Celebrating 125 Years of God's Faithfulness

Like most good stories, ours too has a prologue…a beginning point before the actual story begins. A bit of history that leads up to the real story. For us, our prologue began on an evening in 1871, at the home of a Mr. Andrew Erickson of North Easton.
On this particular night, the exact date seems to be unknown, an invitation was extended by Mr. Erickson to the Rev. J. G. Princell, a traveling preacher who years later would become nationally known, but at this point just happened to be traveling through and preaching in Campello, which is today's south side of Brockton. Rev. Princell, always looking for an eager crowd to preach to, accepted the invitation and arrived at Mr. Erickson's home. Unfortunately, he arrived only to find that a rather smallish crowd had come out to hear him preach. Details are a bit sketchy, but it seems that there was a total of either 4 or 5 people, in addition to Rev. Princell. Only 4 or 5 people, no more. But that's our prologue. That's where our story starts. That's the seed that 13 years later would begin to flower into this congregation, as we know it today.

For 13 years later, that group of 4 or 5 had turned into a group of 39, and on December 20, 1883, this congregation was officially born. Meeting at the home of a Mr. John Rohdin of 31 Seaver Street, 39 charter members of the, imagine this name on our church sign out front, "Swedish Christian Evangelical Ebed-Melek Church of North Easton" was officially established. They were definitely Swedish. They were definitely Christian and Evangelical, which really meant protestant back then. The Ebed-Melek is actually a name from the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, and is the name of a man who saved Jeremiah from certain death, even though Ebed-Melek himself was not a Hebrew. Ebed-Melek becomes the example of one who helps those in need and seeks justice, which these Swedes definitely were about. And now, after meeting and coming up with a set of bylaws (imagine that) and electing a board of officers (imagine that), they were definitely a church. It took 13 years to get to that point, to get to the beginning of Chapter 1 back in 1883. Just think how easy it would have been for Chapter 1 to never even have gotten written.

There were only 4 or 5 people at that first evening with the traveling preacher. There's no way that they could have dreamed of a church of their own with 39 people, but they were faithful people. They were committed people and though it took 13 years, their faithfulness and their commitment, in a very real way has allowed us to be here today in this place. Chapter 1 was just getting started though. My guess is that Mr. Rohdin of 31 Seaver Street was very excited to be a part of this new church, but he wasn't too keen on his house becoming the church every week. So, a permanent home for the congregation was desperately needed.

The elected Board of the church began to look around, and finally they were approached by a Mr. Swain, here in town, who offered to sell the building on Main Street that ultimately would serve as the church's home until this present building was built in 1984…in other words for the first 100 years of our congregation's life. The problem, however, was that Mr. Swain was not exactly offering a bargain. The asking price for the property was $1400; remember this is 1883, which was clearly way out of the realm of possibility for this small group of 39 individuals, which in reality represented only a few families. This is coming directly from a wonderful article written about the history of our congregation now, "This appeared to be an insurmountable barrier, but after much discussion and prayer, in faith the group decided to make the purchase of the building."

That is going to be a repeating refrain for the life of this congregation, and the Chapters of our story over the years. "It appeared to be an insurmountable barrier, but after much discussion and prayer, in faith the group decided…" to move forward. $1400 was a huge sum of money for these Swedish immigrants, but in faith they moved forward.

Just as it must have seemed that only 4 people to start a church was an insurmountable barrier, in faith they moved forward. And in the case of that first building, as in almost every other case we can find in the chapters of our story, their faithfulness and commitment to God was blessed. Hearing of the young church's need, and their faithful commitment to God to move forward in ministry, Mr. Ames, one of our town's founding fathers, graciously donated half of the cost of the purchase. $700…imagine what those folks must have felt when they heard that news, after they stepped out in faith to move forward, and half of the money was provided. On January 12, 1884, the congregation raised the other half, and the building was purchased. That's quite an opening chapter. After that, the chapters really start to roll, but with that repeating refrain, of "in faith, moving forward", in spite of what seemed like insurmountable barriers.

Chapter 2 begins with the hiring of the first pastor, a Rev. Axel Mellander, and the official joining with the "Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant Church of America", the former name of our present denomination. Chapter 3, in 1885 saw the formation of our first Sunday school, with a reported attendance of 25 students. I imagine there were plenty of concerns about the cost of running such a program. Chapter 4 saw the leaving of Rev. Mellander, and the calling of Rev. Emil Holmblad, who is actually buried with many of his family members in the cemetery directly behind the Unity Church here in town. I visited his grave marker and noticed a plaque describing his dedicated service to our congregation. During his tenure the congregation affiliated with the Congregational Home Missions Society of Massachusetts, one of the primary reasons being that by doing so the church received a stipend of a much needed $25 a month to help defray expenses.

The chapters following the departure of Rev. Holmblad were extremely difficult. The church had a very tough time finding a pastor. In reality, they couldn't. Several calls were extended but they all were refused. Whether it was because the congregation was still small, or because the budget was too tight, or from some other dynamic that we're unaware of…we don't know. But the church was up against another "seemingly insurmountable barrier", one which for many churches of that day would have resulted in the closing of the doors and a ceasing to exist, …but, again they, "in faith, moved forward". Since they couldn’t find a new pastor, they in faith decided to get their old pastor back, even though he was already established at another congregation. Somehow, some way, they convinced Rev. Holmblad to return to the congregation he had moved on from. That doesn’t happen often, I assure you. But in faith, they moved forward. And the ministries began to flourish.

At around chapter 8 the congregation decided it was time for a choir. "In faith, moving forward" a choir was added to the worship service, under the guidance of the newly established position of choir director. By the time we get to Chapter 20, the congregation had grown to 72 people, and the building was being remodeled at the unimaginable cost of $4000. "In faith, they moved forward." At around Chapter 27 a parsonage was built for the pastor. Two chapters later they even installed electricity. "In faith, they moved forward".

