This Day in Presbyterian History

THE SCHOOL & FAMILY CATECHIST.
Westminster Shorter Catechism

Q. 21. Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?

A. The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man, in two distinct natures and one person, for ever.

EXPLICATION.

God’s elect. –Those whom God has chosen for his own people.

Jesus. –He was so called, from his being the Savior of his people.

Christ. –Anointed, or appointed, of God.

Eternal Son of God. –This teaches, that the Lord Jesus Christ was with the Father from eternity, or before the beginning of time, and must therefore be God equal with him.

ANALYSIS.

The information here given respecting the Lord Jesus Christ, may be divided into seven particulars :

1. We are first taught, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of God’s chosen ones. -1 Tim. ii. 5. There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

2. That the Lord Jesus Christ is the ONLY Redeemer, –Acts iv. 12. Neither is there salvation in any other.

3. That Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. –John vi. 69. We believe, and are sure, that thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. Heb. i. 8. Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.

4. That Jesus Christ became man. –John i. 14. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.

5. That he was, and still continues to be, both God and man, in two distinct natures. –Rom. ix. 5. Whose are the Fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

6. That the Lord Jesus Christ, though possessing two distinct natures, has but one person. ­–Isa. ix. 6. For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

7. That he will continue thus to be God and man for ever. ­–Rev. 1. 18. I, (says Christ) am he that liveth, and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore.

“Increasingly, it is becoming necessary for a man to decide whether he is going to stand or not to stand for the Lord Jesus Christ as He is presented to us in the Word of God.”

Not An Easy Life

“You will have a battle when you go forth as ministers into the church. The church is now in a period of deadly conflict. The redemptive religion known as Christianity is contending, in our own Presbyterian Church and in all the larger churches in the world, against a totally alien type of religion. As always, the enemy conceals his most dangerous assaults under pious phrases and half truths. The shibboleths of the adversary have sometimes a very deceptive sound.

‘Let us propagate Christianity,’ the adversary says, ‘but let us not always be engaged in arguing in defense of it; let us make our preaching positive, and not negative; let us avoid controversy; let us hold to a person and not to a dogma; let us drop small doctrinal differences and seek the unity of the Church of Christ; let us drop doctrinal accretions and interpret Christ for ourselves; let us look for our knowledge of Christ, not to ancient books, but to the living Christ in our hearts; let us not impose Western creed on the Eastern mind; let us be tolerant of opposing views.’

“Such are some of the shibboleths of that agnostic Modernism which is the deadliest enemy of the Christian religion today. They deceive some of God’s people some of the time; they are heard sometimes from the lips of good Christian people, who have not the slightest inkling of what they mean. But their true meaning, to thinking men, is becoming increasingly clear. Increasingly, it is becoming necessary for a man to decide whether he is going to stand or not to stand for the Lord Jesus Christ as He is presented to us in the Word of God.

“If you decide to stand for Christ, you will not have an easy life in the ministry. Of course, you may try to evade the conflict. All men will speak well of you if, after preaching no matter how unpopular a Gospel on Sunday, you will only vote against the Gospel in the councils of the Church the next day; you will graciously be permitted to believe in supernatural Christianity all you please if you will only make common cause with its opponents. Such is the program that will win the flavor of the Church. A man may believe what he pleases, provided he does not believe anything strongly enough to risk his life on it and fight for it.”

—Dr. J. Gresham Machen, to the students at Princeton Theological Seminary on 10 March 1929, shortly before he left the USA Church. Reprinted in The Presbyterian Journal, volume 36, May 4, 1977, page 12.

COMMENT:
Our co-author on this blog, Rev. David T. Myers, adds this note late today:

“It was a point of identification to realize that my father, David K. Myers, no doubt heard Dr. Machen in March of 1929 as  Dad was in the Senior class of Princeton Theological Seminary that spring. Of course, Dad would spend the next three years in Edinburgh, Scotland studying for  his doctorate, and in the process meet the Scottish gal who became my mother eight years later.  But in that later time period, he would be tried by his presbytery for support of the Independent Board, win his case before them, but have the  PCUSA synod reverse this decision, and the General Assembly in 1936 confirm that deposition.  All that Dr. Machen said that day in chapel in 1929 came true for one David K. Myers! Thanks for including it, brother, as it brought back from the past my memories of the stand for the faith of my father in trying days.”

