USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > One hundred years of Mount Vernon Church, 1842-1942 > Part 11
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Dr. Kirk stressed from the very beginning of Mount Vernon Church the importance of early religious training for children. Not wishing to limit this instruction to Sundays alone, Dr. Kirk urged the mothers to hold daily prayer and devotional services at home.
He conducted a "Catechetical class" for the children, who were re-
1 Sunday schools had been established in England as early as 1783 by Robert Raikes, an English printer. His schools, which combined secular and religious teaching, were in- tended for the children who worked such long hours in the new factories that no weekday education was possible for them. With the help of the Reverend Thomas Stock, Raikes secured the establishment of Sunday Schools in connection with almost every church.
2 Quoted by permission from A Tercentenary History of the Boston Public Latin School, 1635-1935, by Pauline Holmes, p. 22 and p. 503.
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ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MOUNT VERNON CHURCH
quested to "bring texts of Scripture and be prepared to answer questions on a topic previously selected." "I am teaching the children the West- minster Catechism with very encouraging success," he recorded, "but, al- though it is hard corn, I grind it up very fine, and give it to them in small portions, sweetened with familiar illustrations."
Dr. Kirk also conducted classes for the instruction of his teachers. There are no extant records of the old Sunday School, but in old diaries and letters are found occasional references to the early Sunday School teachers, among whom were Daniel Safford, Julius A. Palmer, Albert Hobart, Edward Kimball, Samuel D. Warren, Henry Hill, John J. Tower, Mrs. Bradley, Mrs. Tyler, Mr. Joseph Burton, and Dr. James B. Ayer.3
Dr. Kirk often attended the monthly meetings of the Maternal Asso- ciation, and always the semi-annual meetings which the children under fifteen were required to attend. At the meeting on February 1, 1854, at- tended by "twenty-five mothers and between sixty and seventy children," he gave a vivid description of a very real and material heaven. In the light of modern Biblical interpretation, the following record of this meeting is interesting.
Dr. Kirk read several portions . .. descriptive of Heaven. He said he wished the children to think much of that blessed place & prepare to go there when they died. . .. He, when reading in Revelation IV of the door of heaven, asked, "What would be the first thing their eyes would light upon if the door should be opened to them ?" As no one answered directly, he said he tho't he should see the splendid throne & He who sat upon it.
He directed their minds to the beauty of it-being surrounded by a rainbow of green-The four & twenty Elders descriptive of 12 Patriarchs & 12 Apostles -They were clothed in white, emblematic of purity & had crowns of gold upon their heads-He alluded to Queen Victoria's Crown which he had seen. These holy beings were day & night, without weariness, crying "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty" &c. They cast these crowns at their Saviors feet. . . . If it is so delightful to think of, how much more so to dwell there-Many who have sat in this Chapel are now there, having palms in their hands, a sign of victory-& this is the reason I preach, to get you there.
It was Deacon Daniel Safford who foresaw the need of disseminating religious instruction outside the confines of his own church, and he es-
3 The superintendents of the Church School from 1871 to 1942 were: John F. Colby, Thomas Y. Crowell, William H. Goodnow, Albert Murdoch, John G. Hosmer, S. H. Esbjörn, David R. Craig, John D. Graham, Miss Elizabeth S. Tobey, Robert H. Bean, Josiah P. Dickerman, Edward O. Ham, Howard S. Fox, Robert J. Watson, Miss Mary A. Ballou, John C. Wiley, Harry Wright, Harry Nicholson, Harold Hunting, Miss Mar- garet Conant, Miss Gladys Hadley, Harold G. Jones, Edwin E. Aiken, Jr., Carl Heath Kopf, Mrs. Marjorie H. Gillette, and Mrs. Lillie-Ann Werner Samuels.
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tablished the Mount Vernon Mission Sunday School,4 in connection with the regular Sunday School. From sixty to seventy children were "gathered into the Mission School, and a number of the parents came to church." One Sunday morning, a young Irish mother appeared with her baby in her arms. She insisted that the sexton should take her to Mr. Safford's pew. "Himself invited me; indade he did," she said.
