^-^^^^-^^^

¦— ".:~ g^gg

| " Give an account of thy Stewardship. St. Luke xfL 2i'V ^

A SERMON,

DELIVERED IN

1

SIT. iDin'S (BitTOOT, 3BMM1WM1, ©©ML, 1

<__> O T O 3Q ______ n 23, X8S8,

BY THE RECTOR,

1 REV. GURDON S. COIT, D. D.

n?w iBa a ss mm @"S" an^wuss^

»] BEIDGEPOET, CONN.
' rORMEL A. HALL, PRINTER.
1858.

n

A SERMON,

DELIVERED IN

ST. JWDEN'SOTUffiffllH, MBMnMEV, (MOT.,

<_> O T O _B 3S H 23, X8S8,

BY THE RECTOR,

REV. GURDON S. COIT, D. D.,

j? w salaam as© m's i&ac^was'ff.

BEIDGEPOET, CONN.
ORMEL A. HALL, PRINTER.
1858.

SERMON.

"Give an account of thy Stewardship. " Si. Lok* xvi : 2.

Hardly any task can be more difficult, my brethren, than for
a man to speak becomingly concerning himself, before a popu
lar assembly. I will not venture to say — how often Politicians
and even Statesmen have failed in doing themselves justice,
when gendering an account of their Stewardship to their fellow-
men. The only two men whom I recollect, at this moment, to
have done this, with even rhetorical success, are Demosthenes,
when he defended himself before the citizens of Athens ; and
Edmund Burke, (a name not unworthy of the illustrious asso
ciation,) vindicating his career, as a British Statesman, at Bris
tol, England.
And so sensible am I of my inability properly to review be
fore you, my brethren, my Ministry in this Church, for the last
twenty five years, that, (I say it with unfeigned sincerity,) I
have repeatedly shrunk from the undertaking, in despair. You
will bear me witness," however, that I now attempt it, AT your
own request : and I feel that I shall have a claim on your
forbearance, if, in an effort to gratify your wishes, I should fail
to meet your expectations.

' I. You will in the first place, be disappointed if you antici
pate much Historical information, concerning this Church. —
From the scanty materials, which I have been able to collect, I
will lay before you, as briefly as possible, the following state
ment of the foundation and the progress of the Parish, to the
present time.
The Episcopal Church was originally planted in Fairfield, the
town westernly adjacent to this. Stratfield, now called Bridge
port, was a part of the parish of Fairfield, and in the Parish
Church, about four miles from us, the few Churchmen, who
then lived in this vicinity, probably gathered and worshiped.
But in 1747 or 1748, a number of persons — some of whom
were not originally Churchmen, elected, as the Eecord states,
from which I gather my information, " a small frame Church,
with a steeple surmounted by a gilt weather-cock." DuriDg
the next year, "it was opened for divine service, and was called
St. John's Church."
The location of this Church was in what is still called Church
Lane, about a quarter of a mile west of the Old Pequonnock
Meeting House.
The principal cause which led to the erection of this Church,
is understood, to be this. The violent religious excitements a.t
that day, which resulted from the preaching of Whitefield, Ten
ant, and others ; caused great difficulties, in the religious com
munities, where they visited. Among those' who entertained
more sober and conservative views, in this vicinity, were Col.
John Burr, John Holburton, Timothy Wheeler, Joseph Seeley,
John Nichols, Eichard Hall and Samuel Beardsley. These
men were the principal proprietors of the building, called
Stratfield Church, and their names ought to be held in perpetual
and honorable remembrance.

Of the others, little is known at the present day, and per
haps their descendants are few, or their families are scattered,
or extinct, but their works survive and praise them. But of
Ooh Burr, it is recorded by the first Eector,* that be was a
man of superior talents; possessed of large property — a strenu
ous friend of the Episcopal Church. Originally educated in Con
gregationalism, and its ardent supporter; but at length, becom
ing alarmed at the prevailing enthusiasm and extravagances of
the clay, to which we have just alluded, he, with others, exam
ined the claims of the Episcopal Church, and finding its doc
trines and government consistent with the word of God, conform
ed to it ; laid the foundation of its first humble temple in this
vicinity, and dying in a good old age, was gathered to his fathers.
The Church not only here, but in Connecticut, my brethren,
was planted on her rugged soil, and in the strong hearts of her
children, by men, of this same sterling stamp.
At once enlightened and independent, earnest and honest ;
but becoming dissatisfied with the state of things, in the reli
gious body wherein they had been educated ; they did not re
nounce their religions faith, when they broke up their religious
connexions ; they still looked intelligently around them, to find
a Church, wherein the two cardinal principles of the Church's
existence were recognized and practically operated, viz : —
soundness of faith and soundness of order. These they
found in the Episcopal Church ; and, governed by these princi
ples, and for their support, defense and extension, they built
St. John's Church, Stratfield. Upon the corner-stone of these im
perishable principles, being founded ; and upon these principles,
having grown up — upon these may it ever rest, grow and flour
ish ; Integrity of Christian Truth! Integrity of Apostolic Order !
*Charchman's Magazine, Vol. I.

