USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > The first century of Central Congregational Church, 1852-1952 > Part 4
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THE MINISTRY OF SCHOLARSHIP
During the months of spiritual ferment over the Fountain
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Street Mission many leaders in the denomination of Congre- gational churches of the country turned sympathetic and anxious thoughts toward Central Church. One such leader was the minister of the First Congregational Church of Detroit, Michigan, Dr. Gaius Glenn Atkins.
Dr. Atkins was a man of outstanding reputation and con- spicuous attainment. A graduate of Ohio State University in 1888 he had studied law at the Cincinnati Law School and earned an LL.B in 1891. A little later he studied at Yale Divinity School, and in 1895 he was ordained a Congrega- tional minister. His first ministry was at Greenfield, Massa- chusetts. Here he spent five years, and then went to Burling- ton, Vermont. In 1904 he was given a D.D. by the Univer- sity of Vermont; in 1906 Dartmouth College added its D.D., and that year he was called to the church at Detroit. He was 42, married, with five children, and he liked New England.
Professor J. Irving Manatt, the distinguished Greek scholar who was the head of that department at Brown University, was chairman of the committee to choose a new minister for Central Church. The committee brought in their recommendation to invite Dr. Atkins to come to Central; the church vote was unanimous, and Dr. Atkins accepted under date of October 11, 1909.
I have felt from the first [he wrote] that the service to which you ask me was, in its implications, its actualities and its possibilities most distinctly the work I am best fitted to do. I shall come to you then with a deep eagerness and joy, and, I trust, in a right humility.
Dr. Atkins put it well; he was fitted for Central Church. And he might have said that Central Church was fitted for Continued on page 57
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THE PLAN OF THE WINDOWS
D URING the pastorate of the Rev. Edward F. Sanderson, and at the suggestion of Professor Adelaide Locke of Wellesley College, a plan was adopted to insure in advance harmony and unity in the preparation of the stained glass windows which might presently be given as memorials.
The central theme of the windows is the unfolding of divine life in the universe. Thus, the Window of Light on the wall of the East Transept, the gift of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Frederic Clark Sayles, and the Window of the Heavenly City, directly opposite on the west wall, the gift of Mr. Francis W. Carpenter, together symbolize the beginning and the culmination of Christian endeavor. Six smaller windows represent the great forces of the universe through which the purpose of the Church may be fulfilled. Com- mencing with the window on the north wall of the West Transept, and moving around the Church toward the right, the windows may be identified as follows: the Window of Prayer, the gift of Mr. Arthur Claflin and Mr. George Claflin, in memory of Mr. and Mrs. George Lyman Claflin; the Window of Labor, on the north side of the East Transept, the gift of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Wilkinson; the Window of Prophecy, on the south side of the East Transept, the gift of Mrs. Harriet N. Lathrop, in tribute to the women who have made of this a missionary Church; the Window of Loyalty and Sacrifice, on the east wall of the Nave, the gift of the people of the Church as a memorial to those who served in the First World War; the Window of Love, on the west side of the Nave, the gift of Mrs. Robert W. Burbank and Mr. Caleb Burbank, in memory of Mr. Robert W. Burbank; and the Window of Faith, on the south side of the West Transept, the gift of Mrs. Eliza N. Viall, in memory of Mr. Richmond Viall.
C
Th LOVING MEMORY OF DEBORRA COOK STYLES BORN NOV. XXXL MDCCCXLI DIED NOV. XXX TOCCOXCY
OD LET THERE BE LIGHT
ID.LOVING MEMORY OF FREDERIC CLARK SAYLES HOHM JULY XVII MDC XXXV .. DIGD. JAIL V mcmm
The window of Light, on the wall of the East transept the gift of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Frederic Clark Sayles
him. The scholarly character of the man, deeply devotional and of broad erudition seasoned by pastoral experience, found a congenial and responsive fellowship in a church of thoughtful people. Central Church shared widely in the re- sources of a richly cultural city. Providence, Rhode Island, possessed of unique religious traditions, was, and is, rich in the sort of life in which strong churches are nourished. In this environment, enriched by a great university, by strong schools and colleges and libraries, a vigorous and hungry culture throve among the men and women of the professions, of business, of public office, of social life. Such a culture called for spiritual leadership of high order. In that environ- ment Central Church developed its character. For that en- vironment the Church sought, consciously or unconsciously to embody on a high spiritual level the aspirations of the community.
