Glasite
Encyclopedia
The Glasites or Glassites were a Christian
sect
founded in about 1730 in Scotland
by John Glas
. Glas' faith, as part of the First Great Awakening
, was spread by his son-in-law Robert Sandeman
into England
and America
, where the members were called Sandemanians.
Glas dissented from the Westminster Confession only in his views as to the spiritual nature of the church
and the functions of the civil magistrate
. But Sandeman added a distinctive doctrine as to the nature of faith
which is thus stated on his tombstone:
In a series of letters to James Hervey
, the author of Theron and Aspasio, Sandeman maintained that justifying faith
is a simple assent to the divine testimony concerning Jesus
, differing in no way in its character from belief
in any ordinary testimony
.
of elder
s, pastor
s, or bishop
s, who were chosen according to what were believed to be the instructions of Paul
, without regard to previous education or present occupation, and who enjoy a perfect equality
in office. To have been married a second time disqualified for ordination
, or for continued tenure of the office of bishop.
In all the action of the church unanimity was considered to be necessary; if any member differed in opinion from the rest, he must either surrender his judgement to that of the church, or be shut out from its communion
. To join in prayer with anyone not a member of the denomination
was regarded as unlawful, and even to eat or drink with one who had been excommunicated was held to be wrong. The Lord's Supper
was observed weekly; and between forenoon and afternoon service every Sunday a love feast was held at which every member was required to be present. This took the form not of symbolic morsels of wine and bread, as in other communions, but a (relatively) substantial meal, a custom leading to the Glasites' nickname of 'Kail Kirk' for the Scotch broth
that was served at this setting. This custom may have arisen, in part, as a charitable response to the poverty of most members of this Church and also as a pragmatic response to the length of meetings (particularly the sermons) and the distances some members of the congregation had to travel in order to attend.
At Glasite services, any member who "possesses the gift of edifying the brethren", was allowed to speak. The practice of washing one another's feet was at one time observed; and it was for a long time customary for each brother and sister to receive new members, on admission, with a holy kiss
.
"Things strangled and blood" were rigorously abstained from. They disapprove of all lotteries and games of chance. The accumulation of wealth they held to be unscriptural and improper.
Glasite churches were founded in Paisley
, Glasgow
, Edinburgh
, Leith
, Perth
, Dundee
, Arbroath
, Montrose
, Aberdeen
, Dunkeld
, Cupar
, Galashiels
. Buildings built as Glasite chapels survive in Dundee
, Edinburgh
and Perth
(two), and possibly elsewhere.
, John Barnard, and William Cudworth among others, led to the adoption of this primitive form of Christianity for their London congregations beginning in the early 1760s. John Barnard's petition to Robert Sandeman brought the latter south to London
from Scotland
in April 1761 with his brother William
and John Handasyde, an Elder from the Northumberland meeting house. This visit led to the establishment of the first legitimately constituted Sandemanian congregation on 23 March 1762 at Glover's Hall. To accommodate larger gatherings, this congregation moved initially to the Bull and Mouth-Street, St. Martins-le-Grand, and then to Paul's Alley in the Barbican in the autumn of 1778. This 3rd London meeting house was that of Michael Faraday's youth. The Sandemanians relocated to Barnsbury Grove, in North London, in 1862 where they met until nearly the turn of the century. Michael Faraday
was a Deacon at Paul's Alley in the Barbican during the 1830s, an Elder there from 1840 to 1844 and again from 1860 to 1864, the final two years of which were at the Barnsbury Grove meeting house (see 2008 photograph). A plaque was installed in the building indicating his seat of prayer. The building was converted into a telephone exchange, and that end of Barnsbury Grove renamed Faraday Close.