It was not till nearly forty years after its erection, that the
Church in Stratfield was consecrated in 1789, by the father of
Episcopacy in New England, Samuel Seabury ! A name at
which I fain must pause — a name, venerated by all true Con
necticut Churchmen — a name, dear to me personally ; for his
family is of kin to mine ; and my father was his personal friend
and family physician ; a name dearer still to me, as the fearless
and learned champion of true Catholic principles, in times,
when to be so, was, a matter of infinitely more peril, than at
the present day ; and as one, the remembrance of whose early
and almost solitary struggle against the hosts that encamped
round about him, has re-assured my drooping courage in many
a desponding hour, when sustaining the same cause, in a sphere
far more narrow ; and with far humbler powers ; but not, I
trust, with less sincere devotion.
The Church which was built at Stratfield, was the third which
he consecrated in this Diocese, and it was one of the humblest
character. Its walls were unplastered ; its seats of the rough
est material, and for a long time, as the Eecords of the Parish
testify, was even without a Pulpit. But there the first Bishop
of Connecticut confirmed many of the Church's earliest friends,
some of whose descendants subsequently became its staunch-
est supporters. There are but three persons in this parish,
whom he confirmed, still living ; Mrs. Tomlinson, Mrs. Anne
Sherman, and Mrs. Alethea Porter, the three oldest communi
cants in the Church. The two latter are present in the con
gregation, this morning.
Towards the close of the eighteenth century, the tide of
population set so "strongly towards this part of Stratfield which ,
has now become the city of Bridgeport, that it was determined
to build a new Church, at a more central point ; accordingly,

St. John's was removed to Bridgeport, and built on the south
east corner of State and Broad streets. In 1830 it was enlarge
ed, and the first Organ purchased, in consequence of the growth
of the parish, the increase of the population, and the advanc
ing popularity of Episcopacy.
In 1834, it was deemed expedient to build another Church,
for the accommodation of the increasing number of worship
ers ; and the Church in which we are now assembled, was con
sequently erected, with great unanimity on the part of its mem
bers ; and consecrated in 1836, by the Et. Eev. Bishop T. C.
Brownell. The valuable land on which it stands, was the gift
of the late lamented Philip A. Cannon.
In 1853, another Church formed from members of this, was
consecrated by the same venerablp Diocesan, by the name of
Christ Church.
In June, 1850, I commenced services at what were then call
ed Payne's Mills, two miles from the central Church, and a pa
rish has this year been formed there, and a Church is in the
process of completion, called the Church of the Nativity, which
will, probably, be consecrated in the course of a few months.
Another" parish, St. Paul's, has also been formed in East
Bridgeport, which, I hope, will also have its Church edifice and
ministerial services, at no distant day.
II. Such, brethren,' is a general sketch of the history of this
Church. You perceive that it has had an organized existence
from the year 1748, to the year 1858. It is one hundred and
ten years old. From the smallest beginnings it has become in
that time, one of the principal parishes of the Diocese.
But in the retrospect of its history, one of your natural in-
quiries will be, Who were its Pastors? I answer, then, briefly,
that the old Church, in Stratfield, before its consecration, was

under the pastoral charge of the parish of Fairfield, and was
indebted for its occasional services, to the fostering care of mis
sionaries of the Church of England. One of these was the
Eev. Mr. Lamson, who, as we learn from authentic sources —
" obtained holy orders in 1745, and succeeded Mr. Caoner in
the Church of Fairfield, with a salary of fifty pounds a year."
In the year 1774, the Eev. John Sayer, another missionary
of the Church of England, officiated successfully in the parish
of Fairfield, and had charge of St. John's, Stratfield, until Fair
field was burnt by British soldiers. In 1785, the Eev. Philo
Shelton, who had previously acted as lay reader in the parish,
was made Priest by the first Bishop of Connecticut, and then
assumed the pastoral care of " Fairfield, including Stratfield
and Weston ; dividing his time equally between the three
Churches." When the Church, in Bridgeport, St. John's, as
sumed an independent parochial existence, he became its first
Eector, and continued such from the time of its consecution,
for many years— a faithful, earnest, and godly man, who sitiuld
be reverently remembered, as one ofthe founders of the Church
in this neighborhood. The chafactet of a man is generally
best judged by the sentiments of his contemporaries and asso
ciates. If any wish to know what was the estimation in which
the first Eector of St. John's was held, let them peruse and 're
member that mural tablet,, which those who knew him faest, have
there appropriately inscribed to his1 memory. See Page 15.
His successor in the Eectorship, was the Eev. Henry E. Ju
dah, who resigned it in 1833, and went to his rest in 183'6— a
man of devout and fervent zeal in the cause of his Master,
and whose memory is still cherished with deep affection, by
some of the most steadfast and devoted members of tlijta
Church.

