USA > New York > New York City > The history of the Broadway tabernacle church, from its organization in 1840 to the close of 1900, including factors influencing its formation > Part 2
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* From this time on the statistics are made out at the close of the calendar year.
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CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD
removal expenses paid and house furnished. Salary fixed at $12,000. Preaching service at Bethany, Sun- day mornings, in place of Sunday-school.
1874. Accessions: by letter, 55; by profession, 39. Losses : by letter, 13; by death, 12; by discipline, I. Mem- bership, 751. Contributions, $19,939.53.
Among the deaths specially noted is that of William Al- len, May 25, " who fulfilled in a remarkable degree all the kindly offices of a Christian brother ; " Myron J. Frisbie, an efficient helper, October 13, and Mrs. Marshall O. Roberts, the founder of the Ladies' Christian Association (Young Women's Christian Association), December 12.
Barnabas Root, a native African, examined by Council November 5, ordained as missionary, November 7. Mr. Samuel Colcord, member of the church, ordained by Council December 9, as evangelist. Pastor had three months summer vacation. In place of other mortgages, one bond and mortgage for $58,000 sub- stituted. Reading-room opened in Bethany.
1875. Accessions : by letter, 74; by profession, 85. Losses : by letter, 37;' by death, 9; by discipline, I. Mem- bership, 863. Contributions, $18,512.32.
Suit relating to expenses for widening Broadway de- cided adversely. Assessment $13,000 with interest, amounting to $18,300. Pastor's salary increased $500. Church debt reduced $4,000. Thomas T. Berry, member of church committee and superintendent of mission school, died January 30. Cheerful Workers adopt Miss Carrie E. Bush as their missionary. Rev. William Plested, pastor of Bethany. Cemetery Asso- ciation of Bethany Mission formed.
1876. Accessions: by letter, 60; by profession, 90. Losses : by letter, 29; by death, 14. Membership, 970. Con- tributions, $16,545.53. Special resolution on death of Dr. Thomas Ritter, for thirty-one years a mem- ber of the church. Turrets rebuilt and other outside xxiii
HISTORY OF THE BROADWAY TABERNACLE CHURCH
work done at cost of $3,000. Fifty thousand dollars paid toward debt.
1877. Accessions: by letter, 56; by profession, 43. Losses : dismissed to Bethany church, 90; other letters, 19; by death, II; fellowship withdrawn, 12; excom- municated, I. Membership, 936. Contributions, $18,558.75.
February 28. Plan for organization of Bethany Church adopted.
April 13. Bethany Church organized. Rev. William Plested, pastor.
Tabernacle closed two and a half months in summer for repairs. Pastor's salary increased $500. Debt re- duced $8,000. Charity Committee of Sunday-school organized by Dr. Henry D. Ranney.
1878. Accessions : by letter, 48; by profession, 25. Losses : by letter, 31; by death, 10. Membership, 968. Con- tributions, $13,972.36.
March 29. Mr. Charles Abernethy, for ten years a trus- tee, died.
Debt reduced $12,000. Rev. Willard Scott succeeds Mr. Plested as pastor at Bethany Church.
1879. Accessions: by letter, 52; by profession, 15. Losses : by letter, 30; deaths reported, II. Membership, 993. Contributions, $18,034.14. Special resolutions on deaths of Deacon Henry Whittlesey and Dr. Joseph P. Thompson.
December I. Rev. Willard Scott left Bethany Church. 1880. Accessions : by letter, 60; by profession, 21. Losses :
by letter, 29; by death, 18; deaths not reported earlier, 18. Membership, 1,027. Contributions, $17,- 293.II. The deaths of Robert L. Hall and Nathan- iel Fisher, twelve years trustee, specially noted in the report, also that of Dr. Bush, District Secretary of A. B. C. F. M., long associated with the Tabernacle though not a member.
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CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD
1880. February I. Rev. Charles H. Burr assumed pastorate of Bethany Church.
April I. Bethany Secular Library established and opened through efforts of Dr. E. P. Hoyt.
