USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Fairfield > The First Church of Fairfield : being a brief account of three hundred and twenty three years in the First Church, Congregational, of Fairfield, Connecticut > Part 2
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The spirit of religious friction reached a culmination during the period of the American revolution. It was due to the fact that many Church of England members identified themselves with Tory senti- ments. No doubt that was true for most of New England. As the struggle for liberty became more tense, the lines of division became sharper. Some of the Episcopal church members defended various acts of Parliament such as the Stamp Act.
This Act of Parliament kindled the flames of antagonism between the Church of England members and those of the First Church. Both sides were following the guidance of the conscience. Both felt deeply that they were in the right. The Church of England members felt a strong bond with the mother country. They felt that political re- sistance might endanger the welfare of religion in the colonies. They felt that the call for independence somehow cast a reflection upon the Episcopal churches in the old country: This was especially true of the Episcopal missionaries carrying on evangelistic activities in the colo- nies. Their primary loyalty was to England.
When Mr. Hobart passed away it became necessary for the church members to look for a suitable successor. They learned of a Harvard instructor named Andrew Eliot Jr. who was the son of the pastor of the North Church in Boston. When Mr. Eliot visited Fairfield he received a warm reception. The church members were glad to note that Mr. Eliot was an ardent patriot, as were so many of the citizens of Boston.
It was the desire of the church to give Mr. Eliot a unanimous call to become their minister. This was prevented, however, by one of the church members who did not relish Mr. Eliot's political views on be- half of liberty. Hence the church meeting was postponed for a week.
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When the parish members held the adjourned meeting, one mem- ber arose and told of a dream he had had the night before. In the dream the leader of the opposition to Mr. Eliot was pictured as doing the work of Satan. When the member finished telling about his dream, the leader of the opposition stamped out of the room in an angry mood and Mr. Eliot received a unanimous call,
On beginning his pastorate the leadership of Mr. Eliot met with a warm response. One of the members, Col. Silliman, was in charge of the local militia. He later became a General in the Revolutionary army. He also served in the office of deacon.
The night in which he was taken prisoner, May first, 1779, he was preparing for the Communion Service in the church on the following day. The silver cups and tankards had been carefully polished. When the enemy broke into the house the church silver was standing in a corner of the bedroom. Mrs. Silliman quickly covered it with loose garments so that when the British entered the room they did not see the silver objects, although other valuables were removed by the soldiers.
Another leading figure in both the church and the state at that time was Thaddeus Burr, High Sheriff, Deputy, and a member of the Governor's Council. He contributed in many ways toward the advancement of church interests. Among his friends there were many prominent scholars, artists, statesmen and clergymen. Among those visiting in his Fairfield home from time to time were the artist Copley, members of the Adams family, Quincys, Hancocks, George Wash- ington, Lafayette, Benjamin Franklin and Trumbull.
Still another leader in the church in those days was Jonathan Sturges, secretary for the Sons of Liberty in Connecticut. He was a member of various town committees, a member of Congress and a Judge of the Superior Court. Along with Col. Silliman, Andrew Rowland, Job Bartram and Thaddeus Burr, he represented the town at a County Congress which met to discuss the issue of independence. Mr. Sturges was sitting on Mr. Burr's porch when a messenger brought the letter telling of the Battle of Lexington.
Thus many members of the Fairfield church were deeply com- mitted to the cause of independence. Pastor and people worked together in sympathetic cooperation. The church life was largely merged with the political issues that commanded the attention of the community. There were sermons on taxation and other sermons on the rights of man. People talked about politics in the homes, on the
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streets and at the church meetings.
It is not surprising that the cleavage between the Fairfield Church members and those loyal to the Church of England became sharper. Feelings ran high. The loyalists were given encouragement by the Episcopal missionaries. There was increasing bitterness between the First Church and the members of Trinity Church.
