USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > A century of history in the First Baptist Church in Waterbury, Conn > Part 4
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The Saviour, according to Mrs. Eddy, is not Jesus Christ, but enlightenment, - knowledge, - a scheme of redemption long ago tried and dis- credited.
All human sin is apparent only, and has no real existence. Conviction of sin, then, is a dream, and redemption from it an impossibility ! The way to escape from this dream of sin is to wake up, to recognize that it is a dream. We have no need of Christ, except to tell us that this is so. He is the "way shower." Take a course in mental acrobatics and you will be all right !
Such teaching is exceedingly perilous to the moral life. Sin is a set of the will, not an error of the mind. Salvation comes not through a mental tour de force, an intellectual somersault, but
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through faith in a divine Saviour. A man is no more saved when he denies the reality of sin than an ostrich is hidden when it sticks its head in the sand. Repentance is not, as Mrs. Eddy says, " a state of mind which rends the veil of mental deformity," but sincere sorrow for wrong- doing, of which the soul knows itself to be re- sponsible, together with a determination to do better. The world will never be saved by right conceptions or ideas, but only by a change of heart, regeneration. Christ did not come into the world to save men from a false idea, but from a wicked heart.
Not only, then, because of its strange absurdi- ties, but also because of its dangerous errors, Christian Science is a menace to the truth. Pro- fessing to be founded upon the Scriptures, by its fantastic allegories and impossible exegesis it distorts the meaning of the Scriptures and teaches what is untrue. Warmed by a fire of coal, with spectacles on its nose, and a mutton chop between its teeth, it denies the reality of matter! The few grains of truth are lost in the chaff of error. It denies the reality of sin and the atonement of the Saviour.
What is true in Christian Science the church
HENRY F. SANFORD, Now in the 21st year of his service as Clerk of the Church.
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must be careful to emphasize in its teachings. What is new merely, and not true, we must with all charity for those who mistakenly follow it unalterably oppose. If this strange superstition has come among us as chastisement for the sins of omission or commission of the Christian church, because we have wandered from the simplicity of the truth as it is in Christ, or because we have neglected to preach the whole truth as taught by the Saviour, let us repent of the sin and set our- selves to proclaim more earnestly by word and deed the whole Gospel of Jesus for body, soul, and spirit.
The discussion which followed the reading of this paper was animated and continued with un- abated interest until the hour of closing. A con- siderable variety of opinion was manifest, but the conclusion reached as indicated by the general drift of the discussion may be briefly stated as follows : Healing of disease and other apparently miraculous manifestations occur and have always occurred under various systems of religion, and also outside of anything which can properly be called religious, the effects being due, to use Dr. Cutten's scientific phraseology, to the power of " subconscious suggestion," or, as others have expressed it, to the remarkable power of mind over matter. Witness the apparent miracles
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wrought at the tombs and by the relics of saints, the " holy stigmas " of St. Francis, and of others, magnetic healings and other similar phenomena. Healings in answer to prayer, and without the use of relics or other superstitious accessories, are to be differently classed, and even when real do not prove the truth of any particular re- ligious system or theory, since these effects may occur under any system of religion in which the prayer of faith is offered. Leaving Mrs. Eddy and her crude mysticism out of the question, Christian Science need not be regarded as neces- sarily in conflict with Christianity, nor are those who accept its theories thereby disqualified for membership in a Christian church. Even if Byron's witticism, cited by Mr. Mckinney, that " when Bishop Berkeley said there was no matter, and proved it, 'twas no matter what he said," is true, neither would it be any matter if a church member should accept the Berkeleian philosophy, possibly not either, if he thinks he believes things which to other people seem incomprehensible or self-contradictory. Christian Science indeed holds to very much which Christianity approves and accepts. It is doubtless true that God will do the best thing for all who call upon Him in sin- cerity, whether or not that best may include bodily healing without medical aid. It is doubt- less also true that this idea may be carried so far as to be a tempting of providence through a re-
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jection of the means which providence has ob- viously provided. The phenomena of Christian Science rather indicates that Christianity has not entered into its full inheritance, that healing by faith and in answer to prayer is properly a part of its work, and that efforts of this kind on the part of Christians should not be discouraged, but rather directed, so that they may be made under intelligent and scriptural conditions. Dr. G. B. Cutten and Rev. E. W. Stone of New Haven and Dr. G. M. Stone of Hartford were especially prominent in the expression of the opinions above indicated.
