February 7, 2024 - Rev. Lemuel Haynes a faith ancestor to know.
“Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” John 17: 11
“That they may all be one” – motto of the United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ was formed around recognizing Jesus Christ as the sole head of the church and our common connection. The UCC places much emphasis on the ALL part of unity. We like to make room for others. Our history holds to this belief. We have within our faith ancestors many of the first people to be recognized for their calling and their ministry in Christ’s name. Including the first black minister, Lemuel Haynes, ordained in 1785. Yep, that date is correct, long before our church was even an idea, he was ordained into the Congregational Church.
His story is part of our UCC history and part of American History as he was the first African American to be ordained by a denomination in our country. Here’s some background on Rev. Haynes to help us know him better.
“Lemuel Haynes, (1753-1833), was an illegitimate child in Puritan New England. His mother was a white servant girl and his father was an African slave. A few months after his birth in West Hartford, CT his mother abandoned him, and he spent his early years as an indentured servant.
“After his indenture expired, during the Revolutionary War Haynes served as a ”minuteman.” Later he studied with clergy to become a minister and was ordained in 1785. For two years, Haynes served a Congregational church in Torrington, CT. Finally, in 1788, he moved his family to the wild frontier of Vermont where he became pastor at West Parish of Rutland. His church grew from 42 members to about 350 during his thirty-year ministry. He was a black pastor in a white church and Vermont was a society of independent settlers.
Haynes preached and wrote about the slavery issue repeatedly. When white Christians wanted to liberate slaves and send them back to Africa (the Colonization movement), Haynes argued that the revolutionary war promised “liberty” for all Americans. He wrote extensively about how combining “Republican ideas” and “Calvinistic theology” could end slavery and cultivate interracial accord. By blending new American political convictions and longstanding Christian theological ideas, Haynes insisted that freeing slaves would do more than simply liberate them. Rather, ending slavery would provide happiness and security for all citizens throughout the new nation. Haynes never faltered in his efforts to convince people of the “equality of all [humanity] before God.”[1]
Lemuel Haynes served our country and served the Church. He was and continues to be an inspiration for people of faith. Jesus’ love and welcome has no limits. We continue to heed Christ’s invitation as we continue to live and profess “equality of all humanity before God” – indeed may we all be One in Christ.
Faithfully Yours,
Rev. Wendy