From all New England the members of the denomination gathered; New York
sent its hundreds, and even from the distant States came parties of forty
and fifty. The large auditorium, with its capacity for holding from
fourteen hundred to fifteen hundred persons, was hopelessly incapable of
receiving this vast throng, to say nothing of nearly a thousand local
believers. Hence the service was repeated until all who wished had heard
and seen; and each of the four vast congregations filled the church to
repletion.
At 7:30 a.m. the chimes in the great stone tower, which rises one hundred
and twenty-six feet above the earth, rung out their message of "On earth
peace, good will toward men."
Old familiar hymns--"All hail the power of Jesus' name," and others
such--were chimed until the hour for the dedication service had come.
At 9 a.m. the first congregation gathered. Before this service had closed
the large vestry room and the spacious lobbies and the sidewalks around the
church were all filled with a waiting multitude. At 10:30 o'clock another
service began, and at noon still another. Then there was an intermission,
and at 3 p.m. the service was repeated for the last time.
There was scarcely even a minor variation in the exercises at any one of
these services. At 10:30 a.m., however, the scene was rendered particularly
interesting by the presence of several hundred children in the central
pews.
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