. Ingham discreetly sent two of his preachers, James Allen and William Batty, to Scotland to observe Glasite practices in 1761. Of these three Methodist preachers, only Allen fully converted and began to establish Sandemanian meeting houses in Northern England, to include his hometown of Gayle
, Kirkby Stephen
, Newby, and Kirkby Lonsdale
. By 1768 Allen, together with John Barnard and William Cudworth from London, helped establish congregations in York
, Norfolk, Colne
, Wethersfield, Liverpool
, Whitehaven
, Trowbridge
and Nottingham
. Sandeman personally established fewer than a dozen churches in England including Liverpool before he went to America in 1764. The Trowbridge meeting house, in Wiltshire, was the location to which Samuel Pike moved and preached for the final two years until his death in 1773.
, Sandeman preached his first sermon in Newport on 28 November. He spent Christmas and most of January 1765 in Danbury, Connecticut discussing theology and church governance with Ebenezer White and his followers. Over the next four months Sandeman and his party travelled to New York, Philadelphia, New London, Providence, and finally Portsmouth
. Sandeman established his first church in Portsmouth on 4 May 1765 accompanied by James Cargill, Andrew Oliphant, and his nephews. Within the month Sandeman returned to Boston
and established his second meetinghouse in the home of Edward Foster. From Boston, he returned to Danbury
and created his third church among White’s followers with Joseph Moss White and himself serving as elders.
Colonial resistance to Sandemanianism initially stemmed from the absence of ministerial authority within their congregations. This lack of a central authority challenged the existing social fabric throughout New England which relied upon the state to enforce church orthodoxy. As many colonials rose up in protest of punitive Crown policies in the decade following Robert Sandeman’s arrival, his followers remained passively loyal, in Paul's
footsteps, setting the stage for bitter estrangement between the factions. It was not until Sandeman’s passing in 1771 that the remnants of the Danbury church moved to New Haven and formed the fourth church in America. Sandemanians as a whole were labeled “Loyalists” for their pacifist stance, to conform with Paul's teachings, since they did not oppose the crown like so many of their colonial brethren. In addition to passivism, many of the Boston congregation evacuated with the British and went into exile in Halifax
, Nova Scotia
, further escalating the fears of their colonial brethren. This relocation to Halifax lead to the formation of the fifth church. A Boston printer, Mr. John Howe, followed the British lead to Canada with his family only to return alone with the British army to document the unfolding war story upon its return to New York. Horace Marshall, in his article History of Danbury, mentions two additional Sandemanian congregations located south of Boston in Newtown and Taunton Massachusetts. It is not clear what role, if any, Robert Sandeman played in the establishment of these congregations, though the Boston records indicate he performed several marriages in that city during the winter and spring of 1767 to 1768. A great many Loyalist Sandemanians were uprooted during the revolution and lost most of their property. John Howe's
story exemplifies this situation. In his case, he sailed to Nova Scotia and became an elder in the congregation that formed.
The last of the Sandemanian churches in America
ceased to exist in 1890. The London meeting house finally closed in 1984. The last Elder of the Church died in Edinburgh in 1999.
Their exclusiveness in practice, neglect of education for the ministry, and the antinomian
tendency of their doctrine contributed to their dissolution. Many Glasites joined the general body of Scottish Congregationalists, and the sect may now be considered extinct.
(1754–1815) who published Strictures on Sandemanianism (1812) in which he argued that if faith concerns the mind only, then there could be no way to distinguish genuine Christians from nominal Christians. He also argued that knowing Christ is more than mental knowledge of facts about Him; it involves a desire for fellowship with Him and a delight in His presence.
John "Rabbi" Duncan
said once that Sandemanianism was "the doctrine of justifying righteousness along with the Popish
doctrine of faith."
Notable members of the Sandemanian Church include William Godwin
, Michael Faraday
, and James Baynes
.
The Sandemanian church and its members are mentioned several times in Edward Everett Hale
's short story "The Brick Moon
."
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
sect
Sect
A sect is a group with distinctive religious, political or philosophical beliefs. Although in past it was mostly used to refer to religious groups, it has since expanded and in modern culture can refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and...
founded in about 1730 in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
by John Glas
John Glas
John Glas was a Scottish clergyman who started the Glasite church movement.He was born at Auchtermuchty, Fife, where his father was parish minister. He was educated at Kinclaven and Perth Grammar School, graduated from the University of St Andrews in 1713, and completed his education for the...
