Layman's Retreat, 1949, First Christian Church Palestine TX *********************************************************** Submitted by: Angie Dusty Date: 28 Mar 2023 Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/tx/anderson/andertoc.htm *********************************************************** Images are located at http://www.usgwarchives.net/tx/anderson/photos/documents/1949/ First Christian Church Palestine TX/Layman's Retreat 1949 Front cover______ FIRST NATIONAL LAYMEN'S RETREAT of the CHRISTIAN CHURCHES or DISCIPLES OF CHRIST OLD CANE RIDGE MEETING-HOUSE Bourbon County, Kentucky AUGUST 11-14, 1949 _____END PAGE Program THURSDAY, AUGUST 11th ?? To 6:00 P. M. Registration and Assignment to Lodging Opening Session of Cane Ridge Retreat Presiding Officer..... Joe Snapp, Paris, Kentucky 7:?? P. M. Sing-spiration and Prayer 7:?? P. M. Welcome to "MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME"-Hon. Earle C. Clemente, Governor of Kentucky 7:?? P. M. Announcements 8:?? P. M. ? Ben Basone, Paris, Kentucky 8:?? P. M. Address-- Hon. Alben W. Barkley. Vice President of the United States FRIDAY, AUGUST 12th Morning Session Presiding Officer-H. B. Holloway, Indianapolis, Indiana 9:39 A. M-Singspiration and Prayer. 9:40 A. M.-Address: "Barton W. Stone and The Christians" --Dr. A. W. Forge, Lexington, Ky. 9:45 A. M-Music of the Bells-Wilbur Fish, "The Joybell Ringer" Columbus, Ohio. 11:00 A. M.-Address "The Campbells and the Disciples"-Dr. W. E. Garrison, Chicago, Illinois. 12:00 A. M.-Adjournment. (BOX LUNCH SERVED AT $.80) (Rest Period and Tour of Grounds) Afternoon Session Presiding Officer Jack Sutton, Denver, Colorado 2:15 P. M.-Singspiration and Prayer. 2:30 P. M-Address "Walter Scott and Evangelism"-Dr. Dwight Stevenson, Lexington, Kentucky. 3:30 P. M-Recognition of Delegations. 3:45 P. M.-Story of Life of Christ-Presented on Bells-Wilbur Fish, "The Joy Bell Ringer." 4:15 P. M.-Adjournment (Opportunity for Visitation and Acquaintance.) FISH FRY AT 5:30 O'CLOCK (Price $1.25) ____END PAGE 1 Evening Sesion Presiding Officer-Lewis Ackers Abilene, Texas 7:30 P. M-Singspiration and Prayer. 7:45 P. M- Announcements 8:00 P. M-Address The Growth of Our People Mark Rutherford. Indianapolis, Indiana. 8:30 P. M-Adjournment. SATURDAY, AUGUST 13th Morning Session Presiding W. B. Pearce, Shreveport, Louisiana. 9:39 A. M.-Singspiration. 9:45 A. M.-Address "The Future of Our People Dr, L. N. D Wells, Dallas, Texas 10:45 A. M. Business Session and Open Forum. 12:00 A. M.-Adjournment. BARBECUE ON GROUNDS (Tickets-$1.50) Afternoon Sight-Seeing and Conducted Tours of Blue Grass. (Saturday Night-Free Time) SUNDAY, AUGUST 14th Morning (Services in Churches of Blue Grass) Afternoon Presiding Officer Dr. Riley B. Montgomery, Lexington, Ky. 3:00 P. M.-Devotions. 3:15 P. M.-Special Music. 3:30 P. M.-Address "Men and Our Movement"-Wm. H. McKinney, Indianapolis, Indiana. 4:15 P. M.-Adjournment. _____END PAGE 2 Who's Who On The Program AKERS, LEWIS Elder in First Christian Church, Abilene, Texas, and member of Board of Trustees of Texas Christian University. BARKLEY, HON, ALBEN W-Vice President of the United States. BASONE, BEN-Paris, Ky., former member of St. Louis Grand Opera CLEMENTS, HON. EARLE C.-Governor of Kentucky. FISH, WILBUR Columbus, Ohio, "The Joy-Bell Ringer." FORTUNE, DR. A. W-Lexington, Ky., eminent pastor, teacher, historian. GARRISON. DR. W. E-Chicago, Ill., emeritus professor of Church History University of Chicago. Eminent Disciple historian. HOLLOWAY, H. B.-Indianapolis, Ind. Business Manager. International Convention of Disciples of Christ. MCKINNEY, WM. H-Indianapolis, Indiana-Executive Secretary Department of Men's Work of United Society. MONTGOMERY, DR. RILEY B.-Lexington, Ky., President of College of the Bible. PEARCE, WM. B. Shreveport, La., State President of Louisiana Laymen's League. RUTHERFORD MARK Indianapolis, Ind National Director of Department of Men's Work of United Society. SNAPP, JOE T-Paris, Ky., President of Cane Ridge Retreat and newly elected member of the Kentucky State Legislature. STEVENSON, DR. DWIGHT Lexington, Ky. Professor of Homiletics, College of the Bible. SUTTON, Jack-Denver, Colorado, President of Colorado Laymen's League. THOMPSON, REV. RHODES Minister Paris Christian Church, Paris, Kentucky. WELLS, DR. L. N. D-Dallas, Texas. General Chairman Crusade for a Christian World. _____END PAGE 3 The Old Cane Ridge Meeting-House FOR our brotherhood the old Cane Ridge Meeting-House built in 1791 has a unique distinction and significance all its own. Its sturdy log walls echoed to the voices of the first pioneers of our religious faith as a movement in American Protestantism. Its loving wooden arms enfolded the hopes and dreams and longings of noble spirits who were seeking to heal the wounds of the divided Church of Christ. Its roof has protected a rich and varied life across more than a century and a half. From out of its hallowed precincts has issued a stream of sturdy and reasonable faith which has flowed like a river into other countries and under other skies. It is overlaid with all manner of sacred associations, which, taken together, make it the oldest and most unique shrine among 18. It was here in 1804 that Barton W. Stone, its minister, first proclaimed publicly the cardinal principles that gave birth to the Christian Church or the Disciples of Christ. It was built in what is now Bourbon County, Kentucky, in the year before Kentucky was admitted as a state into the