A recent visitor to our sanctuary noticed something unusual. While viewing the two monuments listing the names of our past ministers and the years they served, she commented on a four-year gap between the ministries of John Hunt and Joseph Eckley. The Reverend John Hunt and John Bacon pastored Old South from 1771 to 1775. The Reverend Joseph Eckley did not begin his 32-year ministry at Old South until 1779.
The years leading up to this gap were marked by controversy. The congregation respected the Reverend John Hunt, but John Bacon was a divisive figure. A month after his installation, the Reverend John Bacon read Governor Hutchinson’s Thanksgiving Proclamation from the pulpit. Governor Hutchinson was not popular with the patriots at Old South because he was a British loyalist. Furthermore, Reverend Bacon held views on baptism, communion, and atonement that many Old South Members considered too conservative. Members experienced his preaching as harsh and argumentative. Bacon was so controversial that the congregation had at least twenty meetings debating doctrinal differences with him. He eventually resigned from his ministry in February of 1775, leaving Reverend Hunt the sole pastor.
Events in Boston made matters more complicated. In October of 1768, British troops arrived in Boston and occupied the city. After the Battle of Lexington, the Siege of Boston began on April 19, 1775. The gates to the city were shut, and entering and exiting the city became impossible. A few months before the siege began, the Reverend John Hunt had left the city for a visit in Brookline. Once the siege began, Hunt was not permitted to return to Boston unless he pledged never to leave it. Reverend Hunt refused to make this pledge, and he died shortly afterward, leaving Old South without a pastor.
It was not a good time to search for another senior pastor. During the occupation, British troops turned the Old South Meeting House into a riding school for one of the troops. The Troops burnt the pulpit and pews for fuel, and the floor was covered in sod to accommodate horses. The British troops also burned many items from Thomas Prince’s Library, which was housed in the Meeting House at that time. Many members of the Old South Church had fled the city, and there were few pastors in Boston.
When the British troops finally evacuated Boston in March of 1776, Old South members began returning to the city. The proprietors of King’s Chapel allowed Old South members to worship in their sanctuary while their own members were scattered and without a pastor. A British preacher named Joseph Eckley presided over Old South’s Sunday services at King’s Chapel, but the congregation did not call him to be Old South’s Senior Minister until 1779.
Why did it take so long for the congregation to call Reverend Eckley to be their settled pastor? Old South historian Hamilton Hill does not provide a definitive answer but believes there was still considerable instability after the British left. Inflation was at an all-time high, and purchasing a parsonage for a settled minister may have been too costly for a congregation that was just starting to regather. The Old South Meeting House was still not habitable. Rumors of another British invasion created a climate of uncertainty and distress. Hamilton also believes that the congregation was working through theological differences with Reverend Eckley, a Presbyterian. Once the congregation called Reverend Eckley, he helped lead the rebuilding and repair efforts of the Old South Meeting House.
The years between 1775 and 1779 likely represent the most challenging period in Old South’s 356-year history. But this is also a time that symbolizes the congregation's resilience. Even after a period of exile, hardship, and uncertainty, the members came back together to rebuild the church community and see it thrive for centuries.
References:
Hill, Hamilton Andrews. History of the Old South Church (Third Church) Boston, 1669-1884. Vol. 2. Boston; New York: Houghton, Mifflin, 1889.
Winslow, Ola Elizabeth. " And Plead for the Rights of All:” Old South Church in Boston, 1669-1969. Nimrod Press, 1970.