In concert with the many who are bearing testimony to the worth of our much loved and lamented brother, Eld. Reuben Ross, we the members of the Baptist church at Bethel, Christian county, Ky., urged by a long cherished regard for him and honor for his memory, desire to give utterance to our emotions, and an expression of our estimation of his labors in the cause of his Redeemer, and appreciation of his manly and Christian character. Our love for him would have prompted us as selfish beings to have detained him on earth, but as mindful of his good to have hastened him home to his longed-for rest. While we mourn that he has left us, for whose welfare he so earnestly labored we are being comforted that he is with his Savior, whom he so much loved and so faithfully served for half a century. We would moderate our sorrows in the belief of his realization of the happiness of Heaven. We are happy in the thought that our brother, now resting from his labors, is mingling in the scenes and full with the joy of the Glory Land. His work is done, and well done, and he, having heard the welcome plaudit, has entered into the full orbed glory of the King immortal and visible. He has reaped a reward of exceeding and eternal magnitude, and compared with which the rewards of earth are naught and our encomiums seem mockery. It is enough that he now enjoys all, and no less than we could have wished him. Wherefore, that others may know why we loved him, why we mourn his departure; and our respect for his memory, be it

      Resolved 1st, that as a man of superiority of mind, of honesty of purpose, of amiableness of disposition, and exalted purity of character, he was worthy of emulation, and yet these excellences were but images of his heavenly wisdom, his earnestness in religion, and undying concern for the souls of men - his deep humility and ardent spirituality in his public exercises and his wonderful embodiment of the Christian graces. So that while the community has lost a worthy and influential citizen, and his family a devoted and affectionate father, by far the greatest loss has been sustained by the church of which he was a useful and consistent member, and a laborious and efficient pastor, and by the denomination of which he was an able and beloved minister of the New Testament.

      2nd. That as a watchman on the walls of Zion at this place for years, he faithfully, affectionately and successfully warned dying men of danger to come - arousing the careless and wayward, and directing the mourner to Jesus for sinners slain. So that under God's blessing many of our present number were led to embrace Christ and enlist in the cause of our Divine Lord, and remain as monuments of our brother's efforts and godly instruction. He labored with us as one having the earnest immortal souls training them for Heaven. To many he administered words of comfort, and bound up the broken hearted. By his plain, practical and experimental sermons he edified the church of Christ, arousing all to love and faithfulness by his eloquent and precious tears and heart-searching exhortations. He felt and moved the depths of the Christian's heart. He loved the people of his [blur]ro, and his name now lies deeply engraved on our hearts, and entwined in our affections. He was dear to us in family scenes, and the joy of the lonely friends. The delight of the young and the companion of the old. The children loved him and yet revere his name. He sent the truth with simple force to the hearts of the servant, and laboring with and for them he gained them to Christ and an endeared attachment to himself. "He taught the young how to live, and the old how to die."

      3rd. That we offer our sympathies and promise our prayers in behalf of the deeply afflicted family of our deceased brother, and direct them to the consolations of the Gospel.

      4th. That copies of the above be forwarded for publication in the Tennessee Baptist, Western Recorder and Christian Repository, and also a copy thereof be entered upon the church book, and one sent to Mr. James Ross, the only son.

      By order of the Church, April 21st, 1860
      R. W. Moreland, )
      Wm. H. Pendleton, )
      James T. Garnett, ) Committee.
      Wm. Bronaugh, )
      B. C. Garnett, )

      Prof. J. M. Pendleton of Union University, will deliver a discourse commemorative of the life and labors of Eld. Reuben Ross, at Bethel, on Monday after the fourth Sabbath in June next.

      James S. Garnett, Church Clerk.

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[From the Tennessee Baptist, June 16, 1860. From a CD of the microfilm copy. Transcribed and formatted by Jim Duvall.]

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