USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > The first century of Central Congregational Church, 1852-1952 > Part 2
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light and fall within this period. One, for a violation of the laws of morality which had led to a conviction in the Su- preme Court of Rhode Island, resulted in the dissolution of the offender's connection with the Church. The other, which involved a like offense, but for which penitence was expressed, resulted in the recommendation of suspension for the space of six months. What a later age might regard as austerity was still in evidence in the late 1870's.
With the help of others, among them Mr. Edward K. Gleazen, organist of Central Church, Dr. Harris provided new collections of hymns and psalms designed to add to the reverence and richness of worship, for with him it was an article of faith that "people are educated in religion by wor- ship almost as much as by preaching and teaching". With similar intent slight changes were made in the services of song, and a new organ, later moved to the Church on Angell Street, was installed. The "Ministry of Music" thus gained in stature and effect.
The Church continued to grow. In 1872 its membership was 375. It was 487 in 1877, when the number of new ad- missions reached the surprising figure of 82, and in 1882 it was 503. Pew rents remained, as from the beginning, a very substantial item of annual income, but at Dr. Harris' sugges- tion the varied collections of earlier years were replaced by a system of weekly offerings. The minister modestly de- clared that this device did not deserve the name of "the Harris system", but under it gifts were doubled. The total of benevolences was impressive and was now further supple- mented by the fruitful labors of such active groups as "The
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Willing Hands" and "The Cheerful Workers". At least two members of the first-named group devoted their later lives to the Foreign Missionary field.
In December, 1882, Dr. Harris' resignation was reluc- tantly accepted by a congregation whose confidence in and affection for their minister had steadily grown over the years. His ill health, and that of his wife, had caused him to accept leaves of absence in earlier years, but the final break was occasioned by his election as Abbott Professor of Systematic Theology at Andover Theological Seminary. He would not have accepted any other pastorate, but he felt impelled to accept the duty of "helping to shape the doctrines and character of our ministry". In accepting his new post George Harris further emphasized his Protestant and human- istic belief by carefully stipulating to the Andover Authori- ties that he assented to their creed "as containing substan- tially the system of truth taught in the Holy Scripture". In his mind the word "substantially" was the crux of the matter. It allowed him that measure of intellectual freedom which he demanded for himself and which he had been ever ready to allow to others.
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TRANSITION
F OR thirty years the new Church had pursued its way until time had taken from it the consciousness of extreme youth, and perhaps also some of the conservatism with which youth, to its own surprise, clothes its first steps on new and significant ventures. A Calvinistic sense of duty, a conviction of the urgency of the moment, and a mood of austerity as the appropriate accom- paniment of the religious mind mark the initial period. These were chacter- istic alike of the stage of the Church's development and of the external scene of society in which it was growing.
Nevertheless, signs of change were in the air, not least manifest when the first efforts to effect modification of the precise rules failed of passage. There was vigor in the body of the society, and the power of growth was inherent in the very conviction of those who preached a doctrine of salvation by the tested paths of the past.
As we enter on the period that was to carry the Church to the mid-century point of its own existence, to the close of the Victorian Era with all that it implies of good and of short-comings in spiritual vision, and over the dividing line between the nineteenth and the twentieth century, we find something of the stirring of imagination which kindles new enterprises in the minds of men. The physical structure of the past had been outgrown, the promise of the future demanded bold concepts and vigorous action. Nor did the church search its own members in vain for those who should carry the vision forward. This is the tale that Miss Marguerite Appleton has to tell as she takes up the story of Central Congregational Church in the second stage of its life.