. Glas' faith, as part of the First Great Awakening
First Great Awakening
The First Awakening was a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, and especially the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of personal...
, was spread by his son-in-law Robert Sandeman
Robert Sandeman (theologian)
Robert Sandeman was a nonconformist theologian. He was closely associated with the Glasite church which he helped to promote....
into England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where the members were called Sandemanians.
Glas dissented from the Westminster Confession only in his views as to the spiritual nature of the church
Christian Church
The Christian Church is the assembly or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term ἐκκλησία that in its appearances in the New Testament is usually translated as "church" basically means "assembly"...
and the functions of the civil magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
. But Sandeman added a distinctive doctrine as to the nature of faith
Faith
Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...
which is thus stated on his tombstone:
- "That the bare death of Jesus Christ without a thought or deed on the part of man, is sufficient to present the chief of sinners spotless before God."
In a series of letters to James Hervey
James Hervey
James Hervey was an English clergyman and writer.-Life:He was born at Hardingstone, near Northampton, and was educated at the grammar school of Northampton, and at Lincoln College, Oxford. Here he came under the influence of John Wesley and the Oxford Methodists, especially since he was a member...
, the author of Theron and Aspasio, Sandeman maintained that justifying faith
Faith
Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...
is a simple assent to the divine testimony concerning Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, differing in no way in its character from belief
Belief
Belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true.-Belief, knowledge and epistemology:The terms belief and knowledge are used differently in philosophy....
in any ordinary testimony
Testimony
In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. All testimonies should be well thought out and truthful. It was the custom in Ancient Rome for the men to place their right hand on a Bible when taking an oath...
.
Beliefs and practice
In their practice the Glasite churches aimed at a strict conformity with the primitive type of Christianity as understood by them. Each congregation had a pluralityPlurality (church governance)
In Christianity, the term plurality refers to a system of church government or ecclesiastical polity wherein the local church's decisions are made by a committee, typically called elders...
of elder
Elder (Christianity)
An elder in Christianity is a person valued for his wisdom who accordingly holds a particular position of responsibility in a Christian group. In some Christian traditions an elder is a clergy person who usually serves a local church or churches and who has been ordained to a ministry of Word,...
s, pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
s, or bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s, who were chosen according to what were believed to be the instructions of Paul
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
, without regard to previous education or present occupation, and who enjoy a perfect equality
Social equality
Social equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the...
in office. To have been married a second time disqualified for ordination
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
, or for continued tenure of the office of bishop.
In all the action of the church unanimity was considered to be necessary; if any member differed in opinion from the rest, he must either surrender his judgement to that of the church, or be shut out from its communion
Communion (Christian)
The term communion is derived from Latin communio . The corresponding term in Greek is κοινωνία, which is often translated as "fellowship". In Christianity, the basic meaning of the term communion is an especially close relationship of Christians, as individuals or as a Church, with God and with...
. To join in prayer with anyone not a member of the denomination
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...
was regarded as unlawful, and even to eat or drink with one who had been excommunicated was held to be wrong. The Lord's Supper
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
was observed weekly; and between forenoon and afternoon service every Sunday a love feast was held at which every member was required to be present. This took the form not of symbolic morsels of wine and bread, as in other communions, but a (relatively) substantial meal, a custom leading to the Glasites' nickname of 'Kail Kirk' for the Scotch broth
Scotch broth
Scotch broth is a filling soup, originating in Scotland but now obtainable worldwide. The principal ingredients are usually barley, stewing or braising cuts of lamb or mutton , and root vegetables such as carrots, turnips or swedes. Greens, particularly cabbage and leeks, can also be added, usually...
that was served at this setting. This custom may have arisen, in part, as a charitable response to the poverty of most members of this Church and also as a pragmatic response to the length of meetings (particularly the sermons) and the distances some members of the congregation had to travel in order to attend.
