Black Rock Congregational Church

Black Rock Congregational Church

Black Rock Congregational Church is a large, non-denominational evangelical church located in Fairfield, Connecticut. The church was established in 1849 in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and moved to its current site in 1968. Approximately 2000 adults and children attend the church's six weekend services. In 2007, a satellite campus in Stamford, Connecticut was established at the site of the former Long Ridge Congregational Church. The church is made up of ministry departments, and among them, several programs of teaching, outreach, service and worship. The church's ministries include: Children’s Ministries, Student Ministries, Adult Ministries, Outreach, Worship, Missions, Congregational Care and Spiritual Development.

History

In the late 1840's, a group of villagers of the Black Rock section of Bridgeport, parishioners of the First Church of Christ in Fairfield, Connecticut, decided that they would build a new meeting house in Black Rock, rather than continue the challenging three-mile weekly trip across the river and marshland that separated the two towns. A new church was established, and its meeting house was dedicated in August of 1849 at the corner of Ellsworth St. and Bartram Ave.

The original church building in Black Rock, with Woodruff Hall in the rear of the building.

William Jessup Jennings served as the church's first minister. The church grew modestly through the middle of 19th century under the leadership of ministers Rev. Marinus Willett, Abram D. Baldwin, Rev. Frederick W. Williams, and Rev. Howard W. Pope. In 1881, the Rev. Henry Collings Woodruff accepted the pastorate of the church and served for 41 years, until his death in 1922. During Woodruff's tenure, a chapel was built, and upon his death, a memorial hall named for him was donated by his wife, Mary Bartram Woodruff.

The Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon MacDowell would be called as the church's next pastor, who introduced a new evangelical direction for the church, encouraging Bible study groups and attendance at Bible conferences and camps. MacDowell served for 21 years, during which the character of the church would be forever changed. In 1945, the church severed ties to the formal Congregational denomination, making Black Rock a free and independent community of believers. During this time, the church was served briefly by Reverend Leonard S. Pitcher, Dr. Howard Z. Cleveland, and Interim Pastor Reverend Harry L. Cox, who was the first missionary that the church had supported. It was also during this time the church's steeple was blown off, crashing into the roof during a strong hurricane.

Dr. Stanley R. Allaby

In 1956, Dr. Stanley R. Allaby became pastor and began a 41-year tenure, under which, the church would experience extensive growth, with a reach that would extend around the world. The church's missions program was greatly developed, supporting a number of missionaries financially and prayerfully with great concern. The missions program would be highlighted each year with its annual Missions Conference, beginning in 1957 and continuing to this day.

It was during this time the church's attendance began to increase, and the youth program, Black Rock Teenagers, was bursting at the seams. As the church grew in number under the leadership of Pastor Allaby, the original church building became increasingly inadequate in size. Multiple plans for building a new church facility in Black Rock were formulated and later rejected. The church then turned to the town of Fairfield, where a six-acre piece of property was purchased adjacent to Black Rock Turnpike. The church broke ground for a new, modern facility in 1967, and the building was dedicated the following year. The facility would later be expanded and renovated as the church continued to grow into the 1980's and 90's.

The new church facility on Black Rock Turnpike.

Under Pastor Allaby, the church grew to an active adult membership of over 800 people. The new facility provided significant development and growth of the church's many ministries and programs of outreach, teaching, service and worship to people of all ages and backgrounds. In 1997, Pastor Allaby announced his retirement. When asked for what he would most like to be remembered as Pastor of this church, he replied,” If people could say of me, ‘He loved his people. He faithfully and responsibly proclaimed the Word of God, and he lived what he preached,’ that is what I would like to be remembered for.”

Dr. Stephen A. Treash

Dr. Stephen A. Treash, Associate Pastor under Pastor Allaby, accepted the senior pastorate in 1997, in which he serves to this day. Under Pastor Treash's leadership, the church embraced new worship formats and expanded the number of services to reach out to those in the community who may not normally be drawn to a traditional church, particularly young adults. The church retains a traditional worship service, but also offers services of contemporary worship and a special "next generation" format service called "Sanctuary."

As the church entered the 21st century, the church again found itself having outgrown its existing church facility, in need of additional space to serve the nearly 2,000 people who sought to worship there. The church elders instituted the "Ministry Expansion Program," which sought a number of solutions to the problem. Additional services were again added, and the church was given the facilities of the Long Ridge Congregational Church in Stamford, Connecticut, where a satellite campus was established in 2007. The expansion team formulated extensive plans to replace the current facility on the same site in Fairfield, which were rejected upon submission by the town of Fairfield's Conservation Commission due to concerns over environmental impact. The church is currently working on new plans to replace the church on its exact spot, with the desire to build with "green" building technology, in a way that will not affect the site's environmentally sensitive areas.

Resources/Links

Organizational information and photographs courtesy of Black Rock Congregational Church

Historical information taken from Black Rock Congregational Church - Our History

Henry Collings Woodruff Biography

Dr. Stanley R. Allaby article and interview

Connecticut Post Article on the new church expansion plan

New York Times acticle about resistance to the first expansion plan