Newspaper Page Text
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Second Section
Second Section
ATHENS, GA-, SUNDAY M ORNING, DECEMBER 19, 1915.
The New $50,000 First Christian Church is the
Last Word in Modern, Splendid Place of Worship
ton County, Pa., formed “The Chris
tian Association of Washington,” and
in September of the same year issued
a remarkable Declaration and Ad
dress, deploring the tendencies of
party spirit and hurtful division
among Christians and the 'enforce
ment of human interpretations of
God’s Word in place to the pure doc
trine of Christ.
The principles of this address were
cordially indorsed by Alexander
Campbell, and in the following year
(1810) he began publicly to urge
them. The first organization was
(Written for the Banner.)
Ii^the new social era in' our mod
em civilization, 6ome organization
must become the educative influence
toward rlgher civic ideals. What or
ganization can better accomplish this
task in any community than the
church? There is developing rapidly
in many churches a desire to serve
the community at the point of need—
.wherever and whatever that may be,
by providing a centre for social and
recreational activity as well as pre
paring to minister to the spiritual
side of man’s nature- according to
our usual methods. Fdr Athens, the
challenge has been accepted and ef
fectively meft by the First Christian
church in its new church or commu
nity house, which has . been planned
and designed to meet all the varied
requirements of such an institution.
A building that shall stand “always
open-doored to every breath from
heaven,” one that will fully care for
when desired to the same extent.
This building is arranged to accom
modate all except the two lower-ele
mentary departments of a completely
graded departmental school, with the
necessary adjuncts.' The opening of
the great doors—effected in a mo
ment—secures a complete combina
tion of the two auditoriums; the pul
pit and superintendent’s platform
uniting; places the speaker central
of the combined audience of 1500 seat
ed in a semi-circle and without in
creasing the distance of any one from
the speaker, every person can 6ee
and hear perfectly.
The open baptistry is so located
that it may 'be used in connection
with either auditorium or both when
in combination. (Directly .back of the
pulpit and ovey the baptistry is the
organ loft arranged for an adequate
pipe organ, connecting with and play
ed from a console located in the choir
loft, the organ case forming the
reredos and enclosure and trim about
t re fumed oak and the woodwork
throughout th building is stained to
match. The massive ends are quar
ter sawed, while the backs are of
plain oak. Tne pews were bought
of the Budde & Weiss Co., of, Jack-
son, Tenn., who have seated some of
the finest churches in the country in
the past few years. The Sunday
school rooms and the Sunday school
auditorium are seated with chairs.
This building stands uiique among
,the many community houses of the
country, in that it provides perfectly
for the various activities undertaken
by the modem church without sacri
ficing any interests. To efficiently
minister to these many requirements,
one would expect a complicated and
expensive building. Yet this is a
model of completeness, convenience,
simplicity and economy in its every
arrangement and appointment.
The exterior design is a simple,
dignified adaptation of the Renais
sance style to modern conditions.
Handsome New Church to Have Five Services Today- Dr. Yeuell
of Chicago to Preach Dedicatory Sermon.—Foimer Minis
ter, Rev. W. A. Chastain, to be Present.-Interesting Pro
gram Arranged.-Description of The Magnificient New
Building.-Something of the Present Minister, Rev. S. R.
Giubb.
Mahoning Baptist Association. In
1823 Mr. Campbell began publishing
“The Christian Baptist,” and his
teachings soon attracted universal at
tention. Opposition was aroused and
his views were denounced as hetero
dox, but large numbers accepted
them. Many new churches were or
ganized under his labors and those
of Welter Scott, and the Baptists be
gan to declare non-fellowship, with
those who pleaded for the Bibie alone,
thus forcing these brethren to organ
ize themselves into separate commu
nities. This was in 1827, and from
this Ume may be dated the rise of the
people known as Disciples of Christ,
In 1831 the followers of Barton W.
Stone in Kentucky, and of Alexander
Campbell in Virginia and Pensylvania
united. For the next thirty-five years
Mr. Campbell was the foremost figure
in the movement. >.