A day came when Mr. Sayre, the rector of Trinity Church was forbidden to pray for the king of England. This meant a change in the form of worship as found in the Prayer Book. In fact Mr. Sayre wrote apologetically to the church authorities in London, explaining his failure to be faithful to the Prayer Book. It was the view of the patriots that the followers of Mr. Sayre were aiding the British. In fact, at one time, Mr. Sayre was removed from Fairfield and taken into the interior. When allowed to return, his freedom of movement was circumscribed.
The burning of Fairfield by the British on July 7th, 1779 marked a turning point in town history. There was desolation on all sides. The Meeting-House, the Church of England Building, the Court House, the Prison and other public buildings were in ashes. At the moment it occurred many of the male residents were away in the armed forces. It was a terrible blow to the people of Fairfield but they faced up to the crisis with great heroism. Many of the citizens were reduced to poverty and it took years for the town to recover.
Three days after the fire, the church members met for church services at the home of Deacon Bulkley. Mr. Eliot's sermon on that occasion was preserved and placed in the corner stone of a later church building. The sermon was a victorious expression of faith and hope for the future. For over a year church services continued to be held in various homes of the church members. When the new town-house was built the church members held services there until the new Meeting-House was ready for use.
As the result of the fire, the town of Fairfield lost some of its former prestige. A certain amount of town business was diverted to Newfield. Mr. Sayre himself had left Fairfield and sailed away with the British forces. It looked for a while as though the Episcopal influences in Fairfield were at an end.
When Mr. Eliot first came to Fairfield as the new pastor it was not in any controversial spirit as regards the Church of England. With the ending of the war, the political issues were settled for the time being. Mr. Eliot was quite free from any mood of partisanship. Bishop
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Congregational Church, fairfield, Conn. Built 1747. Burned by the British 1779.
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Seabury took note of the mood of conciliation when he spoke to the primary Convention of Episcopal churches in Middletown.
Trinity Church in Fairfield was continuing to maintain a rather precarious existence during these turbulent days. Mr. Sayre had de- parted along with other loyalists and their building was burned. But there were a few of their members remaining in Fairfield. In 1790 Jonathan Sturges and Thaddeus Burr, members of the Prime Ancient Society, were delegated to drive a stake on Mill Plain where the members of Trinity Church might erect a new edifice. This act ushered in a new spirit of friendly cooperation between the members of the two churches.
The new mood of tolerance was also apparent in Hartford among the political authorities. The so-called Separatists became a more active influence in Connecticut. Baptists and Methodists began to increase in numbers. The desire to establish a separation between church and state became a lively issue. From 1650, when the Funda- mental Orders had been established, there had been a close bond between church and state in Connecticut. It was now the feeling that churches should be free from all political interference.
As Lyman Beecher later commented, "When all the churches in Connecticut stood on an equal footing in the eyes of the law many brethren of the Establishment felt that religion had received a shock from which it might never recover. For several days I myself suffered greatly because of the best thing that ever happened to Connecticut. It cut the churches loose from dependence on state support. It threw them wholly on their own resources and on God."
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Chapter Two THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Throughout its history the Fairfield Church has been actively iden- tified with important movements in the religious life of Connecticut. It upheld the Fundamental Orders of 1650, as also the Principles of the Cambridge Synod. It favored the Saybrook Platform of 1708. It opposed the Separationists. It was rather skeptical of the emotional outbursts of the "New Lights." It was opposed to the encroachments of the Episcopal missionaries from England. And the members entered wholeheartedly into the struggle for liberty in 1775.
In a similar manner the church members took an active interest in the various reform movements of the early nineteenth century. Before Timothy Dwight became the President of Yale College he and Mr. Eliot had been close friends and continued in that relationship. The influence of Dr. Dwight was widely felt in Fairfield where he main- tained his school in Greenfield Hill.
When Mr. Humphrey began his ministry in the Fairfield church he quickly revealed his opposition to the old Half-way Covenant. Under his leadership the church members voted that Christian ex- perience was necessary before admission into church membership. As a result Mr. Humphrey removed from the rolls those members who had little interest in the religious life of the church.
