Park Street Church is a historical church and is located on the Freedom Trail in Boston. It was established in 1809 in being an upholder of Trinitarian Orthodox practices as against the fast increasing Unitarian movements. The Church has always played a very significant role in the political and religious history of Boston.
What I saw upon visiting the remarkable structure of the Park Street Church in Boston would always stay in my memories as a unique and knowledgeable experience. The church is a landmark in Boston with its 217 feet steeple which was for a long period the tallest structure in Boston. I was informed that the steeple along with the different aspects of the architecture was inspired by the design of the St Paul’s Cathedral in London and was designed by the architect Christopher Wren. The architecture of Park Street Church is conventionally Puritan and has an ascetic decoration with a pulpit at the center to stress the significance of preaching.
The interior of the church initially had built-in box pews which were replaced by the row pews in 1880, which exist to this day. It is quite strange for a Puritan church to have a single stained glass window which was installed in 1904. It was surprising to note that in order to hide the flamboyance of the stained glass; it was covered with a plain glass window so as to prevent the colorful design from being visible from the street. As visitors, we were permitted to have a look around the church where volunteers were present to answer any questions that we had about the church. We were also shown a five-minute film that explained the rich history of the congregation. Several photographs were displayed along the hall that gives a glimpse of the historical events associated with the church, the most remarkable being the draping of the church in black after the assassination of President Lincoln.
Palk Street Church was built by 26 conservative Christians in 1809. At the time of its founding, the Articles of Faith and Government were written in being the mission of the church. Park Street Church is known to have been built in a very short time and was consecrated within a year of its completion. In the initial years Sunday services formed an important part of the church’s business and long sermons that lasted up to three hours were quite common, so much so that children and adults alike were rapped on the hand if they were found to be dozing. The Church exercised its humanitarian responsibility by appointing two people to specifically find children wasting their time so as to chastise them.
Over the years a large number of ministries were pioneered by park Street which also included the first prison ministry and longest operating radio program in the country. The Church has immense historical significance in that during the War of 1812, gunpowder was stocked up in its basement which made the site to be nick-named Brimstone Corner. It can also be understood from such instances the kind of sermons that had resounded from the pulpit of the church over the centuries. Park Street had joined the Old South Church in 1816 and established a social service organization by the name of City Mission Society to assist the poor in Boston.
The first abolitionist sermon of William Lloyd Garrison was preached from the platform of the Park Street Church in 1829 which annoyed several members of the assemblies who said that he should be lynched. It was on July 4, 1831 that the Church assumed the honor of having the patriotic hymn My Country ‘Tis of Thee sung from its precincts for the first time. The history of this church is equated only with that of the South Church. It was from the Park Street Church that the first missionaries departed for the Sandwich Islands. The church also became famous because of its strong oratory and according to William Comer (1911), the original pastor of the church would shower sulfur along the sidewalks on Sundays in order to draw the interest of passers-by.
Park Street Church continues to remain strong in maintaining its conservative Trinitarian mysticism and now has a brilliant and pulsating congregation that comprises mainly youngsters. The Church also arranges a fellowship meeting on a regular basis which is called Seekers. The meetings are held on Sunday afternoons whereby young adults interact in matters of theology. Other youth-oriented services are organized on Sunday evenings. The Palk Street Church is very well known for its international outreach and college programs. The Church is looking forward to celebrating two hundred years of its existence which has already been christened as “Remember – Rejoice – Rededicate”.
Even after 200 years the church continues to be engaged in social matters and in 2002 had assisted in the opening of a high school in Hyde Park in addressing the education requirements of minorities. Over 75% of students in the school are provided scholarships. The church also supports the cause of the homeless and is closely associated with the Boston Rescue Mission. The church conducts English classes for the benefit of immigrants and international students. Park Street Church is in essence an international congregation and has members belonging to over sixty nations.
References
Garth M Rosell, Boston’s Historic Park Street Church: The Story of an Evangelical Landmark, 2009, Kregel Publications.
William Comer, Landmarks in the Old Bay State, 1911, Web.