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PART II THE PERIOD OF GROWTH 1884 - 1902
By MARGUERITE APPLETON
THE PERIOD OF GROWTH
AS S we trace the history of the Church, it seems as though the resignation of Dr. Harris in 1882 clearly marks the end of one era and the beginning of another in which the four year pastorate of the Rev. Charles W. Huntington served as a sort of interlude. At that time the church membership was still comparatively small, approximately 500. There were very few organizations within the Church, although the Women's Auxiliary of the Womens' Board of Foreign Mis- sions with its younger group, the Young Girls' Mission Circle, and the Womens' Home Missionary Society were tireless in working for their respective causes. Each group met weekly, and in addition to substantial financial contribu- tions, supplies of all kinds were sent to missions and charit- able projects in the state, the nation, and in other parts of the world. In 1887 the Ministering Childrens' League was established under the loving guidance of Mrs. Francis Carpenter and Mrs. Edwin A. Barrows for the purpose of interesting little children in the work of foreign missions. In 1885 Mr. Huntington had organized the Young Peoples' Alliance, the forerunner of the Christian Endeavor.
That church membership demanded positive personal responsibility can be seen from a brief note in 1885 that the names of three persons were stricken from the role of members; one because of "denial of the faith"; another be- cause of "modified views of religious faith"; and a third on account of "repeated absence from church services and a refusal to obey the rules of the church". These instances
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may well be borne in mind for the light that they throw on the changed attitude that was to appear at the end of the century.
The most important event of Mr. Huntington's pastorate was the addition of the Blackstone Park Sunday School, which had begun its existence in the Beane Barn off Butler Avenue as a department of our Sunday School. The Black- stone Park Sunday School had been organized to fill the need for a religious center in the Wayland Square section of the city. As it happened, the majority of the families living in that neighborhood were affiliated with Central Church, and therefore it was natural that the Sunday School, although at first non-denominational, sooner or later become a depart- ment of our Church. When, in 1887, this change was made, Mr. Thomas B. Stockwell was appointed Superintendent. Two years later the Blackstone Chapel, which many people still remember clearly, was built at the corner of Wayland Avenue and Angell Street, and for the next five years the little turreted and gabled building served as an outpost of the Church. Regular services under the leadership of the Minis- ter were held there Sunday evenings ; its Sunday School grew by leaps and bounds, and it was not long before a Young Peoples' Society, and a Christian Endeavor Society were organized.
Meanwhile, the resignation of Mr. Huntington in 1888 to become Minister at the High Street Congregational Church in Lowell, Massachusetts, made it necessary to find another pastor. In October of the following year an invita- tion was sent to Dr. Edward C. Moore, of the Westminister
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Presbyterian Church of Yonkers, New York, declaring that, "We believe that here is opened to you in the ordering of Providence a field of increased usefullness in the service of the Master". Dr. Moore accepted the call and three months later preached his first sermon in the church on Benefit Street. Grave and thoughtful, yet expressing a warm friend- liness, Dr. Moore proved an ideal spiritual leader, while Mrs. Moore quickly became an admired and beloved member of the Central Church family.
With the coming of Dr. Moore the Church entered on a period of growth and expansion in almost every field. The membership increased steadily, with the result that within a short time it was necessary to add an Assistant Minister to the staff. Mr. John J. Walker, of Andover Seminary, as- sumed the duties of Assistant Minister and shared the work of the pastorate with dependability and loyalty. Fresh life was infused into the existing organizations, and some new groups were formed. In 1898 the Marsh Paper Mission was started. Begun in a quiet way through the interest of Miss Nancy Marsh, Missionary of our Church at the Sailors' Bethel in Providence, this project was maintained by the members of the Christian Endeavor Society. Magazines and books were collected and distributed to lighthouses and lightships along the Atlantic Coast. When we learn that an average of fifteen to twenty thousand magazines a year were sent to various points along the coast, we can easily imagine the gratitude of those men, in the days before radio and tele- vision, for something to read while serving at their lonely stations.
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Early in Dr. Moore's pastorate an important step was taken by voting to assume as a missionary project the Portuguese living in the Fox Point district. This stemmed from the work of Miss Marsh at the Sailors' Bethel. At the same time the responsibility for the Mission was not under- taken without careful deliberation, for it was realized that it would entail the maintenance of a staff of teachers and leaders of various activities, provision for a worship service on Sundays and two midweek services, as well as a Sunday School, and, of course, increased financial burdens. As al- ways, however, the widening of our spiritual horizon by including the Portuguese Mission as "one of ours" was gladly accepted. The continued success in carrying the Gos- pel of Jesus and the principles of Christian living to these "strangers within our gates" is due to the devoted labors of scores of individual members of our Church over a period of many years.
