HONORING A RELATIONSHIP

The History of Two Churches: First and South Church,

Siblings in the United Church of Christ

The journey of faith is bound mysteriously to visions and dreams...what is nature of dreams? Dreams look ahead, dreams give us information in ways conscious thought cannot. Dreams nurture us into future action at the same time as they hang out there before us calling us to them.

Jacob had a dream…a ladder extending into the heavens which eventually led him to realize that “Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it!”

Isaiah had a dream a vision…God seated on a throne radiant and surrounded by God seated on a brilliant throne…

Ezekiel had a dream…lifeless bones lifting up to new being and new hope…

Jesus’ father Joseph had a dream…telling him to take Mary as his wife…and another letting him know that they were to go down to Egypt…dreams…

Who do we come from? Here…First Church and South Church, where and what and who dreamed us into being? We were initially lifted up as “A city built on a hill..” Matt. 5

“For we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword throughout the world.” John Winthop, governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, “A Modell of Christian Charity,” discourse written aboard the Arbella during the voyage to Massachusetts, 1630. — Robert C. Winthrop, Life and Letters of John Winthrop, p. 19 (1867).

From there:

1630 Massachusetts Bay Colony was established by Pilgrims from England.

1633 Windsor colony settled on the Connecticut River by Rev. John Warham.

1643 Simsbury settled from Windsor by John Griffin and Michael Humphrey.

The dream moves forward…

1697 First Congregational Church of Christ, Simsbury, established.

1739 First Congregational Church, Granby, established. (Hear some of the names of that first

gathering…Hayes…Viets…Holcomb…Phelps…Owens…Higley…Clark…). For 133

years, First Church was the only Congregational Church in Granby.

A few things of some significance happened after that…

1776 Revolutionary War.

1808 Slave importations prohibited.

1839 Amistad slaves housed and helped by Congregational Churches.

1853 Antoinette Brown, first woman ordained in the Congregational Church.

1865 Civil War ended…

1872: Dreams are sometimes larger than we first imagined. As they expand, differences can emerge that change the nature of the way things have been. Certainly the war between the North and South had taken its toll on everyone, even the citizens of Granby. By the 1870’s a depression made life difficult for many. A social division in Granby created in essence, two towns: one group was an emerging social elite who enjoyed a degree of comfort and expanding power and the farmers in the outlying areas whose farms were losing money and who had become increasingly dependent on producing apple cider brandy to supplement their incomes.

Although the Civil War monument in the town center had been dedicated with great fanfare on July 4th, 1868, the area around the monument was known as the “frog pond.” Much to the dismay of Granby’s more polite citizens who wanted to create a scenic and respectful town center, the area had more than its share of dilapidated storehouses, tradesmen’s shops and an old tavern that brought much “revelry and roistering” as well as noise, litter, and unpleasant smells. It had been said “Granby was a wetter town than any spring freshet Salmon Brook could justify.” The Sabbath day was less than holy since horseracing down Salmon Brook Street was a popular Sunday sport for many men.

By 1872, these divisions were being felt within the walls of First Congregational Church as well. The Rev. Thomas Murphy shared the views of those who thought Granby should be cleaned-up. He resigned his pastorate, taking over 30 members with him to help establish The Congregational Society of Salmon Brook which would eventually become Second Congregational and then South Church.

Although not recorded, one can imagine that the split was a painful and challenging one for both churches. However, it did allow for the growth of the Congregational family in the small town of Granby. In the years since, both churches have had their ups and downs and both have grown in size and spirit in proportions unimagined by the original founders. We celebrate the growth of the light of Christ in our town through our sibling relationship.

A few more things of significance happened over the next 136 years…

1902 Oldsmobile began the first mass production of automobiles.

1903 The Wright brothers brought us flight.

1916 The Great War, eventually to be known as The First World War began.

1929 The stock market crashed and the Great Depression began.

1931 The Congregational Church and the Christian Church merged to become the

Congregational Christian Church.

1940’s The Second World War and then the Korean Conflict.

1957 The Congregational Christians Church and the Evangelical and Reformed Churches

merged to become the United Church of Christ with the motto, “That They May All Be One…”

1962 Second Vatican Council.

1963 Martin Luther King led his march on Washington. Excerpts of his words:

“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream rooted deeply in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self evident; that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream that one day every valley will be exalted, every hill and mountain be made low, the rough places will be made plain, the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord be revealed, and all flesh shall see together.

This is our hope. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together…

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

And what about the two congregational – now United Church of Christ – congregations of Granby, Connecticut? We have continued, flourishing separately, and together. We have opened our doors, unbarred, to the people of this community and beyond, serving as beacons of light for those in need of hope. We are siblings who live our separate lives, yet who love and respect each other and who stand together when need and opportunity arise; sharing in worship each summer for sixty years and joining to work toward needed housing in the development of Stony Hill and in refugee resettlement. We have offered community Bible Study and have provided leadership, coordinators and drivers for the Transportation Action Program. We have embraced each other in ministry and in fellowship, rejoicing with each other and grieving with each other; hoping and praying and imagining, yes, and dreaming together.

Friends, there are dreams yet to be dreamed, needs and opportunities that still call us to stand, separately and together, supporting each other and working hand in hand to offer the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the community of Granby, to the surrounding hills, and to the world.

Let us then continue to dream, to work and to explore every opportunity for ministry in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, as we live into and create a future of hope and promise in a world where the light of Christ will shine into the darkest of nights, transforming everything that it touches to life and goodness, grace and love. May God’s grace be with us all. Amen.

- Offered by: Mark Diters, Bridget Hughes, Dennis Moon & Daniel Schroeder (1/20/08)