During Dr. Atkins' seven years the Church steadfastly deepened its roots in consecration and service. Those years were troubled by the storms of war; in 1914 Europe was aflame, in 1917 a million and three-quarters of American soldiers fought in France. Many families of the parish were directly touched. These were years of restless anxiety.
At the heart of our American life [Dr. Atkins wrote in his 1915 Carnegie Church Peace Union Prize Essay] is the American Church; free from entangling alliances with the State and its parties, with no cause to serve save the causes of ultimate justice and regnant right- eousness ... . she has leadership, power, influence to feed into the life of this nation an idealism which shall cast its light far down the future's broadening way and make plain the path along which the peoples shall come.
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Within his own Church Dr. Atkins' leadership was gen- tle, but it had effectiveness born of wise thinking. The activities of a great working church that had so impressed Mr. Sanderson flowed on. The roll of members continued its growth; on Dr. Atkins' coming it numbered 866, when he left to go back to Detroit it was 910.
His sermons were noteworthy; they radiated a broad human philosophy that appealed to intellect and heart alike. They had literary charm and they had the pepper and salt that came from mature training in pastoral work among a variety of congregations.
Dr. Atkins had written much before he came to Provi- dence, but his first published book appeared during his first year at Central. Thereafter, at intervals of two years or so came a series of books that grew to a list of at least twenty- one volumes. Four of these were published during his Provi- dence ministry. On rereading these books one is impressed by their breadth of thought and a certain pungent flavor of authority despite the variety of subject. The $1,000 prize essay was an ably written peace polemic, fearless and realis- tic. Pilgrims of the Lonely Road, published in 1913, portrayed the quest for strength and peace as revealed in a handful of "Books of the Spirit" written by famous men. One passage from the Pilgrims is here repeated :
Life does not grow more simple with the passing years, but its deeper needs are unchanging. The secret of peace is not to be sought at the end of the road, but in the spirit in which we journey.
All in all these books are important; they are the crea-
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tive flowering of a scholarly religious philosopher, tolerantly critical, often delightfully discerning, always clear and in- spiring.
When those volumes that were published during Dr. Atkins' ministry at Central appeared, the people of the Church not only read them with keen interest but were proud to be thus emphasized as a "literary" church.
Dr. Atkins spent six busy and happy years at Central, resigning in 1917 to go back to Detroit again. That busy city, prospering mightily, felt that it needed him; his old church called and he returned for a second pastorate of ten years.
Dr. Atkins' ministry at Central came to its end with abiding respect and affection between pastor and people. He had been a scholarly and inspiring leader to his parish, and the city as well as the Church appreciated how much the richer it was for his stay.
[Mr. Sanderson lives in quiet retirement on the Island of Nantucket. Dr. Atkins lives at Long Beach, New York, where he continues his writing and has been editor of the Ministers' Quarterly for several years.]
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TRANSITION
C 4
ENTRAL Church has been served by distinguished leaders. Austerity, religious conviction, liberalism, scholarship, social consciousness, pastoral responsibility-these and every other term appropriate to the Christian ministry applied in various ways to the ministers who had contributed to the growth and strength of the church through more than sixty years of its existence. And now the responsibility again devolved on the lay leadership to chart the course of the future and to select the man who should guide a church that had become respected throughout New England for its solidity and vitality.
It was well that the committee consisted of men whose judgment and belief were sound, for the choice that they were destined to make was to determine the leadership for a third of a century, a longer period than any man had hitherto served as minister. It was in no mood of petty pride, with no thought of sur- passing the qualities of earlier ministers, with no intent to court popular ac- claim, that they turned to their difficult and responsible task. It was rather their settled purpose to find the man whose training and character, whose personal conviction and domestic tranquillity, whose scholarship and pastoral devotion might combine to serve best the men and women who looked to Central Congregational Church for spiritual comfort. The choice that they ultimately made was to carry the church with increasing power to the observ- ance of the one hundredth anniversary of its founding.