Four thousand dollars paid on bond and mortgage, and $2,500 extra to pastor for family travelling expenses. 1881. Accessions: by letter, 47; by profession, 12. Losses : by letter, 37; deaths reported, 17. Membership, 1,032. Contributions, $20,938.52.
March II. Abel K. Thompson, one of the founders of the church, died.
Largest pew rentals ever received by the Society, $37,- 880.40. Paid on bond and mortgage, $4,000. Ser- vice held Sunday and Monday, September 26 and 27, commemorating President James A. Garfield. Council held in Tabernacle to ordain William J. Peck, fellow member, as evangelist. Church recarpeted. Mothers' meeting started in Bethany. Dr. Taylor's salary raised to $16,000.
1882. Accessions: by letter, 42; by profession, 15. Losses : by letter, 22; by death, 12; excommunicated, I. Membership, 1,054. Contributions, $52,190.81, more than $30,000 being for Bethany Mission.
Among deaths is noted that of Mrs. William H. Smith, March II, a liberal helper in church work and mem- ber for twenty-one years, and Deacon William G. Lambert, December 24, one of the founders, and of the original board of deacons.
March 12. More than $30,000 subscribed for building Bethany Church.
March 13. Reception to Dr. Taylor to celebrate his tenth anniversary. More than 947 united with church ยท during these ten years.
Fresh air work begun in Bethany. "Helping Hand " organized by Mrs. L. M. Bates.
1883. Accessions: by letter, 42; by profession, 19. Losses :
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HISTORY OF THE BROADWAY TABERNACLE CHURCH
by letter, 22; by death, 8. Membership, 1,085. Con- tributions, $22,838.17.
1883. February 15. Death of Dr. Lafayette Ranney, identi- fied with Bible class work in Sunday-school.
Choir enlarged by second quartette. Indebtedness on Tabernacle property, $37,000; on account of Bethany, $16,000.
March II. Bethany Church dedicated. Additions to Bethany Church, 31. Membership, 158. Bethany Young People's Association organized.
May 23. John D. Long ordained by council.
1884. Accessions: by letter, 60; by profession, 22. Losses : by letter, 32; by death, 16. Membership, 1,119. Contributions, $28,098.63. Individual members con- tributed $40,000 for educational purposes.
John Gray, for many years trustee and president of Board, removed from city. Hour of service changed from 10.30 A.M. to II. Pastor absent three Sundays in December, collecting $21,537.58 for Parsonage Fund. About $4,000 of which contributed by Taber- nacle Church. Pews provided for Bethany Church mainly by generosity of John B. Gough. Member- ship, 177.
1885. Accessions: by letter, 40; by profession, 19. Losses : by letter, 42; by death, 13; death prior to 1885, 5. Membership, 1,118.
Mrs. William Taylor, active in Home Missionary So- ciety and Bethany, died November 23, and Deacon Thomas W. Whittemore, deacon for nearly twenty years, died July 23. Contributions, $22,328.56. February I. Chinese Bible school begun.
Three thousand dollars paid on floating debt. Mrs. Christopher, organist, resigned. Public reception and testimonial given to her. Succeeded by S. N. Pen- field. Dr. Taylor's Parsonage Fund completed, $27,- 000. Tabernacle's contribution brought up to $5,000. Bethany Church membership, 193.
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CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD
1886. Accessions: by letter, 40; by profession, 29. Losses : by letter, 24; by death, 13; excommunicated, 2. Membership, 1,148. Contributions, $33,277.56. De- partment of Missions and Charities abolished; Board of Missions, a committee of three substituted. In place of Department of Strangers, Reception Com- mittee of one appointed. Committee of three ap- pointed for Chinese Bible school. Change in ad- ministration of Sunday-school. Bethany Church membership, 209. Payment of $5,000 completed to Presbyterian Hospital for bed in perpetuity.
