In the late 1840s, a group of villagers of the Black Rock section of Fairfield, Connecticut, (later to become a part of the city of Bridgeport) parishioners of the First Church of Christ in Fairfield, Connecticut, decided that they would build a new meeting house in Black Rock, rather than continue the challenging three-mile weekly trip across the creek and marshland that separated the two sections of the town. A new church was established, and its meeting house was dedicated in August 1849 at the corner of Ellsworth St. and Bartram Ave.[2]
The original church building in Black Rock, with Woodruff Hall in the rear of the building.
William Jessup Jennings served as the church's first minister. The church grew modestly through the middle of 19th century under the leadership of ministers Rev. Marinus Willett, Abram D. Baldwin, Rev. Frederick W. Williams, and Rev. Howard W. Pope. In 1881, the Rev. Henry Collins Woodruff accepted the pastorate of the church and served for 41 years, until his death in 1922. During Woodruff's tenure, a chapel was built, and upon his death, a memorial hall named for him was donated by his wife, Mary Bartram Woodruff.[2]
The church's next pastor was Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon MacDowell, who introduced a new evangelical direction for the church, encouraging Bible study groups and attendance at Bible conferences and camps. MacDowell served for 21 years. In 1945, the church severed ties to the formal Congregational denomination, making Black Rock a free and independent community of believers. During this time, the church was served briefly by Reverend Leonard S. Pitcher, Dr. Howard Z. Cleveland, and Interim Pastor Reverend Harry L. Cox, who was the first missionary that the church had supported. It was also during this time the church's steeple was blown off, crashing into the roof during a strong hurricane.[2]
Dr. Stanley R. Allaby
In 1956, Dr. Stanley R. Allaby became pastor and began a 41-year tenure, under which the church experienced extensive growth. The church's missions program was developed further, supporting a number of missionaries financially and prayerfully with great concern. The missions program was highlighted each year with its annual Missions Conference, beginning in 1958 and continuing to this day.[2]
It was during this time the church's attendance began to increase. As the church grew in number under the leadership of Pastor Allaby, the original church building became increasingly inadequate in size. Multiple plans for building a new church facility in Black Rock were formulated and later rejected. The church then turned to the town of Fairfield, where a six-acre piece of property was purchased adjacent to Black Rock Turnpike. The church broke ground for a new facility in 1967, and the building was dedicated the following year. The facility was later expanded and renovated as the church continued to grow into the 1980s and 90s. Under Pastor Allaby, the church's membership grew to over 800 people.[2]
The second church facility on Black Rock Turnpike.
Dr. Stephen A. Treash
Dr. Stephen A. Treash, Associate Pastor under Pastor Allaby, accepted the senior pastorate in 1997, and is the church's current pastor. Under Pastor Treash's leadership, the church expanded the number of services to reach out to those in the community who may not normally be drawn to a traditional church, particularly young adults. The church retains a traditional worship service, but also offers services of contemporary worship and a special "next generation" format service called "Sanctuary."
In the early 21st century, the church again found itself having outgrown its existing church facility. The church elders instituted the "Ministry Expansion Program," which sought a number of solutions to the problem. Additional services were again added, and the church was given the facilities of the Long Ridge Congregational Church in Stamford, Connecticut, where a temporary satellite campus was established in 2007. The expansion team formulated extensive plans to replace the current facility on the same site in Fairfield, which were denied upon submission by the town of Fairfield's Conservation Commission due to concerns over environmental impact. After the denial, new plans were drawn up with a reduced size building which would be situated exactly where the existing church is located in order to minimize environmental impact. The church received final approvals for these new plans in 2011 and broke ground in October 2012. After a 20-month construction period, the church dedicated its third building on June 15, 2014. After opening, the new facility became host to widely known Christian recording artists such as Lincoln Brewster, Jeremy Camp, Rend Collective, Kutless, Bethel Music, Stephen Curtis Chapman and Seattle-based pastor, Judah Smith. In 2016, the church's members voted to change the church's public name to, "Black Rock Church," deleting the word, "Congregational," to avoid any perceptions of association with other local Congregational churches. The full, historical name will be retained officially in the church's constitution and bylaws.
Related Research Articles
Fairfield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders the city of Bridgeport and towns of Trumbull, Easton, Weston, and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. As of 2020, the town had a population of 61,512. The town is part of the Greater Bridgeport Planning Region.
The Diocese of Bridgeport is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church located in the southwestern part of the state of Connecticut in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Hartford.