We continue today the second portion of Barry Waugh’s account of the Rev. John Gloucester, pastor of the first African American Presbyterian church on U.S. soil. Rev. Gloucester died on May 2, 1822. Mr. Waugh regularly posts on his own blog at Presbyterians of the Past.

The Reverend John Gloucester and America’s First Presbyterian Church for Africans

While Rev. Gloucester was ministering in Philadelphia and struggling to complete his ordination requirements, he was also working to free his wife, Rhoda, and their four children, James, Jeremiah, Stephen and Mary, who were still in Tennessee. Some of his time was spent raising funds, but considerable assistance came from his friends and supporters. Concerned people in Philadelphia were able to raise five hundred dollars towards the mercy mission. Benjamin Rush arranged opportunities for Gloucester to preach in Princeton, New Jersey, where more assistance was obtained. The combined efforts raised fifteen-hundred dollars—over twenty thousand dollars in today’s money—so that John could purchase the freedom of his own wife and their children. John had to return to Tennessee to complete the manumission process, so during his absence, the Evangelical Society arranged pulpit supplies for his church for the three months of his absence. The supplies included Archibald Alexander, J. J. Janeway, George Potts, and William Green. When John returned to Philadelphia with his family, the African mission congregation sent a note to Dr. Alexander expressing their gratitude for the supply ministers who served during John’s extended absence. The covenant family that had been divided by slavery had been reunited through the generosity and concern of many.

The year that John Gloucester was ordained was also significant for the church building program. Rev. George Potts led a special service in the fall when the corner stone was laid to begin construction, and when the facility was completed a service of dedication was held on May 31, 1811. Dr. Archibald Alexander, who had been a driving force for the organization of an African Presbyterian church, preached the dedication sermon. William Catto comments that the building was not remarkable, but was a simple brick building sixty feet long by thirty three feet wide “without any ornament about it.” The walls enclosed a room with four rows of pews, each of which had seventeen benches, and a balcony on three of the four walls giving a total capacity of over six hundred people. This building served the congregation until it moved to a new location in the city later in the nineteenth century.

John Gloucester was a popular preacher in Philadelphia and he had a busy and fruitful ministry. Dr. Rush often attended the African Church’s services because he enjoyed hearing the African minister preach. Not only could he preach, but he could sing as well. He would often go to the corner of Seventh and Shippen Streets, near the church property, and start singing hymns. When a crowd gathered, he would stop his singing and begin preaching from his Bible. He was a faithful visitor of his congregation as well as other people who were not associated with his congregation. Knowing the importance of education, he established a school for children with the financial help of Samuel Mills. John continued in his labors until he contracted consumption—tuberculosis—and became so weak that he could no longer preach. He sent a letter, dated June 1820, to the Philadelphia Presbytery requesting supplies for his pulpit due to his poor health. The Reverend John Gloucester died on May 2, 1822. He died a young man in his forty sixth year. At the time of his death, his congregation had grown to over three hundred members.

The African congregation turned to an old friend to assist them with their worship services until a minister could be called. Ashbel Green returned to Philadelphia after having resigned the presidency of Princeton College in the fall of 1822. He had returned to become the editor of the newspaper, The Presbyterian. Green had preached to Africans in Princeton and now he supplied the pulpit on Sunday afternoons for about two-and-a-half years while a pastor was sought. He continued to edit the periodical for twelve years and during this time he intermittently worshiped, preached, and administered the sacraments for the Africans. He commented that at one service in January of 1835, “we had at our communion table today, communicants from the four quarters of the world,” including an East Indian that he had baptized. Ashbel Green continued to minister to the Africans and the last sermon of his life was preached to a black congregation in Princeton.