1887. Accessions: by letter, 38; by profession, 33. Losses : by letter, 30; by death, 12. Membership, 1,177. Mr. Caleb B. Knevals resigned charge of Sunday-school, held twenty-one years. Thirty-five thousand dollars raised in March, on debt. Secular school established for Chinese, Monday afternoons. Bed in Woman's Hospital given to church. Mr. Burr left Bethany Church after eight years of service. Membership more than doubled, 230. Bethany Church interior decorated.
1888. Accessions : by letter, 58; by profession, 16. Losses : by letter, 39; by death, 7. Membership, 1,205. Con- tributions, $30,387. Young Men's Association or- ganized, also Ladies' Society for Missionary Intelli- gence. Rev. Spencer H. Bray secured as pastor of Bethany Church. Silas H. Paine Superintendent of Bethany Sunday-school. Boys' reading-room opened in Bethany; Christian Endeavor Society, 73 mem- bers.
1889. Accessions: by letter, 38; by profession, 25. Losses : by letter, 40; by death, 15. Membership, 1,213. Contributions, $32,589.98. Bethany membership, 257. Annual meeting of American Board held in Tabernacle October 18. Church fitted with electric lights.
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HISTORY OF THE BROADWAY TABERNACLE CHURCH
1890. Church half a century old. Accessions: by letter, 35; by profession, 24. Losses: by letter, 37; by death, 15. Membership, 1,220, highest number ever reached by Tabernacle Church.
April 6. Forty united with church. Contributions, $38,931.25. Paid on Bethany debt, $2,500. R. A. Dorman became Sunday-school Super- intendent. Young Girls' Society for A. M. A. or- ganized. Bethany Church receives 26 new members.
1891. Accessions : by letter, 26; by profession, 13. Losses : by letter, 54; by death, 16; fellowship withdrawn, I. Membership, 1,189. Contributions, $41,881.82. Adult Bible class begun, Sunday mornings, conducted by Professor Hamlin.
March 6. Church entertained Manhattan Conference. For the first time in twenty years Dr. Taylor laid aside
from pulpit ministrations by illness. For the Camp Memorial church building, members of Broadway Tabernacle subscribed $7,264, one-third of the cost. A monthly church paper, Bethany Beacon, a Girls' Club, and a cooking class, all new Bethany enter- prises, started ; also Penny Provident Fund.
1892. Accessions: by letter, II; by profession, I. Losses : by letter, 34; by death, 19. Membership, 1,148. Contributions, $29,175.72.
July 28. William Henry Smith, senior deacon and leader in many Christian activities, died.
October 27. Dr. Taylor, stricken with paralysis in the spring, after six months leave of absence, resigns. Church voted, November 2, to continue salary through the year. Dr. Taylor appointed pastor emeritus, stipend, $5,000. Mr. J. Winthrop Platner engaged for pastoral work.
1893. Accessions : by letter, 46; by profession, 14. Losses : by letter, 64; by death, 26. Membership, 1,118. Contributions, $29,674.65.
xxviii
CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD
1893. February 20. Mrs. Atossa F. Whittemore, widow of Deacon Thomas Whittemore, an efficient church worker, died.
March 20. Call of church accepted by Dr. Henry A. Stimson of St. Louis, Mo. Began duty April 5. Salary, $12,000. Moving expenses, $1,244.50, paid by society.
Council called for October 31 ratifies Dr. Taylor's withdrawal from pastoral service, his retention as pastor emeritus and instals Dr. Stimson. Lecture- room carpeted and seated anew. New Laudes Domini adopted in place of Songs of the Sanctuary. Children's Day observed. Christian Endeavor (Oc- tober I) and Junior Endeavor (November 8) socie- ties started. Society for Women's Work organized. Absentee list begun. Sunday-schools morning and afternoon. E. F. Tripp, church secretary. Bethany membership, 350.