9

III. I come now, my brethren, to speak more particularly, of
my own Eectorship, assumed in October, 1833 ; and of this
you have been pleased to ask of me to render some account.
I can easily give you the statistics of my public ministry. I
can tell you ofthe numbers baptizedT— married — buried — 'during
the last past quarter of a century, and of those who have been
confirmed. The Parish Eecord will show that I have baptized
nearly one thousand persons — a rapid counting says nine hun
dred and eighty-five.. I have married four hundred and thirty-
six couples. I have buried eight hundred and sixteen of my
fellow mortals. The number of persons confirmed, are four
hundred and fifty-one.
I am not able to say how many have' been admitted by me
to the communion ; but the number has increased from that
reported in 1808, by the first Eector — fifty — and from that re
ported by the second Eector in 1832 — two hundred — to that
reported by me at the last convention of the Diocese.
' Many of the.communicants of the Church, however, in other
parishes, both in this, and various other Dioceses, have been
admitted by me; but of these I can render no statistical ac
count,
" In view of this exhibit, it is for you, my brethren, to judge
whether my work here has been successful or unsuccessful ; ,or,
whether a more minute detail of the progress and growth of
the parish is necessary or appropriate.
Ofthe difficulties which have retarded its more rapid increase,
or ever marred its harmony, I shall be silent. They are inci
dent to all parishes, and to all institutions ; I have only to say,
as I glance at the past, let results speak, notwithstanding its
impediments. The Church has grown here, proportionally, at
least, with the other parishes of the Diocese. Let this besuf-

10

ficient testimony to the fidelity with which we have adhered to
the principles of the Church, and have^ striven to advance ita
interests. Of my own personal and private emotions, while preparing
and meditating upon the statistical history of the Church, just
presented to you; of my own sense Of error, of delinquency,
and of neglect of what I might have done more, and of what
I have left undone, in the duties owed to you and the Church ;
do not expect me here to speak. For all this, I must render
an account to a higher tribunal.
IV. But, my brethren, 1 am not unwilling to enter with you
into something of a discussion of the PRINCIPLES, by which I
have been governed, in my management of this parish, and per
haps the retrospection of its past history, as influenced by those
principles, may not be unprofitable to you or to me.
1. First, then, as to the doctrine which has been inculcated.
Suffer me to revert to the commencement of my ministry here.
Twenty-five years ago, I stood in the pulpit of the Church,
from whence we removed to this, and preached my first ser
mon, as your Eector. The subject was, " Christ Crucified ;"
I announced, with St. Paul, that " I determined not to know
any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified,"*
as the sum and substance of the Gospel ; which I had been called
and appointed to preach to you. Now, testify against me, this
day, if I have been faithless to this grand truth— or to my
promise to proclaim it ; that the blood of Christ Crucified, the
only begotten Son of the Father, alone cleanseth from sin-
that faith in the atoning merits of the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world, is the only means of salvation, offer
ed to a world, perishing in sin. That I have not preached this
*I. Corinthians, Chap. II. 2,

11

truth, as one who felt that his own salvation and yours, and
that of all mankind depended on it — I defy my worst enemy
to affirm.
But I have long since learned that to preach Christ crucified
as "the only name given under Heaven, whereby we must be
saved ;" does not consist in an incessant reiteration of the doc
trine of justification by faith in Christ in a dry and didactic
form; and that zxo faith in the merits of Christ's death, how
ever correct in theory — can be of any avail, unless the professor
of that faith gives some evidence, that he follows the Example
of Christ's Ufe. A true love of Christ crucified, I have ever af
firmed, is the true principle of love to man. And that if the
former is wanting, the latter is spurious — that they who really
love and venerate him, will, for His sake, be very merciful to
their fellow-sinners ; that they who expect to be saved by Him
who bowed himself to " the dishonors of the grave," and bore
for them "the sharpness of death," will, like Him, be meek
and lowly of heart, and seek to do them good.
Such has been the substance of my theology ; love to God
for the unspeakable gift of his dear and divine Son ; and love
to men, for His sake, who so loved them, as to give His life, a
ransom for them.
Upon this principle, I have acted, in a manner far more im
perfect, than many of those, upon whom I have inculcated it ;
and many a sufferer may have seemed to have sighed for my
sympathy in vain ; but I can truly say, that I never refused to
obey a call to relieve the poor, or minister to the suffering —
that I never refused to bury the humblest, most friendless and
most guilty dead ; and that I have often done so, at the risk of
health, yea, even of life itself.
Often blamed for the neglect of duty, as every minister of a

