Litchfield enquirer., 1868-01-30
Notes from Washington on-Churoh Re

cords. No. l.
 The church in Judea was organized in l742, with Reuben Judd as Pastor. There are no records of the church extant. until the ordaining of Daniel Brinsmade, Sept. l1th, l74e Mir. B. kept a record, which begins thus: "The following names are of the persons that were in full commun- ion Tn ye Church of Christ in Judea, when Mir. Daniel Brinsmade was ordained there. The names under MI. are ye Males, and under Fm. are ye Females. Of the fifty names that follow, only seven remain to- day ln the township, viz Calhoun, Weeks, Baker. Titus, Hurlburt, Smith and Averil. Of the Moselys, Guthries, Rogers, Bells, Hurds, Ingrahams, Pitchers, Broughtons, Roots, and Curtises, none remain. The next Record is as follows:
 ''Att a Church Meeting held in Judea, Dec. 14th, 1749, then votd to sing Watts his Hymns at ye Sacrament of ye Lords Supper. Nemine contradicente. The year '50 has no record.
 "Att a Church Meeting in Judea lawful ly warned and held on May ye 18th, 1751: Then Voted, vt if any member Of ye Church of Christ in Judea shall tolle- rate troliicking in his own house, or shall assist to carry on 8 frollick ill any place, ye same person Or persons shall be deemed offender by this Church, and shall be subject to be dealt with by this Church as offenders in 2 Gospel way Nemine contradicente'
 1t seems that '' frolIic!sing" was too gen eral term, and did not give satisfaction, and something more definite was needed.
 " Att Church Meeting held in Judea on Aug 11th, 1751. In order to review ye above sd vote, and by reason of ye present cituation of affairs in Judea, the Pastor of ye Church of K in Judea, thought proper to propose ye following method to the Church in order to suppress vice. which method ye Church agreed to, And l will here repeat the same: 'The Pastor pro- posed the following things to the Church. 1st. Whether they are not Of ye mind that to act as shall now point out is contrary to Scripture and offensive in ye sight of God. The ways of acting are these. 1st. For men especially in their own Societies, to spend their time at ye tavern in drink ing, laughing, testing, joking, bantering; ventnrlng Of wagers, running out against one another, speaking evil of others, gum ing and ye like; and for persons when to- gether, to spend their time in singing and dancing and things of ye like nature. Whether these things are not contrary to Scripture. Thirteen texts are here quo ted. IL was voted 'yt the actions above described were wrong" At the same meet ing Confession and Covenant was offered by Mr. B. and accepted. This Confession IS quite interesting when compared with similar instruments of the present day.
 Do you believe ye Scriptures both of ye Old and New Testament, to be ye word of God aud ye rule of faith and manners?
 Do you judge ye Catechism of ye As sembly of Divines, vt is in common use among us, as far as you fire acquain ted with, and understand it, as agreeable to ye word of God?"
 Then follows the Episcopal Creed, with this exception "You believe vt he, (Christ,) descended into the state of ye dead"
 The Covenant embraces fifty closely written lines, and enters into every minute and particular detail of life. It was not surprising that some found the Covenant hard to keep, and in August 9th, 1752, Q written information is brought against Samuel Pitcher |" for violation of ye fifth commandment, and also as having said vt he looked upon ye Pastor of this Church as no minister of Christ, and vt this Church was no Church of Christ" Four meetings were held on the subject. and Samuel Pitcher was voted, nem. con- s'guilty of a scandalOus breach of the fifth commandment, by contemptuous car riage towards your Rev. Pastor, and op- posing him in the execution of his office as public Reprover.' The only evidence that appears is 9 certificate signed John Beach {" declaring Samuel Pitcher pro- fessed Episcopalisn, He was suspended from membership.
 On Dec 9th, 1752, they met at the meet ing-house to choose a deacon, and the re- cord proceeds, ''becanse ye votes were so scattering, ye meeting so lean, ye season so tedious, and ye time so short, ye meeting was adjourned to ye middle of ye after noon on Wednesday of next week, ye 18th of this inst, and to ye House of Mir. Brins- made''
 Look at that endurance, Se dweIlers in hot air churches, of band of men on te- dious December day, in a cold building, balloting time after time for=a deacon, each so jealous of his independent right of choice, that no election is made! and estimate if you can, the sterling virtues from which we derive our birthright. There