An Analysis of Congregational Clergy and Congregant Responses during the First Great Awakening
Discussions and experiences during the First Great Awakening quickly reveal that times of greater polarization and change in Christian experience and expression are nothing new. Revd Thomas Prince, in his pamphlet recordings of the Massachusetts revivals, enables us to step into the confusing new en...
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
NACCC
[2018]
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| In: |
International congregational journal
Year: 2018, Volume: 17, Issue: 1, Pages: 35-58 |
| IxTheo Classification: | KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KBQ North America KDG Free church RB Church office; congregation |
| Further subjects: | B
Christian Sects
B Great Awakening B Massachusetts B Religious communities B CONGREGATIONAL clergy |
| Summary: | Discussions and experiences during the First Great Awakening quickly reveal that times of greater polarization and change in Christian experience and expression are nothing new. Revd Thomas Prince, in his pamphlet recordings of the Massachusetts revivals, enables us to step into the confusing new environment in which clergy were learning to navigate and discern God's presence. Church historical records from Sturbridge, Massachusetts help us examine and analyze the church and congregant responses to an environment with new religious influence and changing norms. Finances became a tension point, and arguments surfaced about who was right in their experience and expression of relationship with the Holy Spirit. Those who separated, which was a small though prominent group of church members, left because of a renewed sense of the Spirit more than for reasons of doctrine. Genuine and diverse religious convictions and concerns were involved on both sides. When mixed with tension and self-protection, the picture became one that pitted two congregations uncompromisingly against each other. Some fruits came out of the New Light push for change in church structure and dynamics and out of the Old Light corrective on some of the more extreme and manipulative New Light emotionalism. In other ways, polarized perspectives found life in self-righteous and anxious determination to be 'right' and to demonize the 'other.' This article reflects on how clergy and congregations may reflect on these past experiences and seek to walk faithfully in our religious environment today. |
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| ISSN: | 1472-2089 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: International congregational journal
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