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For more information on the Library, call  

(617) 523-0470, 

or e-mail info@14beacon.org

                     

  

 

The Congregational Library and Archives was welcomed with open arms to the Annual Meeting and Conference of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches held in Omaha, Nebraska. Hosted by the Iowa-Nebraska Association, the event started June 28 and stretched over the next three days bringing delegates from as far away as India and Samoa and as close as Iowa, just on the opposite bank of the Missouri.

 

Reunion

A mix of connection and excitement added to the feel of a family reunion, a theme that wove through the speeches and workshops. Our digital archivist, Sari Mauro, knows this better than anyone. Now an accomplished professional, Sari had tagged along with her mother, Reverend Betsey Mauro (former ACA Board member and Dean of Center for Congregational Leadership at Olivet College in Michigan) to annual meetings since the age of six. There was, no shortage of hugs for Sari at this reunion!

 

Displays

The good work of so many organizations was displayed in the exhibit hall giving delegates an opportunity to investigate the many missions, colleges and initiatives that support the NACCC. Colorful boards lined up along the balcony affirmed the NACCC's depth of purpose and the breadth of outreach. The books and indigenous craft pieces were sold in the meeting hall where people snapped photos of the beautifully hand sewn conference banners that lined the stage. The delegates conducted important business and worshipped together in an atmosphere of hope and renewal.

  

Speeches and Workshops

Honored as this year's Congregational Lecturer, the Library's Executive Director, Peggy Bendroth kicked off the conference by challenging people to think about what it meant to be a Congregationalist in the past and remains true today. Her presentation laced with anecdotal humor was extremely well received and inspired many conversations over the course of the next days. Peggy also spoke to packed workshops about the intentionality of history, the topic of her newest book, The Spiritual Practice of Remembering. Both workshops were sponsored by The Washington Gladden Society whose namesake is best remembered as one of the founding fathers of the Social Gospel Movement which has been described as the most distinctive American contribution to world Christianity.  Sari Mauro brought church archivists and historians together in a workshop about Church Records Stewardship. She presented real-world methods for managing church records and responded to a myriad of questions, both specific and general regarding storage locations, biological threats and prioritized best practices.

 

Thank you 

Attending the conference gave Peggy, Sari and Director of Development, Cary Hewitt, a chance to thank supporters of the Congregational Library and Archives including Beth Wilkins, Dan Evans and Mimi Biedron. Board members Norm Erlendson, along with his wife Barbara, and Jim Hopkins extended our circle of friends within the NA community. We are very grateful to former Board members Dewey Gierke and Betsey Mauro for continuing their involvement and allegiance.  

  

                  

The Washington Gladden Society has sponsored a seminar at the Annual Meeting of the NACCC for the past thirty years. The Society was founded by a group of clergy and laity who were interested in preserving and applying the insights of the Social Gospel Movement to the social, ethical and theological questions of our own times. Washington Gladden (1836-1918) was a nationally known Congregational pastor, social activist and author of 40 books. He was also an early champion of the idea that the Christian gospel as an agent of change has a social as well as an individual dimension. The immediate social origins of the Social Gospel lie in the earlier Temperance and Abolitionist movements, but its biblical roots are located in the Hebrew prophets and the teachings of Jesus, especially the Sermon on the Mount. If the Movement had a motto it was "The Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Mankind". If it had an over arching goal it was the Christianization of American society and the evangelization of the world.

 

Gladden is best remembered as being "the father of the Social Gospel" because he wrote extensively on the burgeoning social problems of the Gilded Age during which American society rapidly became urbanized and industrialized. In an era of labor unrest and appalling urban squalor he boldly addressed controversial topics such as worker's rights, race relations, monopolistic business practices, and the corrupting influence of money on local and national politics, to name just a few.

 

The Social Gospel Movement flourished during the Progressive Era when religious and secular activists shared many concerns and achieved significant social and political reforms. It was a remarkable period which saw the ratification of the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th Amendments to the Constitution. Unfortunately, the horrors of the World Wars and the Great Depression killed the optimism that energized the Movement but its ideals live on in those of us who continue to believe in social salvation.