USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > A century of history in the First Baptist Church in Waterbury, Conn > Part 5
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So much for the past. How great the contrast between the present time and that first half cen- tury, when the only church in the town was the church which I have the honor to represent ; be- tween the present time and that period of sixty years during which the First Ecclesiastical so- ciety and St. John's parish divided the commu- nity between them. The First Church, with its " meeting-house " at the east end of the Green, and St. James's (afterwards St. John's) with its church edifice at the west end of the Green, claimed the entire area of the present Waterbury until the incoming of the Methodists and Bap- tists, and the organization of the church which is now celebrating the centenary of its birth. The Methodists, who had been working their way into the town before the beginning of the cen- tury, organized a church in 1815, and there was no other - nothing, in fact, to modify the Ameri- canism or to disturb the Protestantism of our population, until 1847, when our first Roman
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Catholic parish was organized. Our two Luth- eran churches, representing a foreign element of another kind, were organized as recently as 1890.
Compared with some American cities of the size of ours, especially in the West, the number of distinct denominations in Waterbury is small. If we add to those already mentioned the Adven- tists, the Christian Scientists, and the Jews, we can reckon only nine; and, if to some of us the existence of so many sects is a distinct blot upon our Christianity, we must recognize the fact that the sectarianism of today is a very different thing from the sectarianism of eighty or a hundred years ago- not indeed harmless, but largely purged of its bitterness. We cannot correctly picture the religious side of Waterbury without reminding our Roman Catholic and other friends of the brotherly relations existing among our Protestant denominations.
It is not the difference in their theological be- liefs that keeps the Protestant churches apart to- day ; it is the differences in ecclesiastical organiza- tion, coupled with a natural loyalty to their denom- inational history. Among some of these churches there is a continual interchange of members and frequent exchanges of pulpits. In many respects
REV. JOSEPH A. BAILEY -p. 159. +
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Baptists, Congregationalists, Methodists, Advent- ists, and Lutherans might almost be regarded as one body, and sometimes we feel as if the Episcopalians had also joined the group. I recall at this point what was said by the Rev. W. P. Elsdon, then pastor of this Baptist Church, at the celebration of the bicentenary of the church I represent: "While appreciating fully," he said, " the greatness of our differences I rejoice in the essential unity of the Christian faith. At the bottom, at the root, we are of one blood. Some day we may have not only one Lord but one faith and one baptism. At least, when the millennium comes, I suppose that will be; and meanwhile I do bless God for our essential Chris- tian unity ; I rejoice in every manifestation of it, and therefore am always glad to take part in such gatherings as this."
In an accurate picture of the religious side of Waterbury, the actual size of these Protestant denominations, and also their relative size and importance - represented in part by their church membership or the number of their pew-holders - ought to be set forth; but, so far as I know, statistics adequate to this object have never been brought together. I have the impression that
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thus far in our history the Congregationalists, who once had the whole field to themselves, have barely maintained the precedence. The Episco- palians, I suppose, come next in order and then the Methodists and Baptists. The other Protest- ant denominations are comparatively weak among us. At the present time the Congregationalists have three church edifices, the Episcopalians three, including that at Waterville, the Metho- dists five, including that at Waterville and the Anglo-African, the Baptists four, including the German and the Anglo-African, the Lutherans two, German and Swedish, and the Adventists one. There are eighteen church edifices, repre- senting as many distinct organizations, and two union chapels besides.
