DURING the past few weeks it has been my privilege to conduct Sunday morning worship services in Oreland, Pennsylvania. We had no elaborate church building, but met in the home of one of our ministers, Dr. William E. Welmers. An intensive survey of the community had been made by the Rev. George W. Marston, with the result that considerable interest was shown in the formation of a new work.
The principal difficulty was the need for a suitable meeting place, and Oreland is the type of community in which there are no public buildings which would meet our requirements. An effort was made to use the school house, but this failed. Finally, through the help of one of the ladies of the community who is now interested in The Orthodox Presbyterian Church, a meeting-place was secured. There is in Oreland an old stone house which goes back to Revolutionary times. Some of the local traditions say that George Washington once visited it. At any rate, it has stood idle for some time and is well adapted to our purposes. This house was made available for a mere ten dollars per month, and the services will be held in this historic building.
Beginning with the first Sunday in June, the services have been in charge of Mr. David Muir, a graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary. Mr. Muir won the seminary prize in Apologetics. He is a good preacher, has real musical ability and is a hard worker. He intends to devote himself to the work in Oreland during the summer and the coming year, and at the same time take graduate work at the seminary.
If this work at Oreland develops into a successful church, it will in part be due to the efforts of Mr. Marston. Mr. Marston devoted two or three weeks to an intensive canvass of the community. I had the privilege of spending an afternoon in that work with Mr. Marston and of witnessing the effective manner in which the gospel is presented to the various homes. As subsequent calling has shown, Mr. Marston made a favorable impression upon the community.
GUARDIAN readers in the East are invited to visit this new group.