USA > Connecticut > The story of the Diocese of Connecticut : a new branch of the vine (Espiscopal Church) > Part 24
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These men were convinced that the Episcopal Church had preserved the primitive form of polity, as expounded in Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, the classic defense of the Church of England. The Episcopal organization and Prayer Book appeared to allow
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individual freedom with stability. In comparison with some other groups, the Episcopal Church seemed theologically liberal, holding that salvation is possible for anybody. It was relatively tolerant toward the lighter aspects of life and young men were attracted by the cheerful demeanor of men like Bishop Brownell and Pro- fessor George W. Doane of Trinity College.
Most of the clergy were of the middle class. A few came from wealthy families, like George Burgess, or Gregory T. Bedell, whose father was a prosperous New York merchant. Many con- verts, like Philander Chase or Alexander V. Griswold, were sons of plain farmers. Ministers reared in the Episcopal Church were more likely to be sons of priests, lawyers, or business men. In the nineteenth century there was a tendency toward "clerical families," like the Seaburys, Jarvises, Foggs, and Beardsleys. A son and a grandson of Bishop Jarvis were priests.
The clergy's social position was one of honor and respect, although in many communities Puritan dislike of the Episcopal Church was reflected upon her ministers. Many rectors of im- portant parishes were leaders in social causes, especially education and philanthropy. Evangelicals even participated in inter- denominational enterprises, such as Bible societies, missions, and the temperance and anti-slavery movements. Some High Church priests shunned "worldly" activities, and a few carried their attitude to extremes. The Rev. Harry Croswell of New Haven is said to have refused to vote or to attend any non-religious public meeting.
Social opinion insisted that the clergy should be married, and clerical celibacy was even suspiciously regarded as "Romish." Most of the clergy married soon after ordination, and generally raised large families. Widowers usually married again, and even third marriages were not rare. It has been suggested that the motive was to make sure of a nurse in old age.
Social life was expected to be sober, even though the Episcopal Church did not condemn such amusements as cards and dancing. A parson of sporty or frivolous manners would not have been tolerated. Very few priests over-stepped the bounds of seemly behavior, and degradations for improper conduct were rare. A dubious character like Ammi Rogers became almost legendary be- cause he was so exceptional.
Once ordained, a man could be deposed from the ministry
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only by a formal trial. Generally he was settled in a parish shortly after his ordination as a deacon, and his tenure was considered to be permanent. The canons forbade his resignation without the vestry's consent. He could not be dismissed by them without an appeal to the bishop, who after consulting the clergy might rec- ommend a separation in case of irreconcilable disagreement. The rector was supposed to be reasonably secure against any arbitrary actions of his parishioners.
SALARIES AND TENURE
The parson was not always economically secure. Throughout the nineteenth century salaries varied widely, and did not always give a comfortable living. There were few endowed parishes, and salaries came from rather uncertain pew rents and contributions. In the early 1800's even a city church might pay only four or five hundred dollars, and many rectors of small parishes farmed their glebes or taught private schools. Rectories were rent free, and parishioners would make many gifts to a popular rector, without either party even thinking of charity.
As the years wore on, the Diocese began to worry about frequent resignations and short pastorates, which were due largely to low salaries. In 1829 the Episcopal Watchman complained that the evil was increasing and injuring the Church. After the Civil War the problem became painfully acute, because of a steady in- crease of urbanism and living costs. The parson formerly farmed and received part of his wages in provisions or firewood. But he had now become a salaried professional man, alienated from the soil. By the 1880's his plight often bordered upon "apostolic poverty."
The worried Diocesan Convention of 1884 instructed a committee to investigate salaries and tenure and suggest a plan for improvement. The report was very incomplete because many parishes resented "intrusion," but it revealed a shocking situation. Three quarters of the responding clergy received less than fifteen hundred dollars a year, and the average pastorate was about five and one half years. Many suffered real personal privations and felt frustrated in their work.
