The Services in Celebration of the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Founding of the Old First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York; In the Church, Fifth Avenue, Eleventh to Twelfth Streets, December 1916 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1916 Excerpt: ...ministers, we do well to recall sentences from an anniversary sermon preached in 1844 by the twelfth pastor the Rev. Dr. William Wirt Phillips. "We feel called upon to record the kindness and faithfulness of our God, who for so long a period, and through so many changes and trials preserved a people called by his name distinguished for their warm and sincere attachment to his truth and devotedness to his service, to whom he sent a succession of pious, able and faithful ministers who have preached the same Gospel of his grace and administered the same sacraments in their purity, and after the same simple form of their original institution." We-echo these words of Dr. Phillips and rejoice that as the history proves the ministers of this church have been worthy of the names "Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the mysteries of God." It is appropriate to begin this record of the lives of the ministers of the church with reference to the fact that there were from a very early day, English Puritan Presbyterians in and about what is now New York City. It is interesting here to observe that among all the cities of the United States, the chief city which was founded by Colonists professing the Reformed faith and attached to the Presbyterian system of government, was this city of New York. The church of the original Calvinists is still in our midst powerful and influential, the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, The Presbyterian element of the population of the city, now as of old, friendly to the Reformed Church, is representative largely of the Churches of Scotland and England, and of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland, has always been sympathetic with the church of the original settlers. So far as information can be secured, the first Presbyteri...