At Chapter 42, one of the most "insurmountable barriers" the church could have ever imagined was taken on. From its first days as a congregation, and even back in the prologue, only the Swedish language was spoken at worship services and at church meetings. Clearly at this point in time, which is 1925 if you're trying to count along, it had become obvious that this was an issue that would have to be addressed if the church was to stay faithful to its mission in the world. Having done a paper in Seminary that dealt with the challenge that this was for Covenant churches back then, I am very familiar with how contentious and frightening this was for our congregation, for any Covenant congregation whose history dates back so far. Some scholars have likened the tension of switching languages to the tension that exists today in some congregations when it comes to introducing multimedia or musical styles into the church. That fits to a certain extent, but not to the depths of this decision.

The decision to make the switch from Swedish to English language worship was as deep of a fracture with the past as this church could make. No longer would this congregation simply be a Swedish church for Swedes. The doors would be opened to all. And with them would come their non-Swedish traditions, and their non-Swedish outlooks on life, and faith and church. They might not even like lutefisk. This was a big deal. There are many former Covenant churches that died off rather than to make the decision to surrender their Swedish worship.

There's no way for me to emphasize that enough. Many, many Covenant churches simply faded away and closed down over the years because they were unwilling to make this transition. But here, as they had in the past, so they did again. "This appeared to be an insurmountable barrier, but after much discussion and prayer, in faith the group decided…" to move forward. And thanks to that decision, many of us who are a part of this congregation, and this denomination, are here today. I can assure you that without that decision, you wouldn’t have a Lithuanian for your pastor, one who does not like lutefisk. "In faith, they moved forward."

I want to make a brief aside at this point. I can promise you that the decision to switch from Swedish to English was not a unanimous one. There were some who voted against it. There were even some who left the church because of it. Just like when they first bought the building back in Chapter 1. Not everyone was for it. When the pastors were called. When the parsonage was built. When electricity was installed. When remodeling occurred. There were some, who after prayer and discussion voted "no". At every major chapter in the life of this congregation, there have been some who have voted "no".

I know when I was called to become pastor a little over 7 years ago now, that a couple of folks voted "no". It happens for every major decision that a church must make. What strikes me today is not that those "no voters" were wrong, or that their outlook was incorrect, or that they weren't in step with the rest of the congregation. What strikes me is that for most of them, almost all of them, even though they did vote "no", they remained a part of the congregation. They remained committed to the ministry of the church. They continued to be faithful stewards, and for many, they increased their stewardship as the ministries flourished. There are very few examples of folks who took their ball and went home when the vote went against them. To me, that is maybe the most amazing example of "in faith, moving forward" that there is. When you remain faithful, even when the direction is not exactly the one you would choose it to be. Back to our story.

The switch to English didn’t happen over night…remember it was a contentious debate, and these were Swedes and New Englanders to boot we’re talking about here. It was decided that a special English-language service would be held once a month, and gradually over time a full switch would be made. It took all the way to Chapter 60, some 18 years later, before that switch was finally made, and the official minutes of the church were recorded in English and the services in almost all English. It took until the close of World War II for that to happen. To mark the switch, the church was finally renamed the "Covenant Congregational Church" which it remains today. From 4 Swedes listening to a traveling preacher one night to an English-speaking church firmly rooted and established in this town in just 60 years. At any point along the way, the whole thing could have collapsed or simply turned in on itself and faded away. But at every turn, the people of faith, "in faith, moved forward" even in the face of seemingly insurmountable barriers. And God blessed them.

The chapters that follow are rich and full. The sponsoring of a refugee family fleeing communism in Hungary in 1957, and their joyful arrival later that spring. Imagine what those first 4 would have thought…a refugee Hungarian family joining their Swedish fellowship. In 1958, Chapter 75, due to the blessings of an increased Sunday School attendance, the church once again, "in faith, moved forward" and took on the challenge of raising $60,000 to purchase and renovate the adjacent building. Again I'm reading directly from this wonderful article: "The Church asked for sacrificial gifts, and members and friends responded to the glory of God." The President of the denomination came and dedicated the new facility.

So many wonderful pastors through these chapters of our church's life. And so many wonderful members. Mrs. Godfrey Anderson who was the church organist for 64 years. Amazing. We haven’t even touched on our more present history; a project is underway to accomplish that very thing. The chapters of that decision to build this building are fascinating. The pain of losing a beloved pastor to a tragic accident in the midst of building of this place. The calling of Pastor Mark Pattie to help heal some wounds from the late '80's and early '90's, and the jumpstart that provided to move the ministry forward again. The extension of my call, even though not one person here had any idea where the money for my position was going to come from, other than a miracle from God. So many chapters. One common theme. "In faith, they moved forward" despite what seemed at times to be insurmountable barriers, or even at times in ways in which not everyone initially agreed. "In faith, they moved forward." And God blessed their ministry.
We face barriers in our ministry today, but they are good barriers to face. We are outgrowing this space on just about every level. We're outgrowing our present budget. We're beginning to see needs for new or reorganized staffing configurations. There are those in the community who need to be reached, and a different language of worship might be the way to reach them. There are barriers. We won't all agree on the best way to overcome them.

But if the last 125 chapters and the prologue of our story have taught us anything, it is that with God, none of these barriers are insurmountable. For if "in faith, we move forward", he will bless our ministry. Someday, someone from this congregation will gather up the history of chapter 125. And my prayer today is that when they do, they will shake their heads in amazement at the goodness of God, and say "we are here today, because in faith, they moved forward".