It is fitting that this part of the story should be told by Mr. Gurney Edwards, whose family connections reach far back into the middle years of the Church's history and whose personal association covers closely and intimately the entire period of the pastorate of the Rev. Arthur H. Bradford.
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PART IV HERE WE STAND 1918-1952 By GURNEY EDWARDS
HERE WE STAND
O N the morning of June 2, 1918, when a blue sky and a bright sun made the East Side of Providence appear at its best, Dr. Arthur H. Bradford preached his first sermon as minister of Central Congregational Church. A casual ob- server of the city would have quite readily supposed (apart from the presence of a few military and naval uniforms about the streets) that heaven and earth were fairly attuned on that day. But overseas the fury of the German offensive had not yet abated in a war that happily ended months earlier than anyone would have anticipated on that June day.
In the thirty-four years that have followed, Dr. Bradford has attained a notable success as the minister of the church; the membership has more than doubled (from 910 in 1919 to 2050 as it stands now) ; earlier rifts in the Congregation have long since been healed; large congregations weekly hear his sermons. His wise administration of the church, his Christian example and his sympathetic ministering to its needs have won for him the universal love and respect of the congrega- tion and also of the whole community.
But somehow that June day of 1918 remains symbolic for the thirty-four years that have followed in the life of Central Congregational Church. The Church itself, situated in a pleasant but rather static residential district, has grown strong and unified. But the background of the thirty-four years around the nation and the world has been one of storm and stress, a First World War, the peace of which was squandered, a tinsel and speculative prosperity in this country
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following the war, a consequent cruel and devastating de- pression, relieved largely by expenditures for a new war, the Second World War leaving problems more serious than those that it settled, and finally, the present time of trouble, the outcome of which no man knoweth.
The pulpit of the Church had been vacant since Dr. Gaius Glenn Atkins retired on September 23, 1917. Im- mediately after Dr. Atkins had tendered his resignation on May 10, 1917, the Standing Committee had voted to elect a Permanent Pastoral Supply Committee of five to collabor- ate with a corresponding committee of the Society to recom- mend a successor to Dr. Atkins. On the Church Committee were Messrs. Frederic H. Fuller, Theodore Collier, Morti- mer H. Alling, Oscar L. Heltzen and Erling C. Ostby. The committee labored long and diligently and sought the very best minister that could be brought to the Church. By the following May they were of the opinion that they had suc- ceeded in its mission. At the special meeting of the Church held on April 20, 1918, the joint committee unanimously recommended the Rev. Arthur H. Bradford, of Rutland, Vermont, as the new minister of the Church. To quote from the minutes of the meeting, "all of the members of the Com- mittee spoke in terms of the highest praise of Dr. Bradford and Mr. Swan stated 'that he was their first, last and only choice,'". The Church meeting unanimously voted to extend the call to Dr. Bradford "to become its pastor and teacher". Messrs. Fuller, Collier, and Ostby were appointed to meet with a similar committee of the Society to convey the action of the meeting to the pastor-elect. Dr. Bradford's letter ac-
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I SAW A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH
The Window of the Heavenly City, on the wall of the West Transept the gift of Mr. Francis W. Carpenter
cepting the call was dated April 30, 1918. He wrote in part : "After earnestly seeking and striving to follow God's Guidance in the matter, I rejoice to accept your call subject to the action of the church which I now serve and the vote of an Ecclesiastical Council soon to be convened to dissolve my present pastoral relations."
The new minister had been graduated from Yale in 1905, had done post-graduate work there in 1906, and had been graduated from Union Theological Seminary in 1909. He had been assistant pastor in the South Church of Springfield, Massachusetts, for three years, and had served the Congre- gational Church in Rutland for five more years. His father, the Rev. Amory Howe Bradford, had long been one of the leaders in the Congregational denomination.
An Ecclesiastical Council was called for October 15, 1918 for the installation of the new minister. The epidemic of influenza that was raging about this time in the cities and military cantonments of the country forced a postponement until December 2, 1918. A note in the calendar for October 26 stated that in compliance with the request of the Board of Health all church services for the week would be omitted.
