The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-08-19

sermons, the manuscripts of which re' main to the present day, some of them dated as early as 1793 So we'll was the church satisfied with his ministra-
 tions that they extended to him call to be their pastor, which, after some delay, perhaps to adjust the terms satisfactorily, was accepted, and he was ordained on the 10th of october, 1797
 The offer at first made by the society in the way of salary was sixty pounds lawful money annually, but this was changed to the sum mentioned in the obligation" drawn up and signed by
 the society's committee on the day of his ordination, which runs as follows:
 These may certify to all whom it does or may concern that whereas the Church and Society of East Plain in the town of Hamden, have invited MT. Abraham Allling of said Hamden to settle with them in the work of the gospel ministry, and for his present encouragement and future support have mutually agreed and unanimous ly voted that they will give the sum, which four pence half-penny on the pound on the list of their polls and rateable estate will annually raise, for his annual salary so long as he shall continue their minister, and he having heard and accepted of their invitation and proposal etc., etc. MT. Alling through all his ministry continued to reside upon and manage his farm. It is said that Thursday was the day
 which he always reserved for the a a tiOro Of hi
 ed as pastor for twenty-five years, and
 was dismissed in 1922 at his own re- quest. A troublesome case o* disci- pline is said to have arisen about this time which caused serious division of
 the church. During MT. filings pas torate seventy-one were added to the church by profession and ten by letter,
 eighty-one ia all He is said to have
 been distinguished for his acceptable
 manner of officiating at funerals. His
 register shows that he solemnized 324
 marriages. He never had a carriage,
 but was in the habit of riding to church
 and elsewhere on a. black horse. He
 did not even, have bicycle. He con-
 tinued to live here to the advanced age of eighty-three years, passing away in
 1887. During his pastorate occurred
 one event of considerable importance
 in the church history of Connecticut
 viz, the adoption of the new state con-
 stitution in 1878. Before that time the
 Congregational churches were the es-
 tablished order in the eye of the law
 and enjoyed special privileges secured
 to them by law Every taxpayer had
 to contribute to the support of some
 church, if to no other, then to the Con-
 gregational church of the society in
 which he lived. The new constitution
 left the matter entirely free.
 From 1922 to 1858, period of sixteen
 years, the church had no settled pastor.
 They were journeying through a will
 derness waiting for a Moses to lead
 them out. They were beset with great
 trials, dangers, weariness, discourage
 ments. They had divisions; they had
 a poor and unattractive meeting house.
 Sometimes they had a preacher and sometimes they did not. During that
 period 240 different preachers minister
 ed to them. The congregations
 dwindled so that in the last
 days of the old meeting house they thought they were doing well when they had forty or fifty pres
 ent There was time when they could
 pay only $2 a Sunday for preaching.
 But a few faithful brethren held on.
 They were blessed with good deacons.
 Deacons Eli Dickerman and Lyman
 Ford came into office during this period
 and were in their day towers of
 strength. There can be little doubt
 that they were the bulwarks that say
 ed the church from dissolution. Deacon
 Ford, who was son-in-laW of Pastor filling, seems to have followed some-
 what in his footsteps in taking a pas
 tors place. His bent for sermon mak- ing is evinced by the pile of manu- scripts which are preserved to this day,
 and which seem to have been used by him in various religious meetings. We learn that he was frequently called upon to officiate at funerals. While he
 never went to school Pastor Putnam wrote of him after his death, "He pos
 sessed a very superior mind, great
 knowledge of the Bible and remarka ble gifts for the utterance of divine truth"
 Right here we should remark a very important and interesting feature of this church, in which it naturally con- meets itself in our minds with the orig inal idea and practice of Congrega tion- al churches Up to this time it had chosen all it's officers including it's pastors, from it's own members. That would seem to have been the most natural way-to choose one of their own number who was best fitted by his gifts and attainments, to the office of pastor And it would seem to follow as natural that those who exercised the office of deacon should, in the ex- ercise of their spiritual gifts tend to develop in the direction of the pastor ! work, as did those early deacons of this church. Indeed, we find such a course of things in the acts of the Apostles. Stephen and Philip and the others were chosen as deacons, and then we soon find them preaching and developing in the line of the full work of the ministry. That would seem the natural and ideal course, and would be calculated to make a church inde- pendent and self-reliant. Was that not the secret of the tenacity with which this church held on to existence dur ing the most trying period of its his tory? It had been brought up to be complete in itself, to supply it's own | resources, to man its own offices and 4l..o.