During this period the foundation of
the future work of the Churches of
Christ were firmly laid. These were
in the printing press, the local con
gregation, evangelism, and the col
lege. The country was sown with
tracts and papers, chief of which
was “The Millennial Harbinger,”
founded and edited by Mr. Campbell.
This was the begining of the Chris
tian church press. Evangelists went
everywhere preaching the Gospel. The
world has never seen a more power
ful, brilliant, dramatic, or effective
evangelism than the pioneering done
by these early Disciples in the great
new; West where the seeds of the na
tion were being planted in the soil
of ^earth's greatest continent. In addl-
tin.i ' rt. 1.i... (S.llni.. ' _ f n — -3
i ■— ^ -
THE NEW FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Fifty Thousand Dcjlar Place of Worship to be Dedicated Today With Notable Exercises.
vision when finished 'for every activ
ity of the church as well as the so
cial and recreational service of the
community.
The church building being dedicat
ed for the First Christian church of
Athens consists of an auditorium of
the popular pulpit-in-the-corner type,
bowled floor, amphitheatrical seating,
and provided with a three seat horse
shoe galery having a seating in pews
for about 600. At the back of the
auditorium on two sides are located
two large parlors (below and | four
large class rooms and a study above
on the gallery floor; these six large
rooms all open into the auditorium,
reinforcing the same when desired,
by adding about 100 seatings.
Ample ingress and egress is pro
vided by three entrance vestibules, lo
cated at the three back corners of
the auditorium, with ample and well
distributed stairways to the upper
rooms and gallery.
Directly connecting with the audi
torium at one side, is a modern, down-
to-date Bible school room, consisting
of a large rotunda, surrounded on
three sides by about twenty class
rooms in two tiers, with connecting
balcony; all provided with ample and
Independent entrance and exit stair
ways, etc., convenient and accommo
dating a school of 500 alone; this
reinforces the auditorium
the baptistry.
The basement extends under the
entire building, and (being lighted
two sides and depress
ed lot on two, gives practically all of
the advantages of a story above
In the basement are located
. The broad, ample entrance steps
leading up from the corner to a wide
inviting porch, located between the
two similar facades which front
either street, consistently binds the
two fronts of the building together
and with the well proportioned dome
surmounting the intersection of roof
in happy combination of the color in
the materials used, gives one a favor
able impression of the building from
the very first. And while the Sun
day school building has a separate en
trance of a different but harmonious
character, there is a consistency and
blending of design and detail of the
whole that suggests a unity of pur
pose, avoiding the unfortunate and
deplorable effect of- a discordant
group of buildings so often the re
sult of similar combinations.
'For the design of this beautiful
and complete building the community
is under obligations to Mr. George
W. Kramer of New York. For forty
odd years he has specialized in this
particular class of buildings. He is
the originator of what is known as
the “Akron Plan” of church build
ings which has become so popular
that three-quarters of all non-liturgi-
cal churches in the United States
are today based on some form of the
Kramer plans. The. local committee
which has had the construction of
this church in and expresses its ab
solute confidence iin Mr. Kramers
ability and judgment. He as proved
REV. HERBERT YEUELL, D. D.
Chicago Divine Who Will Preach the Dedicatory Sermon Today for the New First Christian Church, This City.
ground.
rooms for the Beginners’ and Primary
Departments of the Sunday school,
an ample mothers’ room, etc., with a
hall that connects directly with fqur 1
main entrances. Under the Bible
♦ + + ♦ * ❖. -I- ❖ ❖ ❖
Program of the Day. ♦>
Bible school, 10 o’clock a. m. ❖
Dedication, 11:16 o’clock, a. 4-
Minister.
For Jehovah God is a sun and a
shield:
Jehovah will give grace and glory;
No good thing will he withhold trom
them that walk uprightly.
All.
O Jehovah of hosts
Blessed is the man that trusterth in
thee.
Anthem—“Clap Your Hands”—Ga
briel.
Announcements.
Sermon by Dr. Herbert Yeuell.'
Offering.
Dedicatory Exercises, The Minis
ter.
Reading of eighty-fourth Psalm by
Minister and Congregation.
PSALM 84.
Minister.
