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Ogden United Church of Christ, |
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Ogden United Church of Christ, |
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History
of the Ogden Congregational Church
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CHAPTER 3 In September, 1883, the Rev. Henry E. Thayer, newly graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio, arrived in Ogden. Sometime in that month he began to hold services in the two room New West Ogden Academy at 25th Street and Adams Avenue. Both church services and Sunday school were held there. A formal structure for the church was needed, and thus on January 4, 1884, in the classrooms of the Ogden Academy, an organizing ceremony was held. Witnessed by representatives from other churches, and with the Rev. D. L. Leonard, Supt. of Rome Missions in Utah, acting as moderator, and the Rev. F. T. Lee serving as scribe, the following persons became founding members of the church. Of the twelve listed ten were women.
On January 20, 1884, a communion service was held, using for the first time the new communion set given the church by Judge Philip H. Emerson. Judge Emerson had been appointed by President U. S. Grant in 1873 as Associate Justice of the Utah Territorial Supreme Court. The Congregational Church was small in its beginnings. By the opening of 1884 it had sixteen members. However the membership was active in attempts to upgrade the moral character of Ogden, which was now a rough railroad community. Lower 25th Street made Ogden the sin city of the Rockies. Drugs, alcohol, gambling, prostitution and every other type of lechery were offered the many railroad passengers and workers who passed daily through the city. Members of the church, along with those of other denominations, were actively involved in the Women's Christian Temperance Union. In the Ogden Daily Herald it was reported that the WCTU had opened a reading room on November 13, 1883. The room had a free library of275 books, and was open from 1 to 9 PM. The opening ceremony of the Reading Room was enhanced by remarks by the Rev. Thayer and other local ministers. Mr. Thayer had a lot to do with the WCTU. Newspaper reports indicate his frequent presence at meetings. Also he had a reputation as a singer since he was reported as having presented a vocal solo at the WCTU Reading Room. Demon Rum was a major concern among all Christians of that day. However not everything was as grim. The Ogden Academy flourished, with the student body reaching one hundred ten by January, 1886. A tuition fee was charged but children whose parents were unable to pay were admitted free. Church services continued to be held in the Ogden Academy. Isabelle Martindale recalled there was no kitchen where food could be prepared. She reported that "food brought in was served on covered school desks since these were the only tables available." She remembered that "Oil lamps gave most of the light and a big dinner bell called the company to their places." Music and singing were part of the life of the church. A small organ and a melodian, belonging to Miss Ludden, enlivened festive occasions and deepened the spiritual mood of church services. As one looks back at this time, one gets the impression of a warm, deeply personal relationship among members of the church during Pastor Thayer's ministry. Pastor Thayer left Ogden in January, 1886, having accepted a call from the Park Avenue Church in Denver, Colorado. For almost a year the Rev. D.L. Leonard, Superintendent of Home Missions in Utah, served as acting minister. A Ladies Sewing Society was organized, dedicating itself to raising money for the church. Return to Introduction & Chapter List CHAPTER 4 In December, 1886, the Rev. Amos J. Bailey, arrived from Chicago to serve the Ogden Congregational Church. Under his leadership on August 3,1887, the church incorporated under the laws of the Territory of Utah, becoming known as the First Congregational Church and Society of Ogden. The objects of the church were stated in the Articles of Incorporation as being:
The Articles of Incorporation were signed by the following twenty three persons, seventeen of whom were women: '
Directors of the church were elected from the above list. They were H.W. Ring, Rev. A.J. Bailey, C.R. Hank, Mrs. Alpharaeta Buckmiller, and Miss V. W. Ludden In an accompanying Constitution a statement of faith was outlined:
The Constitution made it quite clear that the local church was sovereign and that all decisions were to be determined by a majority vote of the membership. While it was "amenable to no ecclesiastical body" it did accept the "obligations of mutual council, comity, and cooperation involved in the fellowship of Congregational Christian churches," and pledged "to share their common aims and work." In assessing the words of the Articles of Incorporation and the Constitution of l887, one must step beyond the non-inclusive language required by today's world. In particular one should be impressed by the expression establishing the local church as sovereign, which is a continuing tradition. Further, one should note the comment that members of the church should "walk in the ways of the Lord, made known or to be made known to us (underlining mine)." This early comment parallels the present assertion that God is still speaking to us. Under the leadership of the Rev. Bailey the membership of the church grew, reaching thirty. Sunday school attendance averaged fifty to sixty, reaching one hundred on occasion. The Ogden Academy also was growing in number. Return to Introduction & Chapter List CHAPTER 5 It was determined that larger and better facilities were needed for both the church and the school. Thus in 1887 a campaign was begun to raise money for each institution. Mrs. Lydia Bailey, wife of the pastor, embarked upon a five month tour of Congregational churches in the east soliciting funds. She visited churches in twelve different states and raised $2,500 for the church and $9,000 for the Ogden Academy. While Mrs. Bailey was away Mrs. Harriet S. Emerson went about locally obtaining pledges, raising enough to purchase the land on which to build the church. The foundations of the church were laid on Sept. 27, 1887. The church building and lot, located at 2464 Adams Avenue, cost $7,000. It was red brick with a floor plan in the form of a Greek cross. A church in Rutland, Vermont, sent large lamps which hung from the ceiling by chains. The communion table was given by a Sunday school in Wallingford, Vermont. The pulpit was sent from a church in Michigan, and a set of chairs for the pulpit were presented by a church in La Cross, Wisconsin. When funds ran short before the southeast corner tower could be completed Mrs. Emerson solicited friends near and far and obtained enough to complete the structure. Gifts to the church continued to flow in. A prominent example was a silver challis used for communion wine. It was provided by the Infant Class of the Second Congregational Church in Stonington, Connecticut, and was engraved with the date June 11, 1894. Although that church no long exists the kindness of its children is still memorialized by the continuing use of its gift by the current membership of the Ogden church. While the First Congregational Church was being built there was similar activity next door at the Ogden Academy. At the close of school in June, 1887, the two room school house was torn down to make room for a larger structure on the same site. The new building was designed by Messrs. Patton and Fisher, architects from Chicago. The contract for erection of the building was awarded to Mr. Daniel F. McDevitt, of Butte, Montana. He had offered a low bid of$14,225 and had agreed to finish the building by the first of December. At the same time the New West Commission and the church bought two thirds of an acre adjoining the church. To that site they moved an old two story house from the back of the school lot. This building was used temporarily as a school in the fall ofl887. Afterward it was converted into a boarding house for students from out of town. Ruth Bullock remembered the opening of school in Sept., 1887, in this old building:
When finished the new building was a two story red brick edifice, measuring 70 x76 feet with a projection on one side of 18x27 feet. There were three classrooms, 25x33 feet on the first floor and a primary room 25x37 feet. The second story contained a hall for assemblies, 48x67 feet. There was a side room 25 feet square which could be closed off from the assembly hall by folding doors. When used together the assembly hall and the side room could hold 640 persons. There also was a second story room 25x43 feet for reading or recitation purposes. The basement contained a large laboratory, and rooms for other purposes, one of which became a museum. Hot air furnaces heated the building. In describing the school rooms the New West Gleaner noted that they
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