USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Fairfield > An old New England church, established religion in Connecticut; being an historical sketch of the first Church of Christ and the Prime ancient society, Fairfield, commemorating the two hundred and seventieth anniversary of public worship in the town > Part 5
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The last church named has passed beyond the bounds of the Fairfield Consociations. The First Church of Woodbury, organized as the second Church of Stratford, owes its separate existence to heated discussions upon the "Half-Way Covenant" which it championed with all zeal and faithfulness. When the division between mother church and daughter church occurred the same minister served both parties of the divided parish. But colonization was the final issue and a goodly portion of the
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Stratford brethren moved back into the beautiful hill country where they builded pleasant homes and established a new, robust parish. At the time of the Stratfield Council, the Woodbury Church was a quiet, prosperous body of excellent, devout people who lived on the edge of the wilderness and steadily advanced in substantial worth and conservative influence.
The Stratfield Council made an athletic company. Ministers 1 as well as messengers were conversant with out-door labor, used to daily toil, skilled in the management of horses and fire-arms, practiced in the arts of war and peace. Pioneer life conduced to athleticism in mind as well as body. To argue politics and the- ology was the delight of days and nights. Details of farming, military tactics, ecclesiastical order, town affairs and social relations furnished an inexhaustible fund of conversation. These public meetings therefore were important functions, determina- tive of numerous issues.
It is not difficult for us to visualize the company. I have read the wills of several men who figured in this assembly so that I know what sort of clothes they wore and how these stal- wart sons of the Puritans appeared. They came through snow and ice on horseback. Perhaps caps rather than hats covered their bewigged heads. Big, voluminous cloaks wrapped their sturdy forms. Underneath was the conventional black broad- cloth coat. (Mr. Webb's best coat was appraised at six pounds sterling. ) High stocks supported neck and chin, around which hung a tippet to ward off riotous winds. Calamink vest, plush breeches with silver knee buckles, heavy knit woolen stockings, big shoes fastened with silver buckles, thick woolen mittens for the hands-these were characteristic articles worn at Stratfield.
As there was no stove in the little meeting-house, doubtless some of the good people provided foot-stoves for such brethren as required artificial heat. But they were a hardy folk those days and unflinchingly braved cold, inclemency or discomfort.
They assembled in the afternoon. These thoughtful,
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observant men, rugged and masterful in their personality, chosen leaders of the people, reared in an atmosphere of theological and ecclesiastical controversy, realizing that it was given them to shape the course and destiny of the churches in western Connec- ticut-these men entered upon their tasks with profound sense of their responsibility. The prayer for guidance was a most solerun, heartfelt appeal. The moderator, Rev. John Daven- port, being inducted into his office, the scribe, Rev. Charles Chauncey, with quill in hand and ink-horn by his side, placed his precious sheets of paper on the little table. The Saybrook Platform with the action and request of the Colonial Leg- islature was then presented to the dignified, attentive body of ministers and messengers.
We do not know how late the hour to which the discussion was prolonged. We simply know that there was a recess for the night and that in the morning at eight o'clock, a draught of con- clusions was presented and final agreement reached.
" The Consociation being met, according to adjournment, after prayer, it was agreed :-
"Imps. That all the Chhs in ye County of Fairfield be one Consociation."
"2. That ye Pastors met in our Consociation have power with ye Consent of the Messengers of our Chhs chosen and attending, authoritatively, Judicially and Decisively to determine ecclesiastically affairs brot to their Cognizance, according to the the Word of God and that our Pastors with the concurrence and consent of the Messengers of our Chhs to be chosen and that shall attend upon all future occasions, have like authoritative, Judicial and Decisive power of Determination of affairs ecclesias- ticall and that in further and fuller meetings of two Consoci- ations together compliant with ye conclusions of ye sd Council of Saybrook, there is the like Authoritative, Judiciall and Decis- ive power of Determination of Ecclesiastical affairs according to ye Word of God."
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Two other articles were adopted and then "the Council adjourned till half an hour past two o'clock in ye afternoon."