union. The builders were settlers who had migrated from North Carolina under the leadership of a Presbyterian minister, Rev. Robert W. Finley. They had been directed to this vincinity by Daniel Boone, who, himself, had called this section "The Cane Ridge" because of the extensive cane brakes found there. From the surrounding virgin forest, these pioneers cut blue- ash logs and constructed the church which was approximately fifty feet long and thirty wide. The ceiling was fifteen feet in height. The ends of the building faced east and west. The main entrance was from the west, with a main aisle extending through the center to another door on the east side. In the middle of the north and south walls were alcoves or offsets about two feet deep and eight feet long. The pulpit was located in the north alcove, and, according to James R. Rogers, was "boxed up, with entrance at the side reached by several steps, and its elevation was so considerable that the speaker literally looked down upon his audience." Three immense girders, sixteen inches square, hewn with a broadax, tied the walls together at the ceiling. The sheathing was sawed with whipsaw, and the roof of clapboards was attached to this sheathing and held in place by wooden pins. The old church had a gallery where the slaves sat--entrance to which was gained by means of a ladder. The floor was originally of dirt, but at an early date a puncheon floor was laid. On February 12, 1829, a movement was started to make this old meeting house more comfortable and to purchase additional _____END PAGE 4 grounds. As a result of this effort, the outside was weatherboarded, the inside was plastered, tongued and grooved flooring was substituted for the puncheons beneath, and seats with supports to the back were installed. The gallery was removed and its timbers used in the construction of a stock barn by one of the farmers of the community. Again in 1882 more modernization of the building took place when the interior was made still more comfortable and attractive; the eastern entrance was closed and the pulpit transferred there from the north alcove. For a little over a century from the year 1829, the Cane Ridge Meeting-House, to the passing throng, looked like another one of the white country churches on the hill. Then, in 1932, the centennial anniversary of the union of the Stone and Campbell movements, old Cane Ridge, was restored to its primitive appearance. During the last 17 years many thousands of people from all parts of this country and from other countries have found their way to this sacred spot. Since its restoration, there has been a growing appreciation of the significance of Cane Ridge as the birthplace of our movement and as a symbol of our plea. A few years after the restoration, evidences of deterioration, caused mainly by the ravages of weather, were noted. Repairs were made as the need arose, and the building was painted several times with the best known preservative materials. However, in spite of all this care, very serious disintegration has occurred in recent years on several parts of the building. A competent architect was called in for consultation. He advised that the only sure way to give adequate and permanent protection to this sacred place -- this birthplace of our movement -- was to erect a superstructure over the entire building. Obviously this will entail considerable expense. But there is only one Cane Ridge. Surely every loyal Disciple will want to have a part in preserving this heritage from our fathers in the faith. Rhodes Thompson _____END PAGE 5 Barton Warren Stone Born December 24, 1772-Died November 9, 1844 Minister of Cane Ridge Church from 1796 to 1811 "The Distinguished Reformer of the Nineteenth Century" The Disciples of Christ have two origins, one in central Kentucky under the leadership of Barton W. Stone, the other in western Pennsylvania under the leadership of Thomas and Alexander Campbell..... To Stone belongs priority in time, priority in American experience, priority in the ideal of unity, priority in evangelism, priority in the independency of his movement, priority in the complete repudiation of the Calvinistic system of theology, and, finally, priority in sacrificial devotion to his cause. An unstinted recognition of Barton W. Stone as one of the orginators of their movement, and a larger incorporation of his spirit and ideals into their life, would bring incalculable benefit to the Disciples of Christ. -E. E. Snoddy _____END PAGE 6 A Man Can Grow Thank God! A man can grow. He is not bound With earthward game to creep along the ground, Though his beginnings be but poor and low, Thank God! a man can grow. The fires upon his altar may grow dim. The torch he lighted may in darkness fail, But far beyond his dull horizon's rim, Arcturus and the Pleiades beckon him. -Anon _____ Where Men Grow Across the sky to hide God's face, The heights are the place of their abode. Men do not grow on the smooth white road But up where it seems the clouds must race Far up where the mountains lift their heads, The wild winds shriek, and the wild birds fly, And the jagged rocks reach up to the sky, And the mountain streams leap from their beds. Men in the image of God walk there Where the sky is aflame with the roseate glow, And splashed with the colors from God's rainbow, Their lips are curved in a worthy prayer. Men grow on the jagged rocks, and I Have seen through the jagged rocks the sky. -Frederick Keller Stamm. ___END BACK COVER