It was not long before new projects were instituted at the Mission-industrial classes for the women, a night school for the men, a kindergarten for the children. The names of many workers come to mind, such as Mr. James Day, Mr. Ellsworth Torrey, Mr. Robert Burbank, Mr. Seeber Edwards, who acted as Superintendents of the Sunday School, Mrs. Benjamin Buffum, Mrs. Franklin J. Sawtelle, Mrs. Frederic Fuller, who took charge of the womens' groups. No one person, however, was more closely associated with the life of the Mission than Mr. Frederic Fuller, who year in and year out poured his care and affection into the little group who worshipped together in the small wooden building
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on Transit Street. Mr. Fuller hardly ever missed a service there; he held a Bible Class for men on Mondays at twelve o'clock noon; he knew the names of all the families which attended the Mission, yes, and he knew how many sons and daughters they had and their names, too, even down to the new baby. He visited their homes, counseled, and encour- aged them all, and gave them an everlasting example of Christian faith.
It was during this period that a fundamental decision had to be made. It had been evident for some time that the Church had come to the cross-roads. Fewer and fewer families from the West Side were taking part in the life of the Church, while most of the new members lived on the East Side. It was obvious that the Church's "center of gravity" was steadily shifting eastward over College Hill. A committee consisting of Mr. Francis Carpenter, Mr. John W. Danielson, Mr. Frederic Fuller, Mr. Frederic C. Sayles, and Mr. Frederic Talbot, appointed to study the situation, finally recommended that a move be made and that Diman Place be selected as the new location. To some people Diman Place seemed practically on the outskirts of the city, but in reality it represented much more adequately than Benefit Street the parish of Central Church. In 1890, there- fore, after long and thoughtful discussion, for it was indeed a serious question, it was voted unanimously to make the move and build a new church. A campaign to raise the neces- sary funds for building followed, and Messrs. Carrère and Hastings of New York were engaged as architects, while Mr. Franklin J. Sawtelle was asked to serve as supervising
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and constructing architect in Providence. In July, 1891, the cornerstone was laid.
Meanwhile, during the pleasant bustle of construction and decoration of the church building proper, Memorial Chapel, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Danielson and Miss Amelia Lockwood, in memory of their parents and grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Amos D. Lockwood, was com- pleted on the new site. With its spacious room for Sunday School or other services, its numerous small class rooms, a special location for the "Infant Room"-the beloved Fire- place Room-and a kitchen, it seemed more than adequate for all possible needs for the present and future. It immediate- ly became the social center for the church, and hummed with activity almost every day in the week, for it served as a meeting place for the organizations which hitherto had been forced either to meet in private homes, or in a rented Club Room on South Main Street. Already the character of life within the Church was changing with the growing physical facilities.
The last Thursday evening meeting on Benefit Street was held in the Vestry of the church on April 15, 1892. Dr. Swain's portrait had been placed in front of the pulpit and was flanked on either side by photographs of former mem- bers. Deacon Torrey read a paper on the history of the Church, and Mr. Graham gave some informal reminiscences. As the dear, familiar hymns were sung, probably many in the congregation were filled with nostalgia, even though they agreed with Dr. Moore when he declared that, "While we cling to the past with tenacity (which is fitting), yet we
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should rather look to the present and to the future as that is where our work lies". More than a half century later, as we face our hundredth anniversary, his words still express our will and purpose.
During the early months in the new Chapel, where the first service had been held on Easter Sunday, April 17, 1892, the members were watching the building of the church with eager interest. As they saw the structure rising in the style of the Renaissance, symbolic of the spirit of liberty, new birth, and hope, their eagerness must have outrun their patience.
It had been decided to concentrate all the decoration of the interior on the pulpit and the chancel. Thus the eyes and the spirits of the congregation would be irresistibly drawn to the chancel where the lectern, the gift of the Young People's Societies, and the communion table, purchased from the legacy of Miss Nancy Marsh, were to stand. For the rest, the interior was to depend for beauty on structural propor- tions, dignity, and complete simplicity.