At the installation services, eminent Congregational Ministers participated. Dean Charles R. Brown of the Yale School of Religion preached the sermon, Dr. Nehemiah Boynton gave the charge to the new pastor, and Dr. Edward C. Moore, formerly minister of the Church, gave the charge to the people. At the social gathering following the installa- tion, at which Mr. Frank H. Swan presided, speakers in- cluded President William H. P. Faunce of Brown Univer-
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sity, Dr. Sturges of Grace Church, Dr. Lord of the First Con- gregational Church,and Rev. Charles S. Mills of Montclair.
The installation occurred three weeks to a day after the Armistice in the First World War had been signed. Sixty- eight men of the Church whose names now appear on the tablet on its east wall, had served in the Army and Navy during the War. Alfred Christenson Butts and Harold Harrison Heltzen, two of the number, had died in the service of their country.
Most important organizational changes were to occur in Central Congregational Church in the next few years. The annual meeting of the church was changed from January to May in 1919. The Church, like so many other Congrega- tional Churches of the day, had a dual organization. There was the unincorporated Church consisting of the members of the Church as an ecclesiastical body and the incorporated Society that owned the property of the Church. The mem- bers of the Society were the pew renters whose pew rentals paid the minister's salary, provided for the music of the services and the upkeep and maintenance of the Church properties. The Music Committee and the Building and Grounds Committee were then Committees of the Society. The benevolences of the Church members provided for the missionary responsibilities of the Church. In accordance apparently with sound tradition, the members of the Society were solely of the male sex.
The increased size of the weekly congregations that attended services after Dr. Bradford's arrival was soon to put a strain on the system of rented pews. It was embar-
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rassing to keep worshippers waiting for seats while rented pews remained empty. Repeated notices in the calendar in 1920 urging pew holders to notify the Church office when they could not be present presaged a change in the order of events. Finally, at the annual meeting of the Church held on May 10, 1920 it was voted that the Church select a com- mittee of three and request the Society to appoint a commit- tee of like number, the two committees with the minister to constitute a joint committee to study the present business organization of the Church and Society in relation to current conditions with a special reference to the possible advisa- bility of instituting a free pew system. Mr. Arthur W. Fairchild, Mrs. Theodore P. Bogert, and Mr. Edward A. Stockwell were named members of the Church committee. At the next annual meeting Dr. Bradford reported progress and the Committee was continued.
At a special meeting of the Church called further to con- sider the subject held on December 15, 1921 the report of the Society and the Church committee, both favoring the estab- lishment of free pews, was given. Detailed arguments were set forth: Members of the congregation would get better acquainted if they sat in different seats, new members cannot always find a pew to rent, the free pew system had worked well elsewhere, the choice of pews was largely determined by financial ability, the large family is penalized by the sys- tem, the responsibility of financial support for the Church is better appreciated by the congregation if it is not limited to pew renters, and a Church with free pews is better equipped for Christian service.
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These arguments satisfied the members of the Church. The report of its committee was accepted and the Society was requested to take the necessary steps to establish a free pew system. On March 17, 1922 the necessary amendment of the charter of the Society was approved by the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island. This provided that in contemplation of the abolition of the rented pew system the Society could prescribe other qualifications (than pew renting) for membership in the Society. As a result it was from the class of contributors to the Church that new mem- bers were thenceforth chosen. Each annual meeting of the Society thereafter busied itself with the election of a long roster of new members of its organization from such con- tributors.
The abolition of rented pews had, however, overthrown the principal props for the dual system of Church organiza- tion. A few years later still another committee was set up to study plans for simplifying the organization of the Society and the Church. This committee reported at the annual meeting of the Church on May 13, 1929 and recommended that the Church become the sole operating organization and the Society become a mere holding organization, thus relin- quishing its building and grounds committee and music com- mittee. These would henceforth be Church Committees. The Church accepted the report. The Society readily acquiesced. The same individual was thereafter to serve as treasuer both of the Church and the Society and there would be only one budget. In February, 1930 each organization adopted appro- priate by-laws to give effect to the changes.