Among those present from the two Confer- ences and the Ministers' Club were the following :
Rev. Joseph Anderson, D.D., Waterbury. Oscar Haywood, Waterbury.
C. C. Smith, Waterbury.
F. B. Stockdale, Waterbury.
B. F. Root, Waterbury.
F. D. Buckley, D.D., Waterbury.
John E. Zeiter, Waterbury.
E. D. Bassett, Waterbury.
Prof. D. G. Porter, Waterbury. Rev. A. R. Lutz, Oakville.
G. F. Genung, D.D., Hartford.
W. H. Main, D.D., Hartford.
G. M. Stone, D.D., Hartford.
H. Clarke, Bristol.
F. S. Leathers, South Windsor.
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Rev. G. C. Sauer, Torrington. W. H. Bawden, New Haven.
E. W. Stone, New Haven.
D. W. Phelps, New Haven.
G. B. Cutten, Ph.D., New Haven.
Mr. F. Sutherly, New Haven. Rev. W. D. Mckinney, Ansonia. T. A. T. Hanna, Shelton. W. G. Thomas, Essex.
G. H. Gardner, Plantsville.
R. A. Ashworth, Meriden.
B. F. Rowley, Middletown.
DR. HOYT'S ADDRESS BEFORE THE Y. P. S. C. E. SOCIETIES.
THE BEST WAY OF VANQUISHING.
The Rev. Wayland Hoyt, D.D., LL.D., of Philadelphia, was the speaker before an assemblage of the
Young People's
Christian Endeavor societies of the city at the church Mon- day evening. At the very outset of his ad- DR. WAYLAND HOYT. dress Dr. Hoyt won the ears and hearts of his audience, and every- body listened with great attention as Dr. Hoyt went on in his witty, conversational manner, delivering one of the most cheerful and profit- able addresses that one could listen to. His style was refreshing and bright, and he talks with delightful naturalness.
Dr. Hoyt spoke of the wonderful progress of the Christian Endeavor movement. The first meeting was held in Portland, Me., not many
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years ago, and now millions of young people are enlisted under its banner. Its noble mission is marshaling young people for Christ and His church, making all its members one in the spirit- ual and deep fellowship of Christ. He advocated a high ideal for every man and woman, which would attract them and arouse a passion within them to attain it.
The best way of vanquishing evil is to side with the cause of righteousness. The effort of all should be to crown the right, the true, the pure, and in the presence of the right, evil will fail and fade away.
This was the keynote and lesson of the ad- dress, and Dr. Hoyt emphasized it through- out.
" One of the greatest things we have to fight is evil thoughts, for they unconsciously come upon us and strike at us at our weakest points. There are three stages in which we come in con- tact with evil thoughts: the suggestion, the de- light, and the consent. It is in the delight that most of us fall, not at first consenting to, but de- lighting in, thinking of it and eventually falling. We may not do an evil thing, but often delight in thinking of it."
Dr. Hoyt strongly advised his young audience
WARREN S. TROTT, Who succeeded his father, J. T. Trott, as Treasurer of the Church.
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to discriminate in what they read. He denounced the translated French novel, which is sanctioned because it bears the mark of realism.
" Why roll in the gutter just to see how you look and smell when you come out? Young men wallow in such reading because they want to know life; because they do not want to be " green." Don't waste your golden youth, using it to investigate evil. The putrescent book is no book for you to read, but you should have high and true thoughts of what is best ; that is the way to vanquish evil. Do not wait to do a thing until you feel like it, for you will never do it. The only way to feel like it is to do it until you do feel like it. The best way to vanquish evil is to place the right and true plainly before you, and in its presence evil will fail and disappear."
Dr. Hoyt seemed greatly pleased with his audience, and thanked them for their close atten- tion, saying that it was worth while coming from Philadelphia to meet such an audience.
During the service Miss Georgiana Turnbull sang "Supplication," with piano and violin accompaniment. The singer is possessed of a soprano voice of unmistakable quality, and the solo was rendered with rare feeling. The violin solo, " Romance," by Miss Mae Stanley, was finely executed.
