USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > Two hundred fifty years, the story of the United Congregational Church of Bridgeport, 1695-1945 > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10
Dr. Day arrived in Bridgeport full of enthusiasm for the new opportunity and eager for the erection of the new edi- fice. A building fund of a hundred thousand dollars was promptly raised, and it seemed that the work would pro- ceed rapidly. But in April, only two months after his ar- rival, war was declared and all thought of immediate
120
TWO HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS
building had to be abandoned. "We had no idea," Dr. Day said once, "that we should have to serve longer than Jacob for Rachel before we could break ground."
War brought new problems and new calls for service. One hundred twelve from the United Church enlisted in the military forces, several of whom made the supreme sac- rifice. Others were engaged in war work overseas in con- nection with the Y.M.C.A. or the Red Cross, so that the roll of honor embraced a total of one hundred twenty-five names.
Whatever attitude the church may have held toward war at any given period of history, if it has been true to its call- ing it has never failed in its ministry of comfort and strength. As early as 1637, when ninety-two men set out from Hartford to attack the Pequots, Samuel Stone, col- league of Thomas Hooker, accompanied them as chaplain, "to preach and to pray with those who went out," and in every succeeding war the church has followed that early precedent. At the outbreak of the World War Dr. Day was asked by the Y.M.C.A. to go overseas, but he felt that it would be unfair for him to leave the church so soon after the beginning of his ministry here and that he should con- fine himself to service in this country. He visited military camps and in many other ways helped to strengthen the home morale. In the summer of 1919 he sailed for England and France. Into a few concise words he compressed the story of an arduous and effective service in this country and in Europe: "I was commissioned as chaplain in the State Guard, doing war work up and down the coast for the 'Y,' and finally went overseas on your six months' leave of ab- sence for the 'Y,' and was in Paris for the signing of the treaty of Versailles."
War time demands emphasized the inadequacy of the old church plant, and it was hard to be patient until build- ing should again become possible; but the enforced delay
121
THE CHURCH REUNITED
proved to be the proverbial blessing in disguise. As time passed and the strength of the union seemed assured, the feeling increased that to rebuild on the site of the First Church would be an irretrievable mistake. Far too small, surrounded by commercial structures of all kinds, without parking space for the rapidly increasing number of cars, the old location clearly would not meet the modern need. The legal committee worked diligently to obtain permis- sion from the Court to sell, arguing that "The objects manifestly intended by said grantors will be better served by moving the place of worship to another larger and more suitable site"; but the signature of Ezra Hubbell, affixed to a deed in 1805, outweighed in the eyes of the law all the practical considerations of 1920. Finally, after careful thought and full discussion, it was decided to sacrifice the land rather than handicap the church for years to come with an inadequate building in an inappropriate setting.
In the spring of 1924 a lot was purchased on the corner of State Street and Park Avenue, and on the second of De- cember, after seven years of waiting, ground was broken, with appropriate ceremonies, in the presence of a large number of people.
The building committee consisted of Mr. Herman K. Beach, chairman, and the Messrs. James D. Skinner, Willis F. Hobbs, James G. Ludlum, and Wilbur A. Smith. All these men gave faithful and efficient service, but the name of Deacon Wilbur A. Smith deserves especial tribute be- cause of his loving and untiring attention to every detail throughout the entire period of construction.
The chief architect was Mr. Charles Collens, of the firm of Allen and Collens, the architect of the Riverside Church in New York and of the reassembled Cloisters in the same city. It was decided that the building should be of Geor- gian Colonial type, a type which, reaching its perfection in the hands of Christopher Wren, seemed most completely
122
TWO HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS
to express the spirit of the free churches. It should be of brick rather than stone, and characterized by simplicity in- stead of ornateness. It should have a spire, in the true colo- nial tradition, surmounted by a golden ball, symbol of the world, and a double cross which faced the four points of the compass.
