The Centennial Anniversary
of the First Presbyterian Church
of Knoxville, Tennessee

and the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of
the Ministry of Rev. James Park, D. D.

[ Return to the previous section... ]

I have organized, or aided in organizing, and reorganizing, in the thirty years of my pastorate, twelve churches.  I have never attempted, as the manner of some is, to keep a record of the prayers I have offered in public and private; the number of chapters I have read in the Bible; the number of people I have spoken to on the subject of religion; nor the number of sermons I have preached in these thirty years.  But estimating three regular services a week, with extra services on communion occasions, four times a year, and protracted meetings and funerals, five per week would be a small average, which gives in the aggregate 7,800, and at four per week for fifty years, would aggregate 10,400.  This I am sure is not an over-estimate.  In these thirty years I have never refused to answer a call to visit the sick or dying, by day or by night, in winter or in summer; whether they were rich or poor, high or low, black or white, saint or sinner.  I have never refused to conduct a funeral service for anyone, when it was possible for me to do it; and I did it always because it afforded the opportunity to do good to a fellow creature and to honor the name of Jesus Christ, and offer his grace to the needy.

In 1868 it was deemed necessary to elect some elders beside the three in office when my connection with the Church began, and C. W. Coffin, Joseph L. King, Joseph R. Mitchell, and J. A. Rayl were elected.  The first three were installed May 2nd, 1868, and Mr. Rayl not until June 27th, 1869, on account of his absence in the State of California.  The others who have been called to this office at different times are as follows:

C. C. Nelson, James Somerville and A. McDonald in 1875; James H. Brownlee, in 1878; James Dinwiddie and Samuel B. Boyd, in 1881; Hector Coffin, in 1885; Dr. E. L. Deaderick, E. Coykendall, W. W. Carson, Dr. A. R. Melendy, R. S. Hazen and John M. Allen, in 1891.  The deaths in the eldership since my connection with this Church as pastor, have been David A. Deaderick, August 28th, 1873; George M. White, December 18th, 1884; William S. Kennedy, March 21st, 1875; C. W. Coffin, July 8th, 1875; Samuel B. Boyd, January 9th, 1890; James H. Brownlee, June 3rd, 1894.  Joseph L. King, James Somerville, James Dinwiddie and Joseph R. Mitchell have removed and made their residence in other places; and A. McDonald and E. Coykendall have taken letters to other churches in the city.  The present bench of elders consists of J. A. Rayl, C. C. Nelson, H. Coffin, E. L. Deaderick, W. W. Carson, A. R. Melendy, R. S. Hazen, and John M. Allen -- eight.  All these have been good men, zealous for the truth, faithful servants, wise and safe counsellors and hearty co-laborers in the Lord's vineyard.

In the thirty years past, the session of this Church have been harmonious in all their action.  Nothing has ever occurred to disturb their peace or interrupt the flow of brotherly love.  I do not mean that on all questions they have been called to consider, they have always been a unit in action; but whatever diversity of mind existed touching any matter submitted to them, after a fair interchange of views and full discussion of the question, the majority rule has been accepted without appeal, without protest, and without dissent.  They have extended to me all proper deference and respect, and given me hearty and loyal support in my official relation and work.  In our meetings my business as a general thing has simply been to act as moderator, and often matters have been decided by the vote, without a word pro or con from me.  I have never attempted to lord it over them, and they have never tried to "boss" me.  In 1866 we had no deacons on the ground.  Of the board of five deacons who were in office at the beginning of the war, one had died in 1865; two had been dismissed to other churches, and the other two had gone into the Confederate army.  One of these never returned, and the other was still absent in 1866.

In 1868, C. C. Nelson, John H. Parrott and James P. White were elected.  In 1872, William B. French and Emanuel Bolli were added.  In 1874, John M. Brooks, James Somerville and Samuel McKinney were elected.  In 1876, Herbert W. Hall, W. J. McNutt and A. P. White.  In 1885, E. Coykendall and John M. Allen were elected, and in 1891, Dr. B. D. Brabson, J. N. Bogart, C. R. McCormick and Samuel H. McNutt.  Of these, some emigrated and were dismissed, and others have been advanced to the eldership.  The present board consists of Dr. A. P. White, Treasurer; Herbert W. Hall, W. J. McNutt, E. Bolli, Samuel McKinney, Dr. B. D. Brabson, C. R. McCormick and Samuel H. McNutt -- eight.  All of these have been efficient co-laborers, faithful and true, and have done much to promote the prosperity of the church.