WOMAN'S DAY EXERCISES.
Tuesday, November 3d, was the Woman's Day of the celebration. Miss Margaret Mc- Whinnie presided, and the speaker at the morn- ing session was Rev. Dr. Wayland Hoyt of Phila- delphia, whose topic was "Soul Winning." We regret that we have been unable to obtain even a fitting abstract of Dr. Hoyt's very able and inter- esting address, the introduction to which is briefly summarized as follows by a reporter of the Waterbury Republican, to whom also we are in- debted for the report of Dr. Hoyt's address the evening previous, and for many other favors of a similar kind :
"Sin has a fourfold meaning. In the original Hebrew it means missing the mark. It also means a wrong, a transgression, and an iniquity. But in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ is brought about the forgiveness of sin. The prog- ress of soul winning is the setting apart of the soul from sin, and the Christian is responsible. A true Christian must accept the cross and be- come a soul winner, which must generally be carried to the extent of self-sacrifice. The re-
REV. JAMES MCWHINNIE, D.D .- p. 163. 1
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sponsibility of character is one of the first things to be considered. We must be sure that our char- acter will not clash with the work which we are trying to do."
At the afternoon session, after brief devo- tional exercises, Miss Newcomb of India gave a very interesting account of " Our Work in India." Her address was thrilling, and told of the many trials through which they had been obliged to go while striving to perform their missions in that country. Miss Newcomb speaks in a very interesting manner, and held the undivided at- tention of her auditors throughout her entire ad- dress.
Following Miss Newcomb, Mrs. James Mc- Whinnie of Boston, widow of the late Dr. James McWhinnie, himself a son of the Waterbury church, gave an address on the Home Mission work as carried on in all parts of North America by Baptist women, which delighted her large audience whose sympathetic interest was evident from the beginning. She spoke of the rapid advance in culture and education of the negro, and very impressively also of the condition of the Indian. She stated that the white people were to blame for the frequent uprising of the Indians, who she thought were not receiving all the ad- vantages that they ought to receive. Of Mor- monism, she said " It is not dead yet."
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In connection with this she mentioned the great immigration to this country. In one place in Boston there are twenty-three different nation- alities. " Right there," she said, " is a chance for foreign missions."
In conclusion, she spoke enthusiastically of the duty of the church member in regard to home missions, making also a touching allusion to the relation of her late husband to the Mother Church, his interest in missions, and the great joy it would have been to him to have been present at the centennial meeting, and thanking the church for its share in making him the man that he was.
Mrs. Frederick E. Stanley then read the fol- lowing paper on.
THE WOMAN'S WORK OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.
I would like to take you this afternoon in a direction easterly from here about two miles and a half. On a branch connecting the Cheshire and Meriden roads stands a farmhouse, where we will stop. The house stands strongly on its foun- dations, laid over a hundred years ago.
As we look from the broad stone steps out upon the meadows and fields enclosed by the ancient stone walls, we think of the busy, thrifty hands long since folded. But we enter the door
HOUSE OF ENOCH FROST, IN WHICH THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH IN WATERBURY WAS CONSTITUTED IN 1803, NOW OWNED BY RALPH N. BLAKESLEE- p. 66.
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of the house, and passing through the front rooms come to the broad, low-ceiled living- room. Now let us close our eyes upon the pres- ent and open them on a Saturday morning one hundred years ago.
The house now more than a hundred years old was then practically new. Enoch Frost is the owner, and the women of his family are busy in preparation for an important event. Upon the morrow, and in this house, a Baptist church is to be constituted, and an unusual interest has been excited among the scattered adherents of the faith who are to assemble from far and near to attend or assist in the services. Some of the preachers, and others, are to come from such a distance that lodgings as well as meals must be provided for them, and the women of the house- hold, doubtless assisted by neighbors and friends, are busy in preparing to minister to Baptist saints, the pioneers and heroes of the early days, A bountiful supply of the standard New England dishes and delicacies is to be provided, sleeping rooms are put in order, chairs brought in and benches extemporized, and a cheerful expectancy enlivens the faces and movements of the busy workers.
