Early American Worship (Bulletin Article for October 15)

[NOTE: The first part of this article was penned originally by John Gipson. The paragraphs at the end, that are in italics, are the ones I added for our local bulletin.]

I recently was handed an article: “The Hardships of Worship.” It dealt with the meetinghouses for worship in Connecticut two centuries ago. The typical clapboard meetinghouse of that era was not only “slenderly built… admitting freely the blasts of the seasons,” as a popular author Samuel Goodrich recalled, “but was unheated.”

The article tells us, “There was no fireplace, no stove, no significant heat source of any kind. Half-frozen men, women, and children hunched into themselves to conserve precious body heat. In the pulpit, the minister himself might be preaching clad in great coats and mittens. At times, it got so cold the Lord’s Supper froze….”

It continues, “comfort was not a primary consideration of those who constructed early Connecticut meetinghouses. Here one came every Sunday to attend to the serious business of hearing the word of God and how it might be applied to daily life. And that solemn duty was to be carried out no matter what the weather the Almighty was pleased to provide.”

In the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century, when it was suggested that a chimney and fireplace be constructed in the North Haven, Connecticut, meetinghouse, “the horrified worshippers arose and would have thrust the thoughtless suggester headlong from them” historian Sheldon Thorpe wrote in 1892. “Eventually two violent factions emerged—the Stove Party and the Anti-Stove Party (each headed by the wife of a deacon).”

I am waiting to see the following ad in some newspaper: “Come worship with us. Our building is cold in the winter and hot in the summer. We use no heat or air conditioning. Our pews are hard. We do not meet for comfort, but worship. You are welcome.”

What a great reminder! As the leaves begin to change and the mercury begins to drop, we can begin to focus on our own comfort instead of the One Who gives us seasons.

What excuses do we give for not coming to worship? Are we tired? Too busy? Is it the weather? There are so many here at 9th Avenue who have been attending for 20, 30, 40 years or more, who would never dream of using these as an excuse! Be thankful for them and follow their example. We are blessed with a very comfortable building in which to worship God. Others are not so lucky, but they put God first.