Dr. Day was insistent, however, that while carrying out the colonial spirit the church should sacrifice nothing that could contribute to the atmosphere of reverence and wor- ship. The open Bible, he used to say, is the symbol of Prot- estantism, but the cross is the symbol of Christianity; and whatever adds to the atmosphere of worship belongs not to any one church, Protestant or Catholic, but to the Church Universal. Not the pulpit, as in the Puritan tradition, but the communion table should be the center of the service. Hence our stately chancel with the organ and the antipho- nal choir stalls, the memorial windows with their care- fully wrought symbolism, the simple, dignified reredos, the pulpit and lectern on either side, and in the center the carved communion table surmounted by the open Book and the golden cross. Fashioned to correspond, is the beau- tiful minister's stall, recently given by Mrs. Day in loving memory of her husband. The church itself, with its vaulted ceiling, its symbolic carvings, its memorial tablets and inscriptions, carries out the effect of simple dignity and impressive worshipfulness. Adjoining is the Howland Memorial Chapel with its simpler but dignified chancel and its Hammond organ, the gift of later years.
On Sunday afternoon, May 10, 1925, the corner-stone was laid in the presence of a large assemblage. A proces- sion consisting of local and visiting clergymen, committee members, and other prominent laymen moved solemnly down Park Avenue, preceded by the junior and senior choirs and the flags of the nation, the state, and the church. The church flag was borne by three boys, Edward Blodget
THE BAPTISMAL FONT
123
THE CHURCH REUNITED
Hincks, John Lasher, and Morris Beardsley Canning, who represented respectively the First Church, the Second Church, and the Founders. From the highest part of the construction, where later the steeple was to rise, the Gloria Trumpeters of Brooklyn trumpeted forth their inspiring music.
"The documents and other articles to be preserved in the Corner-Stone were deposited by Herman K. Beach. After the blessing of the Corner-Stone by the Pastors . . . the stone was brought into position and the Minister and Senior Deacons, assisted by the builders, fitted it into place, striking the stone three times with the trowel, saying, 'In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, we lay this Corner-Stone of the house to be erected here, to be dedicated to the worship of Almighty God, to the spread of the Gospel of Christ, and to the service of hu- manity.' "*
On February 14, 1926, the last gathering was held in the old South Church. It was an impressive service. The Boy Scouts and the newly organized Pastor's Training Class participated in the processional. Dr. Swain preached on the topic, "My cup runneth over." At the close a solemn service of deconsecration was held in order that the build- ing might hereafter be used for secular purposes. For many in that congregation there were tender memories of the building which for sixty-six years had been the center of church life, for themselves or their families, and a poign- ant regret at leaving it behind; but all regret was tem- pered by joy that the planning and working of ten long years had finally reached fruition.
For a few Sundays services were held in Pilgrim Hall. On Easter Day the old South Church bell pealed forth its summons from the graceful new tower, and on May six- teenth the congregation met for the first time in the com-
* Grace Lillian West, Our Priceless Heritage.
124
TWO HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS
pleted church. On Sunday, June 13, 1926, the two hun- dred thirty-first anniversary of the gathering of the Church of Christ in Stratfield, the building was formally dedicated "to the love of God and the service of all kinds and condi- tions of men." The keys were presented by Mr. Herman K. Beach, chairman of the building committee, and accepted by Mr. Stanley H. Bullard, chairman of the Society's Com- mittee. Mr. Gallaudet preached the dedication sermon on the topic, "Christ's Church in a New Time," and Dr. Swain gave the charge to ministers, office bearers, and people.
It was a far cry from the rude log meeting house of 1695, half a mile up Park Avenue, to this six hundred thousand dollar church and parish house, adequately equipped and attractively furnished. But in the congregation that gathered on that June Sabbath in 1926 the spirit of the Pil- grims was living still, and the building which they had come to dedicate was the embodiment of the same faith though expressed in the symbols of a different age.
With more adequate accommodations, the church could now set itself to the fuller achievement of the purposes for which the union had been effected. One of the immediate needs was the strengthening of the feeling of solidarity and the promotion of greater fellowship within the church group. "To create the atmosphere of simple friendliness in the larger church," Dr. Day said, "to permeate the larger mass with a sense of responsibility for the covenant of wor- ship and service is not easy, but by careful planning and determined effort the handicap of large numbers can be sublimated into an asset." In the accomplishment of this purpose the women have played a large part.
