A History of Old South Church
History
of Old South Church by Hamilton Hill, Volume I
History
of Old South Church by Hamilton Hill, Volume II
You are a chosen
race, a royal
priesthood,
a holy native, God’s people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty
arts of the One who called you out of darkness into God’s marvelous
light.
-- 1 Peter 2:9
INTRODUCTION
Looking at Old South Church from Copley
Square, you
see
an outstanding and colorful example of Northern
Italian Gothic architecture,
advocated
in the 1850s by the English architectural
critic John Ruskin. This National
Historic
Landmark building is an
unusually ornate design for a New England
Congregational
church. It radiates the opulent
taste and the sense of optimism and progress of
the
Industrial
Revolution following the
Civil War. The church, constructed between 1872
and
1875
for a congregation founded
in 1669, is distinguished by its tall bell
tower;
brown,
pink and grey stonework; walls
of Roxbury puddingstone; decorative carvings; a
roof
striped with tiles of red and black slate; and
a cupola or lantern of green and
russet-colored
copper.
Benjamin Franklin was baptized in 1706 at
the
congregation’s
Cedar
Meeting House on
downtown Washington Street. Members of this
historic
congregation include Samuel
Adams, Revolutionary patriot and brewer; Samuel
Sewall,
judge and diarist; Thomas
Prince, minister and book collector; William
Dawes,
Paul
Revere’s fellow rider in 1775;
Phillis Wheatley, America’s first published
black poet;
and Elizabeth Vergoose, said to
be the Mother Goose of nursery rhymes. Old
South is
also
known for being the church
at the Boylston Street finish line of the
Boston
Marathon.
Old South Church played a significant role
in
American
history through the bold actions of the Sons of
Liberty at the Old South Meeting House.
There, in 1773, Samuel Adams gave the signal
for the “war whoops” that started the
Boston Tea Party. During the
Civil War, 1,019 men enlisted in one day at Old
South
to fight for the Union cause. Old South’s
ministry has been distinguished by eloquent
preaching
on matters of theology and conscience by Samuel
Willard, Benjamin Wisner,
Jacob
Manning, George Gordon,
Frederick Meek and James Crawford. As poet John
Greenleaf
Whittier wrote, “So long
as Boston shall Boston be, And her bay tides
rise and
fall, Shall freedom stand in the Old South
Church, And plead for the rights of all.”
Members
of Old South helped found institutions serving
economic and social justice-the
City Mission Society, the Boston Seafarers
Society, Training Inc., Boston Aging
Concerns-Young
And Old United, and
Tent City Corporation.
ORIGINS OF THE CONGREGATION
The Old South Church congregation is a
descendant of
the
fusion between separatist and dissenting
Pilgrims, Puritan reformers, and Bay
Colony
merchant adventurers, who
left England in the 17th century, some to
escape
persecution
and others to forge a more
prosperous life in the New World. The
congregation was
born in controversy in 1669
and was initially called The Third Church in
Boston.
Both the First and the Second
Church in Boston were headed by ministers who
opposed
the Halfway Covenant of
1662. They required that baptized adults have a
regeneration
experience of God (a born
again experience) before they could have their
own
children
baptized.
Twenty-eight lay
members of the First Church seceded and founded
this
congregation in the belief, consistent with the
Halfway Covenant, that childhood
baptism should assure young
adults that they would be full members and
could
baptize
their children, who in turn should
automatically be members as adults.
It was a priesthood of all believers, related
to God solely through Christ and justified by
grace
through
faith. Their covenant stated “We... being
called of God to join together into a
Church...
do in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,
trusting only in his grace and help,
solemnly bind ourselves together
as in the presence of God, constantly to walk
together
as a Church of Christ... We give
up ourselves and our offspring... unto our Lord
Jesus
Christ as the only mediator, our
only spiritual head.” In the early 19th
century, this
congregation, under the leadership of
ministers Joseph Eckley, Joshua Huntington and
Benjamin
Wisner, again went against
the prevailing congregational theology of the
day, and
resisted becoming Unitarian. Old
South Church remained Trinitarian, worshiping
God the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Today this Trinity is expressed as Creator,
Redeemer,
and Sustainer.