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And now it is Sunday morning. The guests have come, as expected. They have been lodged and fed, and their numbers largely increased by sympathizers gathered from a wide neighbor- hood around, among whom are the twenty per- sons, lately members of the Wallingford Baptist Church, who are to associate themselves together in the form and capacity of a church of Christ in Waterbury, and thus to covenant with each other before God to meet statedly for his wor- ship, to faithfully observe the ordinances of his house according to New Testament precept and example, and to do whatever they may be able to advance the interests of the Kingdom of God on earth. Most of the twenty were doubtless men, since membership in the distant Wallingford church would be difficult for women in those days. But women soon joined them, and it was the busy and willing hands of women which pre- pared the house and the entertainment for this first service, and which thereafter rendered similar service in the five houses in which the church assembled alternately for its weekly meet- ings during the twelve years when it was without a house of worship, and before the little cross- roads meeting-house was built. And when, fif-
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teen years later, the little church undertook to build a new house of worship in the center of the town, at what sacrifice of labor and self-denial God only knows, Baptist women assumed their full share of interest and effort in the difficult enterprise.
For many years the new building stood with- out window blinds. It was the women of the church who finally supplied the need. In the midst of their household cares they found time to "stitch " the baskets of suspenders which Brother Edward Terrill brought them weekly from the factory, until by their patient and poorly paid labor they had secured the amount neces- sary for the purpose. One sister, Mrs. Luther Hall, gave the Bible for the pulpit ; another sister provided the communion set. Sewing societies were formed, meeting from house to house, by means of which many hundreds of dollars were raised to meet the growing needs of the church.
Prayer meetings for women came into exist- ence during the pastorate of the Rev. J. A. Bailey. These meetings were held at the pastor's house. Not many came, but the few who did were of the spiritually minded, and they were often cheered by the presence of sisters from other churches.
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Many an alabaster box was brought and broken at the feet of the Master, the incense from which has floated down through the years. This after- noon we seem to be in a portrait gallery, many of the faces looking down from the walls being those we remember ; others were there before we came. These all represent women known to the Father, for they are with Him, having faithfully served Him in their day and generation upon earth. Here are some of their names: Isabella McWhinnie, Jane A. Bailey, Elizabeth Terrell, Sarah Roberts, Susan Jacques, Sarah McWhin- nie, Mary Mintie, Jennie Fiske Hall, Sarah Gril- ley, Mary Treat, Mary Elsdon, Mary Folwell, Ellen Beecher, Ellen Mintie, Rosetta Dudley, Almira Bassett, Nancy Sanford. Blessed are their memories. May their mantles fall upon their successors.
When the present house was built, all were again called upon to give as much as possible, and the instances of self-denial were as frequent as in the first years. One woman, a seamstress, surprised the pastor by placing in his hands $1,000 toward the building. The pastor hesi- tated at receiving it, telling her she was giving more largely than she ought. "I know what
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you think," she said, "that I am growing old, and may need it for possible illness before my death. But I have remembered and laid aside money for that, and this is left over." Nor could she be persuaded to lessen her gift. One sister made hundreds of sweeping caps, and sold them. Another made kitchen-holders, sending out her little niece to sell them, until she had earned $30.
Time fails us in reciting these instances of working women turning this way and that to give money toward the erection and support of God's house.
Early in the history of foreign missionary work it became evident that woman was to have a specific share in it. Single women in the fields were a necessity. They could seek and meet the conditions of heathen women as the general mis- sionary could not. When this fact was fully rec- ognized, it was but a short step to the organiza- tion of women's societies in the Christian church. In response to this call, on March I, 1872, the women of this church formed a circle of thirty- one members auxiliary to the Women's Baptist Foreign Missionary Society. Each woman pledged one dollar annually, this amount in no
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way to lessen her giving to the general foreign work through the church. In the twenty-four years' existence of our Auxiliary Circle, we raised for the women's work over $1,300.
The time came, a few years later, when the American Baptist Home Missionary Society, see- ing the success of the woman's movement upon the foreign fields, appealed to the sisterhood. The floods of heathenism pouring over our country, as seen by the missionary boards, are appalling. The boards see, as the rank and file of the churches often fail to see, that it is only as Christ's soldiers "hold the fort " we can keep our blessed land a Christian country. The women were called upon to support missionaries ยท and teachers among the women and children of our great South and West. This appeal of the gen- eral society was met by the formation of the Women's Baptist Home Missionary Society in the year 1878, and in 1886 a local circle was formed in this church. It numbered at first twenty-four women, each pledging an annual dollar. During the eleven years of its separate existence, this circle raised between $700 and $800, making the amount raised by the two aux- iliary circles over $2,100.