Those whose names were removed from the roll were asked to take six months for self-examination after which they could enter into full communion with the church if they so desired and could assent to the new Confession of Faith recently adopted. If they declined to take such a step it was understood that they had voluntarily with- drawn from all connection with the church and were in the same status as those who had never "owned the Covenant."
The result was that the church roll was reduced until only those remained as church members who made a public confession of Christ. However, Mr. Humphrey was a man with great evangelistic zeal. He proceeded at once to arouse new interest and bring new members into the church. In such a manner the Fairfield church came to have a real part in what was later called by the historians "The Second Great Awakening.'
The Second Awakening was largely sparked by the effort to over- come the spiritual lethargy which had followed the American Revo- lution. Under the influence of the Awakening various reform move-
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ments took root. One reform measure was the Temperance Movement which began about this time. Drunkenness had developed to an alarming extent. The public conscience was beginning to be aroused.
Mr. Humphrey was a member of a committee, appointed by the Fairfield Consociation, to present a report on the Temperance issue. In 1813 he began to write a series of articles on the subject. It was as though the Fairfield church, through its minister, now became a temperance society, working in the town and county.
In his temperance efforts Mr. Humphrey had the hearty support of Judge Roger Sherman who was a nephew of the Roger Sherman who had signed the Declaration of Independence. Judge Sherman was a deacon of the church and a man of intellectual vigor. He had become a total abstainer and encouraged others likewise to accept the "teetotaler's creed."
Mr. Humphrey was the first pastor of the church who did not die in Fairfield during his pastorate. His leadership in the Temperance Movement opened for him larger fields of service so that he resigned from his pastorate in order to accept service elsewhere. When his successor, Mr. Hewit, assumed his pastoral duties, he announced at once to his parishioners that they need not expect him to join with them in taking a social glass.
In those days it had been the custom at ordination services to fur- nish a liberal supply of intoxicating drinks. It was also the custom to give the minister a glass of toddy when he made his pastoral calls. Hence a series of calls might become the occasion for a number of glasses. Mr. Humphrey's example helped the parishioners to put limits on their social drinking.
Dr. Hewit was an eloquent speaker with a deep musical voice. He had a vigorous physique and a well-stored mind. Through his leader- ship the Fairfield church maintained a prominent place in the Tem- perance Movement, which had started under the ministry of Mr. Humphrey.
Furthermore Dr. Hewit was a man of conservative theological views. Like Judge Sherman he stood squarely for the orthodox faith of early New England. He proclaimed the gospel in terms of the ancient symbols. It was said that because of his strict orthodoxy, his own son Augustus broke away from the family faith and became the spiritual head of the Paulist Fathers. Dr. Hewit was in sympathy with the organizing of a new Theological Seminary of Orthodox views at East Windsor in 1833. For a number of years he served as a trustee.
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East view of the Court House, Church and Jail, Fairfield.
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In later years this new school became Hartford Theological Seminary.
It was necessary for Dr. Hewit to have a good deal of courage in his preaching inasmuch as many of his parishioners were lawyers and others who were well educated and in sympathy with some of the new interpretations of truth. He had to have courage to uphold his temperance views in view of the fact that many of his church members enjoyed a social glass.
His espousal of the temperance cause attracted the attention of the leaders of the American Temperance Society. They persuaded him to take a leave of absence from his pulpit so that he could help organize temperance societies in other places. He was so successful in this endeavor that he was prevailed upon to resign his pastorate and devote all his time to the work of the Temperance Society. This he did, entering upon his work of lecturing and preaching on behalf of temperance. In the words of Dr. Atwater, "What Luther was to the Reformation, Whitfield to the Revival of 1740, Wesley to Meth- odism, Nathaniel Hewit was to the temperance reformation."
It was also during this period that the Sunday School became an important branch of church work. Much could be written about the development of Sunday Schools in the early part of the Nineteenth Century. Later on missionary societies appeared in various churches, following upon the organization of national societies like the Ameri- can Board. The weekly prayer meeting took root in the various homes of the parish. Some of these prayer meetings developed into charitable societies with the aim of giving a helping hand to those who were afflicted by misfortune.
