The Key West Citizen Newspaper, September 11, 1954, Page 5

Ist Methodist Church Will Mark 0th Anniversary This October The Methodist church seems to have had its beginning in Key West about 1837, for it was in that year Mr. Samuel Kemp came to this is- land from the Bahamas. He was a Wesleyan Methodist. Along with a number of others he went to the court house to hold services of wor- ship. “Father Kemp” served as pastor of this small congregation, the first Methodist group in Key West. Through the labor of his own hands and with the assistance of some of his neighbors Mr. Kemp erected a small building on prop- perty he owned on Eaton near Wil- liams. This was the first church building of the Methodists in Key West. It soon was given up for a larger one twenty by thirty feet on Caroline Street between Simon- ton and Elizabeth. The formal or- ganization of the First Methodist Church stems to have taken place on this cation in 1844, Rev. Richardson Colorful Figure Among the early pastors of The First Nethodist Church was that very il figure, The ! 1. Sia- mon Fetter Richardson. It was un- der hé pastorate that the present site §@ The First Methodist Church was fecured. Three deeds were in 1846. The first to a of trustees presumably for a » the second to Mr. Rich- n himself, for a cemetery, }the third to the board of trus- for a parsonage. ft was in the same year that Key suffered one of its most ter- ic hurricanes. The walls to a new e church had been erected but Toof had not been put on. Mr. ardson, realizing the great feed, went up the Mississippi Riv- Preaching on the streets in var- /ious cities and collecting money for a@ new church in Key West. So | successful were his endeavors that that building stood for a great many years, only to be torn down x make way for the present.tem- le. Cornerstone Laid 77 Years Ago Under the leadership of the Rev. John C. Ley plans for the present building were brought about. The corner stone was laid October 29, 1877. After 16 years of sacrifical labors and giving, the church was declared free from debt and dedi- cated in 1893. The church office is in possession of the original reports of the secretary of builing com- mittee. A good deal of the stone in the 2 feet thick walls of this church ‘was cut from what i§ now One of the largest cisterns in the city, be- tween: the building and Simonton Street. The -sanctuary has one of the finest selection of stained glass windows to be found anywhere. During the past year the inside of the’ church -has been painted and redecorated. New carpets have been laid. Recently 10 new electric fans have been installed. This magni- ficent building, beautiful in sim- Plicity, in design has been declared one of the most worshipful church- es in the state of Florida. “Old Stone Church” Because of the nature of the building of the First Methodist Church it has been known around the city for many years as “The Old Stone Church.” Besides serv- ing the regular congregation a gteat many service personnel and tourists come to worship here whie in Key West. Those of another day who went before us planned and worked far more wisely than they knew, that this lovely physical temple might serve as a meeting place for God and man. In 1924 largely with the assis- tance of the late Mr. Benny Lopez the ground was secured for the present Sunday School building. In 1931 under the pastorate of Dr. John G. Stradley, a new building was erected to house the educa- tional work of-the church. The facilities of this building serve the needs of many groups in the church and community life for fellowship and recreation, be- sides Sundays and afternoons a great many evenings find groups meeting in the social hall. 4th and Sth Generation Members As evidence of the way of the Old Stone Church as served in Key West for a century and more is the fact that- among its present membership are people who are fourth and fifth generation mem- rs. ee the otherhand one finds those who are new in the community, taking their places in the Christian fellowship of those who love God and seek his will. — The First Methodist Church of Key West has the honor of being the oldest church of its denomi- nation in the Miami district, but she is still youthful at heart. Her membership and officials are in- terested in find new ways and means of bringing the age-old mes- Gospels to the life of this sane of ( qT eu youl a no> fre ed the Christian minis. palty brgepere the youtn of tne today there are those who re planning to give their lives to full time Christian service. Church To Celebrate 110th Year “THE OLD STONE CHURCH”—Located on the corner of Eaton and Simonton Streets. The of- ficial title of this beautiful, old church is the First Methodist. but it is better known as the “Old Stone “Church.” While the cornerstone for the building was laid 77 years ago, the congregation will celebrate