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This step was obviously the beginning of the end of the Society. Early in 1933 at a meeting of the Board of Deacons, the minister of the Church was authorized to appoint a Com- mittee of Deacons to consider whether the plan of the organ- ization of the Church was satisfactory. Out of this committee developed a joint committee of the Church and the Society to determine whether the Church and the Society should be merged. The Church Committee consisted of Professor James P. Adams, and Messrs. Kirk Smith and John H. Wells; the Society Committee of Messrs. Edward A. Stockwell, Colin MacR. Makepeace, and Gurney Edwards. As a result of the deliberations of this joint committee it was decided to recommend the merger of the Society and of the unincorporated Church. It was proposed that the name of the Society should be changed to Central Congregational Church, that there should be a single corporation comprehending both the spiritual and the temporal functions of the Church, that the members of the corporation would be the members of the Church and that whatever assets the unincorporated Church owned should be transferred to the corporation. Professor James P. Adams reported on the plan to the Church meeting, and Mr. Kirk Smith further explained the details of the pro- posal. The plan was approved and the details for carrying it out were authorized at meetings of the Society and Church held on April 19, 1934.
The last annual meeting of the old church was held on May 14, 1934. Immediately after the close of the meeting the clerk executed a bill of sale of all the property of the un-
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incorporated Church to the corporation. Then followed the first annual meeting of the Church as a corporation.
Apart from changes incident to the merger contained in the new by-laws of the Church corporation, they also pro- vided for a Prudential Committee (a name that long puzzled laymen), to manage the affairs of the Church in lieu of the old Standing Committee and the old Finance Committee.
Thus was completed the organization of the Church as we know it today. Much time and effort of the members of the Church and Society Committees were given to the frui- tion of the plan. No one today would go back to the cumber- some old organization.
At the annual meeting of the Church in 1936, important changes in the by-laws were adopted: A chairman of the Board of Deacons was to be named, there were to be joint meetings of the Prudential Committee and Board of Deacons, and, finally, definite terms of office were prescribed for most of the Committees of the Church and it was stated that it would be the policy of the Nominating Committee not to nominate persons to succeed themselves on committee as- signments. Thus a much wider participation of church mem- bers on committees was assured. A by-law change adopted at the annual meeting in 1941 provided for a chairman of the Permanent Diaconate.
During all this period, from the time of Dr. Bradford's installation onward, new church committees other than those already mentioned were being organized and some old com- mittees were disappearing. In January, 1919, the Sunday School Committee had become the Religious Education
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Committee. A Missionary Committee was organized in 1925, a Flower Committee, which was henceforth to provide the beautiful floral decorations in the chancel and to distri- bute the flowers after the service to shut-ins, made its first report at the annual church meeting in 1927, a library com- mittee was organized in the early 30's to maintain a book table in the rear of the church after Sunday service. A Social Action Committee designed to emphasize the relation of Christian ethics to political, social and economic problems was also organized in the early 30's. At the annual meeting in 1938 the church by-laws were amended to provide for a Church Calling Committee and an Executive Committee thereof, the services of which it was believed would better acquaint the minister with the needs of the parish and would assist with some of his pastoral duties.
On the other hand a Y.M.C.A. and a Y.W.C.A. Com- mittee, which had operated at the beginning of the period, had ceased to exist; another casualty was the committee on the Ministering Children's League. The Church was proving both pliant and aggressive in its relation to changing cir- cumstances.
So much for the changes in the organization of the Church. But mere organization does not of itself adequately express the innate religious and spiritual life of the Church. The worship program is a better barometer of that life. During the period from early October to the end of May, ever since the early days of Dr. Bradford's ministry, con- gregations averaging nearly five hundred persons have gathered for the Sunday morning services. A monthly staff
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of ushers, organized by a head usher and his assitants, efficiently serve at the Sunday services. During the summer joint services have generally been arranged with other churches, sometimes with the Central Baptist Church, and of late years with a group of seven churches of different denominations meeting together in the First Baptist Meeting House. Special services during the year have come to have a particular significance in the religious life of the Church. The services of the Christmas season have become notable: the pageant, frequently held on the afternoon of the Second Sunday before Christmas, the candlelight service on the preceding Sunday afternoon with the family gathering for refreshments and sociability immediately afterwards.
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