Abraham Lincoln -- a bicentennial memorial

This window, which features Abraham Lincoln is found in Detroit's Little Rock Baptist Church. That church was once home to Central Woodward Christian Church, whose founding pastor, Edgar Dewitt Jones, was a Lincoln aficionado. This picture is from the Michigan Stained Glass Census page.

Here is a little excerpt from comments made by Jones in a sermon many years ago about Lincoln and his faith:

Abraham Lincoln was not a member of any church, but he was naturally religious, and as he grew older the spirit of Christ took possession of him. He was a man of prayer and intimately acquainted with the Bible. He was an attendant on church services, but his intellectual honesty was such that the could not subscribe to some of the creeds, and when asked his reason for not united with the church he replied, "If any church will write on its altar as the sole condition for membership the words of Jesus, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all they soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself,' that church will I join." To be sure, those words are written on the altars of our churches, but there is so much else written there that is less important and non-essential, that this great affirmation of real religion is often obscured and sometimes hidden. (Edgar Dewitt Jones, Blundering into Paradise, Harper & Brothers, 1932, p. 23).

Happy Birthday Mr. President! President Lincoln that is!