dnd j Brother
Moore, states that it was 1 possibly
the most uneventful year of all his
ministry. There was some revival
interest during the fall and a , few
accessions were made to the church,
but were, mostly young people.
There was not a death in the con
gregation during the year, nor was
there a marriage celebrated .by
Brother Moore. His preaching was
of a high order and greatly enjoyed
by his people. He was . sincere in
all his actions, faithful in the per
formance of duty, and left with the
good will ot the entire church.
He was succeeded by Rev. W.
H. Call, who stated in a letter to
the writer that when he reached
Durham inJune, 1877, he found the
social element of ,the church needed
special attention. It was a town of
strangers collected, from all sections
of the country, of all sorts of dispo
sitions and training:, and it taxed
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his time in gathering many of these
hito the Methodist church- and he
jelieved that his labor in this direc
ion was not without its fruit.
During this pastorate Rev. Dr. . Leo
Rosser, of Virginia, labored with
his church in a meeting lasting
about six weeks, and although there
were not a great many, converts,
much good was done. Many con
secrated themselves to the service
of their Master and some valuable
members received into the church;
prominent among these was Brothef
Thomas L. Peay, who was cori-
verted ,in this meeting and cast his
ot with the people of God. The
preaching of Dr. Rosser won all
hearts. It was of a superior order
and always accompanied with the
demonstration of the Holy Ghost
H'e.. was a man, of great faith and
has gone to his reward, doubtless
carrying many' sheaves with him.
Brother Call ays in his letter t the
writer: "Your sainted fahcr di- d
during the year and it wa- mv go d
fprtiine to have ti e priViv
visiting him oftm urine
illness, and it Vas a 1 t
go to his ipoiiu" Tv p orw.
much attached to the people os
Durham and he now rcmembets
them most kindly.
h Th e m in ist r v o f F. H . Wood was
embraced in the years 1878, ,1879
and 1 880, ' and it was during these
years that the founding and build
ing of Trinity church were pro
jected Brother Woodard his faith
fuY cbadjut r- among hc lavti ei ,
worked v: a "j - up i h" cr i:r';,.. r"
bet re in plan v w'r ulniii t
a .
ihe tonirac. ma c f.'o tis
i uildinir- Th Vorno s on
n
o
Trinity chinch u as . ai(
;n the year
1880, and the a d e s- d
occasion was de i e td bv 11
H . Merri m an. n o w" 1 cad Th e
. A.
ub-
ject of his addr s was ' IIkj Intl -ence
of Christianity on the Mat.-nal
Interests of the Worldi" It war
listened to with undivided attention
by a large audience, and the ver
dict vvas unanimdus that it was a
masterly effort. .Two marriages
were celebrated during this pastor- v
ate on the same day viz: the 13th
of November, 1878. Not one of the .
partie to these contracts were m em
bers of Trinity church, and all were
of different churches. ' They were
Henry T. Jordan, of Henderson, N.
C, Methodist, and Miss Annie I.
Wynne, a resident of Durham, Epis
copalian; Chas. P. Hbwerton,' Bap
tist, and Mrs. Ducey, Catholic.
Both of the latter lived in Durham.
It was durinir this pastorate that
one of the greatest revivals that the
church had yet passed through was
held by the Quaker preacher, Mrs.
,Mary Moon. Large additions were
made to the membership and a
deep work of piety and1 consecra
tion was the result. , A young men's
prayer meeting was' staffed after
this revival and was kept up for
many years. One of the important
events of Brother Wood's pastorate,
besides the projection and building
of Trinity, was the building of Mc
Mannen chapel, three miles west of
Durham and' the organization . of
the society . by him. ( He was a
zealous pastor,, well acquainted .
with allhe details of station work, "
and ever ready to uphold the doc
trines of the c,hurch of his adoption. ,
He has always been a Methodist
in the true sense of that term. Al- r
though he. worked . with greates't.f
assiduity for the cornpletioii of the
hew church, vet it was. destined
that the dedication should be under I
the administration of, another, for
alter three years of faithful service
he was succeeded in December,
1 SSo, by Rev. ..Jesse A. Ciiiiingim,,
who remained two years.
, to be continued.
TREASURE IN HEAVEN.
The late Dr. Deems related that
one of God's faithful stewards once? .
said to him: "I sat down a night or
two ago and calculated the increase
of a dollar at compound interest,
and found that, in less than two
hundred and forty years, it amounted '
to more than two and a half millions
of dollars."' "And I asked myself ,
whether God would not make a dol
laid up for him, grow as rapidly as
it does by the laws of trade.'
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- The Bible is a rock of diamonds,
a chain of pearls, the sword of the
spirit; a chart by which the chris- ;
tian sails to I eternity; a map by '
m m
which he daily walks; the sun dial .'
by which he sets his ; life; the bal-
ances in which he weighs his ac
tions. To be read daily. Thccounf-
ess of Suffolk read, the Bible over : ! 1
twice annually. Dr. Gough read fif- I
teen chapters daily. Joshua Barnes
read his Bible a hundred and twenty
timesover. Robert Cotton read the
whole Bible through twelve times a..,
year.
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