At Glasite services, any member who "possesses the gift of edifying the brethren", was allowed to speak. The practice of washing one another's feet was at one time observed; and it was for a long time customary for each brother and sister to receive new members, on admission, with a holy kiss
Holy kiss
The kiss of peace is a traditional Christian greeting dating to early Christianity.The practice still remains a part of the worship in traditional churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Orthodox churches, Oriental Orthodox churches and some liturgical...
.
"Things strangled and blood" were rigorously abstained from. They disapprove of all lotteries and games of chance. The accumulation of wealth they held to be unscriptural and improper.
Churches
Paisley
Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
, Perth
Perth, Scotland
Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
, Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
, Arbroath
Arbroath
Arbroath or Aberbrothock is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus in Scotland, and has a population of 22,785...
, Montrose
Montrose, Angus
Montrose is a coastal resort town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. It is situated 38 miles north of Dundee between the mouths of the North and South Esk rivers...
, Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, Dunkeld
Dunkeld
Dunkeld is a small town in Strathtay, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is about 15 miles north of Perth on the eastern side of the A9 road into the Scottish Highlands and on the opposite side of the Tay from the Victorian village of Birnam. Dunkeld and Birnam share a railway station, on the...
, Cupar
Cupar
Cupar is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland. The town is situated between Dundee and the New Town of Glenrothes.According to a recent population estimate , Cupar had a population around 8,980 making the town the ninth largest settlement in Fife.-History:The town is believed to have...
, Galashiels
Galashiels
Galashiels is a burgh in the Scottish Borders, on the Gala Water river. The name is often shortened to "Gala" .Galashiels is a major commercial centre for the Scottish Borders...
. Buildings built as Glasite chapels survive in Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
and Perth
Perth, Scotland
Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
(two), and possibly elsewhere.
Sandemanian Churches in England
Glas’ views were again advanced beyond Scotland with Sandeman’s publication of Letters on Theron and Aspasio in 1757. The resulting correspondence between the leading church elders, Glas and Sandeman, and English pastors, Samuel PikeSamuel Pike
-Life:Pike was born about 1717 at "Ramsey, Wiltshire" , which may mean Ramsbury, Wiltshire but more probably Romsey, Hampshire . He was educated for the independent ministry, receiving his general training from John Eames of the Fund academy, and his theology from John Hubbard at Stepney academy....
, John Barnard, and William Cudworth among others, led to the adoption of this primitive form of Christianity for their London congregations beginning in the early 1760s. John Barnard's petition to Robert Sandeman brought the latter south to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
from Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
in April 1761 with his brother William
William Sandeman
William Sandeman was a leading Perthshire linen and later cotton manufacturer. For instance in 1782 alone, Perthshire produced 1.7 million yards of linen worth £81,000...
and John Handasyde, an Elder from the Northumberland meeting house. This visit led to the establishment of the first legitimately constituted Sandemanian congregation on 23 March 1762 at Glover's Hall. To accommodate larger gatherings, this congregation moved initially to the Bull and Mouth-Street, St. Martins-le-Grand, and then to Paul's Alley in the Barbican in the autumn of 1778. This 3rd London meeting house was that of Michael Faraday's youth. The Sandemanians relocated to Barnsbury Grove, in North London, in 1862 where they met until nearly the turn of the century. Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry....
was a Deacon at Paul's Alley in the Barbican during the 1830s, an Elder there from 1840 to 1844 and again from 1860 to 1864, the final two years of which were at the Barnsbury Grove meeting house (see 2008 photograph). A plaque was installed in the building indicating his seat of prayer. The building was converted into a telephone exchange, and that end of Barnsbury Grove renamed Faraday Close.
Beyond London
As the congregation at the Bull and Mouth-Street, St. Martins-le-Grand, London solidified through the inclusion of noted pastors like Samuel Pike in 1765, other English parishes followed their Sandemanian lead. The first response outside of London occurred in Yorkshire with followers of Benjamin InghamBenjamin Ingham
Benjamin Ingham , was born and raised in the Yorkshire and Humber region of England. He earned his B.A. degree from Oxford, and was ordained at age 23. Methodist connections from Oxford led to a colonial mission in America where he developed a keen interest in the Moravian church from fellow...
