The history of the First Congregational Church of Royalston

Virginia E Asel

Etd

The history of the First Congregational Church of Royalston

Public Deposited

MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Virginia E Asel. The History of the First Congregational Church of Royalston. Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/05d03ff5-cf65-474c-afae-68a9c1f5db16.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

V. E. Asel. The history of the First Congregational Church of Royalston. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/05d03ff5-cf65-474c-afae-68a9c1f5db16

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Virginia E Asel. The History of the First Congregational Church of Royalston. Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/05d03ff5-cf65-474c-afae-68a9c1f5db16.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

Creator

Virginia E Asel

Keyword

Church and community

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Abstract

This work is a thorough historical examination of the First Congregational Church of Royalston, Massachusetts. Intended to be completed in time for the 150th anniversary celebration of the church's fourth meetinghouse, it recounts the history of the church from its inception in 1766 through a civil war, two world wars, an increasingly secular and pluralistic context, up to the present day. A primary intent of the work is to trace the changing nature of the relationship between the church and the town. Whereas in the early days the connection between them was vital and practically bordered on an identity, today several wedges have been driven between them. Pluralistic forces at work in the culture have posed political, social, religious and legal reasons for this separation. However, an even stronger causal explanation derives from forces at work within the church itself. These internal forces of a doctrinal, theological and spiritual nature not only provide the deeper analysis of what has eroded the connections between church and community, they also provide the best hope for a restoration of a biblical sense of community to the church and town. The thesis begins with the earliest pastor of the church, and it endeavors in subsequent chapters to divide the material up according to distinctive and innovative thematic units. Examples of such units include short-term pastors, the two World Wars and women's ministries. Most of the chapters are written chronologically, although a few had to be written from a more topical perspective. The work recounts the subtle shift in the religious zeal and theological integrity of the church, issues determinative of what are argued to be the theological and spiritual forces that trump the political and social ones in depriving the church of its historical role as the central focal point of the community. The central guiding question of the thesis is: what has most contributed to the erosion of this church's role in community and in forming community? This question is posed around the idea of whether the church can and will recapture anything like the central role in this town it has played in the past, or whether it will serve in the largely formal and decorative role of adding an essentially aesthetic adornment to the Royalston Common.

Publisher