Shutesbury Community Church – An Historical Sketch
In the late 1700’s
the Shutesbury Congregational Pastor, Reverend Abraham Hill, took a strong Tory
stand in favor of loyalty to the British Crown and against the colonial
revolutionary movement. The townspeople, however, were largely Patriots in
support of the revolution, and this pastor was ultimately driven from town.
After the war, Rev. Hill sued the town for past wages and the courts found in
his favor. This may have created an unusual resentment in many of the
townspeople toward the State’s authority and the Congregational Churches; and
may have helped to boost the unusual strength of the Baptist fellowship in
Shutesbury.
1770’s a Baptist fellowship
had formed taking the name, “The Antipedo-Baptist Church of Christ in
Shutesbury.” This early fellowship must have been very strong minded to choose
such a name. Antipedo: indicates being against child baptism. Baptist:
generally implied a belief in believer’s baptism by immersion and freedom of
conscience under the authority of Scripture.
1784 – Mr. Joseph
Smalledge was called to the pastorate and was ordained in 1785. Rev. Smalledge
was brought up in a family that was a part of a “separates” movement and
adopted the motto, “the Bible: our only rule of faith and religion.” Rev.
Smalledge served the church for 44 years (until 1829) during which time there
were two seasons of revival and the church grew and was strengthened.
1826 – It was
decided by the community to build a “Meeting House” to replace the original
Congregational Church building that was never a strong structure and was
demolished in 1820. Funds were raised by the selling of “shares” in the new
building to members of each religious fellowship in the town: Baptists,
Congregationalists, Unitarians, and Universalists. When first constructed the
Baptists held about 50% of the shares in the building, however, just a few
years later the Baptist fellowship acquired a majority of the shares taking 75%
of the ownership of the building. In 1836 the Congregationalists had build a
smaller meeting house which still stands as a private home next to the Old Town
Hall just across Wendell Road west of the common.
Early 1840’s – The
Church affirmed the New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith 1833.
1856 – The Baptist
Church gained full ownership of the building and major repairs were made.
1881-84 The
parsonage property was purchased and the house built and occupied by 1883 with
the barn being added by 1884.
1884 – The
Congregational Fellowship moved back on the common with a building project more
comparable to the 1827 Meeting House. However, this structure was struck by
lightening in 1911 and burned to the ground.
2
1911 – The
Shutesbury Baptist and Congregational Churches joined in fellowship to become the
first federated church in Massachusetts and know as: The Federated
Church of Shutesbury. During the mid to late
1800’s many of our small New England towns went into decline and many churches
faced the loss of members and financial hardship. The new Federated Church was
able to continue with the support of many of the townspeople uniting in faith
and practice.
1985 – The Church
name was changed to Shutesbury Community
Church under the leadership of Pastor
Robert Douglas.
1990’s
to the
present… Efforts were made to keep the fellowship fires burning culminating
with two years of fellowship meals, prayer, and the sanctuary restoration
project of 2009. The prayers of the fellowship were answered with the forming
of “With His Hands” ministry at Second Baptist Church in South Hadley,
Massachusetts dedicated to helping families and ministries with construction
projects. Contact was made through the American Baptist Churches of
Massachusetts and during the summer of 2009 volunteers by the dozen came up
north from South Hadley and worked side by side with the small fellowship
developing again in Shutesbury. The sanctuary and fellowship hall were
beautifully restored during a summer of hard work and deep fellowship.
Saturday October 25, 2009 – Celebration Service!
Sunday November 1, 2009 – Re-establishment of Worship Services!
June 2010 – A new
Shutesbury Community Church Constitution was approved and church membership
re-established.
November 7, 2010 – First Anniversary of our re-established Worship!
December 1, 2011 – The
Steeple Restoration Fund was established based upon the proposal of repair work
from the John K. Leecock company.
April 2012 – The
John K. Leecock Company initiated the restoration of the steeple and exterior
of the Meeting House building with funding from accrued church offering monies,
gifts from friends in the town of Shutesbury, friends of the church, and
generous anonymous donors.
Sources…
Celebrate Shutesbury (A History of Shutesbury, Massachusetts
1735-2000)
Copywrite 2000 Shutesbury Educational Foundation.
Shutesbury Community Church:
“The Old White Church on the Hill”
1995 Aram Goudsouzian for HI 697 Professor Cummings –
Instructor
The Federated Church of
Shutesbury
1974 Nikki Palin
Historical Sketch (Shutesbury Baptist Church) Circa 1880 by
Rev. G. Colesworthy
Shutesbury Community Church
In November of 2009 worship was re-established at the
historic 1827 Meeting House
in Shutesbury, Massachusetts. Worship had not been held on
Sunday mornings since 2006 and the sanctuary was in disrepair, but through the
efforts of many volunteers from the community and from “With His Hands”
ministry from Second Baptist Church in South Hadley, the sanctuary was restored
and the Community Church re-organized.
Our worship includes both traditional and contemporary
elements including hymns, worship songs, prayer, and sharing from the Word of
God. We believe in the inspiration of Scripture accepting that the Bible is “God-breathed” and that the human writers were “Carried along by
the Holy Spirit” (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20,21). In our services it is our hope that the Holy Spirit will
continue to “carry along” our church
and that God’s peace will be with us as we seek to worship in “Spirit
and Truth” (John 4:24).
Our fellowship has a heritage dating from the late 1700’s
from both the Baptist and Congregational churches of Shutesbury and was established
as the Federated Church in 1911 and ultimately Shutesbury Community Church in
1985. With this heritage in mind we encourage a freedom to think under the authority of Scripture affirming the
historic Christian faith without stressing distinctive doctrines and we
encourage open mindedness and honest questions.
Covenant and Mission
We believe:
There
is one God existing eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: the Holy
Trinity.
The Bible is the inspired
Word of God “God-breathed” written through human agents “carried along by the
Holy Spirit.” It is the Word intended by God and the foundation of our faith
and practice.
All people have sinned;
earning eternal death (separation from God) and only by grace through personal
faith in Jesus Christ can we receive forgiveness and eternal life.
Jesus Christ, God with us,
was born without human father, lived a sinless life, died on the cross to pay the
penalty for our sin, rose bodily on the third day, ascended to the Father’s
right hand, and will return visibly one day to earth.
At the end of time the bodies
of the dead will be raised. The redeemed will enter fully into eternal life,
the lost into eternal separation from God.
As Christ’s body, the Church,
we are accountable to God and one another to live a life separated from sin and
filled with the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, and peace…
It is both our privilege and
our duty to join in the fulfillment of Christ’s great commission to make
disciples of all nations.
Mark W. Lawrence, Pastor
413-427-2643 Mwlaw56@gmail.com
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