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VOL. IV. RICHMO
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P*_1-* 1 . .1 r.
Lyenverea at tne tenter
It is understood by the congregation that the
more formal celebration of the centennial of this
church will be held in the fall. But it is very
fitting that this event should be noticed by some
brief address at this time.
If any passages of Scripture were to be chosen
?'or thiis occasion they might well he, "For who
hath despised the day of small things?" and
"What hath God wrought?"
But no sermon is to be preached. It is the purpose
to present a brief sketch of
ithe work of the First church in
the century that has just closed. wj
Richmond in 1812 was a city
of about ten thousand inhafoitants.
The people were educated,
cultured, refined. But its B
religious life was at a low eibb. p jB fM
Infidelity was pronounced.
Tlie influence of French litorature
and consequent scepticism
was great. There was a tone of 0 1
worldliness that was not condu- . ?* jW ^
cive to the best of living. The
result was the entire absence of
love for anything that pertained
to spiritual life. Of course, there
were exceptions. Sj ffjjgHR
The event that seemed to Sfcjg-Hjjl |
arouse the people more than anything
else was the burning of the
Richmond Theatre in 1811, when
the governor of the state and
M)ine sixty odd other citizens lost || > i
t'heir lives. The effect on the ;j ijjjjj?*
spiritual life was at once pronounced.
People began tc meditate
and consider. It was at
such a time that Dr. John Holt
Rice came and organized the
Pirst church.
Richmond was then in the
bounds of Hanover Presbytery.
ilflnnvno* P?Artl%trl-rt?rr? 4-V* ? '
,lvk x icauj icij< men virtually
included the territory now I
covered by East and'West Hanover,
Norfolk, and parts of
Montgomery Presbyteries. FIRST /
The Presbytery of Honover at
that time (1812) numbered fifteen ministers,
two licentiates, eighteen churches, four hundred
and forty-nine members. Its benevolent contributions
for that year were only six hundred
and twenty-four dollars. The General Assembly
itself then numbered only 469 ministers,
fifty-one licentiates, 789 dhurches and 39,699
members. The total nmount of benevolent contributions
from the whole church was, as report- i
I ed, $6,386. The city knew something of PreSby
_
/HE<50Ui
ND. NEW ORLEANS. ATLANTA, JUL1!
>f Historic?
inial of the First Presbyterian
By the Pastor
terianism at this time. About thirty years after
Samuel Davies left Hanover to go to Princeton,
Dr. John Blair came to the old Pole Green
church in Hanover as pastor. That was the center
of Presbyterianism. But Dr. Blair moved tr
Richmond and taught a classical school, srtill
preaching at Pole Green and alternating with
Dr. Buchanan, the Episcopal clergyman, in
holding services in the Capital.
there was no organized work carried on I
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PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, RICHMOND, VIF
This Church the Synod of Virginia \Vill Meet This Fa
by Dr. Blair and none was attempted by him until
in 1823, when what is now the Grace Street
church was organized on what was known as
Shockoe Hill.
Dr. Rice had visited Richmond frequently,
and was known by its citizens. When those who
were interested in the organization of a Presbyterian
church decided to undertake the work,
|piey naturally turned to Dr. Rice, who was then
in Charlotte county as pastor. He accepted the
5AL PRESBYTEFf/AN <T
rMERN PffESBYTEJRJAJN
{ 3. 1912. NO. 27. i
7l A J J
ii ^vuuress
Church, Richmond, Va.
call and took charge of the work. He soon found
encouragement. He preached his first sermon
from Romans 15:29: " And I am sure that when
1 come unto you I shall come in the fulness of the
blessing of the Gospel of Christ." The sermon
was preached in the old Masonic Hall on the
second Sunday in May, 1812. On the 18th of
June the First Presbyterian church was organized
with Geo. Watt and Benjamin Moseley
as elders and with fourteen members. At the
end of the year the roll had fifty
eight members.
Dr. Rice was the man for the
work, lie saw with prophetic
vision He .v?? a orr-oot fAnn/l.i
v.- M vub i.VUUUUH
tion builder. The church at
I large owes him a delbt it can
never tLflseharge.
Union Theological Seminary
formally in 1812
wt \ Dr. Hoge from Shepherdstown
as its professor and pi siIja
dent. But the leading factor in
that movement as well as the
k | financial agent even as far back
. / as 1806 was Dr. Rice. It was
the logical result that he should
, ' finally become its president and
give it greater emphasis than
{ " ever.
Dr. Rice was largely responsible
for the organization of the
j Virginia Bible Society, as he
. || . ? x. saw the necessity for the dissemination
of God's Word. He was
' v likewise the father of religions
journalism in Virginia, certainly
as far as the Prasbyterians are
iMsa-* concerned. For in response to
I the call of the .Synod of Virginia
for a religious magazine, he became
the leader and edited the
Virginia Religious Magazine,
which was later followed by
other religious periodicals.
T+ WQO fVllO mootnn win/1 rl
* V "MM vuio Uiuob^i IIU11U CUIU
organizer that took charge of the
IGINIA organized Presbyterian work in
H Richmond. Dr. Rice remained
as pastor until 1823, when he received a call to
Princeton and Hampden-Sidney. He accepted
the Hampden-Silney call and took charge of the
Union Theological Seminary. During his pastorate
263 members were added to the church,
and two new church buildings were erected.
The second pastor was Dr. Wm. Jesup Armstrong,
who came from Trenton, New Jersey,
in 1823. His was a successful pastorate?
Strong preacher, evangelical in tone. He