Church of the
GOOD SHEPHERD/
IMMANUEL ST. JAMES CHAPEL
The History of Immanuel St. James
​1737 -2024
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Beginnings
What does it mean to be 287 years old? How does a parish begin, how does it change and who are some of the people who were important in its life? The Episcopal parish now known as St. James’ Church in Derby, Connecticut had its recorded beginnings in 1737. In that year Captain John Holbrook and 6 other men, who desired to start an Episcopal Ecclesiastical Society, began to “fell the trees and hew the timbers preparatory to erecting a humble house of worship” in Derby. The frame structure was completed the following year, and, in common with other Anglican churches of the time, was called Christ Church until such time as it could be consecrated by a bishop.
​The leader in the organization of the parish, Captain John Holbrook, was an influential citizen and son of Abel Holbrook, last survivor of the pioneers of Old Derby. Captain Holbrook gave the land both for the church and for the Episcopal graveyard on Elm Street in what is now Ansonia.
How do we understand the people and the community in which this new church was established? The Derby area had first been settled less than 100 years before and had only been names and given township status in 1675. The town of Derby covered a large area, including the present-day towns of Derby, Ansonia, Seymour and parts of Oxford and Beacon Falls.
There were only scattered settlements throughout the area The establishment of an Episcopal congregation in Derby was the second formal religious organization in the township. The long established Congregational Church was predominant in religious and town affairs. As the official "state" church of the colony, all settlers paid taxes which supported the minister and operation of the Congregational Church.
Not all the inhabitants of the town, however, had been members of the Congregational Church. The early Episcopal parish was founded by loyal adherents to the Episcopal religion, men and women who were baptized Episcopalians and who desired to practice the religion of their forebears according to the rites of the Church of England. For it must be remembered that these were still British colonies. The Revolution was still almost 40 years in the future. The church that they established was the Anglican Church of England. These Episcopalians resented the payment of taxes to the Congregational ministers, which led to the persecution of Church of England adherents. The priests that visited Derby were, in effect, missionaries sent to the far-off colonies from England by the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts."
Several years prior to the building of the first church, Episcopal services in Derby were first celebrated by one of these itinerant missionaries, the Rev. Jonathan Arnold. After the church was built, Rev. Arnold reported in 1738 that "the church was in a growing state especially at West Haven, Derby and Waterbury." Rev. Arnold continued to serve the Valley until 1740 when he was succeeded by the Rev. Theophilus Morris, who, like Rev. Arnold, served West Haven, Derby and Waterbury. In 1740 it was reported that there were 16 Episcopal families in West Haven, 17 in Derby, and 22 in Waterbury. In 1741 the parish records indicate that "on this date it was agreed that every member of the Church of England who paid rates to the minister of Christ Church should be allowed to vote at every vestry held in the parish, and that all others should be exempted from this privilege."
The Anglican communion continued to grow, and, after three years, when a disillusioned Rev. Morris left for England to take up permanent residence there, the Rev. James Lyons was appointed to the West Haven, Derby and Waterbury area at the salary of 55 pounds per year. It was this man who appealed to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts in England to provide a permanent minister for the Valley area. In 1746 the Rev. Lyons moved to Brookhaven, N.Y. With his departure, services at the little church in Derby became even more sporadic, with communicants being served intermittently for two years by the Rev. Dr. Samuel Johnson of the church in Stratford and by the Rev. Beach of Newtown. The members of Christ Church had also requested someone of Connecticut birth to serve as their resident rector.​​
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Richard Mansfield came of old English stock, the family first migrating to Boston and then settling in New Haven in 1643. There he was born born on October 1724 to Congregationalists Jonathan and Sarah Alling Mansfield. He was a remarkably bright young boy, having completed his preparation for college by the time he was 11. Authorities at Yale refused to admit him until he reached 14. He was graduated from Yale with first honors in 1741 and was "respected as a remarkable, steady and studious young man by his instructors." In recognition of his having achieved the highest score in a Greek examination, he was awarded a prize as "scholar of the house" which was a year of graduate study.
It was here at Yale that Richard began to think favorably of the Episcopal Church, following the reading of many works contributed to Yale by English Bishop Berkeley. In 1744 he embraced the Anglican faith and was ordained a priest in London by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1748. So great was the bitterness that existed between the Congregationalists and the Anglicans, that when Mansfield made the trip to London to receive Holy Orders, his own sister prayed that the ship might be lost at sea.