Six other articles were adopted at the afternoon session and the ten ' Acts and Conclusions" were unanimously voted.
The whole trend of the meeting was conservative. The members of the council were high churchmen in Congregation- alism. The Consociation was given a judicial character. This strict elucidation of the principles involved in the Saybrook Platform savored of Presbyterianism. The Fairfield Interpreta- tion was quite at variance with that given by some of the sister bodies in the colony. But the mode of church life and the method of ecclesiastical procedure instituted on this occasion in Stratfield prevailed to a greater or less degree in this county until the middle of the last century or later. A standing coun- cil for the ordination, installation, discipline or dismission of ministers-for the watchcare over churches and the settlement of their difficulties-for general religious purposes in the region covered by its territory-it has exercised large influence over the successive generations which have submitted to its leadership. A strong and eminent succession of men have been loyal to its best and noblest traditions-wielding such power and extending such influence as they possessed with a loyalty to truth and a zeal for service most praiseworthy and fruitful.
We are pleased to emphasize an interesting and curious result observable to-day in the development of our American Congregationalism. While the strict, distinctive features of Connecticut Consociationism have gradually been eliminated from the ecclesiastical bodies in this state, the great, prime essential principles for which this body stood through many gen- erations are gradually becoming incorporated into the latest forms and methods of our denominational life. The name will soon disappear from our Year Book. The word Consociation will become obsolete-a kind of historic landmark. But the spirit of wise, strong organization-closer fellowship in service-
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kindly concern and fraternal helpfulness among the churches- standing councils, general superintendency, united front and orderly advance, will prevail-the precious inheritance and inspiration from the Saybrook Platform and Connecticut Con- sociationism.
CHAPTER IX.
DAYS OF CONTROVERSY AND DISQUIET.
THIS Church has been consistently loyal to the system of government known as Consociationism since its institution in 1709. And this form of church government and association had one of its most learned and earnest supporters in Mr. Hobart. He was what might properly be termed a "High Church " Congregationalist. His little book on "The Principles of Con- gregationalism " set forth with the knowledge and acumen of the finished scholar the theory which generally prevailed in the churches of the Established Religion.
But it did not please all parties. Mr. Roger Wolcott of Windsor addressed Mr. Hobart in a long and carefully prepared answer to his statement of Congregational Principles. Its interesting title is " The New English Congregational Churches are and always have been, Consociated Churches ; and their lib- erties greater and better founded, in their Platform of Church Discipline agreed to at Cambridge, 1648, than what is contained in the Agreement at Saybrook, 1708." Mr. Wolcott is severe in his strictures upon the new system and takes Mr. Hobart to task for his advocacy of that which seems to him quite at variance with the teachings of Hooker, and his followers.
Later Mr. Hobart prepared a booklet which he called "An Attempt to illustrate and confirm The Ecclesiastical Constitution of the Consociated Churches, In the Colony of Connecticut. Occasioned by a late "Explanation of the Saybrook Platform." He vindicated his own position in this concise piece of writing and answered certain persons, some of them known and some of them unknown, who had seen fit to attack the new sys- tem and mis-interpret its plain instruction.
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In his argument Mr. Hobart sustains the following propo- sitions : (1) "That the word Church, in the Language of the New Testament, sometimes means a particular Church . .. and at other times a larger Society, consisting of a number of such particular Churches .... (2) That ecclesiastical Author- ity .... is committed to the Church in these Senses, yet so that particular Churches are, in the Exercise of this Power sub- ordinate to Consociated Churches That the Saybrook Agreement was framed upon this model . . (4) I shall ' endeavor to answer the Objections taken from a supposed Incon- sistency between this Scheme and the Rights of particular Churches, Liberty of Conscience and the Prerogative of Christ, as Lord of Conscience." In conclusion Mr. Hobart reminds the reader that "the great difficulty in civil and ecclesiastical Polity, is to fix the Balance between Authority and Liberty." But it was his opinion that the Saybrook Articles succeeded in striking the fair medium.