The Evangelical Society of Philadelphia had initiated the work that led to the African Presbyterian Church, but the involvement of the judicatories entered the picture as John Gloucester became a candidate for the ministry. Some of the doctrinal views of Blackburn and Coffin in Tennessee differed from those of Alexander, Green, and Janeway in Philadelphia, but they were able to come together for the good of the Gospel and John Gloucester’s ministry with the African mission. The Philadelphia African missionary work exemplifies the essential principle of Presbyterian polity that the elders are in an organic relationship for the common good of the Presbyterian Church. The driving force behind the presbyters’ efforts for the free Africans was the proclamation of the Gospel of sovereign grace as delimited by Scripture and the Westminster Standards in the context of a Presbyterian congregation.

In some ways, though, the relationship of John Gloucester and the First African Church to the Presbyterian judicatories was unusual. Rev. Gloucester, according to Catto, never received a call from the congregation to be its minister, and he was never installed as their pastor. The reason given by the denominational leaders for this unusual arrangement was the tenuous nature of the church finances. Even though Rev. Gloucester had an unusual relationship with the African congregation, he was a participating presbyter in the church courts. At the 1817 General Assembly, Rev. Gloucester was an alternate commissioner who participated in the deliberations when Rev. George C. Potts had to resign his seat. Since the meeting would have incorporated commissioners from different areas of the nation, one might wonder about the thoughts of the presbyters as Commissioner Gloucester took his seat. In 1828 the death of Gloucester is listed with the deaths of other ministers who died during the preceding year, but there is no reason given as to why it took six years to record his passing.

The account of the life and labors of Rev. Gloucester presents a truly remarkable picture of a man who overcame his personal educational limitations, persevered as a freeman to buy his family’s liberty, and followed the call of God to be a missionary minister in Pennsylvania. But he was not alone, because when the times were toughest his Presbyterian brethren and other friends in Philadelphia and the nation pitched in with time and finances to assist his ministry. He had to persevere through extended periods of a divided covenant household as he worked in Philadelphia with his family still in slavery in Tennessee. It seems that he had some difficulty achieving the educational requirements for a Presbyterian minister, but he worked and traveled back-and-forth from Philadelphia to Tennessee to fulfill the necessary licensure and ordination requirements. His submission and patience exhibit his convictions as a Presbyterian dedicated to the denomination’s polity and doctrine. Building programs are always a difficult time for a minister, but John Gloucester worked through that trying time of “fund raising” and with the assistance of friends and the Presbyterian Church, the building was completed. Though he struggled in his ministry, the blessings of God’s covenant faithfulness can be seen in his family. His sons, Stephen, James and Jeremiah became Presbyterian ministers. Jeremiah became the founding pastor of the Second African Presbyterian Church in 1824, Stephen’s ministerial labors led to the founding of the Central Presbyterian Church in 1844, and James’s ministerial work led to the organization of the Siloam Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, New York in 1849. Though the Presbyterians that are most respected from history are often teachers in educational institutions, pastors of large urban churches, or writers of books and articles, John Gloucester was a struggling and persistent hero worthy of remembrance and respect.

This year marks the bicentennial of the founding of the first church in America dedicated to African American Presbyterians and this anniversary should lead to reflection upon the history of black people in Presbyterianism. Two hundred years of black Presbyterianism have seen some less than stellar periods no matter the area of the country, whether it was antebellum segregation into different buildings, segregation into sections of the same building, or total exclusion of Africans from some churches. In the years following the Civil War (or War Between the States, if you prefer), a crucial decision for black Presbyterians was made when the Presbyterian Church in the United States voted to have separate churches for the races. Presbyterians should learn from the past. Paul is clear, in Galatians 3:28, that “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Paul’s admonition deals with racial, economic, and sexual identities. James adds that there is to be no respect of persons in the church’s worship so that one group may have a seat of glory and another a lesser seat (2:1-4). In Acts 6:1ff, the Apostles were confronted with a racial conflict. Luke tells us that there was “a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected” when food was distributed. The response to this issue was the office of deacon, and the deacons were to objectively and equitably minister to the widows; the apostles did not respond by separating the Greeks from the Hebrews and making racially distinct groups. Racial prejudice is a perpetual issue for the church and society, but sanctification requires the Christian as an individual and the church as a whole to set aside the sin of prejudice and pursue righteousness. Righteousness recognizes that there are no minorities in the Kingdom of God, there are no separate theologies nor congregations for racial groups, and there must not be a disassociated Presbyterianism that denies its racial connectionalism as an element of its connectional polity.