Deacon Safford, when Sunday School superintendent in 1850, bought with his own money sixty-six Bibles to give as prizes to the children of the Sunday School and the Mission School. "Thirty-one pupils received each a large volume of the Scriptures for having learned over twenty verses every Sabbath, and thirty-five, a smaller volume for having learned over fifteen verses each week."5
From the period of Deacon Safford's Sunday School classes in the eighteen forties and fifties to the Church School in 1942, many changes have taken place, particularly in the psychology of religious education.6 The Church School today, with an enrollment of forty-four students, is under the able direction of the Reverend Arlan Baillie and Mrs. Lillie- Ann Werner Samuels. There are five departments: the beginners, primary group, junior boys, intermediate girls, and intermediate boys. The Re- ligious Education Committee,-Miss Louise Fay, Mrs. Charles B. Messen- ger, and Mr. Robert Merry,-are optimistic about the growth of the Church School, notwithstanding the many changes in the neighborhood and the withdrawal of families with young children to the suburbs.
THE JUNIOR MISSIONARY SOCIETY
Thirty-six children met with Mrs. Washburn on November 4, 1907, "in response to an invitation of the Young Foreign Mission Society to start a Junior Missionary Society." The children under seven years of age, called "associate members," were given mite boxes instead of en- velopes and were "privileged to wear pins."
The Society continued for about ten years.7 After "devotional exursizes, singing hymns and a prayer," they "suluted the flags and repeated the Church flag pledge: I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the Savior for whose kingdom it stands; one brotherhood uniting all mankind in service and love." The meetings were closed with the "Doxoulygy" and the "Minicipal benediction." {Presumably means the Mizpah Benediction. ]
4 Mount Vernon Church was also connected with the Old Colony Mission Sabbath School.
Ann Eliza Safford, Memoir of Daniel Safford, p. 379.
6 For a vivid picture of the Ashburton Place Sunday School, see Dr. Edward S. Hawes' delightful reminiscences in Appendix K.
" The secretary's book closes on November 16, 1917, and the membership book, on April 7, 1918.
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The missionary enthusiasm of these juniors was exceeded only by the originality of their spelling, as is evidenced from the following descrip- tion of "Imagrunt Day":
During the year the Junior Miss. So. held 9 meetings 3 of them work meet- ings & 1 a joint meeting with other So. At the Sunday meetings were held the last Sunday of each month. Mrs. Wiggin gave lanteren talks on Africa, Mackey, & Grenfell in Labrudore & Turkey. Mr. Richards gave a candle talk on, "Letting the Light Shine." Imagrunt day was a great succes the So. in costume going through the landing of the Imagrunts Miss Hawes gave an illustrated lecture on them. At the work meetings held the middle Fridy of each month, games, balls, scrap books and candy boxes have been made and brass work done. Mite boxes were distribuated for summer gleaning. Boxes .40. American board almanacs sold and a bbl. of old rubber colected. We still want all the old rub- bers we can get. and apprecated all contrubutions. We have contributed $15. to the May festival for Forien Miss. $5. to the Home Miss. Association. $5. to Dr. Grenfell Kindergarten, & .75 to a Miss. Box. Total 25.75.
Several of the mothers, including Mrs. Mehaffey, Mrs. Prescott, and Mrs. Wiggin, gave programs on various missionary activities at home and abroad. At the opening meeting, Mrs. Wiggin "gave out little dress suit cases, and tickets for a missionary trip around the world." At another meeting, she gave a "very interesting talk on Africa and the self sacrafis- ing life of David Livingstone." Later she told "some interreesting things about Turkey and passed a number of post cards around." Again she dressed "as a Chinese lady and told some very interesting things about China."
Mrs. Prescott, at one meeting, read a letter "from the Italien mission." At a previous meeting, Mrs. Wiggin had "visited some of the Italien homes and found that they didn't have all the things we have." The Juniors accordingly voted "to give five dollars for a Christmas present."
Mrs. Mehaffey gave an illustrated lecture "on the Eskimeaux." At other meetings she told about "the work Mr. and Mrs. Ensminger are doing for the cubans in Florida," about life in Africa and China, and she "pointed out the places on the map." At another meeting, she delighted the Juniors with the reading of Goodbird the Indian. She gave a lecture on American Indians, with "pictures thrown on the skreen."