Greenfield Hill is an affluent historic neighborhood in Fairfield, Connecticut roughly bounded by Easton to the North, southern Burr Street/northern Black Rock Turnpike to the East, and Southport and Westport to the South and West respectively. The core of the neighborhood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) as the Greenfield Hill Historic District.
Black Rock is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut. It borders Fairfield and the Ash Creek tidal estuary on the west, the West Side/West End of Bridgeport on the north and east, and Black Rock Harbor and Long Island Sound on the south. Black Rock comprises census tracts 701 and 702 and part of census tract 703. It includes two historic districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Residences comprise 86% of properties in Black Rock, 10% are commercial, and 4% are industrial or other property classes.
The Black Rock Historic District is a predominantly residential historic district in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport, Connecticut. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. At that time it included 109 contributing buildings. The historic district surrounds at the upper reaches of Black Rock Harbor.
Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) church in New York City. The church, on Fifth Avenue at 7 West 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan, has approximately 2,200 members and is one of the larger PCUSA congregations. The church, founded in 1808 as the Cedar Street Presbyterian Church, has been at this site since 1875.
Blackleach Burritt was a preacher during the American Revolutionary War. During the war, he was incarcerated in a sugar house prison.
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Island Sound, it is a port city 60 miles (97 km) from Manhattan and 40 miles (64 km) from The Bronx. It borders the towns of Trumbull to the north, Fairfield to the west, and Stratford to the east. Bridgeport and other towns in Fairfield County make up the Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, as well as the Bridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk–Danbury metropolitan statistical area, the second largest metropolitan area in Connecticut. The Bridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk–Danbury metropolis forms part of the New York metropolitan area.
The Unity Burial Ground is a small graveyard located on the southeast end of White Plain in the Nichols section of Trumbull, Connecticut. It is located a few rods north of the site of the first meeting house that was built in the parish of Unity, off of White Plains Road. The cemetery was laid out in 1730 and the first burial was that of 7 year old Samuel Bennitt on June 21, 1731. There are over 110 gravestones, 90 unmarked field stones and 241 known grave sites, and most of the original stones face east. This is unusual, as it runs contrary to the common practice of placing stones so that they face the road. The latest known burial was for Charles E Booth Jr. on August 17, 1935.
St. Paul Lutheran Church is located in central, Davenport, Iowa, United States. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The church's original property, which subsequently housed other Protestant congregations, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, but has since been torn down. The present complex was built in 1952 and contains two buildings that are contributing properties in the Vander Veer Park Historic District. The present church building was completed in 2007.
St. Mary Parish is a Roman Catholic church in Bridgeport, Connecticut, part of the Diocese of Bridgeport.
St. Catherine of Siena is a Roman Catholic parish in Trumbull, Connecticut, part of the Diocese of Bridgeport.
Our Lady of the Assumption Church is a Roman Catholic church in Westport, Connecticut, part of the Diocese of Bridgeport.
St. Peter is a Roman Catholic church in Danbury, Connecticut, part of the Diocese of Bridgeport. St. Peter's was the first Catholic church built in northern Fairfield County. It is the third oldest parish, and the fifth oldest Roman Catholic Church in the Diocese of Bridgeport. St. Peter's was originally a predominantly Irish congregation. Danbury's Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade steps off in front of St. Peter's. In more recent time, the parish has a significant number of parishioners of Latino and Brazilian heritage.
St. Thomas Aquinas is a Roman Catholic church in Fairfield, Connecticut, in the Diocese of Bridgeport. The present Colonial-style church was designed by Polak and Sullivan of New Haven, CT.
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church is a church in Morristown, New Jersey, USA.
Bay Ridge United Church (BRUC) was located on Bay Ridge Parkway (636) in the Bay Ridge Section of Brooklyn, New York. The congregation was a blend of two churches from two similar but different denominations and was a member of both the Reformed Church in America and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Nathaniel Hewit was an American clergyman.
Rev. Charles Manthorpe was a Congregationalist minister remembered for his 36-year pastorate in Glenelg, South Australia.
Nathaniel Bartlett, pastor of the Congregational Church of Redding, Connecticut, during the period 1753–1810, was one of the numerous Colonial American clergymen who played an active role during the American Revolution. He was among many such American patriots living in British Colonial America on the eve of the Revolutionary War, who found themselves in circumstances which compelled them to make a personal contribution to the unfolding drama of one of history's most momentous events.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