MOVING FORWARD
The only Congregational Church in Boston
to
remain
Trinitarian during the Unitarian movement of the early 19th century,
Old
South later joined with Park Street Church to found the City Mission
Society
to address the needs of the urban community. During the Civil War, the
congregation, under the leadership of Jacob Manning, was a recruiting
left
for the Union Army. The congregation, though not certain that the war
would
solve America’s racial problems, became convinced of the Union cause
during
Manning’s tenure.
Old South Church moved to the current Back
Bay
site in
December 1875. With the leadership of George Angier Gordon, Old South
entered
a new era of inclusivity. In the 1900’s Old South’s commitment to urban
mission in Christ’s name has been shepherded by pastors Russell
Stafford,
Frederick Meek, and James W. Crawford, who just recently retired after
serving from 1974 to 2002.
The Boston Transcript described the New Old
South Church
as “the most beautiful basilica in North America.” It is designed in a
style inspired by the architecture of medieval Venice (Ruskinian
Italian
Gothic). The exterior is of Roxbury puddingstone and the interior is of
plaster with Italian cherry woodwork. The architects were Cummings and
Sears of Boston. Notable among the interior features are Venetian
mosaics,
and stained-glass windows of 15th century English style. The sanctuary
was completely renovated in 1985.
OLD SOUTH IN THE 21 ST CENTURY
Old South Church today is a spiritual home
to more
than
650 people raised in many
different faiths. Written in stone above the
front
porch
arches are Christ’s words,
“Behold, I Have Set Before Thee An Open Door”
(Revelation
3:8). The purpose of
Old South Church, expressed in its 2002 bylaws,
is “to
worship God, preach the gospel
of Jesus Christ, and to celebrate the
Sacraments; to
realize Christian fellowship and
unity within this Church and in the Church
Universal;
to render loving service towards
humanity; and to strive for righteousness,
justice and
peace.” Every Sunday Bulletin
states that we affirm “each individual as a
child of
God, and recognize that we are
called to be like one reconciled body with many
members,
seeking with others of every
race, ethnicity, creed, class, age, gender,
physical
or mental ability, and sexual identity
to journey together toward the promised realm
of God,”
relying upon “the healing,
unconditional nature of Gods love and grace to
be our
help and guide.”
The church rests its existence on confidence
in the
great
Latin affirmation chiseled into the stone
of its Boylston Street portico: Qui
transtulit
sustinet.
(The God who has brought us thus far will
continue to
sustain us.)
In this assurance Old South immerses itself in
the
stress
and flux of changing times, eager to
proclaim and serve the living God.
Ministers of Old South Church
Thomas
Thacher 1670-1678
Samuel Willard 1678-1707
Ebenezer Pemberton 1700-1717
Joseph Sewall 1713-1769
Thomas Prince 1718-1758
Alexander Cumming 1761-1763
Samuel Blair 1766-1769
John Hunt/John Bacon 1771-1775
Joseph Eckley 1779-1811
Joshua Huntington 1808-1819
Benjamin B. Wisner 1821-1832
Samuel H. Stearns 1834-1836
George W. Blagden 1836-1872
Jacob M. Manning 1857-1872
George Angier Gordon 1884-1927
Russell Henry Stafford
1927-1945
Frederick M. Meek 1946-1973
James W. Crawford 1974-2002
Nancy S. Taylor 2005-
The Old South Church
in Boston
Gathered 1669
A Congregation of the United Church of Christ
645 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116
617-536-1970
617-536-8061 (fax)
www.oldsouth.org
Nancy S.
Taylor, Senior Minister
Quinn G. Caldwell, Associate Minister
You can E-mail us by clicking here: OSC
Copyright © 2008, Old South Church