Our post today comes from the pen of a good friend of the PCA Historical Center, Dr. Barry Waugh. This is an excerpt from a larger article which he wrote for the Historical Center several years ago. It was on this day, May 2nd, in 1822 that the Rev. John Gloucester died. He had for many years ministered effectively as the pastor of the first Presbyterian church organized specifically to serve the free African population in Philadelphia. To keep our post somewhat short, the following portion of the story takes us only through the time of Rev. Gloucester’s ordination:— 

The Reverend John Gloucester and America’s First Presbyterian Church for Africans

by Barry Waugh

John Gloucester’s remarkable story began in Philadelphia as the young United States was between the extended conflict for independence and the soon near catastrophe of the War of 1812. The Presbyterian Church was growing as the nation expanded its borders but its plan had not yet taken into account the free Africans in the rapidly growing northeastern states. Philadelphia was a hub of activity when Archibald Alexander arrived there in May of 1807. His relocation north of the Mason-Dixon Line from his natal Virginia was for the purpose of accepting a call to be the minister of the Third Presbyterian Church. As Rev. Alexander settled into his new location, he was overcome by the conditions of poverty in the outskirts of the great city. He responded by organizing and drafting the constitution for what became known as the Evangelical Society of Philadelphia. The purpose of the organization was to send each of its members out on Sunday evenings, in teams of two, for evangelism among the impoverished. As the work of the Society expanded, the desire to establish an African Presbyterian Church with an African pastor became a key concern as the group sought the “spiritual welfare of the colored population of the city.”

Dr. Alexander’s first choice to undertake the African mission work was John Chavis (1763-1838). Chavis was free-born in Granville County, North Carolina, educated by John Witherspoon at Princeton College, and licensed by the Presbytery of Lexington in Virginia in 1801. He was appointed by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church to be the first African home missionary. Chavis was the obvious choice because he was ready for the African work since he possessed a license to preach. E. T. Thompson notes that he was never an ordained minister and he served the church as a licentiate. Unfortunately, despite having great qualifications, Chavis turned down the opportunity. Alexander and the Evangelical Society returned to the pastoral search process, which was particularly difficult due to the general lack of education among the African community.

At about the same time these events were unfolding in Philadelphia, a candidate was being prepared for the Pennsylvania work in the distant state of Tennessee. John Gloucester, who was known at the time as “Jack,” was converted by God’s grace in Christ through the ministry of the missionary, Gideon Blackburn. It was not an easy mission field due to the often treacherous terrain, but Blackburn had a Daniel Boone constitution that especially suited him for such a physically difficult call. As their relationship grew, Blackburn recognized in Jack a zeal for learning and a thirst for sanctifying growth, so he purchased the young man from his master in 1806. Jack had to leave his wife and children in slavery while he studied with Blackburn.

Once Rev. Blackburn owned Jack, he proceeded to petition the magistrate for Jack’s freedom. Since 1801, the Tennessee legislature had not denied any petitions for manumission, so Blackburn had good reason to believe that his petition would be granted. In August, he presented the petition to the Tennessee Senate. The Senate was reluctant to deal with the case, so the petition was referred to the House of Representatives. The House reciprocated and returned the petition to the Senate. It became evident that the lawmakers did not want to free Jack because they killed the petition at the state level through a parliamentary procedure. Good research has concluded from these events that Blackburn’s petition was denied because it involved a literate black man pursuing the ministry—Jack could potentially become a leader among the slave community and bring instability to the slave system. Having failed with the state government, Blackburn turned to the Blount County Court where he obtained both the manumission and the change of name. Why Blackburn did not pursue manumission through the lesser magistrate in the first place is not clear.