The design for the chancel, with its wealth of Christian symbolism, was the work of Mr. Schladermundt of New York, and its rich and colorful painting was made possible through the generosity of Mr. Francis Carpenter. As one gazes upward, one sees the Lamb of God in the center of the arch with Providence, in the shape of a beautiful woman ex- pressing God's loving care, on one side, and Virtue, strong and courageous in helmet and breast plate, on the other. Within the circular dome a magnificent cross, the great symbol of Christianity, stands out against a golden yellow
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background-yellow for the sun, and the goodness of God, for marriage, and faith, and fruitfulness. In the exact center of the cross is a dove representing the Holy Spirit, while the four Evangelists are painted on the four arms. St. Matthew is pictured as a man, for his Gospel tells of the humanity of Christ's ministry ; St. Mark is portrayed with a lion's head because of his leonine Gospel of the Kingship of Christ; St. Luke is represented with the head of an ox, the animal tra- ditionally used in sacrifice, as his Gospel emphasizes the priesthood and sacrifice of Jesus; while St. John in the form of an eagle expresses the divinity of Jesus. The familiar letters IHS at the foot of the cross have for centuries stood for Jesus the Savior of Mankind. Three narrow panels on the right and left side of the center are filled with multi- colored plants or shrubs in full bloom which suggest, not only the beauty of the Christian church, but recall the in- numerable references in the Bible to the beauties of Nature. Around the base of the dome, the artist painted in soft colors a wide luxuriant vine to remind the worshipper of one of the best loved sayings of Christ: "I am the vine, and ye are the branches". Two deer, sipping of the living waters against the vine, and two peacocks, symbolical of immortality, add to the richness of the border. Underneath runs the glorious song of the angels on the night that Christ was born: "Glory to God in the Highest and on Earth Peace, Good Will toward Men".
In spite of some anxiety caused by the financial situation of the country in 1893, the church was finished in the early fall and was dedicated in November of that year. It was a
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beautiful autumn Sunday morning when the members of Central Church met together for the first time in their new building, and many guests had been invited to rejoice with them. The Rev. George Harris and the Rev. Mr. Hunting- ton, closely associated with the life of the Church in recent years, Dr. E. Benjamin Andrews, President of Brown Uni- versity, and Bishop Clark, of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island, assisted Dr. Moore in the morning service. In the afternoon a Communion service was held at which the ministers of all the Congregational churches in the state sat in the chancel, and deacons of neighboring churches served. Dr. James G. Vose, of the Beneficent Congregational Church, the Senior Congregational Minister of Rhode Island, was the preacher. In the evening still another service with special music was held. Professor George C. Moore, the brother of Dr. Moore, preached the sermon. At all three services the Church was filled to overflowing, since a great effort had been made to see that every one, even the aged and infirm, could share in the worship of God and the general rejoicing that day. Thus reverently did Central Church transfer its life to a new and larger edifice and signify its consecration to a new and larger future.
As the nineteenth century drew to a close the minds of the members of the church were directed to many other things. Possibly as a result of the attitude of a younger generation that had never known the religious austerity of Dr. Swain's era, new currents of thought were working within the Church. The whole question of the meaning of membership, requirements for joining the Church, and the
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Rules of the Church had been under discussion for some time. In 1894 the necessity for subscribing to the Articles of Faith as a test of Christian belief was abandoned, and four years later a set of revised Rules was accepted. Neverthe- less, the Puritan influence can still be noted in Rule X, for instance, which states; "Members are expected to abstain from every pursuit and amusement which shall interfere with growth in holiness or Christian usefulness". At about the same time the Church officially adopted as its name, the Central Congregational Church, and began to issue a weekly printed calendar containing notices of all kinds, thus doing away with the old custom of verbal announcements of various activities from the pulpit. A measure of formalism neces- sarily accompanied the growth of the Church.