Returning to the colony of Connecticut in 1748, he was assigned to the Derby parish. Like his predecessors, Dr. Mansfield had the Derby, West Haven and Waterbury flocks to care for. He also traveled to Oxford and visited from time to time a vast area to the North, all on horseback. It is reported he journeyed to Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire to minister to the needs of Anglicans there. In 1755 however, he relinquished charge of all except Derby and Oxford.
The Rev. Richard Mansfield and Sarah Ann Hull (who was then 15 years and 4 months old) were married in the original church structure by the Rev. Dr. Johnson of Stratford on November 1O, 1751. Over the next 25 years there were 13 children born to the Mansfields. The family lived in the rectory purchased for them by members of the parish. The house, which may have been built before 1727, together with 13 acres of land, was purchased by eight of the Episcopal families in Derby in 1747, even before a rector had been appointed, in hopes of a resident rector in the future. The Mansfield house still stands, restored and maintained by the Derby Historical Society. The house was saved from destruction in the 1920's and moved to Jewett Street in what is now Ansonia.
Revolutionary War
During the Revolutionary period, troubles beset the scholarly vicar. Conscience would not allow him to support the cause of Independence. He was, like about one-third of the other colonists, a Loyalist, devoted to the English cause. For him this loyalty was reinforced by his vows of ordination and fealty to the crown, which he had repeated after the Archbishop of Canterbury.
As his loyalty to the King was reflected in his preaching, a strong feeling against him arose among the patriots. The tension between Mansfield and his neighbors reached the breaking point on a Sunday morning in 1775, when a squad of Colonial soldiers marched into the church. Upon seeing them, Rev Mansfield, without so much as slowing down to grab his hat, fled from his pulpit to his house, and then to Long Island, at that time controlled by the British. He was isolated from his parish until 1777. During the time he was in Long Island, his wife died after the birth of their thirteenth child A delegation from his congregation in Derby visited him in his isolation and requested him to return home to his parish. They also requested that he refrain from politics in his future sermons. Dr. Mansfield agreed, but as a precaution, a Colonial soldier was stationed in the church each Sunday until the end of the war to see that he did not preach against the cause of the colonists. Strong feelings during the war can be seen by the fact that Capt. John Holbrook, who was a leader in the establishment of the parish in 1737, was one of those who deserted Dr. Mansfield and turned to the Congregational Church because he felt that the Anglican Communion was not in agreement with the Colonial cause. After the war, Rev. Mansfield's zeal for the cause of England dwindled, and the rift eventually ended. The minister became one of the most highly regarded individuals in the area.
On March 25, 1783, near the end of the Revolutionary War, in a room of the Glebe House, the rectory of St. Paul's Church in Woodbury, a small group of 10 priests, including Dr. Mansfield, met in secret to elect a Bishop of Connecticut. They finally selected the Rev. Samuel Seabury, who was consecrated a Bishop in Aberdeen, Scotland on November 14, 1784. Upon Bishop Seabury’s return to America, he became the first and, at the time, only bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States.
In 1786, following the Annual Diocesan Convention which was held in the little church in Derby, a convocation of the clergy was held the next day. At this time, Bishop Seabury submitted for the approval of the clergy the: office for Holy Communion, which he had prepared. The service, based on the old Scottish form, met with the approval of the clergy. Three years later it was adopted by the whole Episcopal Church in the United States in substantially the same form in which it had been presented at Derby.
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Rev. Richard Mansfield
It was not until 1748 that the Rev. Richard Mansfield became the first permanent rector in the Valley Area. As the first rector of St. James' Church and in many ways a remarkable man, the Rev. Mansfield is worthy of more than a cursory glance.
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Few parochial terms equal or exceed that of the Rev. Richard Mansfield D.D. who was the active rector of St. James' continuously for seventy-two years. Dr. Mansfield’s extraordinary vicarate began in 1748 and terminated with his death in 1820, at the age of ninety-six. It covered his entire priestly life – St. James’ being his one and only charge. It was a rectorship which had its beginning in the Colonial period, extended through the Revolutionary period and ending in the infant years of the New Republic.