The newly freed and renamed John Gloucester was taken under care as a ministerial student at the October 1806 meeting of the Presbytery of Union. Having the oversight of his presbytery, the young man pursued his education as the first African attending Greeneville College. After a few months of study, Gloucester attended the February 1807 meeting of presbytery to be examined for licensure, but even though he was found to be proficient in English grammar and geography, he was not licensed due to difficulties raised concerning his fulfilling other educational requirements. At this point, Rev. Charles Coffin, who taught at Greeneville College and was its president, intervened for Gloucester by writing to Ashbel Green in Philadelphia, who was a member of the city’s Evangelical Society. Their correspondence led to Gloucester being encouraged to appear at the approaching meeting of the Presbyterian Church General Assembly. Blackburn had already left for the annual meeting because he was the commissioner from the Presbytery of Union, and Gloucester left in April to make the meeting scheduled for May.

When the General Assembly convened in Philadelphia at the First Presbyterian Church, Gideon Blackburn had arrived to take his seat as the commissioner from the Presbytery of Union. Gloucester had made it to Philadelphia and met-up with his mentor, who introduced him to Ashbel Green, J. J. Janeway, and Archibald Alexander, as well as other presbyters. In conjunction with Gloucester’s visit, the Presbytery of Union had sent an overture to the General Assembly concerning his licensure. The Assembly adopted the recommendation of its committee appointed to handle the overture’s disposition and referred the question of Gloucester’s licensure to the Presbytery of Philadelphia. Referral to the Philadelphia Presbytery indicates that the mechanism had been engaged by the ministerial leadership of the Evangelical Society to bring Gloucester to the city for the African mission work. The presbytery meeting took place the next month, and Philadelphia Presbytery referred the licensure back to the Presbytery of Union believing that it was more qualified as the court of immediate jurisdiction to complete the licensure process with John. Though the licensure issue was referred, Gloucester’s path to missions with the free Africans had begun.

The financial support of John Gloucester and the funds needed to build a church worship facility were supplied from several sources. John’s salary was paid for three months by the Evangelical Society and the remainder of his financial stipend was to be collected from other sources. One source was missionary funding from the General Assembly, which provided three months of support each year from 1810 through 1819. His work was given amounts varying from twenty to one hundred sixty dollars each year. Private donors, presbytery and synod missionary funds, donations from the Africans themselves, and individual churches may have contributed to the remaining finances needed for his salary. The mission was blessed with a growing congregation, which meant that street corner meetings and temporary facilities needed to be replaced with an adequate building for worship. In July of 1809, the Evangelical Society agreed to “provide a house for present use,” and it sought subscriptions to buy property and erect “a house of worship.” A flyer was published to advertise the African mission and raise funds to support a work for “a reformation among the blacks of this place.” According to some historical opinions, many of the newly freed Africans entering Philadelphia were contributing to disorder in the city because of their lack of education, little if any trade skills, lack of money, and no direction or guidance.

As the slavery issue became more heated in later years, some political and intellectual leaders believed that immediate emancipation would result in a large, impoverished, and unskilled population of free blacks that would be too much for the nation to handle—Philadelphia’s experience at the time of Gloucester’s ministry exemplifies this analysis. The flyer appealed for the cause of the free blacks and concluded “that the African race is not inferior to the inhabitants of the other quarters of the world, either in the natural endowments of the understanding or the heart,” and they needed evangelism just as any other race or nationality. The flyer notes further that there were already many free Blacks who were Presbyterian and that they found it “inconvenient and unpleasant … to attend the houses of worship frequented by the white people.” The Evangelical Society separated the races for worship and worked toward constructing a worship facility dedicated to the Africans and pastored by John Gloucester. Though the African worshippers may have felt that it was “inconvenient and unpleasant” to worship with the whites, one can only speculate as to how the face of American Presbyterianism might have been changed if the Evangelical Society had taught and led the congregation to a racially united worship service within an existing Philadelphia congregation.