1894. Accessions: by letter, 30; by profession, 13. Losses : by letter, 84; deaths reported, 29; on absentee roll, 196; fellowship withdrawn from, 4. Membership, 851. Contributions, $30,187.15. Extra allowance to Dr. Stimson, $916.67, for rent. Relief Committee or- ganized, also pastor's Bible class and teachers' meeting. New pastor in Bethany Church, Rev. Fred- erick B. Richards. He starts various new enterprises : Boys' Brigade, Young Men's Institute, gymnasium. Bethany's membership of 312 includes 75 absentees. 1895. Accessions: by letter, 31; by profession, 6. Restora- tions, II. Losses : by letter, 47 ; by death, 18. Mem- bership, 833. Contributions, $25,942.07. Church visi- tor appointed.
February 8. Dr. Taylor died. Funeral sermon by pas- tor, Sunday, February 10. Funeral service, Feb- ruary 12. Sermon by Dr. Storrs. Memorial service, February 17, in church.
March 18. Kindergarten work at Bethany, opened. xxix
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HISTORY OF THE BROADWAY TABERNACLE CHURCH
Society for Women's Work takes in charge Bethany Sewing School, Helping Hand, and Kindergarten. Board of Missions reorganized under name of Beth- any Board. Bethany Church has 259 active members, 35 non-resident.
1896. Accessions : by letter, 13; by profession, 7; restored, 4. Losses: by letter, 118, of whom 66 to form Manhat- tan Congregational Church; by death, 9. Member- ship, 730. Contributions, $26,296.09.
March 3. Mr. Frederick S. Boyd, sexton for forty-two years, died.
April 19. Deacon Austin Abbott, whose second term as deacon had been over twenty-one years, died.
April 8. Dr. Stimson resigned. Dismissed by Council April 28. Salary paid for ensuing year. First meet- ing of Manhattan-Brooklyn Conference held in Tab- ernacle. Ordination of Rev. N. Miller Pratt in Beth- any Church.
1897. Accessions : by letter, 10; by profession, 8; restored, 2. Losses: by letter, 28 (of whom 13 to Manhattan Church) ; by death, 14; absentees, IO; excommuni- cated, I. Membership, 697. Contributions, $20,- 720.44. Rev. F. B. Richards, of Bethany, associate pastor of Tabernacle. Pastoral care of Bethany largely in Mr. Pratt's charge.
1898. Accessions : by letter, 35; by profession, 16; restored, I. Losses: by letter, 24; by death, 9; absentee, I. Membership, 723. Contributions, $23,995.71. Church and Society for Women's Work lost by death three active helpers-Mrs. Henry Hayes, Mrs. Henry C. Houghton, Mrs. John H. Washburn.
Call to Rev. Charles E. Jefferson of Chelsea, Mass. Sal- ary, $10,000. Accepted February 10. Installation April 19. Rev. Frederick B. Richards resigned. Service of Song, Sunday afternoons, introduced, also class in Greek Testament Sunday morning, and study of present-day problems in the afternoon. Broadway
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CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD
Tabernacle Tidings started in October. Bethany Church added 32 members.
1899. Accessions: by letter, 47; by profession, 19. Losses : by letter, 19; by death, 14; fellowship withdrawn from, 5. Membership, 742. Contributions, $20,- 327.79.
+
Rev. Dr. A. H. Clapp, member for thirty-three years, died April 27.
August 19. Deacon Charles L. Mcad, member of this church fifteen years, died.
Men's Association reorganized as Men's League. Num- bers of elected members of Church Committee raised from four to nine. Young Women's Club organized. Council held to ordain Rev. Stefano L. Testa. Watch Night observed. Church entertains conference of Woman's Boards of Missions. Kindergarten moved, through Miss Grace H. Dodge's interest, to 361 West Thirty-fourth Street. Society for Women's Work organized in Bethany. Bethany Church membership, 340.
1900. Accessions : by letter, 42; by profession, 10; restored, I. Losses: by letter, 31; by death, 13; fellowship withdrawn, 2; absentees, 31. Membership, 718. Contributions, $21,914.05. George D. Sweetser, who died August 7, for twenty-one years a member, left as a bequest to the church $20,000 for missionary purposes, and to Bethany $5,000.
