DEDICATION OF LONG STREET CHURCH - 1846
Contact: Myrtle Bridges

	We attented preaching at Long Street in this county, on Sunday the 20th ult., and in addition to the usually 
solemn services of a communion occasion, we had the pleasure of witnessing the dedication of their new church. On 
which occasion, the *Rev. Evander McNair preached from the 87th  Psalm, 2nd verse- "The Lord loveth the gates of Zion 
more than all the tents of Jacob." -From which he deduced this proposition: The Lord loves the public worship of his 
saints better than their private, and contended that the consequences resulting from the former, and a better influence 
on the world at large, and was the means of preserving the latter.
	The claims of the church to the prayers, patronage, and support of the christian, patriot, and philantropist, 
were truly and eloquently presented to the consideration of his peculairly attentive audience. He concluded with an 
appropriate allusion to the interesting ceremony before them.
	The afternoon services were conducted by the Rev. A. McNeill, of Moore County, who preached from 2nd Corinthians, 
5th and 14th,--"For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one died for all then were all 
dead," which he discussed in a striking manner, evincing clear conception of the truth, and illustrating it by close 
and powerful reasoning.
	The sacrament was dispensed by the Rev. A. McMillan of Richmond county, in a strain of softened and subdued piety, 
which touched every heart, and will be recollected long after the usual impressions of the present have been eradicated 
from the mind.
	Between 3 and 4 o'clock the congregation was dismissed. There were about 700 present, and we are convinced that nearly 
half could, and did, speak the Gaelic language in its pristine purity, and we must confess that it was pleasant to have 
the same sounds greet out ears on the sand hills of North Carolina, that we had been accustomed to hear in early life, 
in the mountains of Scotland. It started in our mind a train of thought which has not yet subsided.
	In imagination we again visited our native land, and followed hither the first settlers of the county. We sympathized 
with them in their trials, and rejoiced at their success, and felt pleased that they came not without their spiritual guide, 
the Rev. Mr. [James] Campbell, who officiated as the first pastor of Long Street Church. 
	Next in succession followed the Rev. Mr. McLeod, on whose public ministrations Flora McDonald was a constant attendant 
during her sojourn in N. Carolina. And as we cast our eyes to the grave yard, enclosed by a loose stone wall, over which the 
moss of a century's growth luxuriates, we felt pleased with their early veneration for the dead, and could not help thinking 
but that some "Old Mortality" might yet be seen within the hallowed precincts of Long Street Grave Yard, digging from the tomb 
stones errected to departed worth, the lichen of a century's growth, and fondly hoped that North Carolina might yet raise within 
her bosom the second "Great Unknown," who would immortalize himself by handing down to posterity a knowledge of the pious labors 
of such a holy undertaking.
	Between the new church and the grave yard stands the old church, venerable with years, and dilapidated by age. It is a fit 
object of veneration and regard. Around it clusters the hallowing thoughts and sacred feelings of a whole century. It was there 
that the first settlers first turned their hearts to sing "one of the songs of Zion in a strange land," it was there that the 
first public altar was built to that God who had delivered them from the perils of the sea, and the equally perilous circumstances 
that surrounded them in their mountain homes. It was there that Flora McDonald waited on the Lord in his sanctuary-it was there that 
the bold and doting preservor of Prince Chralie knelt with contrite humility, and thanked God that he had enabled her to act a part 
upon earth calculated to enable her species, and give it some claim to the divine-and it was there that three-fourths of the communing
 members of the Church were initiated into the visible church upon earth by the ordinance of baptism-and, it was there that they first 
 felt the weight of sin, and the need of a Redeemer.
	Will such a place be sold or taken down, now that a new house is erected? We trust not, for the credit of those who have erected 
the new church, at a cost of I suppose, of about $1500.
	Make a Session House or Sunday school room of it, or let it moulder on its pillars; but for the veneration that is due the past, 
for the love you bear for its founders, leave it where it is. For clustering around it, and its carved pulpit with its sounding board, 
are associated reminiscences and tender associations of the past, which should not be rudely dealt with. OCTOGENARIAN
P.S. The new Church is two stories high, 48 by 54 feet, with galleries, and will hold about a thousand persons. It is tastefully 
finished with corinthian pillars in front, and sits in a beautiful grove, somewhat more elevated than the old one.
Source: The North-Carolinian. volume (Fayetteville [N.C.]), 03 Oct. 1846 

*Died in Robeson County on the 26th ult., Mrs. Mary McNair, relict of the late R. McNair, and mother of Rev. Evander McNair, aged 
84 years. The western Democrat. (Charlotte, N.C.), 07 April 1857   (Added June 30, 2018 by M. Bridges)

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Last up-dated September 3, 2022