Second Church Building
The parish in Derby continued to grow, and a new and larger church building was required. The cornerstone for the new building was laid by the Rev. Dr. Mansfield on June 7, 1797. At the same time the Annual Convention of the Diocese of Connecticut was held in Derby, and the Rev. Abraham Jarvis was elected second bishop of the diocese, following the death of Bishop Seabury.
The new church was erected adjacent to what is now the Old Colonial Cemetery in Derby on Derby Ave. The church was located on a flat plot, on a knoll overlooking the Naugatuck Valley. The site was in a grove of maple and hickory trees. The second church was a white building having two front entrances with the steeple projected between them. The interior was painted white and there were galleries which ran the entire length on three sides. The pews had no doors, and the two rows of windows on the North and South sides were of small paned glass. The building was about 50 feet in length. The new church was consecrated as St. James' Church by Bishop Jarvis on November 20, 1799. At that time a convocation of the clergy was held in the new building, at which the Office of Institution was set forth, and it was presently used for the first time in this church.
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During Dr. Mansfield's later years as rector, he had two assistants. The first was the Rev. Edward Blakeslee, who came in 1790 and who died in 1797. The second assistant was the Rev. Calvin White, who was at St. James' from 1804 to 1819. Church records show that Mr. White's services were terminated because he embraced the Roman Catholic faith and was considered a dissenter. In 1800 Dr. Mansfield ceased active preaching, due to some trouble with his throat, but continued active in parochial and pastoral work.
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In 1805, the wardens of the parish were directed to sell the original church building at a private sale or public auction. The building is believed to have been moved across the street to be added as a wing to the David Humphreys House.
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Dr. Mansfield died on April 12, 1820 and is buried in the Elm Street Cemetery, together with his wife and several children. The cemetery is the one which surrounded the first church building, and the Mansfield plot is close to the cornerstone of the church he served for 72 years. His rectorship stands as the longest in the history of the Episcopal Church in America. His register of baptisms numbers 2191, and there is reason to believe his marriages and burials were equally proportionate.
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Over the next several years St. James' continued to flourish, while served by the Rev. Stephen Jewett, his assistant and successor the Rev. Charles Brady and the Rev. Joseph Scott. In 1831 Moses Austin donated an organ to the church provided he would have the right to remove it if ten successive Sundays went by without it being used.
​​​​The Move to Birmingham
The community of Derby was also growing and changing. Until 1840, the portion of Derby on the East Side of the Naugatuck River had been the center of the town's business and residential district. In 1840 the borough of Birmingham was started on the west side of the Naugatuck River by Anson Phelps and Fitch Smith. The new village grew rapidly, and there were strong feelings that St. James' Church should be closer to the center of the active community. On May 5, 1841, the rector, the Rev. Joseph Scott, reported to the parish "setting forth the bad condition of the Church edifice (Building Number 2) and advising reasons in support of its immediate removal to a more central part of the Parish." A committee was established, and on May 26, 1841, they reported that "Messrs. Smith and Phelps have consented to give a lot fronting the east side of the Green, 150 feet by 100 feet deep, provided the Society (Parish) will erect on the same a good and suitable church edifice, and (they) will also furnish all the rough stone that can be used in constructing the building." The deed, as recorded in the Derby Land Records, also stipulated that the Episcopal Society "shall locate buildings consisting of a church with an academy under the same, sheds and parsonage house, sidewalks, trees and fence” on the donated property
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The members of the vestry were apparently divided on the question of building the present church of wood or stone. During the Summer of 1841 there were discussions, and it was noted that the difference in price was $600. They finally decided on the local cut stone. The cornerstone for the new building was laid in May 1842, and the new church was consecrated by the Right Rev. T.C. Brownly on April 11, 1843. The building consisted originally of the main part of the present church from the altar as far back as, but not including, the choir loft.​
Although St James' Church had officially moved across the Naugatuck River to its new stone building, there were some members of the congregation who had been opposed to the move from the start. These people continued to hold services in the old building. In June 1844 they were admitted into union with the Diocese under the name of Christ Church. The parish was later absorbed into Trinity Church in what is now Ansonia, and the name of the combined parish became Christ Church. This was accomplished by 1851, and in that year the old building (Building Number 2) was removed. The organ, which had been the one donated by Moses Austin in 1831, was sold to the First Congregational Society, now the First Congregational Church, in Derby.
