The heritage of First Congregational Church of Tallmadge

When we study the history of our church, we trace a line that runs through churches in Connecticut, early Puritan Congregationalists in Boston, and the Pilgrims who established a community at Plymouth. All of our roots trace back to the Protestant Reformation in Europe, and to one eminent theologian of France known to us as John Calvin. If you were to ask the Pilgrims, the Puritans, or the founders of Tallmadge to identify their religion, they would tell you that they were Calvinists.

This year of our congregation’s bicentennial is also the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth, and his legacy is in great need of restoring. It is unfortunate that Calvin, like the Puritans, has come to be viewed as overly strict, rigid, and harsh. With their plain churches, sparse liturgies, two hour sermons, and somber dress, our Calvinist ancestors may seem to us as if they were no fun. But these stereotypes are the result of a failure of historical imagination.

John Calvin and his spiritual descendants did not set out to be somber, but to be serious about celebrating the glory of God. There is a difference between being somber and being solemn. When they held themselves to high standards of action, it was in celebration of their freedom to bring order to their lives. In a disordered and chaotic world, having order was what they longed for. It was appealing to them to be able to structure their lives in a way that overcame the pitfalls of society, and left behind the status markers of wealth and privilege to live in a society of greater equality.

The Calvinists were serious and industrious – good workers – because they found dignity in their work, and their productivity allowed them the means to be generous toward their neighbors, strangers, and the poor. It was their delight to be of service to one another. It was also their delight to be educated, and to provide it to others. The idea of public school being available to everyone came from the Calvinists. The long sermons spoke to their hunger to learn, an activity formerly kept away from the middle and working classes.

If any of these attributes seem strange to modern America, it is not to the discredit of Calvinists. Perhaps it is easier for us to decide that they are just stuffy, holier-than-thou prigs than it is to celebrate their gifts, and allow their values to question the times in which we live.