SKETCH XCII

THE OLD MUD CHURCH

One of the most prominent old county landmarks was the “old mud church” that stood on the corner of Colborne and Union Streets, in the town of Simcoe. It was built by a generation of men who have mostly passed away, and for many years after the last hymn of praise to the God of all generations echoed within its walls, the old relic stood crumbling into decay, a sad reminder of by-gone times.

What especially characterizes this old land-mark is the fact that it was the first, last and only Congregational church edifice erected in the county. Congregationalism made a good vigorous start in Norfolk, but it was soon absorbed by the other religious denominations. They only apparent cause of Congregational decadence in Norfolk, lies in the fact that the people have never evinced a strong predilection for democratic institutions—religious, political or social. The “fathers” who laid the foundation of our social fabric were strongly imbued with anti-republican ideas; and the superstructure built on this foundation has been shapened and fashioned by their descendants, who inherited their ancestors’ likes and dislikes.

The distinctive principle of Congregational church polity is that every Christian church or congregation is entitled “to elect its own officers, to manage all its own affairs, and to stand independent of and irresponsible to all authority, saving that only of the Supreme and Divine Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ.” They regard the Sacred Scriptures as their only standard, and hold that human traditions, fathers and councils, canons and creeds, possess no authority over the faith and practice of Christians. They deny that there is any scriptural authority for uniting congregations of worshippers under a recognized central power that is, in any way, superior to that of each or any pastor of a congregation. This is the speciality which distinguishes Independency or Congregationalism from Episcopacy and Presbytery.

In matters of doctrine, the early Independents occupied the same position as the other sections of the Puritan family. They held in substance the evangelical doctrines of the Reformers of the Westminster Assembly, and of the Thirty-nine Articles. They were quite numerous as early as the days of Queen Elizabeth. History informs us that in a speech made by Sir Walter Raleigh in the House of Commons in 1592, on the subject of a law to transport the Brownists—as they were offensively but untruly named—he thus refers to their numbers: “If two or three thousand Brownists meet at the seaside, at whose charge shall they be transported, or whither will you send them? I am sorry for it, but I am afraid there are nearly twenty thousand of them in England; and when they are gone, who shall maintain their wives and children?” Some eminent leaders among them were put to death; others were transported, while the larger number retired to Holland. In 1620 the Mayflower landed about a hundred of them in the New World, and from this germ grew several prosperous democratic commonwealths which aided materially in the building up of an independent and mighty Republic on this continent. In these New England States Congregationalism flourished like “a green bay tree.” One of the first things done by the “pilgrim fathers,” after they effected a landing, was to found a Congregational church at Plymouth, which was placed in charge of John Robinson.

But Congregationalism has flourished in Episcopal England also. After the Toleration Act of 1689 was passed, an ineffectual effort was made to bring about a degree of affiliation between them and the English Presbyterians. In 1730 they united with the Baptists and Presbyterians, under the name of the Three Denominations, for the protection of their civil and religious liberties. Next to the Methodists the Congregationalists are the largest dissenting body in England. The largest confederation of its churches is known as “The Congregational Union of England and Wales,” and so jealous are they of their peculiar doctrines on the proper mode of church government, that at the time this union was effected it was declared not to be a court of appeal, or to possess in the slightest degree any legislative authority that might in any way arbitrarily affect any individual church.

The old “mud church” was sold to T. R. Atkinson several years since. He tore down the gloomy old relic and converted the ground whereon it stood into something more cheerful (?) looking; that is, a yard where grave-stones and tall sepulchral monuments are exposed to view and kept for sale.

When Mr. Atkinson removed the foundation he found, in one of the corner-stones, two bottles containing several papers. A detailed account of this discovery was published in the Norfolk Reformer, and it is from this publication the following information is gleaned.

The last surviving trustee of this extinct church organization was John E. Martin. One bottle contained a Declaration of Faith, and the Church Order of Discipline of the Congregationalists or Independent Dissenters. The other contained a Catechism on the Construction and Government of Christian churches, by John Roaf. The corner-stone was laid in 1844, five years before Talbot District merged into the County of Norfolk. The document reads as follows:

“The foundation-stone of this building was laid on the twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-four, in the seventh year of the reign of Victoria Queen of Great Britain, etc., whom God preserve; Sir Charles Metcalf being Governor of British North America. This erection is for the use of the Congregational Church of this town and vicinity, which was organized on the tenth of the present month by the Rev. William Clark, of the Congregational Union of England and Wales, minister, now the elected pastor of the church, Joseph Tilney and Robert Gibbons, deacons. The following are the names of the Building Committee chosen in public meeting by the subscribers:—William Clark, Dr. G. H. Parke, Philip Beemer, Robert Gibbons, Duncan Campbell, Aaron Culver, C. J. Dredge, Aaron Culver, jun., Dr. J. B. Crouse, G. J. Mulkins, Joseph Tilney, John Murray, John McIntyre, Joseph Culver, Adam Bowlby, Peter O’Carr.”

A careful review of the above list of names will show that at the final dissolution of Congregationalism in Norfolk, all the other denominations participated in the absorption of its membership.