SPURGEON'S TABERNACLE.

Evening Post, Volume LX, Issue 108, 3 November 1900, Page 5

SPURGEON'S TABERNACLE.

RE -OPENING SERVICES. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, 22nd September. Probably in the whole city of London; there has this week been no happier man. than Pastor Tom Spurgeon, or "Brothen Tom," as his congregation affectionately term him. In the first place he. has seen! the re-opening of the Tabernacle, that, Puritan Mecca which was burned to.thei ground two years ago last April. Moreover, the renovated building has been opened free of debt— not a slight thing" to say when the cost comes to close on> £50,000. Services, at which Pastor Tom of course took the leading part) assisted! by Mr. Ira D. Sankey, and a host oi representatives of other denominations, have been held ©very day since Wednesday last, and! people have been flo/jfeing ia thousands to hear them. For instance, on going to the Tabernacle last night I found a huge crowd awaiting admittance,' many of them, having been standing at th© doors since 3 o'clock — nearly five hours before. It was also Mr. Spurgeon's birthday on Wednesday, and his friends thronged round him with heartiest greetings and! good wishes. Presents in money to the value of £500 were given him, all' of which, it is needless to say, he vjhanded! over to the building fund. And -what a. splendid place of worship they havetm'ada iof it ! Though the sitting accommodation [ has been clipped by one-fifth* — from* 5000 to 4900— there does not appear to' be. any diminution of the interior space. This is accounted for by the fact- that the internal fittings are of a lighter andl ' more open character, while from an acoustic point of view, the building could! scarcely be nroxa perfect. , Any one who has seen Mr. Spprgeon during this eventful week of his' life could not dream of questioning his statement that his birthday this year has been the happiest lie» ever spent in the whole • course of his^ life. Eloquent, testimony, too, hasfnot been wanting as" to the value put upon his work ; as one. of the speakers said on Friday fright, they never would look upon, such .men, again as Mr. D. L. Moody and the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, but they had the next best thing — Spurgeon's son — Brother 1 Tom. Adhering to the somewhat austere custom prevalent in.Mr. C. H. Spurgeon's time, the Tabernacle has no organ. Thereis a strong feeling now, however, that an organ they must have, though.' somiei of the old-fashioned 1 among the members of the congregation/ strongly object.