The Church of the Carpenter was a mission of the Episcopal Church associated with the

Society of Christian Socialists The Society of Christian Socialists (SCS), founded in Boston in 1889, was the first self-proclaimed Christian socialist organization in the United States. The primary figure in the creation of the SCS was William Dwight Porter Bliss, an Episcopal ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Its congregation was known as the Brotherhood of the Carpenter. Founded in 1890 by the Reverend

William Dwight Porter Bliss William Dwight Porter Bliss (1856–1926) was an American Anglicanism, Episcopal priest and one of the most famous and influential Christian socialism, Christian socialists at the turn of 20th century. As a devout churchman, organizer, public speak ...

, the church sought to promote the cause of economic justice and influenced many of its members to take an active interest in the

labor movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

. Notable members included educator and activist

Vida Dutton Scudder Julia Vida Dutton Scudder (1861–1954) was an American educator, writer, and welfare activist in the social gospel movement. Early life She was born in Madurai, India, on December 15, 1861, the only child of David Coit Scudder (of the Scudder f ...

, sculptor Anne Whitney, novelist

William Dean Howells William Dean Howells (; March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of ''The Atlantic Monthly'', ...

, poet

Robert Treat Paine Jr. Robert Treat Paine Jr. (December 9, 1773 – November 13, 1811) was an American poetry, American poet and editor. He was the second son of Robert Treat Paine, signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, Declaration of Independence. Bo ...

, city planner

Mary Kingsbury Simkhovitch Mary Kingsbury Simkhovitch (September 8, 1867 – November 15, 1951) was an American city planner and social worker. Biography She was born in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts to Laura Davis Holmes (1839-1932) and Isaac Franklin Kingsbury (1841-1 ...

, and photographer Francis Watts Lee.

History

On Sunday, April 13, 1890, the Reverend

held the first service of the Church of the Carpenter in Brunswick Hall, 241 Tremont Street, Boston. Bliss explained his intent to the audience that crowded the hall:

We are not here to commence a revolution. We are here simply, quietly, humbly to consider the application to social problems of the old gospel of the carpenter who lived in Nazareth... Change is everywhere. Christendom today is heaving with a divine unrest, as she has not moved since the days that preceded the Protestant reformation.
Tolstoi Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
in Russia, Stuart Headlam in London, Dr. McGlynn in New York city, voices in the Greek, the Anglican, the Roman Catholic communion, all speak of change, and they all move in one direction, the application of Christianity to social life... The church of the carpenter is the church of the Son of Man. It is the church of humanity. It means sacrifice, the sacrifice of the individual, the sacrifice of self for the good of all. This is Christian socialism....we must work through the State and better the conditions of men as well as work through individuals.

The Church of the Carpenter was not a new denomination or sect, but a mission of the Episcopal Church under Bishop Phillips Brooks. It was incorporated as a parish of the Diocese of Boston, with Bliss as rector, on June 5, 1892. The church followed the Episcopal liturgy, but welcomed people "of any church or of no church". In 1892 the church was located in the

Wendell Phillips Wendell Phillips (November 29, 1811 – February 2, 1884) was an American abolitionist, advocate for Native Americans, orator, and attorney. According to George Lewis Ruffin, a Black attorney, Phillips was seen by many Blacks as "the one whi ...

Hall at 812 Washington Street; in 1893 it moved to 3 Boylston Place. Notable members included educator and activist

, sculptor Anne Whitney, novelist

, poet

Robert Treat Paine, Jr. Robert Treat Paine Jr. (December 9, 1773 – November 13, 1811) was an American poet and editor. He was the second son of Robert Treat Paine, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Born Thomas Paine (after his paternal grandfather), he chan ...

, city planner

, and photographer Francis Watts Lee. The socialist writer Laurence Gronlund spoke at the church and contributed to ''The Dawn'', a Christian Socialist journal edited by Bliss. Robertson James, the younger brother of

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

, attended the church and wrote an article for ''The Dawn'' about his father's socialist leanings. Other notable visitors included the Reverend

R. Heber Newton Richard Heber Newton (October 31, 1840 – December 19, 1914) was a prominent American Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopalian priest and writer. Biography R. Heber Newton was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 31, 1840. ...

, economist Richard T. Ely, and authors Edward Everett Hale, Edward Bellamy, and Hamlin Garland.Kirk (1959), pp. 188, 199-200, 205. Bliss served as rector of the parish from 1890 to 1894 before embarking on a career as a traveling lecturer for the Christian Socialist Union. The church disbanded in 1896.

Influence

In her memoir, Simkhovitch cites the church as an important influence on her while she was still in college. At the time, there was a bookshop on the ground floor, and a reading room and chapel on the second floor. Its senior and junior wardens were prominent union organizers. On Sundays, the Brotherhood held "supper meetings" in the basement, where they discussed social problems of the day. The church influenced many young people to take an interest in the

, including the socialist priest

Percy Stickney Grant Percy Stickney Grant (1860–1927) was an American Episcopal priest. Grant was born in Boston and was educated at Harvard University ( AB, 1883; AM, 1886) and at the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts ( BD, 1886). He was a c ...

, who was a frequent visitor. Bliss's ministry inspired Herbert N. Casson to found the Labor Church in

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

, in 1894. Towards the end of his life, Bliss characterized himself as a middle-class reformer who attracted "more leaders than led", and recalled "many mistakes and short-comings" in his organization of the Church of the Carpenter. "I would hesitate long before advising a young clergyman to start its counterpart today. Perhaps it may teach what not to do. But it was a beginning, and it's necessary to begin."

History

Influence

References

Further reading