May 10. Manhattan-Brooklyn Conference met in Tab- ernacle. Pastor's assistant, Rev. G. Andrew Gordon. 1901. January 16-23. Celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of Tabernacle Church.
April. Payment of floating debt of $31,500 as an Easter offering, and $1,100 contributed by two women of the church toward an endowment fund for pastoral work.
xxxi
The History of the Broadway Tabernacle Church
CHAPTER I.
HINDRANCES TO CONGREGATIONALISM.
I N reviewing the history of the oldest American Congre- gational Church of New York City, the first fact that confronts us is the lamentable weakness of Congregational- ism, west of New England, during the first half of the nine- teenth century. Not only was it generally conceded that Con- gregationalism could not prosper outside of New England, but so unpopular was our church polity that when, in 1840, the plan was broached of reorganizing, upon a Congregational basis, the disbanded church that had borne the name of the Broadway Tabernacle, the statement was publicly made that not ten respectable families could be found in New York that would attend a Congregational church.
To account for this weakness and unpopularity it will be necessary to recall certain differing phases of Congrega- tionalism in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and certain events in the history of Congregationalism beyond the limits of the Eastern States.
The early settlers of Plymouth were Separatists, and the first Puritans of Massachusetts, though of the reform party within the Church of England before leaving their native
I
HISTORY OF THE BROADWAY TABERNACLE CHURCH
shores, inevitably became Separatists when they had estab- lished themselves in the New World.
The Pilgrims had their church organization before leaving Holland; Elder Brewster went with them, and they expected their pastor soon to follow. But the Puritans of Salem, Church of England people though they were, began by elect- ing their own ministers, laying hands upon them in consecra- tion and prayer, with no other bishop than the ministers them- selves, nominating an elder and two deacons, while thirty se- lected persons were invited to form a church by adopting the confession and entering into the Christian covenant drawn up for them by the Rev. Francis Higginson :
" We covenant with the Lord and one with another, and do bind our- selves in the presence of God, to walk together in all His ways, accord- ing as He is pleased to reveal Himself unto us in His blessed word of Truth."
When, on an appointed day, this confession and covenant had been solemnly assented to by the chosen thirty, they consti- tuted the first Congregational church organized in America. The church then proceeded to install their two ministers, elder and deacons, and delegates from the church at Plymouth, though hindered by wind and weather, were not too late in arriving to give to the new church the right hand of fellow- ship. Thus the Congregational doctrines of the independence of the individual church and the fellowship of churches were maintained, from the founding of New England.
The New England churches held from the outset that no one should enter into the communion of the Church who had not been born of the Spirit of God, and a statement of personal religious experience was required of each candidate for ad- mission to its communion.
These early church founders were men of faith, of noble purpose, and high courage. Devotion to liberty in Church and State dominated their lives; and devotion to religion and to the preservation of the commonwealth they were founding re- quired, in their judgment, that no man should be made freeman
2
HINDRANCES TO CONGREGATIONALISM
with right to vote in public affairs who was not a member of some church in the colony. This was but grafting on the new England the custom of the old; but in old England infants en- tered the Church by baptism, and confirmation followed, almost inevitably in early youth. But rigid examinations and state- ments of personal experience of conversion debarred young people from church membership, and additions to the Church were few.
In a generation or two a natural reaction from the intensity of religious fervor, which had driven the fathers from their homes into the wilderness, began to be manifest in their chil- dren. In 1643 only about a ninth of the Massachusetts colo- nists had become citizens. Thomas Prince says that "a little after 1660 there began to appear a decay, and this increased to 1670, when it grew very visible and threatening, and was generally complained of and bewailed bitterly by the pious among them, and yet much more to 1680, when but few of the first generation remained."
As these children, born in the Church and baptized in in- fancy, grew to manhood, very few were admitted to the Lord's Supper, as the large majority made no profession of having experienced the new birth, but they desired baptism for their children. They were members of the Church but not in full communion. But the privilege of baptism which they sought for their infant children was so great that they were willing to "own the Covenant," as it was called; that is, assent to the " doctrine of faith" and enter into a formal covenant with the Church to walk as became its members and submit to its discipline. This question of the Half-Way Covenant was discussed for years and voted on in association and synod.