12

large parish, is liable to be, it is quite possible, that more has
been asked to be done, than there had been .a right to demand ;
and that more labor has been rendered, than was always, duly
appreciated. ,
2. Another principle, which has guided me, as the Pastor
of this Ghurch, has been, a /Strict adherence to the Usages, the
Services, the Canons andEubrics of the Church.' I record it
as my solemn testimony to you, , who are living ; to those who
shall come after us ; especially for the benefit of my successor ;
that hearty conformity to the laws and customs of the Church,
will be the surest means of promoting its peace, and prosperity.
The force of this rule of conduct, will be most conspicuous
in the most trying circumstances. .
Within my own experience, there have been' two great reli
gious excitements, as they are called — one in 1843 ; the other,
during a part of the last and present year. During the first ;
over seventy persons were confirmed in this Church, and dur
ing the last, over eighty. Of course, amidst so much excite
ment — great labor, care and prudence were required ; and I
can testify from deep personal experience, that whatever advan
tage we derived from the increased attention which the minds
of the people, were led to pay to the great interests of '.' true
religion, and virtue," resulted in our case, from its presenta
tion to the minds of the- enquiring — in the way wherein the
Church seeks, and seeks to instruct and to save the thoughtless,
the wandering, the guilty, and, the lost. I never found the
machinery of the Church wanting, for the attainment of any
good religious result, amid the most pressing emergencies.
The great fault of Churchmen is, that they do not ply it, ear
nestly enough, and with united and fraternal action. A firm
apd consistent adherence to this principle, my brethren, will

insure the stability and advancement of the parish. They that
are true to the Church, will find its Great Head true to them.
These then, my brethren, are the two main principles by
which I have acted, during my twenty-five years ministry
among you. I have only to add, that when you distrust their
soundness, I am ready to say, Here I am ! do with me as seem
eth to you good.
But if our union is still to continue, let me point you, in
conclusion, to other considerations more immediately apper
taining to the relationship of one -who has been the pastor, and
of you who have been the flock of Christ, in this fold, for the
last twenty-five years. Whatever it has been, whether of fidel
ity or unfaithfulness on my part, or of unprofitableness on yours ;
whether the Church has flourished or decayed, and whether
our career in life has been prosperous or adverse, we who are
yet living cannot but feel that we are occupying a very differ
ent position from that which we occupied twenty-five years
ago. Every time we meet in this Church, especially every
time we gather at this altar, we are reminded of the melan
choly changes whicli have taken place in our mortal condition.
How few do I meet here now that I met here then ! How
many removed ! How many dead !
Twenty-five years ago I came here a mere youth, just old
enough to have assumed the vows of the priesthodd, and with
many of the infirmities and faults of youth.- Many of you
were then in the prime of life, but are now like me, growing old.
For myself, I have spent just half my days here, but the
days have sped like a dream, and in the interim most of those
who greeted me are absent or old, or in another World, and
only a few, a very few, remain of the original congregation to
which I first ministered.

14

Where, then, in the next twenty -five years, shall most of us
be, my brethren?
Gone ! Gone ! The next quarter century will speed, for
us in mature life, more swiftly than the last, and these boys
and girls around us will have grown up into ripe and vigorous
life, while we shall have fallen into decrepitude or the grave.
If this is so, let us now, now be diligent in our work. Let
us remember that we have much to do, and little space wherein
to accomplish it. Much good that 1 might have done has
been left undone through my own want of faith and hope, and
energy. Your Church, my brethren, might be in a more flourishing
condition than it is, if you had been, and if you were more as
siduous, more earnest, more self-sacrificing in its glorious cause.
Let us be more active and faithful hereafter, and, grateful for
the mercies, and penitent for the sins of the past — let us de
vote the brief remnant of our days to the utmost possible ex
ertion for the glory of God, the prosperity of His Holy Church,
and the salvation of our own souls.

15

I. H. S.
-_&_.!© -_».. TESTIMOSTT
OF GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE
THIS TABLET IS RAISED
BY MEMBERS OF
ST. JOHN'S PARISH,
TO THE
REV. PHILO SHELTON,
THE FOUNDER OP THIS CHURCH, AND POR
FORTY YEARS THE CONTINUED PROMOTER OP ITS
BEST INTEREST, BY THE SOUNDNESS OP HIS
DOCTRINES,
THE ZEAL OP HIS PRIACHINO, AND THE PRIMI
TIVE SIMPLICITY OP HIS CONVERSATION.
HE DEPARTED THIS LIFE ON THE 2TTH
FEBRUARY 182S, AGED 70 YEARS.