How amiable are thy tabernacles,
O Jehovah of hosts!
Congregation.
My soul longetb, yea, even fainteth
for the courts of Jehovah;
My heart and my fiesh cry out unto
the living God.
Chorus.
Yet, the sparrow hath found her a
house,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
Even thine altars,
* Congratulatory services, 3:30 ❖
* o’clock, p. m. 4*
* Christian Endeavor meting, 7, ❖
o’clock, p .m. *
* Preaching, by Dr. Yeuell, 8 *F
* o’clock, p. m.
The handsome new First Christian
church will be dedicated today—the
last service being the Bible school in
the old church this morning at ten
o’clock, and then
The congregation moves into new
quarters.
The new building hasi been com
pleted—a building on which the low
est contract bid was for more than
950,000—a monument to the loyalty
and devotion of one of the finest con
gregations in the South, a building
modern and handsome and adapted
loathe latest demands on a church edi
fice.
There will be no fewer than five
services for the church today. These
services are noted in the epitomized
program of the day at the first of
this article.
The complete program of the exer
cises of these services is here given
as prepared by the minister and the
committee of arrangements for the
day—and there is appended a history
of the denomination, a history of the
local church, a sketch of the minister,
and a pretty complete description of
the new building. *
To any or all of the services of the
day a cordial invitation has been ex
tended to the people of Athens.
O Jehovah of
hosts,
My King and my God.
Minister.
Blessed are they that dwell in thy
house:
They will still be praising thee.
Congregation.
Blessed is the man whose strengths
in thee;
In whose heart are the highways to
Zion.
Chorus. • *
Passing through the valley of Weep
ing they make it a place of springs;
Yea, the early rain covereth it with
blessings.
Minister.
They go from strength to strength;
Everyone of them appeareth before
'God in Zion.
All. ^
O Jehovah, God of hosts, hear my
prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob.
Minister.
Behold, O God our shield
And look upon the face of thine
anointed.
Chorus.
For a day in thy courts is better than
a thousand.
V A*.
I had rather be a doorkeeper In the
house of my God
Than to dwell in the tents of wick
edness.
further
Scripture and Prayer.
Benediction Hymn No. 199.
Communion Service.
Solo—‘My Redeemer and My God”
—Prof. Jackson.
Congratulatory Service, Brief Talks
by; Visiting Ministers and others.
Hymn No. 196
Benediction.
(Written for the Banner.) V
In the early part of the Nineteenth nr
Cenutry, in different parts of the Uni- w
ted States teachers arose simultacne- s
ously among religious bodies who
pleaded tor the Bible alone without c
human addition in the form of creeds 1<
or formulas of faith and for the union c
of Christians of every name upon the f
basis of the apostle’ teaching. James c
O’Kelly, Dr. Chester Bullard and oth- a
era In Virginia and North Carolina; ii
Barton W. Stone with other men of p
great intellect and soul in Kentucky; ii
Walter Scott in Ohio, and Thomas o
and Alexander Campbell In West Vir- r
ginia—ministers of different denomi- a
nations, unknown to each other—lift- t
de up their voices against division in r
the body of Christ. t
In August, 1809, Thomas Campbell, s
a Presbyterian minister in Washing-1
Evening, Seven O’clock.
Christian 'Endeavor Prayer Meeting
—(Herman Baker, president.
Eight O’clock.
Prelude-Orchestra-“Evening /Star”
—Tanhausser.
Hymn No. 674.
Invocation.
(Anthem—“The Earth Is the Lord’s"
—Wilson.
Scripture Lesson and Prayer.
Hymn No. 10.
Announcements.
Sermon, Dr. Herbert Yeuell.
Offering.
Music—Orchestra—Funeral
—Chopin.
Hymn No. 141.
(Benediction.
Postlude—Orchestra
THE FULL PROGRAM.
Morning, Ten O'clock.
Bible school, in the old church
building.
Eleven Fifteen O’clock.
(Prelude—Orchestra—Fairy ales—
March
oxology, (Congregation standing.)
(vocation.
ymn No. 204. ‘
cripture Leson and Prayer—W. A.