Other entertainers were Mrs. Murdoch, the Misses Hawes, the Misses Higgins, Miss Chapin, Miss Baldwin, Mrs. Richards, Miss Herrick, Miss Washburn, Mr. Russell and his "talking dolls," and Miss Valentine, who taught basket making. At one meeting, David R. Craig, Jr. gave "violin selections."
At the work meetings, the boys and girls made scrap-books for Mr.
CHURCH SCHOOL AND ORGANIZATIONS 91
and Mrs. Neipp's work in Africa, made burnt-wood boxes with the popu- lar "pyrography sets," stuffed animals, made hospital fans, rag dolls, "handy little pin and needle books," sachets, and bean bags.
OTHER ORGANIZATIONS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS
Several organizations for boys and girls have been established in the last few decades, to meet the social needs of the group younger than the Young People's Society group. Among the organizations which existed for more than a year or so were the Intermediate Young People's Society, which met on Sunday afternoons, the Faithful Workers for girls, the Phi Theta Club for girls, the Girls' Around the World Club, the Girls' Order of Joyous Service, the Mount Vernon Boys' Club, the Mount Vernon Boys' Association, the Boys' Bible Club, and the Mount Vernon Athletic Club for boys. Within the limits of this brief history, only a few comments can be made on the above organizations.
The Faithful Workers, known as the Girls' Club, was organized in the fall of 1906, for girls between nine and fourteen years of age. The object was "to promote the best interests of its members, and to lend a hand to less fortunate girls." The Club was discontinued in 1914, and the girls gave to the younger generation, known as the Junior Faithful Work- ers, all "of their estate and best wishes." The latter club continued until 1920.
The Phi Theta Club was organized in 1920, under the leadership of Miss Faith Wiggin {now Mrs. Frank M. Exner ]. Among the varied ac- tivities was a basket-ball team, which soon gained public recognition by raising $300 for the Prendergast Preventorium at a game played at the Cadet Armory in 1922. The girls were surprised with the publicity they received when the street cars carried posters advertising the "game to be played by the Mount Vernon Church Girls' Club."
The Girls' Around The World Club, known as the A.T.W. Club, was organized in 1923 for little girls between seven and eleven. The meetings were held at Herrick House, under the leadership of Miss Helen Ordway and Miss Eugenia Parker. The children prepared programs on different countries of the world, and made scrap-books to send to the missionaries in Africa.
The Girls' Order of Joyous Service Club, known as the O.J.S. Club, was organized in 1923 under the direction of Miss Eugenia Parker. This Club for the older girls met at Herrick House every Friday afternoon. The girls studied Christian life in different countries and, living up to their title, helped with waiting on table at the church suppers, selling candy at the food fairs, and cooperating with the Christmas pageants.
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ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MOUNT VERNON CHURCH
The Mount Vernon Athletic Club was established in 1908 by Mr. Wellington H. Tinker. The boys raised over ten dollars to "fit out the hall for basket ball." The Club proved a great success and helped to accomplish the object of "keeping the young fellows off the street corners in the evening."
The Mount Vernon Boys' Association was organized in 1919 by the Reverend Sidney Lovett for boys of ten years of age and older. The ob- ject of the Club was "to promote the welfare of the boys and to give them one night a week to have a good time."
10 Discipline and Punishment
It is no fault of Christianity if a hypocrite falls into sin. -SAINT JEROME
I N THE EARLY YEARS of Mount Vernon Church, discipline and punishment played a very vital and often disturbing role. Some of the policies of the Puritans persisted as late as the middle nineteenth century. Not only the school administrators but also the church authorities were over-conscientious in their disciplinary practices in the "good old days."
From 1842 to 1879 twenty-seven members-sixteen men and eleven women-were excommunicated from Mount Vernon Church because of "censurable offences." One of the men was one of the original members of the church. The names of these excommunicated members are marked in the printed list of 1882, but, not wishing to perpetuate their disgrace, we shall naturally omit all names. Perhaps they are our grandparents!
According to the ecclesiastical principles and rules adopted on June 23, 1842, offences subject to the censure of the church were "immoral conduct, breach of express covenant vows, neglect of acknowledged re- ligious or relative duties, and avowed disbelief of the articles of faith to which the members have assented." This policy of excommunication, with public announcement from the pulpit, has long since been discontinued.