In January, 1899, Dr. Moore's tenth anniversary as pastor was celebrated, and the growth of the Church in the last decade was reviewed with satisfaction. The increased membership, the flourishing Sunday School, now combined with the Blackstone Park Chapel Sunday School, the Sunday services, with an afternoon Vesper service replacing the old Sunday evening service, the many strong and active organ- izations for men, women, and young people, the widespread interest in the Portuguese Mission and its heart-warming development, to say nothing of the beautiful church building and Memorial Chapel, all indicated that Central Church was prospering in its life and its good works, and in its beloved minister.
Two years longer Dr. Moore served as minister, and then in December, 1901, just over the threshold of the new
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century, he was offered the position of Parkman Professor of Theology at Harvard University. His resignation three months later was a source of deep and universal regret, so completely had he become the center of the spiritual and social life of the church. At the same time there was a feeling of genuine satisfaction that from Central Church there should be drawn an inspired teacher to continue his life work in the field of religious scholarship.
As Dr. Moore prepared to leave the Church, and as he recalled the friendships of those men and women who labored with him to make the Church a living and vital institution, the young couples he had married, the boys and girls he had taught and baptized, and the parting by death of the older members of the Church at whose funerals he had read the words of comfort from the Gospels, he found it hard to meas- ure and evaluate accurately the innumerable activities of his pastorate. He remarked, "Those real employments seemed always to me to be study and reading and thought, the writing of sermons, preparing myself to speak and to teach, the endeavor to understand the religious life of men, and the needs of men ... and beyond this study and thought and writing, the chief other employment that was real and central was the meeting of men and women in the pastoral relation, entering their homes at the times when they laid open to me the depths of their lives, and seeking to bring to them the help of the truth in their need . .. The real issue of the years should be in the lives of men and women some- thing so deep in their souls and withal so lasting that of that life no man may take measure or write a tale."
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In the life of an individual twelve years is a compara- tively short span, but the twelve years of Dr. Moore's leadership of Central Church had been full and eventful ones, and now the Church had definitely set its feet in the new paths.
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TRANSITION
T HE Church was no longer young. Fifty years is a respectable span in the life of an institution as well as of an individual. The early faith had been justified, crises had been met, major decisions affecting the direction of growth had been made in a spirit of judicious appraisal and consecrated purpose. And Central Church was proving itself a significant element in the religious life of the denomination.
Austerity was yielding to a more generous understanding of human needs and to an awareness that the degree of Christian service did not depend on the exaction of uniform codes of conduct and belief. Perhaps, too, there was a growing sense of competence in the knowledge that the Church had served as the training ground for a man who had gone on to a position of responsibility in the education of future theologians. What should be the attitude of those who now must look to the next half-century? That decision had inevitably been framed in terms of the selection of a new minister, and there was a firm purpose that no deadening hand of convention should stand in the way of progress. There was a disposition, even in the comparative quiet of American society at the turn of the century, to welcome vigorous thought and a pioneering spirit, for the Church had built into her fibre the strength with which to meet controversy if that were to be its lot.
In the light of perspective, with sympathy, understanding, and skill, Mr. George L. Miner offers a study and appraisal of the strong convictions, differ- ences, and purposes of those who in the third period of the church's life, one marked alike by dispute and maturity, guided the destinies of the religious community.
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PART III MATURITY 1903-1917
By GEORGE L. MINER
MATURITY
T HE third period of the history of Central Church is aptly termed the period of maturity. Its fourteen years from 1903 to 1917 embraced two vividly contrasting pas- torates-five years under the Rev. Edward F. Sanderson and, after a year's interim, seven years under Dr. Gaius Glenn Atkins. The Sanderson regime was rich in drama. The young and popular minister led a valiant attempt to have Central Church adopt and enlarge a down-town mis- sion for discharged prisoners and fallen women. Eight of the ten men of the Standing Committee were reluctant to follow, Mr. Sanderson suddenly resigned, the congregation took sides for and against, and the scars of the encounter lasted for years. The Atkins regime that followed was intellectual and scholarly ; its thoughtful atmosphere brought tranquility. THE SPIRIT OF FERMENT
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