Nevertheless a marked divergence of opinion was to be noticed among the members of the various Congregational churches, respecting the authority of the state over congrega- tions, the rights of individual churches and the proper methods of conducting worship, cases of discipline and kindred matters.
The great awakening wrought various changes in the spirit and activities of the Connecticut churches. Men were divided into approving and disapproving parties. The friends and dis- ciples of the revivalists became enthusiastic over the bright pros- pects of religion. It seemed to them that the day so long desired had come-the day of renewed and exalted Christian experience-the day of larger freedom and nobler power in the spiritual life.
But the very reaction against the deadness and worldliness of professing christians swung the pendulum to the opposite extreme. Fanaticism began to show itself in many places. Groans, contortions, faintings, wild actions, hysteria in various
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forms became accompaniments of the meetings held in numerous churches. The people who favored the new way-who believed in the emotional expression of faith-who shared the fervor and ecstacy of these notable hours in the presence of Whitfield, Dav- enport, Tennant and their co-laborers were nick-named "New Lights." The brethren who clung to the old ways, and did not look favorably upon these sensational methods-the conservative critical members of the Established Church were called " Old Lights."
The contest waged between these parties was violent and distressing, dividing families and churches, bringing darkness and sorrow into many communities, at the same time that the fresh type of piety filled many hearts with a delightful and ennobling experience. A certain healthy impulse came to the majority of our churches as the result of the startling innovations and the deep bestirring of common religious life. But through- out the movement there were many ministers and churches con- strained to discountenance the work. They used various means to stem the current of emotionalism and sought faithfully to save the people from the anticipated shipwreck of faith.
Mr. Hobart expressed his mind on the subject in a letter to his flock. At the time of writing he was ill.
"Dear Brethren "-he writes-"Since it has pleased God to appoint me a watchman in this place, it is my duty in sight of danger to give warning and since I am under confinement, I am obliged to take this way of doing it. It is probable that we may in a short time have Mr. Davenport among us. He will, I expect, preach here as he has done in other places. For my part I should rejoice to see a more serious and deep concern about the salvation of your souls than I have ever observed among you. But I do not think his preaching will be a means of promoting religion among us. Mr. Davenport's manner of preaching and acting appear to me extremely different from the example of Christ and his apostles, and to have a tendency to destroy rather
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than promote religion. I don't found my judgment on uncer- tain reports, but was myself a witness to his conduct at New Haven the last fall. You have all I suppose, heard that divis- ions and contentions have been the unhappy effects of his preach- ing in many places. As I cannot therefore, countenance or encourage his preaching here, I must advise you not to attend upon him if he comes. I would particularly caution you against attending unseasonable night meetings to the preventing the worship of God in your families and in your closets. But then on the other hand, I would earnestly advise you to beware of. engaging in disputes and controversies among yourselves, know- ing that the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. I shall think you more in God's way and more likely to obtain His blessing when you peaceably and diligently follow the busi- ness of your particular calling than when running after and dis- puting about Mr. Davenport. I conclude with earnest prayers that God will appear either to hinder his coming or prevent such consequences attending it among us as have in many other places; and if after all you shall attend his preaching, and the consequences of it shall prove destructive to the peace of this place and the interests of religion among us, it will be some sat- isfaction to me, to remember that I gave you warning of the danger and endeavored to prevent it."
The church was back of Mr. Hobart in this desire to culti- vate religious life according to the accepted ways of the fathers. Not that a soulless conservatism prevailed. Mr. Hobart was scholar and preacher alive to the conditions and demands of his day. The church had done and was doing an aggressive and laudable work during his ministry-proving itself a very strong- hold of faith according to the standards of the Established Re- ligion. But the course pursued by Mr. Davenport and other itinerant preachers was doing much to demoralize the colony and discredit the faith.
The Legislature became so aroused to the necessities of the
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case that the members passed a law in May 1742, to the effect that ministers should not preach outside their own parishes except on invitation of the properly constituted authority. Mr. Noyes of New Haven refused his pulpit both to Mr. Whitfield and Mr. Davenport, as did many staunch, worthy men.