Our theme brings before us and thrusts upon us the question : How large a part of the popu- lation of Waterbury is thus provided for? Our population numbers today, I suppose, consider- ably over 50,000. Probably less than one-half of us are Protestants, but let us estimate the Protestant population at 25,000. I fear, brethren and friends, that only a small part of that 25,000 is reached by our eighteen churches in any thor- ough and effective way. The time was, even in
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my own remembrance, when evidences of at- tachment to some church were found in every Protestant family ; but now I venture to say there are hundreds of families that have not only no attachment to any church but no thought of church from one year's end to the other except as it may be thrust upon them. I suppose the best test that we have - poor though it be - is the test of attendance at public worship. Here, again, statistics are lacking, but we can approxi- mate. In our eighteen churches and two chapels there are, let us say, 8,000 sittings : are they ever on any fair Sunday morning all occupied? Are two-thirds of them occupied? I venture to say that the attendance at all our Protestant services on a pleasant Sunday morning will not aggregate 5,000, and on any pleasant Sunday evening half of that number - many of the attendants being the same at both services. But let us put the number at 10,000; how many then remain out- side? At least 15,000! Some of these will be found in the Sunday-school or the Christian En- deavor meeting (where, by the way, they do not cultivate the church-going habit), and some must be reckoned on the sick list or counted too young or too old to go to church ; but making all proper
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deductions we must sorrowfully conclude that there are thousands in this Protestant community of ours who belong to the unevangelized multi- tude as really as if they lived in heathen lands .* Of our 5,000 Germans, how many go to any church? How many of our 5,000 Italians? How many of our Swedes? But : would
not make invidious comparisons ; I suspect that our native Americans, of American par- entage, are as neglectful as any class. Here is an aspect of our "religious side" which we church people are prone to overlook. You come into this Baptist auditorium of a Sunday morn- ing or evening and find it crowded, and your
* A few weeks after this address was delivered a canvass of Waterbury, with reference to church attend- ance, was made by representatives of the Waterbury Democrat, the result of which was published in the "Thanksgiving editon " of 1903. The Democrat's sta- tistics were based not on an actual count, except in one or two cases, but upon estimates furnished by the pas- tors, and may, therefore, be considered too favorable rather than otherwise; yet the totals fall below the estimates given in the address. The figures are as fol- lows: Attendance at the morning service, 3,180; at the evening service, 2,955; at Sunday-school, 2,793. As there are a good many who attend more than one service each Sunday, the total Protestant attendance of differ- ent persons at public worship must probably fall below 5,000. The total attendance reported by Roman Catholic pastors at the several "masses " was 17,225.
REV. G. W. FOLWELL-p. 160. 1
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heart throbs with gladness at the prosperity of Zion. But the Zion you think of is really a small affair compared with the outlying multitudes ; and how slight the impression we are making upon these! We used to think that whenever the church would, she could arise in her might and lay her motherly hand upon these multitudes and draw them back into her fold; but that day is past ; the problem weighs upon us in all its tre- mendous bulk. Think how largely, today, the church is superseded by the fraternity! The mutual benefit fraternities are well enough in their way, but all the hundred that our city con- tains can do but little to supply the religious wants of the thousands who crowd our streets and our trolley cars on Sunday, forgetting that the Christian church ever existed, and in a posi- tion to say with him of old: "No man careth for my soul."
I have been speaking of the Protestant half of our population. In picturing the religious side of Waterbury shall we say nothing of the Roman Catholic half? For 170 years this town existed and flourished untouched by Roman Catholic in- fluences. But in 1847 a Roman Catholic parish was organized from the Irish population that
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had become established here, and since that time, and especially since 1880, when a second parish was organized, the Catholic church has made rapid strides in our community. It was neces- sary that it should extend itself rapidly to keep pace with the increase of our foreign population, and now, within the past ten days, we see these devoted people laying the corner stones of two important churches, making the ninth and tenth belonging to that communion. It is a remarkable thing that this piece of territory, settled 225 years ago by men whose whole life was a protest against the Church of Rome and against the hierarchical idea, should be crowded today by thousands of Roman Catholic immigrants, and that for a good many years past our local gov- ernment and our municipal institutions should have been almost exclusively in their hands; but such is the fact, and it is a fact which we can not ignore on such an occasion as this. If our earli- est predecessors here could have foreseen it, it would have filled them not only with dismay, but with fiery indignation; but the indignation has ceased to be, and instead of dismay there is an unquestioning and comfortable satisfaction with the situation. Of course there are still a few
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whose intense Protestantism impels them to out- spoken hostility; but with most of us the spirit of toleration and of brotherhood that has flooded our modern life- or shall I say our growing indifferentism in religion - creates a friendli- ness that seldom fails to give outspoken approval. Our Protestantism grows continually weaker and more yielding, and this in the presence of an or- ganization that never yields.