Also during this same period from 1842 to 1879, forty-nine members -twenty-two men and twenty-seven women-were withdrawn from the "Watch and Care of the Church," by which act membership ceased. Ac- cording to the same rules adopted in 1842, the church might withdraw its watch and care from any person "not otherwise censurable," who separated "irregularly from the church" or who walked "disorderly."
According to the "aggravation of the offence," the censures inflicted on the offenders were "private reproof, public admonition, or excom- munication." In case of excommunication or of withdrawal of watch and care, notice was always given "from the pulpit on the Sabbath." Imagine how the victim's family suffered at this public announcement of the sins of one of their loved ones!
The presentation of complaints was in all cases first made in writing to the Church Committee, whose duty thereupon was "to secure if prac- ticable, an amicable and scriptural adjustment of the matters complained of, and failing in this, to report the same to the church." When a member was accused, he was "seasonably furnished with a copy of the complaint"
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and he was allowed "a full hearing." The accused was expected to abstain from participating in the Lord's Supper, while "the trial is pending."
Any member having cause of complaint against another was urged to seek immediately "to have it removed in a Christian manner." In cases of personal offense, the directions given in Matthew XVIII: 15-16, were to be the guide: "Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established."
A member wishing to withdraw from the church and to unite with another was required "to signify his wishes and his reasons, and apply in a proper spirit to be first released from his obligations to this church." Any other mode of withdrawal was "deemed irregular and censurable." The church held "itself bound to grant its members in regular standing, dismissions and recommendations to churches not only of our own, but of any other evangelical denomination."
Each deacon had assigned to him a list of members for whom he was responsible. If the members did not come to church it was his duty to "find out why." A printed form was mailed to the offender by the clerk, citing said brother or said sister "to appear and answer to the complaint," because he or she "has violated covenant engagements with this Church, by removing from our worship and ordinance, and remaining away for the space of three years or more, without informing the Church or its officers of the reasons of such absence."
A trunk full of old letters, written by members defending themselves against charges of "violating covenant engagements," contains much of human interest. These letters prove again that tragedy and comedy often walk hand in hand. Occasionally a member did not defend himself, but he was eager to acknowledge his "sin."
One man, who joined the Church in 1879, wrote the following pathetic letter to the "Committe of Mt. Vernon Church" on December 5 of that year: "I have done wrong. I have sinned & am no more worthy to be connected with a church of Christ. Do then what seemeth to you best. I am suffering from a malady which will soon end my life in this world. I think it wd be better to excommunicate me from the Church. I am no more worthy to be called a Christian, because I have wronged the Great Master." According to a later record, this penitent soul was excommuni- cated.1 On January 21, 1880, Deacon Pinkerton entered a complaint:
1 The case histories of excommunication before 1879 have been lost. The early Church Records were burned in the clerk's office in the Federal Street fire of 1879. See Appendix Q for the vote not to excommunicate John B. Gough, the temperance lecturer.
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"It has become my painful duty to inform you that our brother has violated his covenant obligations with this Church by many and often repeated acts of deception and falsehood." The Committee was not quick to make a decision, and "our brother" was not finally excommunicated until March 19 of that year.
A "sister," who joined the Church in 1846, received one of the printed summonses in 1881. The notification, forwarded to Philadelphia, was immediately answered. She told the Committee just what she thought of their old summons in these not uncertain terms: "Allow me to suggest some more courteous form of notification when the matter is brought before the Committee, at any time. . . . It does not strike me as a Christian form, too much of the flavor of a political caucus or Ward meeting. . . . Having in times past been so pleasantly associated with the Mt. Vernon Chh. during the ministry of my beloved friend, Dr. Kirk, I cannot but feel interested in its progress and welfare." She added that she had been an invalid for the last eight or ten years and that was "sufficient reason for not applying for any transfer of Membership."
There is the case of a "brother" who joined the Church in 1866 and was withdrawn from the "watch and care" of the Church in 1881, after sending the following reply from New York: "In reply I must protest against the charge of violation of covenant engagements reminding you that it is 12 years since I had residence in Boston the major part of which I resided abroad. There was then a semi-official understanding (with whom I disremember) that the subject should be left open until such time as I had a fixed residence-that I have had, in this city, only 15 mos. ... My religious views during the past 10 years have so far changed as to make membership inconsistent with my convictions and on this account and this only I respectfully request that I be dismissed."