When the sessions of the county court were no longer held in Fair- field the community gradually assumed a more quiet and settled way of life. It was no longer a port for ships or the capital of the county. Moreover the Fairfield church had encouraged its members living at a distance to establish other churches more convenient to their resi- dence. The church in Southport was established in 1843 and the church in Black Rock in 1848. These departures, however, did not discourage the mother church from continuing its evangelistic out- reach.
It was during the pastorate of Dr. Atwater that a new church building was erected in 1849. Eighty-two individuals subscribed a total of $8015 in 1848 to build a new house of worship. Ten years later twenty-three people, with the help of the Ladies Society, raised $1650 to add a Lecture Room to the church.
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This new edifice was the most expensive and ornate building yet to occupy the historic site. It also was the first church building to be financed entirely by voluntary subscriptions. The former church buildings had been financed largely by taxation.
During his pastorate Dr. Atwater took an active interest in the theological controversies of his day. He was a born controversialist and loved to take part in debate. Dr. Child suggests that the Fairfield church deliberately chose him as their minister because he reflected their own theological views.
Be that as it may, it was in the Fairfield parsonage that the Fairfield West Association of ministers met on January 8th 1850 to discuss a recent book by Horace Bushnell of Hartford entitled, "God in Christ." Dr. Atwater was appointed a member of a committee which was asked to make a detailed report at a following meeting.
At the later meeting a remonstrance was adopted and forwarded to the Moderator of the Hartford Central Association of which Dr. Bushnell was a member. The reply came back from Hartford and was read at a meeting of the Fairfield West Association on May 27th, 1851. The answer was referred to a committee of which Dr. Atwater was a member. The report of this committee was published and circulated among the Congregational ministers of Connecticut. Still later a Memorial was addressed to the General Association of Connecticut Ministers.
The fear of Dr. Atwater and others who held his views was that the Congregational churches in Connecticut might come to a division such as occurred in Massachusetts in connection with the Unitarian Secession. Looking at it a hundred years later, their fears seem to be groundless. But they seemed very real at that time to both Dr. Atwater and Dr. Hewit. It was because of his strong theological views that Dr. Atwater felt impelled to take issue with such eminent church leaders as Horace Bushnell of Hartford and Leonard Bacon of New Haven. Needless to say the "New Theology" did not find many adherents among the Fairfield church members.
One active church leader during Dr. Atwater's pastorate was Thomas Burr Osborne. He was Judge of Probate, Judge of the Superior Court and a member of Congress for two terms. He was thoroughly in sympathy with the theological views of Dr. Atwater. Hence it is not surprising that the views of men like Dr. Atwater, Judge Osborne and Judge Sherman found ready acceptance among the members of the Fairfield church. It is worth noting in passing
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that the three pastors who followed Dr. Atwater were also men of similar theological views, namely Willis Lord, Alexander McLean and Edward Rankin.
During the middle years of the nineteenth century the ecclesiastical structure of the Connecticut Congregational churches passed through substantial changes. In October 1875 a report was prepared for the Fairfield West Consociation urging that a new constitution be adopted. This suggestion met opposition from some of the dele- gates, including Dr. Rankin. They felt that the old system had worked well, giving the Consociation certain powers over the local churches. It was their desire that this authority be continued. It was. substantially a system of ecclesiastical oversight.
However new views had come to prevail among the Connecticut Congregational churches. Gradually the Consociation had ceased to exert much influence over its member churches. It had largely become an organization for giving counsel and advice, in such matters as ordination, installation and the dismissal of pastors. Such a change was in the spirit of the times. However, the example of Connecticut during the preceding two centuries had left a mark upon the Con- gregational churches of the nation. The churches of Connecticut had remained in close fellowship during many periods of upheaval and tension.
During the early years of the Fairfield church, subscription to a creed was expected of those who entered into full church member- ship. Down through the years, the church creed was altered, as seemed best to the membership. The Church Covenant also was modified from time to time. The requirement of accepting the church creed before membership, however, was finally dropped in the year 1895. Since that time candidates for membership have been accepted on the understanding of their having had a Christian experience. Or as young people, they have passed through a period of preparation and been members of the Sunday School.