On the 18th of January, 1874, by order of the Presbytery, a colony of this church was organized as the Third Presbyterian Church, by a committee appointed by the Presbytery, consisting of myself as chairman, with Rev. T. H. Morton, and Ruling Elders J. A. Rayl, of this Church, and R. I. Wilson, of the Rockford Church. We have also contributed members and material to the organization of the Fourth Presbyterian Church, which is in the Northern connection; and I preached the sermon at the dedication of their church edifice, and delivered the charge to the pastor at his installation.  There are very few churches in Knoxville or its immediate vicinity, that have been organized or built in the thirty years of my incumbency of this pulpit, toward which we have not contributed members or means, and in many cases both.

As to funds contributed in our Church work -- that is, for our own congregational expenses and for Foreign Missions, Home Missions and other branches, I can only give you an approximate estimate.  Sometimes the amount contributed for all purposes has exceeded $7,000 per annum, and at other times it has not exceeded $4,000 per annum.  Taking $5,000 as the yearly average, and the sum is $150,000.  But this does not include what has been given by private contribution to aid in associated charity, build churches, and other benevolent objects, as the Young Men's Christian Association, etc., etc., which I am sure would swell the amount to more than $200,000.

I have not sufficient information in hand to warrant me in attempting anything like a history of the Sunday School work.  Let it suffice to say that it has been maintained without interruption, and that the children and young people of this congregration for thirty years have been regularly gathered together and instructed in God's word, and that it has been a good feeder to the Church.  The aggregate number that has been brought under religious instruction would run into thousands, and at no former period has it been a more efficient and influential factor for good than it is now.  The active co-operation of the Sunday School in every branch of Church work, their training in systematic beneficence, and the liberal contributions to Foreign and Domestic missions, and other good causes, is worthy of commendation. Mission work in this direction, while it has not been all that it ought to have been, has not been without fruit.  The mission school established in Mechanicsville about 1871 developed into the Third Presbyterian Church, organized on the 18th of January, 1874, and great praise is due to the colony which went out from us then for the work that has been accomplished.  And that church, by the providence of God ever-ruling the passions of men, has furnished the material for founding another church -- the Central -- which has developed into a strong and active body.  And I pray God to cause his face to shine upon them both, and build them up, and make them a mighty power for good at home and abroad.

Our prayer meeting, established at first, has never been suspended; and, if the prayer meeting is a good indication of the spiritual life of the Church, we have never been in a more healthy condition than at this time.  The Ladies' Missionary Society has been in existence some eighteen years, and has been instrumental of much good in the way of fostering the missionary spirit in the Church, besides the material aid that has been contributed to this cause both in the foreign and home fields.  In this line also, the "Helping Hands," a missionary society composed of children in the infant class of the Sunday School, has been an active and interesting agency, which has had for its object the education of a Chinese girl in Mrs. Stuart's school at Hang-chow.  And the "Young People's Missionary Society" has not been fruitless of good, though it has had a later organization.  May these societies go on from strength to strength until they shall develop into such factors of beneficence and earnest Christian work as that their influence may be felt in the most distant ends of the earth.

As to our methods of work:  My convictions have differed materially from those of many of you touching the method of raising funds for religious and benevolent purposes.  I have never favored suppers, bazaars, stereopticon or magic lantern exhibitions, and other entertainments, many of which are of doubtful character, for this end.  Very often I have received propositions from managers of lecturers, concert companies, or persons proposing stereopticon or magic lantern shows, represented as being very drawing, to employ them for the benefit of our Church or some branch of benevolence.  The motive of these parties is always private gain.  I have seldom replied to any proposition of this sort.  I am more than glad to-day that we are so much of one mind in this regard now.  I am grateful to you and the God of all grace, that on many occasions I could truthfully commend your prompt, cheerful and liberal responses to the many and varied appeals that I have made, for your co-operation and material aid in the work of the Church at home and abroad, and I pray that you may know by happy experience how true are the words of the Master that "it is more blessed to give than to receive."  Some churches court applause; some revel in pageants and advertise rhetorical discourses on curious texts, artistic music, etc., as attractions to draw the crowd.  This has not been the practice of our Church.  We have not been conspicuous for notoriety.  We have rendered many a useful service to the cause of Christ, which no newspaper reporter and no earthly chronicler has been asked to record.  There are some services of this kind which ought to be recorded for the honor of the Master and the encouragement of the faithful; but, let us hope that the First Presbyterian Church will always have a godly corps of disciples, who will prize it as the sweetest of all offices to minister to the Lord in the person of his members, and to do good as they have opportunity to their fellow men, regardless of notice by the world or the Church at large.