But let us realize, brethren, that our Roman Catholic friends deserve their success, because they have earned it. Always assertive, always steadily aggressive, because panoplied with the conviction of infallibility, quick to resent criti- cism, skillful in exploiting anniversaries and other great occasions, and now, of late years, enlisting the newspapers on their side, they have moved quietly forward to large conquests and a sure occupancy. They have done their work well here in Waterbury as elsewhere. They have divided the field carefully into parishes that do not overlap, they have multiplied assistant min- isters, they have multiplied services and econ- omized edifices, they have built schools and trained their children in the faith, and they have called upon their people - the poor and the rich
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alike - to make sacrifices for the cause they be- lieve in. Go to one of their special services and notice their collection plates heaped a foot high with dollar bills, and you will know what I mean. We see all this, and then we look out upon this crowding multitude of impetuous immigrant people, and we exclaim: Thank God for the Roman Catholic church! We are sorry for its errors, although we do not say much about them - quite as sorry as it is for ours - but it is not there we find the antichrist of the twentieth cen- tury ; on the contrary we recognize there the God of the ages working amidst human errors and limitations. But let me remind you neverthe- less, brethren, how little we of the Puritan an- cestry and heritage are doing amidst the quiet aggressiveness of our Roman Catholic friends to fortify our children and our children's chil- dren, by any theological or other training, against the claims and the steadfast advances of this remarkable ecclesiastical power. A Catholic priest here in Waterbury, who afterward was made a bishop and whose friendship I remember with pleasure, said to me more than thirty-five years ago: " We intend to make America the great Catholic country of the world." It seems
JOHN T. TROTT, For many years Treasurer of the Church - p. 163. 1
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to me that we cannot correctly estimate the re- ligious side of Waterbury without recognizing the persistency of this purpose in our Roman Catholic fellow-citizens, and the supreme indif- ference of our Protestant people to the possibil- ity thus indicated.
The Roman Catholic church is forbidden by its constitution to cooperate with Protestants in any religious work, and thus far its cooperation with us in the modern philanthropies has been slight. Our philanthropies, however, have stead- ily multiplied here in Waterbury, and we must include them in this picture of our "religious side," for they are almost wholly the offspring of our churches working in concert. Our inter- denominational cooperation began in this town as early as 1828 in a canvas for families destitute of the Scriptures. The number of organizations called into being since then for similar purposes is well worthy of remark, although some of them have ceased to be. Among those that no longer survive were the Waterbury Bible Society, the Waterbury Sunday School Union, the organiza- tion for Christian Visitation and Charity, the Associated Charities, the Rescue Mission, and various temperance societies; but we still have
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amidst us, and steadily at work, the Young Men's Christian Association, the Waterbury In- dustrial School, the Women's Christian Temper- ance Union, the King's Daughters, the Boys' Club, the Young Women's Friendly League, the Free Kindergarten, the Day Nursery, and others ; and in such a list the Salvation Army should of course be included. I have mentioned these so- cieties in their chronological order, and without any attempt to classify them, because in their varied religious and philanthropic work they rep- resent that " institutional " idea which has been made so prominent in the church life of today. My own favorite notion is that these churches of ours, working together, constitute "the Church of Christ in Waterbury," reaching forth, as the church of the future will more and more do, into the life of the people to guide and help and bless all men.