It is well to mention the fact that during its three centuries of history the Fairfield church has been free from divisions or schism. To quote the words of Dr. Atwater: "This church and Society, through their entire existence, have been blessed with peace and free from internal dissensions."
This is indeed a tribute to the Christian qualities of the church membership. It is a notable example of conciliation and team work. There is no record of any split in the Fairfield parish, in spite of the
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tremendous crises through which the nation passed. The Consociation was never asked to heal any breach or adjust any discord in Fairfield. On the other hand, the members of the Fairfield church more than once were asked to help in settling difficulties in other parishes.
In the early days it was the custom to elect deacons for life. That custom was abrogated in 1899 when it was decided to elect deacons for a term of years, a custom which has endured to the present time.
Dr. Child gives a brief historical summary of the musical aspects of the Sunday morning worship services. In the earliest times the Psalm Book was used, much later to be replaced by hymn books. Various church members, like John Gold or Samuel Gold, helped in setting and reading the psalms. Later this task was undertaken by singing teachers with their pitch pipes or tuning forks.
Still later the bass viol and violin came into use, helping with the church music. Then appeared the melodeon with part singing. Finally came the pipe organ which gave rise to the volunteer choir or quartet. These changes have taken place through the years without any par- ticular difficulties although it is said that church music can, at times, create misunderstandings in a church.
In a similar manner the "Order of Service" has received modifica- tions through the years. An early custom was to summon the people to worship at nine o'clock with the help of a drum, a horn or a signal gun. It was quite an innovation when the first bell was hung in the church steeple over two hundred years ago.
In the early years the "Order of Service" was quite simple. The people stood for a long prayer. The music leader lined out the psalm which was sometimes sung without special rhythm or harmony. There was the reading of the scripture, with comments by the pastor. There followed a second psalm, and the sermon completed the service. The hour glass was usually turned once or even twice by a deacon, indi- cating that the services usually lasted between two and three hours in length.
As time passed the service was modified by shorter prayers and shorter sermons. The music was improved with the introduction of anthems, usually sung by choirs.
In the late nineteenth century there developed an increasing em- phasis on liturgical matters. There was an effort to have more dignity in the morning service and less informality. Ancient hymns appeared in modern hymn books. There was an increasing emphasis upon the importance of the worshipful mood in the sanctuary on Sunday
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morning. The use of the organ was enhanced and the psalms came to be read responsively, followed by the Gloria Patri. Thus the "Order of Service" which is used today has come down to us by a natural process of evolution. The enrichment of the "Order of Worship" is related to the desire of the parishioners to have a worshipful mood in the service.
During its long history the Fairfield church has received many gifts from its members, quite a few of them as a memorial to loved ones. In the earliest times such articles became the property of the Society through a vote of the town. It was not until 1849 that a church edifice was erected by volunteer subscriptions.
Preceding 1849 there had been grants of land made to the succes- sive church pastors by the town's people. The first memorial gift made to the church, as recorded in the record book, was money for a silver bowl, given by Rev. Samuel Wakeman in 1692. Capt. Burr was requested to purchase the cup and the amount of three pounds was set aside for the purchase. In 1726 Capt. Joseph Wakeman gave a similar amount for the purchase of a silver goblet for the use of the church. A third cup was given by Jonathan Sturges with the date of 1722 inscribed upon it.
In 1752 a large silver cup was given to the church by Capt. John Silliman, to be turned over to the church following the death of his wife. In 1753 Sturges Lewis presented the church with a silver tank- ard weighing thirty-three ounces. In 1757 a second silver tankard was given to the church by Thomas Hill. In 1777 Mrs. E. Wyncoop added another silver goblet to the collection of communion silver. In 1780 Dr. Nathaniel Lothrop of Plymouth gave the church a beautiful silver bowl in memory of his wife who was a daughter of a former minister, Rev. Noah Hobart.
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