Dighton Community Church
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| Dighton Community Church | |
|---|---|
| Pedo Baptist Congregational Society of Dighton | |
 | |
  Dighton Community Church | |
| 41°49′0.156″N 71°7′46.3578″W / 41.81671000°N 71.129543833°W | |
| Location | Dighton, Massachusetts |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Non-denominational |
| Previous denomination | Congregational, Unitarian |
| Website | http://dightoncommunitychurch.com |
| History | |
| Former name(s) | Dighton Unitarian Church, Church of the Lower Four Corners |
| Status | active |
| Founded | 1769 |
| Architecture | |
| Designated | 1770 |
| Style | Colonial |
| Years built | 1769-1798 |
| Groundbreaking | 1769 |
| Completed | 1770, 1798 |
| Specifications | |
| Bells | One Revere Bell |
| Clergy | |
| Minister | Pastor Dave |
Dighton Community Church is a non-denominational church in Dighton, Massachusetts. Formerly known as the Dighton Unitarian Church.[1][2] The congregation, formally and legally known as the Pedo-Baptist Congregational Society due to the practice of infant baptism,[2] was founded in 1769[3] and incorporated in 1798.[4] The building was begun around 1769 and "completed enough for use" in Spring 1770.[3] The building was finished in 1798.[3] A tower was added in 1827 to house a Revere Bell.[3]
Revere Bell
In 1767, the first meeting house in Dighton Village burned to the ground.[3] A new meeting house was built in an area called Buck Plain, but residents were unhappy with the location.[3]
In 1769, a group of well-off traders and businessmen formed the Pedo Baptist Congregational Society.[3] (The name "Pedo" referred to the practice of infant baptism).[3] This group selected a new building site in the village at Lower Four Corners,[3] at the eastern edge of a cornfield used by the Pokanoket tribe.[4] A tree in this field was used by Native Americans as a meeting place; King Philip (Metacomet) was said to have visited the tree many times.[3]
Construction on the church building was "completed sufficiently for use" by Spring 1770;[2][3] however, the church was yet unfinished, with no tower or steeple.[3] During the Revolutionary War, the unfinished church was used as a barracks for colonial soldiers, and sometimes to hold sheep.[2][3] Construction was finally finished on the main building in 1798.[4][3] At this time the building still lacked a bell tower.
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Ezra Stiles arrived in Dighton from Newport with a congregation which included William Ellery.[3] They lived together in the Whitmarsh house on Elm Street, just north of the church.[2] Ellery represented Rhode Island as a member of the Continental Congress, and he traveled by horse from Dighton to Philadelphia for meetings.[2] After the Declaration of Independence was approved on July 4, 1776, a copy was brought to Dighton.[2] On July 13, 1776, a copy of the Declaration was read in the church, most likely read by Ezra Stiles.[2]
Stiles became the first minister of the church in 1777.[3]
The Pedo Baptist (Child Baptizing) Congregational Society of Dighton was incorporated June 25, 1798.[4]
In 1870 the church received an English Georgian era organ which had been used in the Harvard College Chapel.[3] In 1949 a new organ was installed inside the case of the old organ.[3]
The name changed to Community Church in 1971.[3]
The bell tower features a Revere Bell.[5] It was cast at the Revere Foundry and purchased by Joseph Revere in 1821.[4] The bell bears the inscription "Revere Boston 1821", and is listed in the Revere Stockbook as "Bell Number 254."[2]
The bell was hauled from Canton to Dighton by two oxen in 1821, and hung in a small shed in the church yard.[3] A tower was built for the bell, where it was installed in 1827 and rung frequently.[2][3] The bell's yoke and wheel were restored in 2012–2013.[2]
Renovations
The church was renovated in 1830, when the pew layout was changed and the Elm Street door removed.[2] The church was modernized in 1861[4] and had a complete renovation in 1930.[2][4]
Various repairs and restorations were conducted in the 1980s, including repainting and a new roof.[3]
In 2002 the steeple was removed and transported to Vermont, where it was completely rebuilt, and re-installed in September of that year.[2]
Traditions
- The church has been known locally for its annual Day Lily Show, held every summer since 1960.[1] The Day Lily show was not held in 2016.[6]
- Every year since the town's 300th anniversary in 2012[2] (or possibly since 2011),[7] the Declaration of Independence has been read aloud as part of the town's July 4 commemorations.[2][7]