I must acknowledge, however, that the com- prehensive plan thus suggested is more a plan than an achievement. With our eighteen Prot- estant churches and our numerous interdenomi- national societies we seem pretty fully equipped to do the religious work of the community, but that work is hindered through the lack of work-
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ers. Our churches should be supplied with more men and our societies should be more generously supported. This means more money, and that brings us face to face with a fact in our religious life which cannot be ignored and which is most disheartening - the fact that the wealth of this community is to so slight an extent consecrated to the advancement of the Kingdom of God. Al- though we have scarce a single millionaire among us we are one of the most prosperous cities of New England - prosperous in spite of all recent ex- periences. We are a city of wealth, with steadily growing wealth in prospect. But do you know of any city more destitute of what is called "public spirit " than this is? Of any city where the churches and the benevolent organizations have to struggle along, on a starvation diet, as they do here? It suggests that our men of means are not interested in these "higher things"; it re- veals to us the predominance here, as in so many other communities, of worldliness, of a hard and narrow way of looking at the religious and benev- olent enterprises of our time. I know of no piece of territority, anywhere, more abounding in pros- perity than this Valley of the Naugatuck, nor any, alas! that illustrates more strik-
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ingly what someone has called "a triumph- ant worldiness." Our materialism is intense and sometimes seems almost hopeless. The devotion of our best men to business is so thorough-going that they turn aside not only from the church and the benevolent organiza- tions, but from the school and the hospital, from
literature and art, yes, and from any watchful management of civic affairs, and plunge onward in the cruel race for riches or " success." These men are in our congregations, if not in our churches, and we love them; and therefore we cannot count them out in our picture of the "re- ligious side."
But I would not stop here and thus leave you in the shadow of a cloud; I would speak a word of cheer. Our religious side is far less prominent than it ought to be, but it exists; it is genuine, it is full of promise. In communities, as in indi- viduals, the test is found in character and con- duct. "By their fruits ye shall know them." And notwithstanding any stigma that may have been put upon us during these months past, the character of Waterbury is good and our conduct is good. It is a city we may be proud to live in ; it is a city of achievement and of hope.
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In this community the church whose birthday we celebrate has for a hundred years filled an important place. It fills today a larger place than ever. May its prosperity abide! I had almost said, May it be forever true to its distinctive principles ! I know that at all events it will be true to Christ and his kingdom, and ever ready to move forward in that beautiful concert of de- nominations and of classes which we witness here this week, and which will grow more and more conspicuous and delightful in our own and in other lands as mankind advances toward the perfect brotherhood. A mother church that adds a hundred and ten years of courage and of hope to the daughter's hundred, bids you good cheer and God speed and complete victory in the on- ward march and the long campaign that still lie before us.
EVANGELISM.
Following Dr. Anderson, Rev. Dr. George M. Stone of Hartford, one of the best-known and most respected Baptist ministers of the state, spoke on Evangelism. He said in part :
The term " revive " means to bring to life again after real or ap- parent death. What I have to say respect- ing a revival of Chris- tian faith and love will center about that great word "life." This word, perhaps, DR. GEORGE M. STONE. more than any other, rules the thought of our Divine Master. We need hardly be reminded that he refused the high prerogatives of life to all human souls who were not in communion with the Father, God. But while all believing souls are alive, the life they possess is something ex- isting in various measures and degrees. It is
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a matter of times and seasons, rising higher at some periods than others, and sinking at others to a low water mark as to be scarcely discernible at all.
I am to speak of the " Producing Causes of Re- vival of Christian Life." That unique and most successful soul-winner, Uncle John Vassar, once said to me, " The problem of Christian life is to keep it up to standard." How to sustain it at normal, I mean New Testament normal, -is indeed the problem ever on our hands. Isaac does not make as great a figure in Bible history as Abraham, his father, or Jacob, his son, but this memorable record is made to his abiding honor :
"And Isaac digged again the wells of water which they had digged in the days of Abraham, his father ; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham; and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them."
To keep the crystal-clear wells of salvation free from all obstructions, that men may get the water freely and easily, is a noble task today. May God give us a host in the succession of Isaac !
