Presbyterian Church to Mark Anniversary
To Observe 150th Anniversary of Its Founding
Bainbridge News & Republican, March 11, 1943
Sunday, March 21 [1943], will mark to a day the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Presbyterian church of Bainbridge. Sunday morning will inaugurate a week of special services and programs in observation of this notable event.
Less than four years after the date which began the history of our village, a missionary with eight followers organized the Congregational Society of Cilicia. Although the group increased its membership by 150 percent in the first year, it was not until five years later, in 1798, that the members voted to erect a meeting house. After the passage of 10 years, during which a meeting house was built and the "south part" of Jerico organized a separate church, interest seemed to wane, and the six "faithful" present at a meeting on Sept. 23, 1807, "unanimously agreed that unnecessary absence from church meetings is not agreeable to Christian rules."
After the first meeting house was burned, probably "by design," in 1813, we have no record of the activities of the society until 1817 when several members convened "to consult upon measures to be taken respecting the broken and deplorable state of this church." Evidently this meeting resulted in increased activity of the members, since it was voted a few months later to build a second meeting house. In 1831, two years after the incorporation of the Village of Bainbridge, the present church building was erected. Unfortunately, however, no details of the actual construction have been handed down. Although the next 40 years saw the society vacillate between Presbyterian government and Congregational government, these changes seemed not to hinder the development of activities of the church--the inauguration of a Sunday School in 1852, marked alterations in the church building itself in 1867, and the organization of a Ladies' Industrial Society. Not to be forgotten either is the society's involvement in temporal affairs, namely a law suit to determine the ownership and control of the "village common" which resulted in the village trustees being fined six cents for trespass.
In 1873 the congregation finally decided upon the Presbyterian government of the church. Before the centennial of the church was celebrated, a new organ was purchased, The Women's Missionary Society was organized (1877) and the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor had its beginning (1877).
This brief survey of the early history of the church has been based on a history compiled by Hudson H. Lyon, a member of the Presbyterian Church since 1885, from documents which will be displayed at a historical exhibit at the church on Friday, March 26. That same day will bring one of the outstanding events of the celebration, a pageant of the history of the church, written by the Rev. Paul L. Carpenter and directed by Harold Lord.
Historical Pageant to Climax Observance
Bainbridge News & Republican, March 25, 1943
First Presbyterian Church
To culminate a week of special events in observation of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Society of Cilicia, the Presbyterian Church will present an historical pageant and exhibit. In eight acts, the pageant will dramatize incidents from a history of the church compiled by Hudson H. Lyon, one of the oldest living members of the church. The Rev. Paul L. Carpenter, author of the pageant, has not limited its scope only to the early episodes which lend themselves to dramatization, but attempts to show the important place the church may hold in the world of today and tomorrow. The pageant includes the following scenes: The Organization, a Church Meeting, the Reorganization, a Heresy Trial, A case of Discipline, the Old Singing School, the Church of Today, the Church of Tomorrow. Harold Lord, director of the production, has announced the following cast:
Narrator.....................................Henry Hill
Rev. Wm. Stone........................G. Ray Fisher
Israel Smith...............................Wilmot Horton
Ebenezer Church.......................H.H. Bluler
Abel Stockwell...........................Wm. R. Davidson
Wm. Guthrie...............................Frank Doolittle
Samuel Bixby.............................Foster Crosby
John Allison...............................Lloyd Sipple
Reuben Kirby.............................Leon Stewart
Ephraim Bixby..........................Tom Davidson
Rev. Joel Chapin........................Edw. Partridge
Church clerk...............................Steward Cudworth
Charles Newton..........................Stanley Darling
James Graham............................Carlton Wilcox
Rex. Gazley................................Dr. R.A. Johnson
Sally Tinker................................Mrs. Robert Bouck
Sophia Nobles............................Mrs. F. Neidlinger
Mrs. Hamlin...............................Mrs. Claude Butler
Mrs. Thayne...............................Mrs. Arthur Stiles
Mrs. Betts...................................Mary Butler
Mrs. Griswoldl...........................Ruth Bacon
Also in the cast are Billy Shea, Burdette Lee, Jack Hibbard, Burton Knapp, Dorothy Bacon, Nanette Horton, Jean Salzberg, Linda Salzberg, Margaret Cudworth, the Rev. Paul L. Carpenter.
Miss Betty Finch, director of the exhibit to be shown in conjunction with the pageant, will arrange an old fashioned "parlor" furnished with antiques, several of which had a place in the homes of early residents of Bainbridge. Many people of Bainbridge, too, have generously lent their pictures of the town in its early days. Of outstanding interest among the historical documents to be displayed are the call issued in 1798 to the Rev. Joel Chapin, second pastor of the church, and his letter of acceptance. Of more recent origin is a quilt which was presented to the late Mrs. Charles Cady as a farewell gift when she and the Rev. Cady left the pastorate of the church in 1928 The quilt is inscribed with the names of their many friends, not only of the Presbyterian church but of the entire community.
The services thus far have had a large attendance. The fine spirit of cooperation among the churches of Bainbridge was again demonstrated by the presence of the pastors of all the churches of the village at the Sunday evening buffet supper and candlelight communion service. On this occasion each pastor extended the greetings of his church.
A significant part of the candlelight service was the procession of the oldest living members of the church: Mrs. H.H. VanCott, Mrs. Gertrude Hancock, Hudson H. Lyon, Mrs. Amie Thornton, members for more than 50 years, and Mr. and Mrs. J.E. Hirt, Mrs. Cora Houck, and Mrs. Austin Finch, members for more than 40 years. These members greeted the young people received into the church upon this occasion and from their tapers lighted the candles of service of these new members: Jack and Eyre Hibbard, Burdette Lee, Edwin Smith and William Shea.
On Sunday, too, the congregation had the privilege of hearing once again two former pastors of the church, the Rev. Charles Cady at the morning service and the Rev. Henry D. Smith in the evening.
At the church family dinner on Tuesday evening Francis J. Casey acted as toastmaster. Dr. Harrison VanCott and Gilbert Lyon of Norwich were the principal speakers of the evening.
It is noteworthy that during the anniversary week special tribute has been paid on many occasions to the young men of the church who are in the armed forces in the service of their country.
No comments:
Post a Comment