Further Expansion
Although the new church building had been completed in 1843, the expansion and further construction were far from complete. While the new building was still being finished, on October 10, 1842 the vestry voted that "the building committee fit and prepare the East part of the basement of the new church with seats and desks sufficient to seat forty persons, also to prepare all other fixtures for said room necessary for the convenience of occupying the same as an Academy." By the January 1844 vestry meeting, the desks and chairs for the Academy were apparently installed, for it was resolved to rent the Academy room in the basement and to procure a suitable teacher for the same.
On November 21, 1848 the Building Committee investigated the possibility and practicability of installing a new-fangled heating system called (and the quotation marks were used in the record) a "Hot Air Furnace." The decision was made, however, to keep one of the stoves then in operation in the nave and to install another "measuring sixteen inches in diameter and having a seven inch pipe."
The next major building project in the life of St. James' occurred during the 1850's. On June 5, 1852 plans for the enlargement of the church were discussed and approved "provided the sum of $4500 shall be subscribed for the same." Apparently the amount was raised, perhaps oversubscribed, for on November 1, 1852 a sum of $1200 was also voted for the erection of a parsonage "in the lot of land on the southwest corner of the church lot, 60 x 120 feet."
The addition to the church building began with the laying of the cornerstone on May 28, 1853. The new construction added the portion of the church nave which now includes the choir gallery, as well as the tower and vestibule. The church was formally reopened on January 29, 1854 by the Rt. Rev. John Williams, fourth Bishop of Connecticut.
Immediately following the reopening of the church, on January 30, 1854, a sum of $1400 was appropriated for the purchase of an organ. In addition, on March 21, 1854, Edward N. Shelton and Fitch Smith were appointed "a committee to replace the bell in the belfry of the church." The bell which had rung from the belfry of the old church (Building No. 2) had been installed in the First Methodist Church when Building No. 2 was removed. The interest in bells continued, when in 1867 the wardens and vestry were instructed to procure "a chime of bells" consisting of nine and costing $3500. They weighed in total some 6500 pounds. These bells were rung for the first time on July 4, 1867 to celebrate Independence Day.​
Parish Life
It is difficult to determine the spiritual life of the parish and the day to day concerns of the parishioners from the official records of the parish. Only when some action of the vestry was required can we catch a glimpse of parish activities and the lives of the parishioners. For instance, we sometimes forget that the mode of transportation was not always via automobile. We are reminded of earlier modes by the fact that in 1843 the vestry voted that "the young Messrs. Tomlinson be called upon for the purpose of soliciting from them a donation of a certain number of posts for the use of tying horses about the stone church." Likewise, in 1868 it was voted to "build a tight board fence from the northeast corner of the rectory to the woodhouse and to put a privy in the corner of the woodhouse for the use of the parish." And in 1872 the wardens and vestry voted "that the ladies have permission to introduce gas (for lighting) into the church if done free of expense to the Parish."
There are many entries in the vestry records which point to the emphasis placed upon music in the church. There were, of course, the purchases of organ and bells. In addition, on October 27, 1846, it was resolved that "the Committee on Sacred Music be authorized to employ as soon as convenient a suitable or competent person to instruct in the parish one evening in each week for three months or more, upon the best terms possible."
Rev. George H. Buck
There had been nine rectors at St. James' between the construction of the church in Birmingham in 1842 and the year 1887. Some of them had stayed only a year or two at St. James', some as long as nine years. In 1887 the Rev. George H. Buck was chosen as the new rector. His rectorship spanned the next 41 years until his resignation in 1928. The combined rectorships of the Rev. Dr. Mansfield and the Rev. Buck total 113 years of the 250 years of parish existence.
During the Rev. Buck's tenure, in April 1909, the minutes of the vestry record the decision to purchase a new organ from the Hall Organ Co. of West Haven at a cost of $3112. An additional $265 was appropriated for various bills in connection with the installation, such as carpeting, curtains and carpentry work. This organ is still in service, although it was completely overhauled and renovated in 1968. In 1916 the first mention of an Every Member Canvass is recorded in the vestry minutes. In 1925 the Treasurer's Report noted an expense of $225 for the installation of electric lights.