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Yet, nothing is more simple than the divinely ordained methods of Christian revival. All is under spiritual law, and the methods given us will be honored when used, with the certainty and accuracy of science. First, revival never fails to appear under a devotional study of the word of God. "So then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." There are many uses of the word of God which are not devotional. Not all of them are to be condemned. I only in- sist that but one out of many of these uses is a producing cause of revival. The 119th psalm, the longest and most architectural of all the collection, has been given us so that we may be left in no doubt as to what a devotional use of the Bible is. We come then with bowed, wor- shipful spirit, to know the will of God concerning ourselves. Its keynote is a prayer for light on the path of life.
But there must be personal contact with the word to bring human hearts into contact with the sources of spiritual light and heat. And this suggests a difficult conquest. Current litera- ture was never more attractive than today. The Sunday which ought especially to be a Bible- reading day is pre-empted in many homes by the
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Sunday newspaper. It requires resolution and courage to study this divine book. Our spiritual bread is won only through toil and self-denial. But no toil or self-denial are so amply rewarded. The daily devotional use of the Bible causes the self-evidencing capacity of the latter to manifest itself. The electric current still flows along these wires, and we realize that the book is still the channel of a living tide of divine life and energy.
A second producing cause of revival is per- sonal prayer. Thank God! the old secret of ask- ing is not lost. In times like these how do we need to come back to the old springs, hidden, yet in the everlasting hills of promise.
This is the significance of prayer that we change the direction of vision. We say, " I will lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence com- eth my strength." The psalms are full of these upward glances. David says :
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct My prayer unto thee, and will look up.
The praying man soars like the eagle, and when the habit of prayer is formed, he rises above obstacles. An eagle in the air would pass over the rapids of Niagara with ease. Why do not
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we pray more? is a question we ought to raise and answer. First, we are ignorant of the promises regarding prayer. People who know something of the Bible rarely grasp the meaning of those great promises which describe the heart of God concerning prayer. The Bible is an ever- growing river of promises upon this theme. The New Testament visions far exceed the old in this regard. Jacob saw the ladder, but John ascends it, stage by stage, until he hears the harps and hallelujahs of heaven.
We are told by the Lord Himself that the im- pulse in God to give, is infinitely deeper than the instinct of earthly fatherhood and motherhood. He loves to communicate out of the depths of in- finite resources. And yet no franchise, no royal charter of privilege was ever so neglected as this. The Apostle James says, "Ye have not because ye ask not." A false humility keeps us from asking. And so the world is full of faces, pale and wan from want and sorrow, who do not pray. It has been said of George Eliot's books, that they reveal all the weakness and need of humanity, but fail to make known the Healer and Saviour. Alas! for those who know the heavy weight of life's burdens, but are ignorant of one
BROTHER EDWARD TERRILL,
The oldest living member of the Church, and the only one who has attended the services in all the houses of worship occupied by the Church. He has filled the offices of Collector, Treasurer, and member of the Church Committee.
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who can lift them off our weary shoulders. The heathen see this somber side of life without its relief in Christ.
We should not forget that prayer is a definite calling and vocation for some of us in our pres- ent life. In the distribution of service, some have less leisure for prayer than others. Those who have most time must accept prayer as a vo- cation for others. Cases there are when it be- comes an absorbing work, employing our powers as the lawyer employs his for his client. So Paul labored in prayer. He is constantly quoting his prayers in his letters, and thus indicating how much his life was taken up in prayer.
The recognition of the dispensation of the Holy Spirit as a present efficiency remains to be named, as a source of renewal of Christian life. We are this side, historically, of the Pentecost endowment. The executive person of the Trinity is here. We do well to honor and reverence this fact. It cannot be ignored in any Christian serv- ice. He convicts, he reveals Christ.
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DR. BENNETT'S MISSIONARY ADDRESS.
Missionary day was the fourth day of the celebration.
Service was held only in the evening. The church choir sang the anthem, "The Heavens are Telling," which was followed by a solo, ex- cellently sung by Mr. Frank Clarke.
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