Raising the funds for the African Presbyterian Church building was a difficult process, however in October the Evangelical Society met to consider purchasing land for the church. Gloucester was present at the meeting and “was satisfied with the Resolution” that budgeted fourteen hundred dollars for the land. The work of fund raising continued into the Fall of 1810 when the Evangelical Society located a property, which was described as “three lots on Seventh Street in the District of Southwark, between South and Fitzwater Streets, together yielding” a nearly square lot of just under six thousand square feet. The projected cost for a building was five thousand dollars, but the amount of money pledged at that time was roughly twenty two hundred dollars. The money-in-hand was enhanced by a one hundred dollar contribution from Philadelphia’s Dr. Benjamin Rush, whose name was heard nearly as often as the other famous Philadelphia Benjamin. As the reality of the difficult task of raising the money set in, the plan was modified to construct a smaller building at an estimated cost of 3851.21, or nearly 55,000.00 in today’s money.

Up to this point, Gloucester’s ministry had been accomplished as a licentiate, but the long and difficult road to ordination came to an end when he was examined by the Presbytery of Union, meeting at Baker’s Creek, on April 30, 1810. As was most appropriate, his mentor Gideon Blackburn was the moderator of that meeting. Presbytery instructed the new minister to move from Tennessee and unite with the Philadelphia Presbytery. The instruction to relocate to Philadelphia is a bit misleading because John had been active in the African mission in Pennsylvania for some time. Rev. Gloucester’s transfer of membership was delayed a bit because he was not received into the Philadelphia Presbytery until April of the following year.

The Value of a Long Pastorate

Fifty years a pastor of one church! The Rev. David Osborn surely is one of but a small number of pastors who have labored so long and so faithfully for one congregation. Rev. Osborn was the pastor of the Fairfield Presbyterian Church, in Fairton, New Jersey, for 55 years, from 1789 until 1844. The Fairfield church is now a member of the PCA. With a long pastorate, and as a faithful servant of his Lord, Rev. Osborn laid a good foundation for the future health of the church. Born on august 21, 1758, Rev. Osborn died on May 1, 1858, at the age of 99 years, 8 months and 10 days.

These little daily devotions are meant to be brief and so can never explore the whole of a story. Our account today is drawn from The Pastor of the Old Stone Church. With the hope of encouraging you to take up this interesting little book and read it for yourself, we give here but a small sampling of Rev. Osborn’s life and ministry. When he had already served some thirty years in the Fairfield pulpit, he preached a sermon in which he recounted some of the history of his ministry. He said:—

“Having lived and labored among you in the gospel ministry for more than thirty years, it seems reasonable that we should take a brief review of the ground we have traveled over, and of God’s dealings with us. It is hoped that such a review may afford us some lessons of useful instruction. The general design of these discourses is to lay before you some of the principal events which have occurred during my residence among you, and as I pass along, to express my thoughts and opinions respecting them…My motives of action, my regard or disregard of your welfare, are known to God, and must ere long be known to yourselves, whether I speak them out or not. You have been eye and ear witnesses of the principal events of providence and grace which we shall review, and thanks to God! many of you have been heart witnesses by your own happy experience”

“My condition and school education were like those of other children in my native place. I was favored, thanks to God! with religious parents and a religious education. My parents are gone to their long home, and I trust sleep in Jesus. They trained me in the habit of attending public worship, but for some years I went to meeting rather reluctantly, or against my inclination. Some alarming providences impressed my mind with serious thoughts of death and judgment. This was perhaps between the age of nine or twelve years. After my serious impressions began, I went to religious meetings without persuasion or driving. I then went, not to see and be seen, but to hear the word of God, and to learn how I must escape the wrath to come and obtain eternal life. The Sabbath became a most welcome day, which I tried to keep holy, and improve for my best spiritual interests, for this was my principal concern. Compared with my soul’s salvation, every affair of this life appeared low and trifling.