its 110th anniversary on October 10 this year. Bishop John W. Branscomb has accepted an invitation to be in.Key West at that time and to preach at the oldest church in the Miami district —Citizen Staff Photo, Sybil. Reverend Rogers Announces Bible Reading At Church Of The Rock Schedule {Christian Science ‘The calendar for the Church of. the Rock, 535 Francis Street, for the coming week includes the fol- lowing activities: Monday night the Women of the Church will meet at the Chapel, at. eight o’clock. On Wednesday evening the Fel- lowship suppér will be held at the County Beach. In-tase of inclement weather they will meet at the Cha- pel. On Saturday, ‘September 18 the Women will hold a Food Sale in front of the San Carlos be- ginning at ten o'clock. This Will be a good opportunity to sample some of the good Presbyterian ‘ooking. “The Cautious Counselor” « At the Sunday m ip service at eleven o'clock Rev. Mr. Rogers will preach. He has chosen for his topic, ‘The Cautious Counselor.” Most people make a few mis- takes in their It seems that such was the case of some in Je- sus’ day, While they might believe in the Gospel as preached by Je- sus, ‘there were some who hesitat- ed to profess their faith until late in the day. Joseph of Arimathea was one such character. He was a secret disciple but. such a distinguished person could have contributed far more to the cause had he openly witnessed for his. Lord. Cultivate Spiritual Values One generally gives special at- tention, investment of time and money, in matters of vital concern such as life work, family, recrea- tion, While these deserve serious consideration they are only tem- porary, The mistake too many make in life is that they do not. give con- sideration to matters of eternal value, the things that effect the sould. Experience has shown that the cultivation of things spiritual accentuates and increases the value and important of temporal things. Even Jospeh, the wealthy and in- fluential member of the Sanhedrin, would have benefited more and helped others to appreciate the real and eternal values of life had he openly witnessed for Jesus. At ten o’clock, just preceding the eleven o'clock worship service, the Sunday School will hold their re- gular session under direction of the Superintendent, Mr. Ralph Noble. Visitors are cordially welcome. The Rev. J. Paul Touchton, pre- sent pastor of this church has an- nounced that as a part of the one- hundredth and tenth anniversary celebration, Biship John W. Brans- comb has agreed to come to Key | West on December 10, to preach at the Old Stone Chureh. ecul a Ralf doz- 3) NEW PASTOR—Everyone is in- vited te come out and meet the Reverend Frank J. Culpepper and his family and to make them welcome in the community. The Reverend Culpepper is the new pastor at the Church of God, 1008 Olivia Street. His talented wife plays the ac- cordion and his little son also sings solos. Reverend Culpepper is descend- ed from a long line of ministers and is a very powerful preacher of the full Gospel. Algerians Bury Their Dead As Earth Quivers ORLEANSVILLE, Algeria ) P— Grieving residents of this quake- shattered North African city buri- ied their dead today and prayed that the earth would stop trem- bling. ~ An Algerian official said the known dead from Thursday’s dis- aster now stood at more than 600 and continued to mount as the grim count went on. At least 1,000 others were injured in the 12-sec- ond shock that virtually wrecked | Orleansville and surrounding vil-| lages. Rescue workers were menaced by continuing tremors which | threatened to collapse quake dam- BAHAT WORLD FAITH For Information Regarding DICcHicsiAN EPAHD : and FREE LITERATURE Please Call Mrs. Ethel Crane Secretary TELEPHONE 2.2716 Psalms 37:3-5 The practical value of under- standing God as the source of all true substance will be stressed at Christian Science services to- morrow in the Lesson-Sermon entitled “Substance.” Selections to be read from “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy will include the following (301:17-20): “As God is substance and man is the divine image and likeness, man should wish for, and in reality has, only the substance of good, the substance of Spirit, not matter.” From the Bible will be read the following Passages from Psalms (37:3-5): “Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shall thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thy- self also in the Lord; ‘and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord: trust also in him; and he shall bring it to Pass,” Priest Lends Aid HERLESHAUSEN, Germany, Sept. 11 @—A Roman Catholic priest in this West German border town donned overalls and grabbed his tool kit to lend a helping hand to cyclists from the Soviet Zone. Father Archangelus Loeslin set up a bicycle service station here after he noticed that some bicycles, being ridden