In testing the memory of parishioners about the Rev. Buck, it is reported that, although very reserved, he was much respected in the church and the community. During his later years at St. James', he was a good friend of the Pastor at St. Mary's Church. Many mornings the two of them would meet and sit on the Derby Green to discuss the matters of the day. At the end of the visit, each would return to his own parish. In connection with this friendship, it is reported that during this period the brand new entertainment medium of motion pictures was introduced in Derby. The movies were shown in the Sterling Opera House on Sunday evenings and were very popular. Some of the people of the community were upset that the movies were being shown on the Lord's Day and started a petition to have them stopped. Two gentlemen knocked at the door of the St. James' Rectory one evening and asked the Rev. Buck to sign the petition. He asked to see who else had signed and, after perusing the list, said that he didn't see the name of St. Mary's Pastor. One of the gentlemen spoke up and said, ''That's strange, he said the same thing about your name." The Rev. Buck then said that if the Pastor of St. Mary's signed the petition, then he would also. Presumably, neither signature was obtained.
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​Rector's of the Twentieth Century
Following the resignation of the Rev. Buck, the Rev. Charles Huban was chosen as rector of St. James' in 1928 and remained for the next eight years. He is remembered as a very likeable and outspoken rector. Vestry records also show that he was the first rector to be given an allowance, in 1928, for the operation of his automobile. It is also remembered that shortly after his arrival at St. James', he set to work to convert various members of the Second Congregational Church to become Episcopalians. So successful was he that when the Bishop next came to St. James', the Rev. Huban presented fifteen former members of the “Church across the Green” for Confirmation. For some period after this, members of the Second Congregational Church, at least partially in jest, feigned a fear of talking to the Rev. Huban in public. The Rev. Huban resigned as rector in 1936.
The next rector, the Rev. Mark Carpenter, was a decided change for St. James'. His two predecessors had both been "Low Church" in their performance of services in the parish. Both men wore only a black cassock, white surplice and stole for virtually all services. The services themselves, whether the Holy Eucharist or Morning Prayer, were conducted with an absolute minimum of ritual. Father Carpenter, however, was quite "High Church", using the various vestments, altar hangings, much ritual and special services, including Confession, such that those who were unhappy with the changes called them "Anglo-Catholic". He was also an excellent teacher, always ready to explain the new changes in worship which he was instituting. In addition, he was able to encourage a major growth in the Sunday School, as well as other activities for young people, including the first use of acolytes. He gathered together a group of men in the parish who said a service of Morning Prayer each morning of the week in a chapel which was set up in the basement of the rectory. Father Carpenter stayed at St. James' from 1936 until 1945.
The Rev. Frank Blaikie was called to St. James in 1945. He had served a mission in Alaska and a parish in New Hampshire before coming to Derby to escape the cold. He is remembered as both a gentle man and a gentleman while rector of St. James. He resigned in 1952 to take on a somewhat less strenuous rectorship in North Canaan, Conn.
The Rev. John Bowers came to St. James' in 1952. As the result of some personal problems, he resigned in 1957.
The Rev. William Weber came to St. James' in 1957 from a parish in Littleton, New Hampshire. During his time as rector, he was very concerned for the social issues of the day and was personally involved in various activities including protest marches in the South. The parish was not prepared to wholeheartedly support these efforts, in spite of Father Weber’s eloquent preaching on the subject, and the relationship was sometimes strained. However, even the official records show the beginnings of concerns beyond the parish, with parish donations made to various causes outside the parish, many of these related in some way to the Episcopal Church. Father Weber resigned in 1965 to become, as his letter of resignation stated, "associated in joint ministry with the Rector of St. Lukes' Church, New Haven, the oldest "Negro Parish" in the Episcopal Church."
While a committee of the Parish was searching for a new Rector, St. James' had as Acting Rector the Rev. William Sprenger. Father Sprenger, as far as was known, was the only priest of the Church who had grown up as a member of St. James'. He had retired as head of the Seaman's Institute in New York, and was instrumental, through his efforts during his interim rectorship, in preparing the way for a smooth transition to the new rector.
In 1966 the Rev. Robert J. Miner was called from Lincoln, Rhode Island. During his rectorship, there were major changes to St. James', both physically and in its parish structure. It was due in no small part to Father Miner's positive approach to problems and efforts to develop compromise that these changes in St. James' were accomplished with the relative smoothness that they were.
