| 2009 First Congregational Church of Fall River All Rights Reserved |
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Weldon grew up in the southwest, in Oklahoma and
Texas, but has lived in the northeast since the 1970s. He
holds a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological
Seminary in New York City, and a Ph.D. in the field of
religion from Columbia University. His specialization
was in American religious traditions, especially the
history and thought of Congregationalism.
He was most recently Interim Pastor of East Weymouth
Congregational Church and Interim Senior Minister of the
Federated Church of Hyannis, and has held pastorates
in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He is married to the
Reverend Tricia Hazeltine, also an ordained United
Church of Christ minister. They have two children ages
16 and 14.
Texas, but has lived in the northeast since the 1970s. He
holds a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological
Seminary in New York City, and a Ph.D. in the field of
religion from Columbia University. His specialization
was in American religious traditions, especially the
history and thought of Congregationalism.
He was most recently Interim Pastor of East Weymouth
Congregational Church and Interim Senior Minister of the
Federated Church of Hyannis, and has held pastorates
in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He is married to the
Reverend Tricia Hazeltine, also an ordained United
Church of Christ minister. They have two children ages
16 and 14.
 |
“[Thanksgiving Day was] kept as a day of solemn thanksgiving that the
Lord was pleased to spare so much of the fruits of the earth; that we had
not want, but were able to supply other countries; and likewise the
continuance of our health and present peace.”
The Diary of John Hull, November 8, 1665
Lord was pleased to spare so much of the fruits of the earth; that we had
not want, but were able to supply other countries; and likewise the
continuance of our health and present peace.”
The Diary of John Hull, November 8, 1665
 |
But it is appropriate that we remember with thankfulness not only God, but also those first celebrants of what we call Thanksgiving,
for we owe to them the creation of the Congregational faith tradition we practice today. Over time, we have changed that tradition
dramatically. But we should remember that we inherited from them the basic form of our worship services, for example, and the stress
we lay upon congregational singing, upon the preaching of the Word, and upon the centrality of the Scriptures to all of Christian life.
We owe to them our congregational, democratic, way of organizing and governing a church, and our concept of a “church covenant,”
that binds us to each other and to God.
We owe to those early Congregationalists our respect for the freedom of the individual conscience. The very earliest of our ancestors
did not respect that freedom, but by the third generation, they became some of the most ardent defenders of freedom of conscience
and continued in that commitment throughout American history.
We owe to them our bedrock belief that science can never be the enemy of faith, that the ways of science are the ways by which we
may gradually discover the ways and wonders of God.
But perhaps the greatest of their gifts to us is the one expressed in this beautiful, uniquely American holiday. Those early
Congregationalists practiced a constant and reverent thankfulness to God, one that arose from a constantly cultivated mindfulness of
God’s blessings upon them. So it is in the spirit of those early Congregationalists that I bid you a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving,
full of the blessedness that comes of knowing God, and seeing all that God has done for us.
In Christ,
Weldon
for we owe to them the creation of the Congregational faith tradition we practice today. Over time, we have changed that tradition
dramatically. But we should remember that we inherited from them the basic form of our worship services, for example, and the stress
we lay upon congregational singing, upon the preaching of the Word, and upon the centrality of the Scriptures to all of Christian life.
We owe to them our congregational, democratic, way of organizing and governing a church, and our concept of a “church covenant,”
that binds us to each other and to God.
We owe to those early Congregationalists our respect for the freedom of the individual conscience. The very earliest of our ancestors
did not respect that freedom, but by the third generation, they became some of the most ardent defenders of freedom of conscience
and continued in that commitment throughout American history.
We owe to them our bedrock belief that science can never be the enemy of faith, that the ways of science are the ways by which we
may gradually discover the ways and wonders of God.
But perhaps the greatest of their gifts to us is the one expressed in this beautiful, uniquely American holiday. Those early
Congregationalists practiced a constant and reverent thankfulness to God, one that arose from a constantly cultivated mindfulness of
God’s blessings upon them. So it is in the spirit of those early Congregationalists that I bid you a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving,
full of the blessedness that comes of knowing God, and seeing all that God has done for us.
In Christ,
Weldon
We owe to John Hull, treasurer of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, our access to a firsthand
account of the first “thanks giving” days of Puritan (Congregational) New England. The purpose of that day
was to express the gratitude of the colonists to God for food, health, and peace.
account of the first “thanks giving” days of Puritan (Congregational) New England. The purpose of that day
was to express the gratitude of the colonists to God for food, health, and peace.