. Ingham discreetly sent two of his preachers, James Allen and William Batty, to Scotland to observe Glasite practices in 1761. Of these three Methodist preachers, only Allen fully converted and began to establish Sandemanian meeting houses in Northern England, to include his hometown of Gayle
Gayle, North Yorkshire
Gayle is a hamlet sited a mile south of Hawes in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, England.Gayle was originally a farming settlement but the population grew during the late 18th century to around 350 with employment in local quarries, coal-mining in Sleddale and in a water-driven cotton mill on Gayle...
, Kirkby Stephen
Kirkby Stephen
Kirkby Stephen is a civil parish and small market town in Cumbria, in North West England which historically, is part of Westmorland. The town is located on the A685, surrounded by sparsely populated hill country, and about from the two nearest larger towns, Kendal and Penrith...
, Newby, and Kirkby Lonsdale
Kirkby Lonsdale
Kirkby Lonsdale is a small town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, on the River Lune. Historically within Westmorland, it is situated south east of Kendal along the A65. The parish had a population of 1,771 recorded in the 2001 census.Notable buildings include St...
. By 1768 Allen, together with John Barnard and William Cudworth from London, helped establish congregations in York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, Norfolk, Colne
Colne
Colne is the second largest town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England, with a population of 20,118. It lies at the eastern end of the M65, 6 miles north-east of Burnley, with Nelson immediately adjacent, in the Aire Gap with two main roads leading into the Yorkshire...
, Wethersfield, Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, Whitehaven
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, England, which lies equidistant between the county's two largest settlements, Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, and is served by the Cumbrian Coast Line and the A595 road...
, Trowbridge
Trowbridge
Trowbridge is the county town of Wiltshire, England, situated on the River Biss in the west of the county, approximately 12 miles southeast of Bath, Somerset....
and Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
. Sandeman personally established fewer than a dozen churches in England including Liverpool before he went to America in 1764. The Trowbridge meeting house, in Wiltshire, was the location to which Samuel Pike moved and preached for the final two years until his death in 1773.
Sandemanian Churches in America
Robert Sandeman sailed into Boston from Glasgow aboard the George and James, captained by Montgomery, on 18 October 1764. At the invitation of Ezra StilesEzra Stiles
Ezra Stiles was an American academic and educator, a Congregationalist minister, theologian and author. He was president of Yale College .-Early life:...
, Sandeman preached his first sermon in Newport on 28 November. He spent Christmas and most of January 1765 in Danbury, Connecticut discussing theology and church governance with Ebenezer White and his followers. Over the next four months Sandeman and his party travelled to New York, Philadelphia, New London, Providence, and finally Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
. Sandeman established his first church in Portsmouth on 4 May 1765 accompanied by James Cargill, Andrew Oliphant, and his nephews. Within the month Sandeman returned to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and established his second meetinghouse in the home of Edward Foster. From Boston, he returned to Danbury
Danbury
Danbury is a city in Connecticut, U.S.Danbury may also refer to:*Danbury, Saskatchewan, Canada*Danbury, Essex, UK*Danbury, Iowa, U.S.*Danbury, Nebraska, U.S.*Danbury, New Hampshire, U.S.*Danbury, North Carolina, U.S.*Danbury, Texas, U.S....
and created his third church among White’s followers with Joseph Moss White and himself serving as elders.