Aroused at last, the Convention kept a committee at work until it produced remedial suggestions. The report, in 1894, bluntly
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stated that there was no practical episcopal authority over appoint- ment or removal. No law regulated tenure, and there was no pro- vision for retirement. Too many priests had sunk into "a hopeless and dependent old age."12 Although the Convention probably was startled by the committee's sweeping proposals, the Diocese has since adopted them: no establishment of a parish unable to support itself, no ordination of physically or mentally unfit men, compulsory retirement of incapacitated pastors, a required minimum salary, adequate pensions, and diocesan aid for underpaid priests.
The committee's challenge opened a continual battle to keep salaries abreast of the steadily rising cost of living. Bishop Brewster attacked the thorny problem in 1907, pointing out that salaries were much lower than in neighboring dioceses. The clergy, he said, would "work uncomplainingly, cheerfully, bravely. They seldom say a word of it even to me. But I see and I know."13 Should the rector receive no increase because he would not strike? Why adorn churches with carved wood and stone and polished brass, and let the clergy become expert in "the art of being poor"? Within a year, raises had come in spite of economic depression. In 1909 the Committee on Better Support began to collect sub- scriptions to augment small salaries. Mere shame inspired the effort to make impossible the situation of a certain pastor with three children. He gave up his vacation for secular employment to keep out of debt, and was strongly tempted to leave the ministry.
The steep rise in prices during World War I inspired one rector to write, "Everything has risen except air, sunshine, and the clergyman's stipend."14 In 1918 the Convention required twelve hundred dollars and a rectory as the minimum for a married priest, and one thousand for the unmarried. Improvement came slowly, even in the prosperous 1920's. The depression of the 1930's brought anguished protests from Bishops Acheson and Budlong against salary cuts, and calling pastors at less than a living wage because they had private means. The laity responded nobly. By 1937 most reduced salaries had been restored, and Bishop Budlong reminded lagging parishes that "No clergyman can do good work when he is embarrassed in meeting tradesmen on the street or elsewhere be- cause he has been unable to pay his bills on account of delays in receiving his salary."15
World War II drove prices to unprecedented heights, but
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also brought full employment, increased wages and salaries, and more generous giving. After Bishop Brewster's pension ceased, the episcopal assessment on parishes was reduced and the Diocese turned the saving into higher salaries. Increases were frequent, and Bishop Budlong urged still more to keep the clergy in Con- necticut and meet the increasing demand for pastors. By 1945 eighty-five per cent of the salaries had been raised, many within a year. Since that time the general trend has been upward to meet increased living costs.
PENSIONS
As early as 1821 the Diocese thought of providing for aged and infirm clergy and their widows and orphans. In 1828 the Episcopal Watchman pointed to the good example of the Metho- dists. However, there was no official action until 1846, when the Convention adopted a canon requiring every parish to contribute annually to a fund. In 1855 the trustees were incorporated as "The Trustees of the Aged and Infirm Clergy and Widows' Fund," and in 1874 the title was amended to include orphans.
This fund was available only to the destitute, and the Diocese still had no provision for pensions. In 1868 a committee drafted a plan to associate parishes for mutual life assurance for clergymen or their families, but the parishes generally rejected it. Twenty- one years later the Convention instructed its delegates to the General Convention to urge the great necessity of adopting a pen- sion system. When General Convention delayed, Bishop Williams advised the Diocese to act alone. In 1895 the Convention unani- mously passed a canon to create the Clergymen's Retiring Fund for priests over sixty-five, to be raised by an annual assessment upon parishes. Four years later the fund was incorporated, and acquired the property of the Fund for Aged and Infirm Clergy. Under the expert guidance of its treasurer, Benjamin R. English, the fund set a standard for the whole Church.
The example was partly an expression of the humanitarian Social Gospel movement led by Bishop Brewster. Connecticut's persistent urging helped to inspire the General Convention of 1913 to create the Church Pension Fund. The plan provided for re- tirement at sixty-five, pensions for widows, and the education of orphans. It was lauded by the secular press as a model.