For such a course and because these men and their brethren disapproved of the "New Light " methods, the itinerant evan- gelists said many severe things concerning the pastors of the churches. "Their Light has become Darkness, Darkness that may be felt, " was the current speech of Whitefield.
When the revivalists called these learned and faithful preach- ers "blind and dead men," "men whom the devil drives into the ministry," ," unconverted men," it was evident that their heat and zeal had driven them beyond the bounds of truth and charity. So strong a feeling of natural resentment prevailed in this parish that Mr. Whitfield was not given the opportunity to conduct a service among our people. He and his associates had offended the sense of right and justice. Not that he failed to preach with wonderful power the gospel of Christ, but that in his unkind judgment and censorious speeches he reflected upon his own consistency and merit, causing many sober, discreet, spiritual followers of the Master to see in him an eloquent but untrustworthy leader.
During this period when Mr. Caner, the strongest worker among the ministers of the Episcopal Separation in the colony, was doing his best work at Fairfield and the divisive agitation between "Old Lights " and "New Lights" waged fiercely in the parish, Mr. Hobart labored to such purpose and the church prospered in such measure that a new meeting-house became a necessity-the third in the history of the parish-one more com- modious and better in every way-a house in keeping with the strength and progress of the church.
The charge that Fairfield stood ready to adopt the Prayer Book and pass bodily into the Church of England, was fully
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answered by the work achieved through the ministry of Mr. Hobart. He baptised more than nine hundred people during his pastorate-their names methodically recorded in the Church Register-witness to the efficiency of his pastoral oversight. Both pastor and people contributed the weight of their influence to the Established Religion-their loyalty tested by numerous conflicts quite varied in character. "The way to meet and van- quish the evils of the times," remarked Mr. Hobart, "is not that of destroying our. Constitution by explaining it in a sense contrary to the very design, and the most strong and determined expression of it ; but that of defending it by Reason and Script- ure, and of acting in comformity to it with steadiness and yet with Prudence, Gentleness and Meekness."
CHAPTER X.
RELIGION AND POLITICS.
THE fierceness of strife reached its culmination during the period of the American Revolution. For good reasons the Church of England people in Fairfield, and in neighboring towns, were generally identified with the Tory element. As the great struggle for liberty approached, the old lines of division assumed a fresh phase of distinctness. There were times when members of the Established Religion, in rare cases, manifested sympathy with the English Parliament and in its unjust and arbitrary pur- poses. It is possible that the following letter to Mr. Hobart, written by an esteemed and influential member of his church might be construed that way. Judge Silliman wrote as follows : " Fairfield 30 Nov. 1763.
Since my return home I am informed that you have notified the communicants that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is to be administered next Sabbath.
You I suppose are not altogether unacquainted with the Late publick conduct of Job Bartram one of the communicants of the church which not only is offensive to me but to many others of the church-viz : in calling upon God to damn all that had any hand in Making the Act of Parliament called a Stamp Act ; and in Libelling in the most ignominious manner, some in most elevated Stations in Civil Authority ; which appears to me to be plain breeches of the third and fifth commands in ye Moral Law and inconsistent with the Christian Character, the consider- ation whereof I commend to you and the brethren of ye Church in ye First Society in Fairfield. I am with much Consideration
Yr affectionate Brother
E. Silliman "
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I do not discover that the patriotic and rash speaking brother, Mr. Job Bartram, was disciplined by the church. I sus- pect that his many sympathetic friends winked at this lapse from virtue and approved the spirit if not the form of his protest against Parliamentary tyranny.
The Stamp Act kindled the flames of hostility in this parish and worked to the further estrangement between the Church of England people and the members of the First Church of Christ.
