[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 20 (Wednesday, March 4, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E294]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         SIXTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CELEBRATES 145TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 4, 1998

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the Sixth 
Presbyterian Church on the occasion of its 145th Anniversary of 
splendid spiritual and civic guidance.
  Dr. Mason Noble came to the District of Columbia from New York City 
in 1852. He canvassed a neighborhood in southwest Washington with the 
hope of starting a Presbyterian congregation. The first few months, the 
group met in the home of William and Amanda Thompson. On January 23, 
1853 at a meeting in Island Hall Dr. Noble, with 32 people, voted to 
organize Sixth Presbyterian Church.
  Land and a building were purchased at Sixth and C Streets, SW and the 
congregation celebrated its first Eucharist on February 14, 1853. Dr. 
Noble served as pastor to the growing congregation for twenty years 
which is longer than any of the eighteen pastors who followed in his 
foot steps. The congregation worshiped in its first building for more 
than 65 years. As the city expanded to the northwest, the members voted 
to move to Sixteenth and Kennedy Streets, NW. The Chapel, now the 
Choir, Primary and Nursery rooms, was dedicated on Sunday, September 
23, 1917. The seventh pastor, Reverend Douglas P. Birnie, with the 
tireless efforts of the elders and trustees, guided the Church through 
the difficult period of World War I. Ground was broken for the present 
sanctuary on January 2, 1929 during the Great Depression. The first 
worship service was held in the new sanctuary on Thanksgiving Day, 
November 28, 1929. The building was dedicated on Sunday, March 9, 1930. 
The eleventh pastor, The Reverend Godfrey Chobot, D.D. guided the 
members through this building phase. Shortly after the dedication, the 
Washington Board of Trade's Committee on Municipal Art awarded the 
congregation its Award in Architecture and acclaimed the sanctuary as 
the finest example of French Norman Architecture in the city. The 
carillonic bells were dedicated as Ground was broken for the third 
phase of the present edifice on February 8, 1952. The Earl Franklin 
Fowler Memorial Hall or Fellowship Hall with church offices, classrooms 
and the Church Parlor on the lower level was dedicated on January 23, 
1953--exactly one hundred years after the church was organized. On 
November 12, 1951, Dr. Fowler, the thirteenth pastor, died in the 
pulpit just before the realization of his and the congregation's dream 
for the new building.
  Twenty-four years ago Pastor Donald D.M. Jones and a group of elders 
decided to open the doors of this Church to all who would come. The 
Church continues to grow as a multi-cultural congregation, with members 
from thirteen countries, and celebrates this 145th Anniversary as a 
beacon of light in the nation's capital.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that this body join me in congratulating this 
remarkable institution on the occasion of this anniversary knowing that 
its future will be as bright as its past.

                          ____________________