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The Diocesan Convention of 1914 created a Commission on the Church Pension Fund. They approved the system and re- commended its acceptance, which the Convention formally con- firmed by a canon. The Commission was continued to make ar- rangements with the Fund, and to conduct business with the parishes and missions. In 1916 the Connecticut Churchman pub- lished a series of articles describing the system and appealing for support. Bishop Brewster threw himself heart and soul into the movement, and appointed strong committees of laymen to raise the capital fund. The Convention approved a merger of the two Connecticut funds with the Pension Fund, which continued the existing pensions payable from them. The formal consolidation occurred in 1923. The Commission continued to supervise ad- ministration until 1944, when its duties were transferred to the Executive Council.
By 1921 the new system was working well and the Diocese had risen loyally to its support, sometimes with real effort and sacrifice. Only one parish had flatly refused to pay the assessment. The system makes every layman feel a sense of responsibility for the welfare of the aged, disabled, and helpless. Even during the depression of the 1930's the Diocese maintained a good record, during what Bishop Budlong called "an epidemic of retirement." Knowledge of provision for his old age makes a priest aware that he is considered, and that his education was worthwhile.
RECRUITMENT AND MORALE
The pension system inspired a gradual, steady effort for greater care in selecting ministerial candidates, and particularly in granting testimonials of character and qualifications. Bishop Brew- ster frankly stated that men seeking mere security would not be welcomed. Bishop Acheson called for dedicated leaders of strong character and convictions, who would be successful in any business. Bishop Budlong wanted high-caliber college graduates, who had successfully completed a year in a theological school. Only superior men would receive scholarships and loans, and recommending parishes should offer financial aid. The Church needed men for whom the ministry could be the only acceptable profession. "It is not sufficient that some nice youth thinks that he wants to study for the ministry."16
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The Diocese abandoned its former casual system of postu- lancy, in which many fell by the wayside. It adopted high intel- lectual, spiritual, and physical requirements, which kept the list of candidates short. The policy was bold, considering the serious difficulties of recruiting candidates. These were deplored in 1921, in the report of a committee appointed at the suggestion of Dean Ladd of the Berkeley Divinity School. In 1947 a backward glance over fifty years revealed less than a one-third increase of clergymen, while Church membership had nearly tripled.
In 1922 the Diocese began to present the challenge of min- isterial service to conferences of selected boys. This originated the biennial Conference on the Ministry at Christ Church Cathedral, with addresses on approaching the ministry, preparation, and various aspects of service, and talks by students on seminary life.
The benefits of this approach appeared especially in the 1940's and in the postwar years. Berkeley Divinity School was crowded with superior men, mostly veterans. While they supplied a small portion of the men needed, their high quality compensated for lack of number. In 1949 ten diocesan youths entered seminaries, an unequalled number for one year, and without lowering the standards. The upward trend persisted for some years, and in 1952 eight deacons were ordained - the largest number in many years. A great many candidates were in seminaries or about to enter.
Higher standards have been accompanied by a determined effort to enforce stricter observance of the rules regarding calls to parishes. This includes respect for the bishop's right to pass upon qualifications, to withhold consent, and to grant permission to as- sume office. It protects both the parish and its prospective minister. Another progressive step, promoted especially by Bishop Budlong, is insistence upon improvement of rectories, which too often de- teriorated during the years of depression and war.
Another continuing support of clerical morale is the annual Clergy Conference, a successor of the colonial conventions and the clerical convocations. After Convocation lapsed, the clergy gen- erally met only in the archdeaconries and at the Diocesan Con- vention. The recent tendency has been to increase the number of clerical gatherings, including a pre-Lenten quiet day at Christ Church Cathedral, so popular that even stormy weather has not dis- couraged good attendance.
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In the 1920's Bishops Brewster and Acheson inaugurated autumn clergy conferences at the Choate School in Wallingford, or at Trinity College. Inspiration and unity have been found in the two or three-day program of devotion, meditation, and addresses. The spirit was once succinctly described by Bishop Acheson: "No business, no findings, no resolutions, but just exchange of ideas, free inquiry, and I am glad to say that this does not mean foolish talking which is not convenient."17 The fellowship and meeting of minds encourage a corporate spirit similar to that of the early Connecticut clergy.
EDUCATION
Until well into the 1800's, most clergymen began their edu- cation at home. They prepared for college with a local minister, who enlarged his small income by conducting a school. Bishop Jarvis read at home "by the light of a pitch pine knot," and Bishop Griswold studied with his learned uncle, the Rev. Roger Viets of Simsbury. Later some candidates prepared for college in secondary schools like the Episcopal Academy.
