 |
|
Congregational Heritage of the Massachusetts Conference1938 - 1947© 2002-2003 Rev. Dr. Douglas K. Showalter, All Rights Reserved -- See Statement at End of Page Did You Know That...? .....REV. RAY GIBBONS who served the FIRST CHURCH in NORTHAMPTON was said to be the "FATHER of MASSACHUSETTS CONGREGATIONAL SUMMER CONFERENCES for YOUTH"? Leader of the Conference's subcommittee for religious education, Gibbons oversaw the Conference's first summer camp in 1938, which had 258 teachers and students. .....In the late 1930's and early 1940's, there was a movement in the Massachusetts Conference, and apparently across American Congregationalism, to change old style meeting houses into sanctuaries which had a definite CENTRAL FOCUS for WORSHIP? The visual was now stressed more than the aural, as Conference churches sometimes replaced their traditional central pulpit of Congregationalism with a SPLIT CHANCEL. These chancels had a pulpit and a lectern on either side. Also, a wall cross above an altar-table was placed at the center of the chancel, to serve as the worship focus. For some of our churches, this was the first time they used a cross in their worship. When located up front, organ pipes were also hidden, usually behind a cloth, to increase the visual simplicity of this worship setting. ......An insightful enumeration of the GREAT TRADITIONS of CONGREGATIONALISM was given by Dr. R. W. Coe at a meeting of the WOBURN ASSOCIATION, likely held near the end of 1941? As reported in the January 1942 edition of the Massachusetts Conference's Pilgrim State News, those great traditions, evident in the Congregationalism of Massachusetts as well as elsewhere, included: "evangelism, fellowship in worship, service in the things that count in the world, independent thinking, educational progress, and greatest of all, keeping alive an inner spiritual light, a commitment of the soul to a way of life which redeems the individual and makes that individual a redemptive agency in the society of mankind." Today, that Woburn Association is a part of our Conference's METROPOLITAN BOSTON ASSOCIATION. .....Within about nine months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, there were 159 Congregational-Christian ministers enlisted as U.S. MILITARY CHAPLAINS? This was after a call for our denomination's clergy to leave or take "leaves of absence" from their churches, in order to minister to military personnel during the war. Of these 159 Congregational-Christian chaplains, more than one quarter were from our Massachusetts Conference! At this time, PILGRIM ASSOCIATION reported that nearly 25% of its ministers were now serving as military chaplains, which was said to be the highest percentage in any of the Associations in our Conference. The resultant absence of clergy plus other demands of war time, led 136 Conference churches to enter YOKED or FEDERATED RELATIONSHIPS with each other, as reported in 1943. ......In 1942 our Massachusetts Conference supported Christian work among 10 DIFFERENT FOREIGN LANGUAGE SPEAKING GROUPS in the Commonwealth? It was then estimated that 2/3 [!] of the state's population were either born in a foreign country or children of foreign born parents. A 1942 report showed that over the previous year, the Conference had allocated a total of $18,014 for work with the following peoples: Albanian, $1,500; Armenian, $3,786; Finnish, $3,688; French, $1,130; French and Italian, $754; German, $690; Greek, $1,440; Italian, $2,161; Portuguese, $2,024; and Swedish, $444. Some work was also done with Chinese people. In this same time period, the Conference also gave a total of $4,500 to support the work of several of its AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCHES. The Conference's support of ministries for churches and individuals of different linguistic, national, ethnic, and racial groups in the Commonwealth, has a long history, some of which goes back to the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society. It was said, in 1945, that there were 22 [!] SWEDISH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES in Massachusetts, with a membership of about 3516 people. Many of those churches still offered services in Swedish. In 1943, it was reported that in the denomination as a whole, there were about "425 Congregational-Christian churches among Americans of non-English-speaking heritage." These represented "18 races and nationalities." .....The Conference's Committee on Moral and Social Welfare called upon Conference clergy, in 1943, to give 1,000 SERMONS/ADDRESSES on the PROBLEMS of ALCOHOL within a period of three months--a virtual "preaching blitz"? Many of these presentations were also to be published in local Massachusetts newspapers. This call reflected a growing concern over the abuse of alcohol during the war period. During the previous year, the arrests of teenage girls for drunkenness was said to have increased 39.9 %. Also, increased absenteeism in American industry due to alcohol abuse was seen as hindering the nation's war effort. ......As early as 1946, churches of the Massachusetts Conference were asked "on the basis of present information, and without expressing a final judgment" if they were in favor of the PROPOSED UNION of The Congregational Christian Churches and THE EVANGELICAL AND REFORMED CHURCH? This was meant to be a tentative "straw vote" of churches which wished to express their view. As of June that year, 157 (26.5%) of the 591 active churches in the Conference had taken a definite vote on the question, with 126 (80.2%) FAVORING the union and 31 rejecting it. Of those churches favoring the union, 39 did so by unanimous vote. These results were reported to the General Council of Congregational Christian Churches, which met in Grinnell, Iowa that year. At its 1955 Annual Meeting held in FITCHBURG, the Massachusetts Conference essentially re-affirmed its desire for this union, by a vote of 317 (92.8%) FOR, 23 against, and 1 abstention. The following year, in 1956, the General Council finally decided to proceed with that union, by a vote of 1,310 (87.9%) to 179. Thus, in 1957 our UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST was formed. .....In September 1946, the Moderator of our Massachusetts Conference, Lucius Thayer, made a CHALLENGING COMMENT about our Conference and its churches, to strengthen their Christian witness together? As Thayer remarked: "I have a strong conviction that the churches of our faith and order in Massachusetts are not making the impact which their numbers and resources warrant. This is the home of Congregationalism. There are more of our churches in Massachusetts than of any other denomination. Two-fifths of all the members of the Protestant churches in the state belong to our churches. We could be a spiritual powerhouse. And yet, because of our innate modesty and the rugged individualism of many of us, we are all too content to hide our light under a bushel and go our separate ways. If this be true, it follows that we need a new strategy. Together we should do some real planning to meet the needs of our day." .....In 1946, the Massachusetts Congregational Conference and Missionary Society had 21 ASSOCIATIONS with a total of 602 CHURCHES? Those Associations and their number of churches were as follows: Berkshire North (20); Berkshire South (19); Franklin (32); Hampshire (29); Hampden (46); Worcester North (19); Brookfield (17); Worcester Central (30); Middlesex Union (26); Worcester South (16); Middlesex Mendon (26); Andover (24); Woburn (30); Suffolk North (24); Suffolk West (29); Essex North (21); Essex South (36); Suffolk South (38); Old Colony (56); Pilgrim (43); Barnstable (21). .....In
1947, more than 200 of the Conference's churches celebrated LAYMAN'S
SUNDAY and most of those did so on Sunday, October
17? Apparently, honoring the role of laity in
Christ's Church and setting aside a special Sunday to
honor them, was now a growing movement in the Massachusetts
Conference, as well as among Congregationalists nationally.
|