On March 19, 1967 the vestry voted to hire an architect to draw up a master plan for the parish including an addition to the South side of the church building. This plan was approved on June 21, 1967. The addition included church school classrooms, a chapel, a conference room, rector's office and parish office. Estimated cost was put at $132,000. In addition to the new construction, the vestry also voted to redecorate and modify the interior of the church and to modernize the kitchen in the basement of the church. The changes in the nave of the church extended and enlarged the altar platform and well as expanding the sacristy. Ground was broken for the addition on July 14, 1968. The work was completed and the addition was dedicated on June 22, 1969.
While the renovations and construction were underway, the Derby Senior Center was looking for a location for a drop-in center and offices, and expressed an interest in using a portion of the new facilities. On September 11, 1968 the vestry voted to rent basement facilities to be used as a Senior Center. The group assumed occupancy in May 1969 and remained at St. James until 1977 when they moved into new quarters.
In 1970 St. James’ began an experiment which would significantly change the entire life of the parish. Early in that year, members of Immanuel Church in Ansonia approached St. James’ to consider the possibility of a joint relationship. Committees were formed in both parishes and met together through many agonizing meetings searching out what the relationship between the two parishes might be. A tentative agreement was drawn up, and in January 1971, the Annual Meetings of both parishes, meeting separately, voted to take this leap of faith and forge ahead in a new and uncharted direction in the life of the church. On March 14, 1971, the rector of St. James’ Church in Derby was instituted as rector of Immanuel Church, Ansonia. This step formally united the two bodies in the creative and exciting relationship.
The Joint Ministry of Immanuel and St. James' Churches was formed under the concept that each church was self-supporting and wished to retain its own identity, but felt that such a relationship could provide both advantages and economic savings through the efforts of a larger overall congregation. The first few years were ones of testing, and really evolved through the leadership of Father Miner with support from the wardens and vestries of both parishes. The vestries met jointly each quarter, services and activities were planned which included members of both parishes, and gradually the people of both churches began to feel comfortable with each other and in either church building.
May 2, 1972 will long be remembered by St. James parishioners, for it was on this date, in the early morning hours, that a major fire broke out in the lower level of the church building, causing extensive damage to the floor, walls and ceilings of the kitchen and Parish Hall. In addition, the sanctuary and Parish House suffered major smoke and heat damage. That the fire was not more devastating was due to the quick work of the firemen and to the presence of fire detectors in the building, which had been installed as part of the renovations in 1968. Although arson was originally suspected, the cause turned out to be a defective electrical cable. The restoration work following the fire lasted over the next year and cost about $50,000. As part of the restoration work, additional fire detectors were installed throughout the building.
The chimes, which had been installed in 1867, had, by the 1960's, fallen into disuse and disrepair. They had been rung manually from the second level of the tower, by pushing down wooden handles for each note played, a strenuous activity. Their lack of use distressed members of the congregation, and after study, on January 17, 1973, a parish meeting voted to restore and add to the chimes, increasing the bells from nine to fourteen. In addition, a tape operated system for ringing the chimes at regular hours was added, which allowed the music of the bells to ring through the Valley with a varying selection of hymns. The new bells were first rung in March 1974 and were dedicated in October of that same year.
During the Summer of 1974, Father Miner submitted his resignation as rector. Although the search for a new rector could have been a crisis for the Joint Ministry, it was, in fact, a strengthening factor. After some discussion, it was agreed to have a Joint Calling Committee, made up of members of both parishes, so that the Priest called would be called to the Joint Ministry with equal responsibility to each parish.
In March 1975, the Rev. Richard Schuster was called as rector of the Joint Ministry of Immanuel and St. James' Churches. Under his leadership, St. James' and the Joint Ministry not only changed in operation, but carried out a myriad of new projects both within the parishes and in the community. As the first rector chosen by the Joint Ministry, he implemented a number of changes to solidify the relationship between the two parishes. There was a consolidation of the Church School program. The Joint Ministry Vestry began meeting more often, and eventually individual parish vestry meetings became the exception rather than the rule. By 1981, St. James' and Immanuel Churches were holding their Annual Meetings together.