A "female member," who joined the Church in 1869, later lost interest and was apparently provoked with all the attention she received to get her back into the fold. Her name was also withdrawn from the "watch and care" of the Church, after she had sent the following positive letter to the Clerk: "ples not seen me eny more last I told the ladys that come to see me to take my name of the book I was not in the church it be 6 years in may an I am not going an I hop that ye will not seen me no more."
Another member wrote in 1881 that she left the church not because "there was not Dear Saints in it," but because she did not "get fed in the Word." "Dr. Kirk was to deep for a Simple Child like me," she admitted. Since "God takes us without a letter," she did not see why she needed one from Mount Vernon Church. She believed in the second coming of Christ, when "He would take all his Children to be with Himself
96 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MOUNT VERNON CHURCH
and Mt Vernon Church has many." She concluded her letter with the ad- mission that if she consulted her "own feelings and comfort" she would go back to Mount Vernon Church, but "Conscience" kept her where she was, since the "Word said that we are to fill up His Sufferings outside the Camp according to Hebrews XIII: 13-14."2
Of interest to married people is a letter written by a wife in 1888 ex- plaining why she wished to attend the Methodist Church, because her husband had "taken a pew" and wished her to go with him. She decided to obey and do her "duty as a Christian," because should she refuse "he might not attend any Church."
Another member wrote that she had left Mount Vernon Church and did not want a letter of recommendation to any Congregational Church, because her "ideas have grown larger and broader." She added: "I should feel as though I was going back to the dark to think just as I used to. I thank God for all the steps by which I have been lead."
The Committee pursued one member for over twelve years. In 1881 he answered the printed summons saying that twelve years ago he an- swered "a note of the same purport," stating at the time that his views concerning the Congregational Church had so changed that he could not "conscientiously ask for a letter." He reminded them that twelve years ago he had an interview of over three hours with Dr. Kirk, resulting in Dr. Kirk's remark "that it was of no use for us to talk-he could not convince me nor I him-that he did not deem me a fit subject for disci- pline." The author of the letter concluded: "So I will inclose a couple of circulars which I wrote myself for the Little Band of which I have been a member since its organization . . . and upon the idea thus gathered the Church can take action, or I will hold myself obedient to a call from the Church for further explanation." After appearing before the Church Committee on April 21, 1881, and confessing that he had been "a Spirit- ualist through & through for 20 years," he was withdrawn from the "watch and care" of the Church.
Because she wished "to begin all over again as far as possible," one member requested a letter of dismissal to unite with the Baptist Church in Bowdoin Square. She added the following confession:
Although for so long a time outwardly a member of God's Church, and even, in a general way, believing that Jesus was the Saviour of sinners, I have never believed in Him as my Saviour, nor accepted Him as such, until within the past three months. That, during all the years past I have been perfectly conscious of this, yet have continued to live this double life, only makes the matter worse.
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2 Hebrews XIII: 13-14 "Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come."
BOSTON. april 14 1862.
Dear Brother
I am directed by a vote of the Mount Vernon Church to communicate to you the following proceedings :-
At the adjourned Annual Meeting of the Church, March 5th, 1862. the following complaint was presented :- " BOSTON, 2 3 1862. " To the Mount Vernon Church :
" Dear Brethren :
" It has become inv duty to inform you that our brother
has violated covenant engagements with this Church, by removing front our worship and ordinance, and remaining away for the space of three years or more, without inform- ing the Church or its officers of the reasons of such absence."
Thereupon the Church voted to entertain the complaint and ordered the clerk to furnish you with a copy, and cite you to appear and answer to the same on the second Thursday in October next, at half past seven o'clock, at the Chapel of said Church.
In accordance with this vote you are hereby cited to appear at the time and place above named. +
C. B. Bots forder
It is sincerely hoped, however, that you will relieve the d'unreh from all further action, by applying at an early day for a letter of dismission, and giving satisfactory reasons for delaying it so long
Extract from "Ecclesiastical Principles and Rules."
" Whereus, the Ecclesiastical Principles and Rules which this Church has adopted, make it the duty of members who remove from the City, to obtain a dismission within one year from the time of removal, or to inform the Church why such change of membership is not made,-and,
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