Mr. Lamson the rector of Trinity wrote to the Home Land: "In a time of anarchy and disloyalty in this country, the professors of the Church of England have in general throughout the Province of New England distinguished themselves by a peaceable submission and quiet deportment. The Missionaries have exerted themselves upon the occasion in exhorting their own congregations and others to peace, and a due submission to authority; by which means we have been exposed to the calumny and insult of the enemies of the Church and State. Some of us have been threatened with having our houses pulled down over our heads, though as yet they have kept themselves, in this part of the country, from acts of open violence."
The tenor of this communication indicates the attitude of the "Episcopal Separation " through the struggle which fol- lowed. The dispassionate reader sees that these men acted in good conscience. They believed that the Church of England, established by law in the Mother Country, was destined to extend its authority and service over the colonies. Any resistance to England imperilled church extension. Independence, which headstrong agitators suggested, signified a possible repudiation of the Church of England or at the least a disheartening set-back to its progress in New England. As these missionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel were " part and par- cel" of the Ecclesiastical Establishment in the Home Country, they necessarily labored with all zeal and faithfulness in uphold- ing the English government.
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RELIGION AND POLITICS
A change in the ministry of the Established Religion in Fairfield occurred at this time. Mr. Hobart passed away full of years and honors. His important work had strengthened mark- edly the church and the churches of the "Standing Order." A man of equal parts, another sagacious, consecrated leader must be found.
It was learned that a son of Dr. Andrew Eliot, the famous pastor of the North Church, Boston, stood high in the es- teem and appreciation of the Harvard brethren. This Andrew Eliot, Jr., was an instructor at Harvard, a man who had already attained considerable reputation, and his mind turned toward a settled pastorate. Invited to visit among our people, he won their hearts and a meeting of the parish was appointed. Mr. Eliot was an ardent patriot. The heart of a loyal Bostonian flamed with passion during these days.
It was of course the desire of our people to extend a unani- mous call to Mr. Eliot, but there were individuals in the parish who did not relish the frank, strong speech of this lover of lib- erty. A strenuous opposition developed so that the meeting adjourned for a week.
When the parish convened on the second occasion Mr. Bib- bins arose and remarked that he had recently had a dream which he would like to relate. "I dreamt that I was carried away and suddenly found myself in Satan's dominion. There seemed to be much confusion in the place. Soon Satan rapped for order and said :
'Fellow devils, to-morrow the men of Fairfield are going to make another effort to elect that young Eliot their minister. I hate him. He never misses a chance to give us hard knocks. What shall we do ?'
' Send some one to stir up a fight,' cried one of the bad spirits.
'Yes, that is a bright idea,' replied Satan, and he started two of them for Fairfield. Then suddenly he shouted to them
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' Come back, come back.' As they drew near he exclaimed,
'You needn't go. I recollect now that Mr. Blank' (the leader of the opposition to Mr. Eliot) 'is on hand. He can do more to get them fighting than a dozen like you.'"
When Mr. Bibbins sat down this leader of the opposition and hater of Mr. Eliot, sprang to his feet, angrily seized his hat, and went stamping down the aisle muttering bitter things about the speaker. The vote was put and Mr. Eliot received an unan- imous election.
If the opposition was based on his plain speech and warm devotion to the cause of the colonies, there resulted simply an intensification of his championship. The fervor and enthusiasm of his idresses upon Liberty, Independence and Patriotism served to fan into white heat the responsive parishioners. And it was congenial company in which the scholarly Boston gentle- man found himself.
The militia in this part of the colony were put in charge of Col. Silliman, (later General Silliman) one of the most active and influential members of the church,
Gen. Silliman served for many years in the office of deacon. The night in which he was taken prisoner-May Ist, 1779-pre- ceded a Lord's Day chosen for the administration of the sacra- ment. The beautiful, antique silver cups and tankards, cared for by Mr. Silliman, had been brightened in preparation for the the service. When the rude enemy surrounding his house, stove in doors and windows that they might make swift and easy ingress, the church silver was standing uncovered in a corner of his bed-room. The good wife hastily flung over it some of the loose garments in the room so that when the British entered the chamber the coveted silver remained undetected, although the house submitted to a thorough ransacking and such valuables as the soldiers found, were taken with them.
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