In regard to the general style and tenor of the ministrations upon which you have attended, it does not become me to speak except in two aspects:  First -- for the substantive matter of my preaching.  It has been my aim always to hold up Jesus Christ and him crucified in every discourse.  I have endeavored to preach unto you the preaching that He bade me; to preach the word of God as interpreted in our standards, the Confession of Faith and Catechisms.  And I think I may appeal to you that Jesus Christ, in His mediatorial offices, has been the habitual controlling theme of this pulpit, that He is the only Saviour, exalted at God's right hand, head over all things to the Church; that it has been my endeavor to declare the whole counsel of God, as it relates to the introduction of sin, the fall of man, the depravity of human nature, the necessity of atonement, the plan of redemption, the necessity of regeneration, repentance of sin and justification by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and of holy living and good works; not omitting the great doctrines of divine sovereignty, the eternal purpose of God, His electing love, His providential government of the world, the future state of reward and punishment, the resurrection of the dead, the final judgment, and the existence of heaven and hell.  And that, with such ability as I possessed, it has been my endeavor to teach you that "there is no other name given under heaven among man whereby we must be saved," but the name of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, who suffered and bled and died on Calvary to accomplish redemption for sinful men.  These great doctrines and truths are solemn and momentous.  They relate to holiness and sin, to life and death, to heaven and hell, to time and eternity.  They relate to your personal sin or holiness, your life or death, to the heaven or hell in which you are to dwell forever.  They concern you every day and hour; your every act, every word, every thought.  They concern you more deeply than any of the interests of the world, whether you regard them or not.  You may disbelieve them, you may despise them, you may treat them with profane and vulgar ridicule; but for all that they are all truths, eternal and immutable as God, which affect in the highest degree your present welfare and future destiny.  Let me then to-day urge you once more, if it be for the last time-for who knows what a day may bring forth?  Who knows whether you and I shall ever meet again until we meet at the judgment bar of God?  Let me urge you, therefore, to-day to believe these truths now, and to accept of them as, those upon which your well-being for time and for eternity is suspended.

As regards the manner in which all these great themes, of which Jesus Christ and him crucified is the center, has been set before you, I know there is much to regret -- much that might be amended if I could do the work over again.  But however imperfect my manner, I have been in earnest, and have preached only what I have believed was the sure truth of God as revealed in his word.  And I acknowledge my grateful appreciation of the frequent expressions you have given me of your approval of my public teaching and of my more private ministrations in your homes in times of affliction and bereavement.  You have given me many tokens of your confidence and esteem of me as your minister and pastor; and your personal regard, affection and love has been often manifested with special consideration and tenderness.  The spontaniety of some of these exhibitions of your generous esteem and affection both for myself and my help-meet and partner of all my joys and sorrows, has never failed to strike the tenderest cords of my rough nature and penetrate my heart with a grateful sense of your kindness and goodness.

Since I became "your servant for Jesus' sake," the other five churches in this part of the city, viz.:  Church Street M. E. Church, South, the First Baptist, the Second Presbyterian, the First M. E. Church, and St. John's Episcopal Church have been served by a succession of pastors, including those now in office, amounting to more than forty, to-wit:  The Second Presbyterian Church by 7; the First Baptist by 7; St. John's by 6; Church St. M. E. Church, South, by 11; and the First M. E. Church by 11 or 12.  The Methodist Church government necessitates frequent changes, but several of these brethren have remained in their charges the longest term allowed by their law.  With nearly every one of these pastors and churches we have sustained pleasant relations and fraternal co-operation.

I have shared in all your social entertainments, and been with you in the festivities attending the marriage of your sons and daughters in these more than thirty years.

