Rev. William Goodell: His farewell address.

 Rev. William Goodell attended the conference of the thirty-seven men and three women in Constantinople on July 1, 1846 that laid the founding of Armenian Evangelical Church. Perhaps no other missionary is more intimately associated with the Armenian Evangelical movement than he (see the attached blog below). The attached is his farewell address in 1865. Vahe H Apelian.

Rev. William Goodell 

TO THE EVANGELICAL CHURCHES IN TURKEY

Dear Brethren and Sisters in the lord, - It is more than forty years since I left my native country and came to Turkey, and about one-theirs of a century I made Constantinople my home. I am now old, and I know not the day of my death. I am also feeble, and cannot reasonably expect to continue long. All my powers of body and mind are failing, and I am going to the house appointed for all living. For all your kindness to me and mine since the first day I came among you, you have my sincere thanks. And you have also my fervent prayers for your temporal and eternal well-being.

In your hands I leave the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, which with the important help of some of you, I translate4d into Armeno-Truksh for the benefit of those of who use only or chiefly that language. With these Scriptures you have also a Commentary on the Gospel of Mathew, which also with your aid I prepared for you in the same language. And I am now putting into the hands of the printer more than forty of the sermons which some of you may recollect to have heard me preach to you, in order that you may better “remember the words I spoke unto you while I was yet with you.” And whether these words be “the words of truth and soberness”; whether they be in strict conformity to God’s holy word, - you must search and see for yourselves. Blessed be God! You now have the whole Bible in your native language, and you need not, and must not, remain ignorant of its holy doctrines and sublime teachings.

When we first came among you, you were not a distinct people, nor did we expected you ever would be; for we had not sectarian object in view, it being no part of our plan to meddle with ecclesiastical affairs. Our sole desire was to preach Christ and Him crucified. Our object was precisely the same as that of the missionaries to that ancient church in Persia. The labors of those missionaries have produced no separation in that church; but they have been permitted to labor side by side with the bishops and priests, to preach in their houses of worship, to assist in supporting and superintending their schools, and to do much in every way to enlighten and elevate the whole community.

But if instead of giving the missionaries a cordial welcome among them, the yad anathematized and persecuted to the death all those who loved the truth and wished to live a godly, conscientious life, the consequences would have been, that these persecuted suffering ones would have been forced to appeal to civil powers for protection, as you had to do here. And the civil powers there might have found it necessary, in order to afford this protection in confronting with ancient usage, to separate those persons from their former connection, and acknowledge them as a distinct community, entitled to all the protection and privileges of any other community in the empire. This you know was the case here. The sublime Porte, to save you from perishing, was compelled to separate you from the old Armenian community. This is your present condition; and this condition you should “accept with all thankfulness,” and use it to your own and your children’s good.

And, my brethren, if you do not now remain, or speedily become, a holy, happy united, securing the confidence and the commanding the respect of all around you, you have none to blame but yourselves; for in being good and doing good, no people on earth ever enjoyed a high freedom that has been bestowed upon you.

Among my last words of adieu to you, let me exhort you to bear with one another’s infirmities, “forgiving one another, eve as God for Christ’s sake, had forgiven you.”  Be honest in your dealings with both the world and with one another, always keeping you accounts written in a firm hand; and this even in all be business transactions with your own relatives, and Christian brethren; for memory is imperfect and impressions are not always be trusted. In this imperfect world, the only safe way is to keep a book-account of all pecuniary transactions.

Train up your children in the say they should go. Remember that they have souls as well as bodies, and if it be your duty to provide food and raiment for their bodies, so is it your duty to provide instruction for their immortal minds. See that they have suitable teachers and suitable books. Teach them also yourselves, especially on the Lord’s Day, and bring them with you to the sanctuary, that they may assist in singing the high praises of our God, and that they may receive the blessing of the God of Jacob.

Labor to support, as soon as possible, your own civil, educational, and religious institutions; and be always ready to assist those more needy than yourselves.

Be kind to the poor and to the sick, and. Visit the families of affliction, of want, and of sorrow. In all these respects be Jesus Christ’s men and women; that is, do you think He would do if He were among you. Hasten to the relief of those who are in distress. Have little prayer meetings in the neighborhood of those who are unable to attend public worship. Have little meeting also for the young and for those who are beginning to seek after God and to desire a knowledge of His ways.

If the Lord bless you with a pastor, honor him, love him and pray for him. Do all you can to assist him, and to strengthen his hands and encourage his heart in his labors for your good. The relation of a missionary to you is not intended to be permanent, and it should not be continued longer that is absolutely necessary. While it continues it calls for mutual candor, forbearance, and kindness; but it should as soon as circumstances will permit, be superseded by the pastoral office. This should be a permanent relation; labor to make it so. And besides providing what is suitable for the support of your pastor, if you now and then make him small present, as a token of your love and of your appreciation of his services, though my reason of your poverty it be no more than a choice apple or orange, it will awaken anew his interest in you and his prayers for you. 

When a stranger enters your place of worship, direct him at once to the suitable seat, or give up your own to him. It might be well to make it the duty of the door-keeper to be on the alert to seat all strangers. This comparatively a small matter, but Christian courtesy, and even common politeness, requires attention to it. Should a stranger come a second or third time take it for granted that he desires to find the way of life, and lose no time in seeking an acquaintance with him; not for the sake of holding up to ridicule his former belief, or the ceremonies and errors of his church, but for the sake of leading him to the scriptures of truth, the fountain of living waters. Twenty-five or thirty years ago, such a stranger could hardly appear in sight without being a tone hailed introduced to the whole brotherhood, receiving from you all exhortations without stint and being followed also with your fervent prayers. Let not your former zeal degenerate into cold indifference. 

But I must conclude. And now, “my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so that fast in the Lord my dearly beloved “ (Phil. iv.1). “If there bee therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if nay fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife, or vainglory, but in the lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” (Phil. ii. 1-3). And now, how can I better take my leave of you and express to you my very last words, and the very last wishes of my heart, than in the language of Paul in 2 Col.xiii.11: “Finally, brethren, farewell.  Be perfect, be of good comfort, be one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall with you.” Amen.

Your very affectionately brother in Christ.

W. Goodell

Forty years in the Turkish empire, or Memoirs of Rev. William Goodell, pages 438-441