Polly Hawley, in 1813, and the little group who met once a month to sew for the Indians on Golden Hill, after- ward preparing a bountiful supper for their husbands, set an example that was followed through the years. In 1854
125
THE CHURCH REUNITED
the Women's Benevolent Society was organized in the Sec- ond Church, and a similar society must have been formed at least as early in the First Church; for it is recorded in the clerk's report for 1855 that the Ladies' Missionary Society contributed that year $170 to home missions. During Dr. Palmer's pastorate a mission circle had been formed, con- sisting of younger women, and in 1899 the two organiza- tions combined in an organization which was named in Mrs. Palmer's honor, The Mary Barnes Palmer Missionary Society. In the South Church the Wednesday Workers had shown themselves to be a very live group of young women; and in the North Church, in 1909, the Delta Gamma So- ciety was organized by twelve young women meeting in the home of Mrs. William Nothnagle. This group, like the Wednesday Workers, had sewed for charity, had raised money for the church by suppers and lawn parties and by an annual December sale of fancy work and other articles, and had engaged in many other forms of service.
When the churches united, steps were taken to combine these various societies into two larger organizations, a Woman's Missionary Society and a Young Woman's Guild; but later it was deemed advisable to form one gen- eral organization which might be divided into different sections to meet the convenience and interest of various groups. Accordingly the Woman's Guild was formed, with Miss Ethel Sterling (Mrs. Stanley Brown) as the first presi- dent. The women had taken most of the responsibility for furnishing the new parish house, and they prepared the first fellowship dinner in Pilgrim Hall, the forerunner of countless dinners which, on a great variety of occasions, have helped people to know each other better and to work together more effectively. They have studied and worked for missions, both home and foreign; they have made countless dressings for the Bridgeport Hospital and ex- tended their helpfulness in many other ways throughout
126
TWO HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS
the city; they have served the Red Cross and many other organizations in peace and in war. Every woman in the church is considered a member of the Woman's Guild, and to every woman the Guild offers an opportunity for friend- liness and service.
When the churches merged, the combined membership was about a thousand. In Dr. Day's study, where a little group of businessmen were in the habit of meeting once a week at eight o'clock in the morning for prayer and the discussion of church problems, was born the idea of the In- vitation Committee, as an organized effort to increase that membership. It was recognized that there were always new- comers who had no church home, and also old-timers who had never seriously considered the matter of associating themselves with any church. Very likely they had been in- vited to join clubs in the city, but no one had ever said to them, "Why don't you join our church?" To such, a mem- ber of the committee might go, extending the friendly greeting of the church and bearing a cordial invitation to associate themselves with it. It is largely through the sys- tematic carrying out of this idea that, in the twenty-nine years of its existence, the United Church has more than doubled its membership and has taken its place as seventh among the Congregational churches of the country.
The appropriate season for the concentrated work of the Invitation Committee would be Lent, a season to which the Congregational Church had formerly paid little heed. To the early fathers its observance would have been "pop- ery"; but to the modern church Lent was a great oppor- tunity-a time not so much for the relinquishment of some pleasure as for earnest searching of heart and increased at- tention to the place of the church in the life of the indi- vidual and the community, a time of preparation for the joyous season of Easter. For the older children and young people Lent provided a natural opportunity for the study,
8X7X2
ENTRANCE TO THE PARISH HOUSE THROUGH THIS DOOR PASS MORE THAN 100,000 PEOPLE A YEAR
127
THE CHURCH REUNITED
under the leadership of the pastor, of the important doc- trines of the church and the meaning of church member- ship; hence the organization of the Pastor's Training Class, which has been so influential in the lives of individual young people and which forms so impressive a part of the Palm Sunday service.