“About this time I began secret prayer, which I have continued more or less to this day, though I am conscious that I have often been too remiss in it. I felt conscious that the eyes of the Lord were upon me, and I fully resolved carefully to avoid whatever would incur his displeasure, and to do whatever my conscience and his word and Spirit should tell me was my duty. But, like David, I soon found that innumerable evils had compassed me about, and mine iniquities had taken hold upon me. I found that my own strength was weakness; temptations assaulted me, and too often prevailed against me; yet like Job, I tried to hold fast mine integrity.

“When I was preparing for college, while studying the Greek Testament, I saw more clearly than ever the amiable excellency of our Saviour. My mind was enamored of his heavenly beauty, and my soul’s desire was to be like him and with him. Ever since, I have had a trust that I have received the Saviour by faith, and am interested in the special favor of God through his merits and mediation, though it often seems too exalted a favor and blessedness for such a sinner to expect. And scarcely, if ever, do I feel that assurance of salvation which I desire. May the Lord perfect in us all that which is lacking of grace, faith, and assurance!”

Later in the account, Rev. Osborn spoke of the life of the Fairfield church:

“The Lord once more appeared for his favored church in Fairfield. Through the summer and fall of 1809, a general awakening to the concerns of the eternal world prevailed among the people. Conference, or prayer-meetings, were held in different parts of the congregation, not less than six or seven evenings in the week. It was truly a revival time, both to saints and sinners; the Spirit of grace was poured upon each. Some were severely experienced and brought into deep distress; others were exercised in a mild manner. Though there were diverse operations, yet the same God wrought in all. In a few months, a considerable number entertained a hope, and thanks to God! he continued his gracious work for many months. On December 3, 1809, just twenty years from my ordination, twenty-four were admitted to the church. In April, 1810, thirty were admitted to full communion; in August following, twenty-seven more, and small numbers at the two communions following, so that in the space of two years, there were added to this church one hundred and twelve. The Lord hath done great things for us, and blessed be his name!

“Though various means were used, yet it was evident that the excellency of the power was of God, and not of men. This appears from the great change wrought, and the good fruit following. Though I was not idle during the revival, yet it seemed as if I was a spectator beholding the wonderful operation of Divine grace convincing and converting sinners. My brethren of the Session were alive and diligent in prayer and religious conversation, and perhaps I may have aided, in some measure, the good work of the Lord. But I was only one among a multitude of agents who were active in the same employ. Truly my soul rejoiced to see many return unto the Lord and enlist under the banner of King Jesus.”

Words to Live By:
From the above mentioned volume, the Rev. Mr. Burt’s address upon the death of Rev. Osborn,
“The pastor is not only the interpreter of the oracles of God in the gathered assembly; he is a visitor in every home, and a personal friend of every individual. In every crisis of life he is at hand, soothing in sickness, comforting in sorrow, counseling in perplexity, and, at last, accompanying the dying, as far as he may, toward the brooding shadows of the dark and solitary valley; and in all this he is the friend of the soul, drawing from earth, leading to Christ, and inspiring with heavenly hope. O there is none who so fully and so tenderly interweaves his whole life with that of each of a community, and draws after him and binds upon him such a train of ardent and holy affections, as the faithful and loving pastor.”

[all excerpts taken from The Pastor of the Old Stone Church. Philadelphia: William S. and Alfred Martien, 1858.]

At right, the Old Stone Church as it has appeared in recent years. It is no longer in use, though some efforts over the last several decades have been made to maintain the structure.

Sources: The portrait above and the text are drawn from The Pastor of the Old Stone Church. Philadelphia: William S. and Alfred Martien, 1858. This work is available on the Internet, here. The more recent photograph, at right, was taken by the current pastor of the Fairfield Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Michael Schuelke. For more about the history of this church, which was organized in 1680, click here.