New Englanders expected their ministers to be college graduates. Their ideal of higher education, especially at Yale, followed that of Cambridge University, the alma mater of many Puritan founding fathers. Although the arts and "worldly" phil- osophy were not neglected, the ancient learned languages (including even Hebrew) were the cornerstones. All classes studied standard works and attended lectures in divinity, and were constantly drilled in Biblical learning.
Whenever he could, the candidate lingered at his college for a post-graduate course in theology. Many could not afford that luxury and returned to study under the parental roof, with help from the rector. He opened the treasures of his library, and guided them by the example of his own preaching and pastoral practice. Some ministers made their homes private theological schools, with a regular plan of study.
The advantage of this custom was the close and sympathetic association. The teacher was like a second father, and often be- came a life-long and revered friend. But the teacher was also a busy parish minister who could devote only part of his time to students. Another drawback was the lack of scholarships, which
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compelled poorer candidates to support themselves, usually by teaching. The painfully frequent result was impaired health.
The old New England standard of theological education was set by the Puritan minister and scholar, Cotton Mather of Boston, in his Manductio ad Ministerium (Guide to the Ministry). The candidate was required to read the Greek New Testament and the works of Latin and Greek theologians. Hebrew was desirable; some of the Episcopal clergy knew it, and Doctor Johnson com- piled a Hebrew grammar. Church history was considered abso- lutely essential. The usual course also comprised metaphysics, natural philosophy (general science), astronomy, logic, mathematics to develop reasoning power, Christian ethics, music, poetry, rhetoric, and the composition of sermons. Mather advised students to develop a "system of divinity," and Doctor Johnson composed one at Yale. In his student days the favored introductions to theology were those of the Calvinist professors, Wollebius and William Ames. Before their conversion some of the early Episcopal clergy had studied these, together with Ames's Cases of Conscience, a guide to moral theology.
The early Episcopal clergy and their pupils lived in an age of rationalist attacks upon traditional Christian theology and re- vealed religion. The more learned parsons counteracted the assault by gathering in their libraries the standard apologies for faith written by Anglican and other divines and philosophers. Men of the caliber of Samuel Johnson and John Beach knew John Locke's defense of the reasonableness of revelation. They studied Samuel Clarke's Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God, which was read by ministerial candidates. With caution they perused William Wollaston's less orthodox Religion of Nature Delineated, which based the analogy between truth and morality on reason.
If the young candidate was assailed by the appeals of Deistic, natural religion, his teacher found an armory of arguments in William Law's The Case of Reason, or Natural Religion Fully Stated, John Leland's View of the Deistical Writers, or Charles Leslie's A Short and Easie Method with the Deists. Bishop Joseph Butler's Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the Con- stitution and Course of Nature, was a comprehensive defense of theistic belief, citing conscience as evidence of the moral govern- ment of God. Attacks upon prophecy were counteracted by Bishop
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Thomas Sherlock's Six Discourses on Prophecy, and Bishop Thomas Newton's Dissertations on the Prophecies.
Private study did not provide enough well-trained clergy- men even in colonial times. It became hopelessly inadequate in the rapidly growing new nation. By 1815 the older churches had be- gun to found seminaries, and in 1817 the Episcopal General Con- vention established the General Theological Seminary. Connecticut Episcopalians were disappointed by its removal in 1822 from New Haven to New York, but they were urged by the Churchman's Magazine to support the campaign to endow a Connecticut Sea- bury Professorship.
It soon became obvious that many promising candidates would never hear the professor, without help in paying the expenses of their education. At the request of Bishop Brownell, the Diocesan Convention in 1827 formed itself into the Church Scholarship Society, with the Bishop as president. By the efforts of auxiliary societies, membership fees, gifts, and parish collections, the Society eventually raised a large endowment. At first the aid was restricted to students at Washington (Trinity) College, but later it was ex- tended to other schools.
The Society has helped hundreds on their way to the priest- hood, especially at Trinity College and the Berkeley Divinity School. Many could not have continued their studies without its loans, and scholastic records often have been excellent.