Increase of membership and the promotion of fellow- ship among its members are important responsibilities of the church; but to those who had the vision the larger church was to exist not simply to minister to its own parish but to be in a very real sense a community church. It should stand in the midst of the great city, among people of varying faiths, as the symbol of unity and brotherhood. The motto that was carved upon its stone portico, "My house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples," must be translated into reality. There are manifold ways in which the church can serve the community in this spirit, con- tributing to its recreation, its social needs, its education. Outstanding, however, for community service has been the Sunday Evening Community Forum, which held its first meeting November 3, 1918. That meeting was addressed by seven four-minute speakers on different aspects of the United War Work and by Dr. Hamilton Holt, editor of The New York Independent and Harper's Weekly. At the first forum held in the new church, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise of New York was the speaker.
The forum was an institution in which Dr. Day believed with his whole heart. Its officers and committees repre- sented people of all faiths and of varying occupations and interests. Here were brought together Catholic, Protes- tant, and Jew; businessman, professional man, and com- mon laborer. Here, in the atmosphere of the church, after a brief service of worship in which everyone could share, the most controversial issues could be discussed with frank- ness and sincerity but also with dignity and restraint. Here
128
TWO HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS
people of different backgrounds, personalities, and opin- ions could meet and exchange ideas, thus growing in knowledge, understanding, and tolerance. After his death, when the forum desired to establish a memorial to him
The United Church Founders Portico
who had been its creator and leader, the most appropriate memorial it could conceive was an annual lecture on some aspect of Brotherhood, the ideal that was central in Dr. Day's teaching and that lay at the heart of the forum.
129
THE CHURCH REUNITED
But Dr. Day's service could by no means be limited to the confines of the local church or community. In the fall of 1917, a few months after his coming to Bridgeport, he was elected Moderator of the National Council of Congre- gational Churches. He served on various commissions of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, and was active in the promotion of the World Council of Churches. Especially was he interested in every movement that was directed toward the breaking down of barriers be- tween groups and the increase of understanding and co- operation. He was active in bringing about the union of the Congregational and Christian Churches. He was chair- man of the Committee of Twelve which worked out the plan for coordinating the various home missionary socie- ties of the combined churches into one organization, known as the Home Boards. For a number of years he was president of the Home Boards and closely associated with the many activities which they represented: the educa- tional work of the schools and colleges scattered through- out the South and West; the Sunday Schools and other types of religious training; the church extension projects; the provisions for aged and infirm ministers; the study of rural and city problems in all parts of the country.
Dr. Day was a familiar figure at church and missionary gatherings in this country and abroad. He attended the Universal Christian Conference on Life and Work in Stockholm; the World Conference on Faith and Order in Lausanne, Switzerland; The International Congrega- tional Council at Bournemouth, England; the Oxford Conference on Life and Work, and the Edinburgh Con- ference on Faith and Order. At the Edinburgh Confer- ence, which was held the summer after he had become Pas- tor Emeritus, he was chairman of the American delega- tion. Nobler than any monument that could be erected in his memory is the fact that a greater unity exists today
1 30
TWO HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS
among the Christian forces because of his unshakable faith in the possibility of such unity and his untiring efforts in its promotion.
The United Church was heartily in accord with this worldwide extension of its pastor's interests and service; but obviously, if he was to be free to meet these various ob- ligations, he must have assistants who were qualified and trained to carry on much of the work at home. Most of the young men who have come from time to time to direct the department of religious education or serve as assistant pas- tors have been students at Yale Divinity School and after a period of apprenticeship in the United Church have gone on to other fields of service. The Reverend Edward U. Cowles, who was appointed in 1920 and remained for two years, later became pastor of the Congregational Church in Spencer, Massachusetts. For the last fifteen years he has been pastor of the First Congregational Church in West- field, Massachusetts, a church that specializes in long pas- torates; for, though it is sixteen years older than our own, Mr. Cowles is its twelfth minister.
The Reverend Forrest Lamar Knapp came in the sum- mer of 1924 and was ordained in the United Church the following December. Mr. Knapp's ability as organizer and leader was especially valuable during the period of transi- tion while the building was being erected and the church was becoming habituated to its new quarters. Continuing his studies at Yale, he obtained the degree of Doctor of Phi- losophy and later became Superintendent of Religious Education under the Federation of Churches in Cleve- land, Ohio. He then became connected with the Interna- tional Council of Religious Education, with headquarters in Chicago, and is now Executive Secretary of the World Sunday School Association.