Colonial resistance to Sandemanianism initially stemmed from the absence of ministerial authority within their congregations. This lack of a central authority challenged the existing social fabric throughout New England which relied upon the state to enforce church orthodoxy. As many colonials rose up in protest of punitive Crown policies in the decade following Robert Sandeman’s arrival, his followers remained passively loyal, in Paul's
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
footsteps, setting the stage for bitter estrangement between the factions. It was not until Sandeman’s passing in 1771 that the remnants of the Danbury church moved to New Haven and formed the fourth church in America. Sandemanians as a whole were labeled “Loyalists” for their pacifist stance, to conform with Paul's teachings, since they did not oppose the crown like so many of their colonial brethren. In addition to passivism, many of the Boston congregation evacuated with the British and went into exile in Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, further escalating the fears of their colonial brethren. This relocation to Halifax lead to the formation of the fifth church. A Boston printer, Mr. John Howe, followed the British lead to Canada with his family only to return alone with the British army to document the unfolding war story upon its return to New York. Horace Marshall, in his article History of Danbury, mentions two additional Sandemanian congregations located south of Boston in Newtown and Taunton Massachusetts. It is not clear what role, if any, Robert Sandeman played in the establishment of these congregations, though the Boston records indicate he performed several marriages in that city during the winter and spring of 1767 to 1768. A great many Loyalist Sandemanians were uprooted during the revolution and lost most of their property. John Howe's
John Howe (loyalist)
John Howe was a loyalist printer during the American Revolution, a printer and Postmaster in Halifax, the father of the famous Joseph Howe, a spy prior to the War of 1812, and eventually a Magistrate of the Colony of Nova Scotia...
story exemplifies this situation. In his case, he sailed to Nova Scotia and became an elder in the congregation that formed.
The last of the Sandemanian churches in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ceased to exist in 1890. The London meeting house finally closed in 1984. The last Elder of the Church died in Edinburgh in 1999.
Their exclusiveness in practice, neglect of education for the ministry, and the antinomian
Antinomianism
Antinomianism is defined as holding that, under the gospel dispensation of grace, moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation....
tendency of their doctrine contributed to their dissolution. Many Glasites joined the general body of Scottish Congregationalists, and the sect may now be considered extinct.
Critics of Sandemanianism
A prominent critic of Sandemanian beliefs was the Baptist Andrew FullerAndrew Fuller
Andrew Fuller was an eminent Baptist minister, born in Cambridgeshire, and settled at Kettering.Fuller was a zealous controversialist in defence of the governmental theory of the atonement against Hyper-Calvinism on the one hand and Socinianism and Sandemanianism on the other, but he is chiefly...
(1754–1815) who published Strictures on Sandemanianism (1812) in which he argued that if faith concerns the mind only, then there could be no way to distinguish genuine Christians from nominal Christians. He also argued that knowing Christ is more than mental knowledge of facts about Him; it involves a desire for fellowship with Him and a delight in His presence.
John "Rabbi" Duncan
John Duncan (theologian)
John Duncan , also known as Rabbi Duncan, was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland, a missionary to the Jews in Hungary, and Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Languages at New College, Edinburgh. He is best remembered for his aphorisms.-Life:Duncan was born in Gilcomston, Aberdeen, the son of...
said once that Sandemanianism was "the doctrine of justifying righteousness along with the Popish
Papist
Papist is a term or an anti-Catholic slur, referring to the Roman Catholic Church, its teachings, practices, or adherents. The term was coined during the English Reformation to denote a person whose loyalties were to the Pope, rather than to the Church of England...
doctrine of faith."
Sandemanian families and notable members
Prominent Sandemanian families include the surnames Barnard, Baynes, Baxter, Boosey, Bell, Faraday, Leighton, Mann, Vincent, Whitelaw and Young.Notable members of the Sandemanian Church include William Godwin
William Godwin
William Godwin was an English journalist, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism, and the first modern proponent of anarchism...
, Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry....
, and James Baynes
James Baynes
James Baynes was an English watercolour painter and drawing-master.Little is known of his family apart from the fact that he was born in Lancaster as the son of a local tradesman and was the eldest of six children, his grandfather being a Catholic priest in Kirkby Lonsdale where his father was born...
.
The Sandemanian church and its members are mentioned several times in Edward Everett Hale
Edward Everett Hale
Edward Everett Hale was an American author, historian and Unitarian clergyman. He was a child prodigy who exhibited extraordinary literary skills and at age thirteen was enrolled at Harvard University where he graduated second in his class...
's short story "The Brick Moon
The Brick Moon
"The Brick Moon" is a short story by Edward Everett Hale, published serially in The Atlantic Monthly starting in 1869. It is a work of speculative fiction containing the first known depiction of an artificial satellite.- Synopsis :...
."