In view of the fact that I have thus gone in and out before you, as your servant for Christ's sake, for so long a time, it fills me with solemn thought to reflect, that if we could call from the grave all who have departed from among us -- old and young -- since the first Sunday in February, 1866, a congregation would come pouring in through those doors, and fill these pews and aisles as full as you ever saw them packed on some glad wedding night:  a congregation composed of babes in arms, laughing children, young men in their strength, maidens in their bloom and beauty, old men with crowns of glory, mothers in Israel, eminent merchants, skilled artisans, gallant soldiers, ripe scholars, learned lawyers, skilled physicians, profound jurists, and very many of the Lord's poor.  How many hearts would bound at the sight!  How many eyes would brim and overflow with tears of gladness!  Who here now would not eagerly scan the upturned faces, in search of the loved and lost-the one, two, three or more, whom death had torn from their embrace?  "Loved and lost?"  No, thanks to God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, not all lost.  Very many of those who are gone, like those good old elders, D. A. Deaderick, George M. White, Wm. S. Kennedy, C. W. Coffin, S. B. Boyd and James H. Brownlee; and the many old mothers, like Mrs. Tinley, Mrs. Cynthia Boyd, Mrs. Gen. Anderson, Mrs. Dr. Ramsey, Mrs. Deaderick and others; and the young mothers, like Katie McNutt, Lida Ault, Maud Mitchell, Addie Coykendall, Bell Williams, Annie Williams, and the scores of others, male and female, too numerous to mention, down to good old Jane Kennedy and meek, patient, beloved Minerva Jourolmon; and the troops of little children, they are not lost, they have only gone before -- they have only fallen asleep in Jesus.  They have only gone to be with Him where he is, and to see the King in His beauty.  In these sad hours of affliction and bereavement you have had my heartfelt sympathy in your sorrow that the dear ones were taken away; and I rejoice with you in your joy that they are gone to be forever with the Lord.

These bereavements present one aspect to me, that they cannot present to you, except in a limited measure.  You are immediately concerned in a few of them, while I am concerned in them all. I was their pastor, and they were my people.  Did I watch for their souls?  Did I kindly and faithfully warn them?  Did I leave nothing undone which might have been done to help turn them from sin, to establish them on the sure foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone?  O how this question has thrust itself upon me while performing the last rites for our dead!  And with what overwhelming power it comes upon me today as the long roll of their names passes through my memory!  I dare not say -- I cannot say, I have done all I ought to have done for the dead, or all I might have done for them.  One thing I can say, and will say:  For thirty years I have preached the gospel from this pulpit unmixed with human speculation and philosophy, falsely so-called.  I have set before you all who have worshiped here, and all who have been drawn here by curiosity or any other unworthy motive, the way of life, and the way of death.  I have invited and urged them to come to Christ, and I have habitually tried, from the very first sermon preached in such troublous times as 1866, to comfort the people of God under all their trials and sorrows.  For all the favor and success with which these ministrations have been attended, and I bow my knees before God in grateful adoration.  For the sins, short-comings and failures which have deformed them, I can only supplicate the Divine forgiveness for Jesus Christ's sake.

What now is the great lessons taught by this review to you and to me?

"Our days, our weeks, our months, our years,
Fly rapid as the whirling spheres
Around the steady pole:
Time, like the tide, its motion keeps,
Till we must launch through boundless deeps,
Where endless ages roll."

Our working days will soon be over.  What our hands find to do, we should do with our might.  We "know not what a day may bring forth."  "In such an hour as we think not the Son of man cometh."

You cannot expect -- I cannot expect -- my ministry to continue much longer.  It may terminate at any day or any hour.  Any coming Sabbath day may find some of your seats vacant.  Are we ready for the change?  Are we sprinkled with the blood, the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ?  Are we clothed in His righteousness?  Men and brethren, commit your souls to Him in well-doing.  "Give diligence to make your calling and election sure."  "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God."  And when life's duties all are done, that you may be gathered into "the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven," to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved."
AMEN.

[ Continue to the Appendix... ]

The text and HTML code of this page is copyright ©2003 to Billie R. McNamara.  All rights reserved.  Please direct all questions and comments to Ms. McNamara.  Background graphic image was borrowed from Fred Smoot. Used by permission.

This page was last updated December 5, 2003.
Visitor