Another former assistant is the Reverend Rival Haw- kins, who was director of Religious Education for two
131
THE CHURCH REUNITED
years, from 1937 to 1939, leaving here to become pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church in Paso Robles, Cali- fornia. Mr. Hawkins is now serving as chaplain in the armed forces.
Although the church had been interested in the mission- ary enterprise ever since the organization of the Mission- ary Society of Connecticut and the American Board, and had been active in its support both through the work of the women's societies and through direct giving, it had never had a personal representative on the foreign field; and such an enlargement of its connections was a natural out- growth of the expanding activities of the United Church. At the close of World War I, William Sage Woolworth, a graduate of Union Theological Seminary, was commis- sioned by the American Board for work in Turkey, and the United Church agreed to assume a substantial part of his salary. For a number of years Mr. Woolworth was sta- tioned in Marash, a city which had been one of the centers of the terrible persecution of the Christians twenty-five years before. He was unusually proficient in the acquisi- tion of the language and proved himself a most capable leader in the difficult work of the mission. He married Miss Pauline Rehder, a native of Minnesota and a teacher in the Girls' School in Marash. They are now living in Tarsus, where Mr. Woolworth is principal of the American col- lege, working in close cooperation with the educational leaders of Turkey and winning the confidence even of those who were once antagonistic.
Another missionary whose support is being maintained in part by the United Church is Miss Sylvia T. Eddy, who, since 1929, has been a clinical nurse at Talas, Turkey. Miss Eddy was born in Simsbury, Connecticut, and is a graduate of the Children's Hospital in Philadelphia. When she was on furlough in this country she was told that, because of the depression, it was impossible for the Board to send her
132
TWO HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS
back to Turkey. However, a missionary friend generously shared her own salary with her, and Miss Eddy returned to her work. Such is the character of the service of our mis- sionaries!
For two years Miss Lavinia Scott was associated with the church as assistant director of religious education. Miss Scott was a graduate of Illinois College and received a Mas- ter's degree in religious education from Yale. In 1932 she was commissioned for service in Africa, and for a number of years she has been principal of Inanda Seminary, the first school for native girls in South Africa. Inanda, located in a region so sunk in barbarism that a few years before the opening of the school the mission was almost given up as hopeless, in the seventy-five years of its existence has brought the privilege of a Christian education to more than four thousand girls. Miss Scott, in a recent report, wrote: "In spite of the many individual failures and dis- couragements, there is clear witness up and down the land of Christianized home life, improved houses and gardens, cleaner and better-cared-for children, high standards of living generally, and devoted individual lives: wives and mothers, teachers, nurses, Sunday School leaders, commu- nity workers, that would not have been except for Inanda Seminary."
The respect in which the school is held, and the confi- dence which Miss Scott herself has inspired among South African leaders, are shown by her recent appointment as member of a committee formed by the administrator of Natal to investigate, gain evidence, and eventually make recommendations regarding native education in that prov- ince.
In 1928 the Reverend Fred Hoskins, a student at the Yale Divinity School, became director of religious educa- tion. He was a native of Allenville, Illinois, and a graduate of Illinois College, where he had taken a prominent part
HOWLAND MEMORIAL CHAPEL
133
THE CHURCH REUNITED
in student activities. After graduation he became assistant pastor of Central Christian Church in Jacksonville, Illi- nois. He married Miss Alice Gardner, a native of Benton, Illinois, and like her husband a graduate of Illinois Col- lege.
For nine years Mr. Hoskins served, first as director of re- ligious education, then as assistant pastor, and finally as associate pastor. It was largely loyalty to his chief that held him in the United Church during those nine years in spite of tempting offers from other churches. The relation be- tween the two men had come to be almost that of father and son, and as Dr. Day grew older and leaned more and more heavily upon the younger man, Mr. Hoskins was un- willing to desert him.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.