DEA. JAMES MCWHINNIE- pp. 163, 165. +
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The women of the church thought they could do better work if all the lines, viz. : social, parish, and missionary, were brought under one organi- zation. On April 20, 1898, they decided to make this change, and formed the Missionary and So- cial Union of the First Baptist Church of Water- bury. In this new departure they were largely assisted by the wise counsel of our beloved pas- tor, Dr. Parry, so lately called home. The society embraces all of the women's distinctive work, and aims to include in its membership every woman of the church. It has three departments : Parish Work, Home Missions, and Foreign Missions. It has a chairman in charge of each line of its work. Thursday of each week is its " At Home " day, two hostesses being in charge of the parlor all day, while all women's meetings are sched- uled to appear at some specified hour. During the five years of the new society's existence, the moneys raised are approximately as follows : For Foreign Missions, $151.00 ; Home Missions, $159.63 ; Parish Work, $119.49.
We have much ground yet to cover before our ideal as a society is attained, but, trusting in the Lord for strength, we look forward by faith, hop- ing that at our next centennial our coming sisters will announce the end more nearly accomplished.
THE RELIGIOUS SIDE OF WATERBURY.
We consider ourselves especially fortunate in being able to present in full to the reader the very able and interesting address of Dr. Anderson on a subject of vast importance. The paper shows clearly and in a striking manner, whence we came religiously, and in what direction we seem to be moving, - moving, too, with a startling rapidity.
Dr. Anderson is now in the fortieth year of his pastorate in the First Congregational Church of Waterbury, and no man in the city is better quali- fied than he to speak on the theme of his address. We may add, too, that no man in the city is more highly esteemed and honored.
ADDRESS BY REV. JOSEPH ANDERSON, D.D.
DR. JOSEPH ANDERSON.
The theme assigned to me is "The Re- ligious Side of Wat- erbury." In a service connected with the celebration of the cen- tennial of a church it is well worth while, it is a matter of course, that the relig- ious side of the life of the community
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should receive special attention. It is worth while to insist that this busy, prosperous, worldly city, this intensely materialistic city, has a re- ligious side - although it be not nearly so large or so dominating or so obtrusive as its secular side.
The fact that our service is a " centennial " service suggests a historical treatment of the theme, and such a treatment I should like to give it; for the Waterbury of the past deserves spe- cial recognition from the religious point of view. But I reluctantly limit myself for the most part to the present. I must also disregard certain im- portant distinctions. If I were speaking at length of the past I should distinguish between religion and theology; speaking of the present I should like to distinguish between religion and the church, between religion and philanthropy, re- ligion and benevolent institutions, religion and missionary enterprises; but that will be impos- sible. Religion is really a thing of the inner life ; but my subject this evening, I take it, is religion as imperfectly revealed in institutions and organ- ized activities.
In the early life of Waterbury, as in all the older New England towns, religion was a matter
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of universal concern. No one was allowed to ignore it, as thousands do today. The manage- ment of ecclesiastical affairs under the old parish system of Congregationalism was in the hands of the town, and although the entire population was not gathered into the church, as in European communities - church membership being limited to presumably "converted" persons - the church was nevertheless a very central thing ; it was an object of interest and care to the people as a whole. It was the town that built the meeting- house and employed the minister, and the town laid a tax to meet the expense thus incurred. The entire population was loyal to the old First Church, and there was no other.
More than half a century passed, here in Wat- erbury, before this condition of things was dis- turbed - by the setting off of new parishes in the northwest and north - now known as Wa- tertown, Plymouth, and Thomaston - and a few years later by the introduction of "dissent," through the coming in of persons attached to the Church of England. But religion, with new centers and under modified forms, was still the concern of the town as a whole, and continued to be so from generation to generation. By degrees
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an irreligious class developed in the community - a class decidedly alienated from church life -- but it was not until the adoption of the state con- stitution in 1818 that the entire severance of church and state was accomplished.
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