Within the congregations there were many activities and projects, most of them carried out by the Joint Ministry rather than by the individual parishes. Father Schuster's ideas for new projects together with his organizational skills made this an exciting time within the Joint Ministry. There were a number of Christian Education programs developed by specific groups of parish members and presented as part of the Sunday morning worship experience for people of all ages. There were many activities sponsored by the Joint Ministry, some of which included an Antique Critique, a craft show, the Alpha and Omega Players-a religious acting group, an auction with a professional auctioneer, the Strawberry Festival and the Lobster Fest.
The Junior and Senior High Youth Groups flourished during these years, attracting members from other parishes and the community, and with membership as high as 80 young people. Under the direction of Father Schuster, and with up to eight adult advisors, the Youth Groups held many serious discussion programs as well as fun activities. In 1979 four members of the Youth Group traveled to Denver to observe the General Conventions of the Episcopal Church, and in 1984 a member of the Youth Group was part of the Diocesan delegation at the Episcopal Youth Event in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
In the area of community involvement and outreach, Father Schuster was involved in many social service activities within the communities, but in addition, St. James' and Immanuel provided support, both corporately and through the active participation of many members of both parishes. The Valley Food Bank, with one of its locations at St. James' Church, provided food for many needy members of the community. Area Congregations Together (ACT) provided volunteer services for members of the communities. Operation Holiday provided meals at Thanksgiving and Christmas for over 2000 people in the Lower Naugatuck Valley. All of these activities involved many members of St. James' and Immanuel Churches.
In the Fall of 1982, with the approval of the St. James' Vestry, two homeless families were housed in the church for a limited time, until they were able to find alternate housing and employment. As a direct result of this action, a committee was formed to provide an Emergency Housing Shelter for the Lower Naugatuck Valley. A meeting held at St. James' started a process which temporarily located the shelter at the First Congregational Church in Ansonia. The committee, chaired by Father Schuster, then sought a permanent location for the shelter, and five years later, a final location for the shelter was implemented. In the interim, the shelter had been housed at the Derby Railroad Station, while the staff which administered the shelter as well as ACT and the Food Bank had been provided space in the St. James Parish House. After Father Schuster resigned in 1984, a Joint Ministry Calling Committee was again formed to seek a new rector. Carrying through the calling process mandated by the Diocese, after fourteen months the committee recommended, and the parishes issued a call to, the Rev. Randall Murray-Laird. He celebrated his first service at the Joint Ministry in January 1986. As the twenty-second rector of St. James, he had carried forward the work begun 250 years before, and together with Immanuel Church both parishes looked to the future as the Joint Ministry of Immanuel and St. James' Churches.
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With the challenges of the COVID pandemic in 2020, Immanuel St. James ceased services. It was determined in the next couple of years to merge with the Church of the Good Shepherd in just across the river in Shelton. This merger was finalized on October 26th, 2024.
Information for this history was compiled from previous histories dated 1915 and 1967, as well as vestry minutes and various personal recollections.
- M. Clark
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​​A LIST OF CLERGY WHO HAVE SERVED ST. JAMES' PARISH
Missionaries
Rev. Jonathan Arnold
Rev. Theophilius Morris
Rev. James Lyons
Rectors
Rev. Richard Mansfield, D.D. 1748-1820
Rev. Stephen Jewett 1821-1833
Rev. Charles William Bradley 1833-1834
Rev. Joseph Scott 1834-1842
Rev. William Bliss Ashley 1842-1848
Rev. Thomas Tompkins Guion, D.D. 1848-1853
Rev. Samuel Hanson Coxe, D.D. 1853-1854
Rev. Jared Bradley Flagg, D.D. 1855-1856
Rev. John Brainard, S.T.D. 1856-1864
Rev. Nathan Henry Chamberlain 1864-1868
Rev. Simon Greenleaf Fuller 1868-1870
Rev. Leonidas Bradley Baldwin 1870-1879
Rev. Orlando Witherspoon 1880-1886
Rev. George Hickman Buck 1887-1928
Rev. Charles W. Huban 1928-1935
Rev. Mark T. Carpenter 1936-1945
Rev. Frank E. Blaikie 1945-1952
Rev. John Bowers 1953-1957
Rev. William M. Weber 1957-1965
Rev. Robert J. Miner 1966-1974
Rev. Richard L. Schuster 1975-1984
Rev. Randall Murray-Laird 1986-
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