Like most such organizations, the "C. S. S." was largely diocesan in its support and benefits. Some Churchmen wanted one with a broader outlook, and in 1859 incorporated the Society for the Increase of the Ministry. The "S. I. M." granted scholarships without expecting repayment unless the beneficiary abandoned preparation for the ministry. Its office is in Hartford, and much of the support comes from Connecticut, but the beneficiaries come from all over the nation. In its first half-century the "S. I. M." helped nearly fourteen hundred men, most of whom took orders. In 1910 they included thirty-eight clerical deputies to the last General Convention, and twenty bishops.
THE BERKELEY DIVINITY SCHOOL
The Diocese expanded so rapidly that the methods adopted to aid candidates were failing to keep pace with the demand for
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clergymen. Bishop Brownell became convinced that the only so- lution would be a diocesan seminary. In 1849 he encouraged the establishment of a theological course in Trinity College. It was an immediate success, and two years later became an academic department. Although some criticized this policy as too exclusive, the Convention heartily endorsed plans to establish scholarships and a chair of theology.
The power behind the movement was Bishop John Williams, who possessed a rare gift of interesting parishes in helping students. His contagious enthusiasm persuaded the Diocese to launch a campaign to found a seminary. A large gift for endowment was pledged on the condition of locating the school in Middletown. The General Assembly granted a charter for the Berkeley Divinity School in 1854, the centennial of the death of Bishop George Berkeley of Cloyne, patron of learning in colonial Connecticut.
A SCHOOL OF THE PROPHETS
Bishop Williams became the dean, and happily moved to Middletown to consecrate his remaining forty-five years to the work he loved. Eight years after his death (1899) the seminary was empowered to confer theological degrees, as he would have wished.
The school opened with evensong in Holy Trinity Church, on October 2, 1854. Classes appropriately began in the recently purchased Jarvis House, formerly the home of the scholar, Samuel Farmar Jarvis. One room served as an oratory for daily prayers until the Gothic brownstone chapel of St. Luke was consecrated in 1861, in memory of Middletown's beloved physician, Doctor Thomas Dent Mutter, who died in 1859. Bishop Williams lived in the Jarvis House, which his admiring students called "The Palace." He met them in his book-lined study and imbued them with an intelligently conservative theology, which they carried throughout the nation. This tradition has been kept vital by the succeeding Deans: John Binney, 1899-1908; Samuel Hart, 1908-1917; William Palmer Ladd, 1918-1941; Lawrence Rose, 1942-1947; Percy Urban, 1947-1957; and Richard H. Wilmer, Jr., 1959 -.
Until recent times, Berkeley was a small school, cherishing the intimate family association between student and teacher, which was its distinctive characteristic under Bishop Williams. The in- tense loyalty and unity of the alumni gave them influence far out of
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proportion to their number, and they became prominent especially in Western missions, and in the founding of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California.
Success depended upon thorough teaching by a devoted faculty, for Berkeley was modestly equipped and never wealthy. The endowment always was less than adequate, for there were many other demands upon the generosity of Connecticut Church- men. Years were required to raise the one hundred thousand dollars requested by the Diocesan Convention in the 1870's. The iron-willed courage and devotion of Bishops Williams and Brewster were Berkeley's salvation.
A golden opportunity arrived with the acute shortage of clergy during World War I. It was fully exploited by Dean Ladd, a true and noble scholar imbued with the passions of learning and the Social Gospel. Bishop Brewster helped by his eloquent phrasing of Berkeley's ideal of service to the whole Church. A special com- mittee presented its needs to the Diocesc, through annual appeals for funds and many addresses by diocesan priests and faculty members.
A new era opened with Dean Ladd's inspired summer school of theology, organized by the deans of the Eastern Sem- inaries, and begun in 1919 for men who had served in the nation's defense. Its success surpassed all expectation, and the sixty stu- dents included forty-five veterans. The next progressive step was a summer "School of Inquiry" for women, in 1923-1925. The Dean invited eminent English teachers to lecture, and sent students into the parishes to describe their experiences in training for the ministry.
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