to the Catholic lay men’s conference at Fulda by So- viet visitors, were badly in need of repairs, —_. As sure as God is good, so sure- ly there is no such thing as neces- sary evil. —Southey. er aged buildings. The seismographie institutes of Algiers counted oe mild shocks since the devastating quake struck. Meanwhile, Orleansville’s town hall and other public buildings were turned into chapels housing the caskets of the identified dead. Unidentified bodies have been Placed on view for possible recog- | nition. | CHRISTIAN SCIENCE | SOCIETY || 927 ELIZABETH STREET | Sunday School, 11:00 | 1, 11:00 A.M, N for Pre-Sunday | bia Sen Age | Sunday Morning Service | at 11:00 o’Clock Wecnescay Even. ag Meetings at 8 o’Clock Reading Room in the Churelt Building is on Tuesda' SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON Christian Citizenship and Co- operation: Rom. 13:1-10, 1 Cor. 3:4-9, Gal, 5:13-15 By RALPH ROGERS In the lesson today Paul is deal- ing with Christian citizenship and co-operation. It is inferred there- fore, that there can: be other than Christian citizenship. Could this be interpreted in modern terms as a person who takes advantage of the Fifth Amendment that he might destroy the very constitu- tion which protects him? Would the “other citizenship” be the criminal, the law-breaker, who seeks to circumvent the law that he might profit materially? Christian citizenship is based on love as Paul explained in the preceeding chapter to the Romans. Again it seems that Paul might be contradicting himself when he says, “let every person be sub- ject to the governing authorities.” Christianity was an outlawed re- ligion in Rome when Paul wrote this letter. For that reason Christians were being thrown to the wild beasts at the very moment. Paul was a most ef- fective missionary and he had converted many to his faith while in Rome, How could he urge his followers to be law-breakers? The Explanation Paul did not regard Christianity as a new religion. Theologically this new religion was the true and final form of the ancient faith of Israel. Jesus based his message to the world on the Jewish law and prophets and John sums it up when he said of him, “He came unto his own and his own receiv- ed him not.” (John 1:11) Paul was within the law when he sought to persuade others to accept Christianity, Paul was not only having dif- ficulty with the Jews in Rome but he had met opposition else- where. In Corinth he had been hailed before Gallio the deputy, by. his accusers and this wise judge said, “If it is a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness. . Teason would that I should bear with you: But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it.” (Acts 18:14, 155), The psychopath likes to inter- pret the Book of Church Order according to his own warped and twisted reasoning. Instead of ac- cepting the interpretation of sea- soned and experienced church- men, he having been a church tramp, creates a storm which dis- Tupts a well organized institution alienates good people and children from faith in and sup- Port of the church. Paul had found some such trouble-makers in his ehurches and found it necessary to write scathing letters as to how to deal with them. Background Of Appreciation Paul was appreciative of the assistance in time of distress. Finally when it seemed that his enemies were about to succeed | fan in their treacherous scheme to de- stroy him, he appealed to Rome. Paul had good reason to be ap- Preciative of the authority and Power of Rome. Paul apparently knew of. the rebellious tendencies of the Christ- ians in Rome. He knew that it was useless to oppose the authori- ties for they could make this work most difficult. There was work to be done and as Paul directed the activities of the church, he knew that through love and co- operation Christianity could make more rapid progress, Jesus had advised, “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s.” (Mat. 22:21) The criminal, the gangster, the gambler, lives in fear of the law which is designed to protect society. Bishop Moule “Civil order is not only able thing, but divine, it is the will of God.” follow Paul’s advice and pay our taxes, for the government servants VESPERS — HALF HOUR REFANE cHtem Prayer Meet..g, Wednesday, 7:45 P.td. [Bveryons Welcome that it should be a privilege to Pay our taxes just as we should Pay our church dues to decently maintain our church. The Good Society It is suggested that we owe no one anything, except to love one another. Naturally we co-operate with our government by keeping out of jail, but we are to go further and help keep our neigh- bor out of jail. We should obey the laws of the land, but also should obey God’s laws. We should respect those in authority but also should love our. neighbor as ourself. We should not bor- row anything from our neighbor which we cannot repay—not