At first only such presented themselves to "own the Cove- nant " as were already, by baptism, in the Church; but by the beginning of the eighteenth century, still more barriers to church membership were broken down, and "many ministers admitted all applicants of good moral character to the Covenant and granted them and their children baptism without ques-
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HISTORY OF THE BROADWAY TABERNACLE CHURCH
tion as to whether the recipients were members by birth or not. This was a wide departure from the original Half-Way Covenant practice, and one which tended vastly more than that to cheapen the Gospel ordinances."* Some churches admitted to baptism any respectable person who would take the Covenant obligation, others baptized the children of all reputable baptized persons whether they owned the Covenant or not. By these lax methods of admission members partici- pated in church government who were not admitted to full communion. The colony of Newark, N. J., which was founded in 1666, was undertaken in part as a protest against the adop- tion of the Half-Way Covenant by Connecticut churches.
Early in the eighteenth century ministers and associations began to realize the low state of religion in the Church itself, and the General Court of Connecticut directed Selectmen to distribute Bibles, catechisms, and other books to " prepare for the right attendance upon that great duty, the Lord's Supper."
The Half-Way Covenant had taught the people that they could have acceptable relations with God without having evi- dence that their lives were renewed by His Spirit, and that performing religious duties would lead to spiritual renewal. It was even maintained that "the Lord's Supper is a convert- ing ordinance." Religion was respectable, and men were urged to the performance of its outward duties in order to become Christians. "Thus there grew up, in part at least, as the re- sult of the Half-Way Covenant, what was then called 'the new-fashioned divinity,' 'the Arminian scheme of justifica- tion by our own virtues.'" +
Meanwhile conflicting tendencies in church government arose in the colonies. The conservative party in Massachusetts sought to strengthen the power of the ministerial and church associations and to restrain the individual minister and the local church; but the movement for stricter ecclesiastical gov- ernment failed eventually in Massachusetts, though it met with
* Williston Walker, Ph.D., The Creeds and Platforms of Congregational- ism, p. 279.
t Albert E. Dunning, D.D., Congregationalists in America, pp. 238-240.
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HINDRANCES TO CONGREGATIONALISM
success in Connecticut, where consociations of churches and associations of ministers were formed in accordance with the civil law enacted in 1708, which favored a concentration of power and authoritative standing councils. These consocia- tions, which had much in common with presbyteries, retained their authority for nearly eighty years until 1780, when the statutes of the State of Connecticut were revised. From that date the authority of the consociation became more and more limited, and now the Presbyterian element has practically dis- appeared from the discipline of the Congregational churches of that State, and hardly a vestige of the old consociation sys- tem remains.
When in the fourth and fifth decades of the eighteenth century the New England churches were roused from their lethargy by the preaching of Jonathan Edwards, Gilbert Ten- nent, George Whitefield, and others, the revival movement and methods were opposed and deplored by many ministers who were out of touch with religious fervor of any kind. The bitterness of their opposition led them in their own minds and in public speech to cheapen the value of the doctrines taught by the revival preachers. One natural result of the Great Awakening was to quicken theological thought and discussion. New teachers of divinity arose, developing new methods of justifying the ways of God to man. Bellamy and Hopkins followed Edwards as teachers of the ministry, each with his scheme of theology, and Emmons came after with his further modification of the Hopkinsian system. These all held the Christian doctrine in the main as the fathers had transmitted it to them, but each interpreted it in his own way. With these men and their successors the doctrines of Christianity were all-important. They rejoiced to grapple with metaphysical difficulties in their search after divine truth; but there were problems of life, practice, and politics which had to be solved in the troublous days of the latter half of that century, and many ministers cared little for the doctrines of the Gospel and much for civil liberty and a gospel of good works.
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