even a book, if it is our neighbor's. A Christian will do nothing, or say nothing which in any way would injure or harm his neighbor. It is the law of love. What a wond- erful city this would be if we would so express our Christian citizenship. Co-Operation With God There seemed to be a little dif- ficulty at Corinth about leader- ship. Apollos was an Alexandrian Jew and an eloquent orator. He had swayed the masses and people flocked to his services and swore by him. Apparently this great preacher had neglected to tell his People about the Holy Spirit which would sustain and guide. them when he was gone. Paul taught that they must have the baptism of the Holy Spirit and so there was a division in the church. Some claimed to> be followers of Apollos and others of Paul. ‘They were set right when Paul told them, “we are fellow workmen with God.” One thing we too often forget and that is that we are all mins- ters, servants of God, It is ridic- ulous and foolish to allow per- sonalities to divide a church and Paul seems very angry that Christians would allow such a trival thing to disrupt such a fine group of people. He credits Apollos with being a minister and claims that he planted while Apollos watered. Neither is any- thing—but God who gives the in- crease. Let us not forget that it is not the servant but God who makes the church grow. None is to be credited with anything other than that of being a servant, Churches have been split by ambitious men or women who claim to know what a church should do and they want power in the church. They do find a following, even Satan has many dupes, and so his followers sab- tage the Kingdom of God. are responsible for the spectacle of a disrupted church making it weak and ineffective. The United Council of the Churches of Christ in the U. S. A, is seeking to bring all Christians into a consecrated and unified effort, pulling together in co-operation with God to estab- lish his Kingdom here on: earth: That’s what Paul advocated. Based yright yutiisies Education, National Council the Churches of Christ in the U.S. by permission, It is one compensation for great A and used evils, that they enforce great les- pons. —Bovee. GLAD TIDINGS TABERNACLE (ASSEMBLY OF GOD) 801 Georgia Street Sunday School— 9:45 A.M. Morning Worship— 11:00 A.M, Evening Rally— 7:30 P.M. (MID-WEEK) Tuesday—7:30 P.M. Friday—7:30 P.M. L. Wayne Pitts, Pastor PHONE 32-5778 Kingdom Hall of JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES 2308 HARRIS AVENUE Watchtower Study, Sundays at 8:00 P.M. Wednesday, Bible Study Thursday, Service é.2 0 P.M Saturday, September 11, 1954 THE KEY WEST CITIZEN Page 8 CHURCH OF CHRIST M. A. CREWS, Minister Ashby and Von Phister Streets sg ariny nein SUNDAY . id _ MA. WOAM — 1 P.M. Bible Quiz by W. Ray Duncan Each Sunday viov r.M, Over WMIE, Miami MORNING SERVICE — 1] A.M. EVENING SERVICE — 7:30 P.M, WEDNESDAY: BIBLE STUDY — 7:30 P.M, Everyone Invited -t- gs 3 GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH FLAGLER AVENUE and TENTH STREET On “Poinciana—Navy, City Hospital” Bus Line EARLY MORNING SERVICE .......... 8:30 AM. SUNDAY SCHOOL AND BIBLE CLASS 9:45 A.M, Moming Worship Hour, 11:00 A.M. “OH COME, LET US WORSHIP ,.. THE LORD” Ps. 95:6 CARL A. SAMMETINGER, PASTOR 2372 Harris Ave, Phones: 2.5161 (Church), 2-7975 (Heme) Listen to the Lutheran Hour, Sunday, 7:30 P.M., Station WKWF Fleming Street Methodist Church J. B. STATHAM, Pastor Corner FLEMING and WILLIAM STREETS SUNDAY SCHOOL, 9:45 A.M, CLAUDE 5. SALIS, Sunday School Superintendent Morning Worship at 10:50 A.M. Subject: “A WINSOME INVITATION OF CHRIST” Methodist Youth Fellowship, 6:30 P.M. Evening Worship at 7:30 P.M. Subject: “GUARANTEED FOR LIFE” A Nursery Provided tor‘Care of Children During Services Service Men and Visitors Welcome INDEPENDENT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF THE ROCK “On This ROCK I Will Build My Church” TEMPORARY QUARTERS: 535 FRANCIS STREET (Corner Southard and Francis Streets) RALPH ROGERS, Minister Mrs. Martha Robineon, Pianiet SUNDAY SCHOOL, 10:00 A.M. Ralph D,.Noble, Superintendent MORNING WORSHIP 11:00 A.M., 535 FRANCIS STREET Subject: “THE CAUTIOUS COUNSELOR” Youth Fellowship, 6:30 P.M. VISITORS WILL FIND A CORDIAL WELCOME “A GROWING CHURCH IN A GROWING COMMUNITY” First Presbyterian Chureh WHITE and WASHINGTON STREETS RICHARD E. COULTER, Minister 9:45 A.M.—Sunday School Classes For Every Age Group 11:00 A.M.—Morning Worship SERMON: “THE VENTURE OF FAITH” 6:30 P.M—Ploneer and Senior Youth Fellowships 7:30 P.M.—Evening Worship CONTINUING BIBLE STUDY IN THE &PISTLE TO THE HEBREWS Visitors and Service Personnel Will Find A Warm Weloome In This Friendly Church CAN HAVE A PART 9:45 A.M—SUNDAY SCHOOL Allen Carey, Superintendent 10:50—Morning Worship Subjeck “TEACH FAITHFULLY AT ALL TIMES* 6:30 P.M., MYF, MIF Worship Services 7:30 P.M.—Evening Worship