4. An earnest minister - Labours chiefly among Native Americans (Jul 1742-Mar 1747)
Brainerd spent the the summer of 1742 with a young bachelor friend and a former student of Edwards, Joseph Bellamy (1719-1790). They worshipped and preached in a barn that served as a meeting house for Bellamy's small congregation in Woodbury, Connecticut. Brainerd preached his first sermon on July 30 at Southbury, Connecticut, on 1 Peter 4:8, having been licensed to preach the day before. Then, on August 12, he preached for the first time to Indians, in a place called Scaticock, near the Connecticut-New York border. A striking statement appears in his journal for August 25 'in family prayer, God helped me to climb up near him, so that I scarce ever got nearer.' Brainerd knew the depths, but he also knew the heights. For the next few months he travelled as an itinerant preacher though in September, 1742, he was forced to leave New Haven to escape arrest for unlawful preaching.
He set off on a 175 mile round trip, preaching along the Connecticut Valley. On November 10, older brother Nehemiah, a minister in Eastbury, Connecticut, died, aged 31, from tubercolosis - a reminder to Brainerd that time was short. On November 19, he received a summons from Pemberton, chairman of the SSPCK in New York, to come and discuss ministry to Native Americans. On November 25 he met with SSPCK commissioners, including Jonathan Dickinson, who was no doubt involved in recommending Brainerd. As part of his examination, Brainerd delivered a sermon. He grieved for the congregation, 'that they should sit there to hear such a dead dog as I preach.' Despite his feelings the commissioners were happy and accepted him for the work.
They felt it unwise to head west in winter so Brainerd preached in various places first, bidding farewell to family and friends. He was at Haddam on February 1, 1743 and also preached to Indians on Long Island under the care of SSPCK missionary Azariah Horton. For six weeks he served as supply preacher at East Hampton, Long Island. On his last Sunday there, March 13, though hardly able to stand, he preached an hour and a half. They pressed him to stay permanently (something they continued to do even after he began work among the Indians) but he refused. He said later, 'I never, since I began to preach, could feel any freedom to enter into other men's labours and settle down in the ministry where the gospel was preached before.' He felt he had to preach where Christ was not named nor known.
Kaunaumeek
He had been assigned to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and the care of a missionary of four years standing, John Sergeant (1710-1749). Brainerd arrived there on March 31, 1743. His main sphere of work was to be 20 miles further west at a place called Kaunaumeek, where he settled with a Scotsman and his wife, a woman who spoke hardly any English.
With next to no conversation or company, he was very lonely even though the Indians were cordial. His 25th birthday was spent fasting and praying alone in the woods. His diet at this time was hasty-pudding (porridge), boiled corn and bread baked in ashes. His lodging was a heap of straw, laid on boards in a log room with no floor. When Spring came he move into a wigwam. He had to travel a mile and a half daily on foot to reach the Indians. A Stockbridge Christian became his interpreter and friend. They translated Psalms and hymns, and, following a trip back east by Brainerd, were able to start an English school.
By August 1 he had completed building a hut for himself and had a better place to sleep. He writes of the sweetness of religion and a conviction that it was 'worthwhile to follow after God through a thousand snares, deserts, and death itself.' There were problems still, however. He had to go or send 10 or more miles for bread and it would be mouldy and sour before he could eat it all. The worldly conversation of some irreligious Dutchmen oppressed him.
Further trips east included a stop at New Haven for the graduation, which was probably when he first met Edwards personally. Some writers like to speculate that he also met Edwards' 14 year old daughter Jerusha at that time and fell in love with here. We do not know. Staying at Bellamy's he became ill but recovered sufficiently to return to his station on October 4.
On November 29 he began language study with Sergeant in earnest. He continue to preach and to fast and pray regularly though with no marked signs of progress. He bemoans at one point how much of his time is taken up with travelling. His entry for January 24 speaks interestingly of his developing ideas regarding the nature of love, which, if it is virtuous, he says, must be disinterested.
In the Spring of 1744 he received urgent invitations to minister at Millington, Connecticut, and at Easthampton, Long Island. However, on March 11, he preached his last sermon at Kaunaumeek. He persuaded most of the Indians to move to Stockbridge, where they came under the ministry of Sergeant and later Edwards. After a short trip back home, on May 1 he proceeded to his originally intended destination, the Forks of the Delaware river.
Forks of the Delaware
Brainerd took just under two weeks to reach his destination and was well received by the Indians there. On May 28 he left for Dickinson's house in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, three days and 70 miles away. This was to prepare for his examination for ordination. He was ordained in New York on June 11, 1744, with Ebenezer Pemberton preaching on Luke 14:23. Just over a week later he headed back to preach in the highways and byways of the remote wilderness.
Brainerd had to preach sitting down during the August due to ill health. By the end of the summer some 40 Indians were listening to his preaching. He had also made contact with some receptive Indians 30 miles further west. In October, after returning from a trip east, he made an exploratory trip some 70 miles west into the Susquehanna region. He was accompanied by a minister called Eliab Byram, his interpreter Moses Tattamy and two other Indians. It was on this trip that his horse was lamed and had to be put down. That Autumn he travelled east once more,staying again with fellow minister Aaron Burr, then a minister but later to marry Edwards' daughter Esther. Brainerd loved to be on his own with God but he also truly appreciated being with friends and talking about the things of the Lord. 'Friends are a great comfort and it's God that gives them; 'tis he makes them friendly to me.' (06/03/45).
In this period Brainerd lived much of the time with the Hunter family at a place a little way away known as Hunter's Settlement. Brainerd was also supply minister to the Scots-Irish community there. By December, however, he had built himself a little house into which he was able to move. (A stone now marks the site). He spent December 6 in prayer and fasting, 'to implore the blessing of God on myself, on my poor people, on my friends, and on the church of God.' Although Tattamy began to come under conviction for sin, these were not very encouraging times for Brainerd. Hwoever, he was able to write 'Towards night I felt my soul rejoice that God is unchangeably happy and glorious; and that he will be glorified, whatever becomes of his creatures.'
That winter was a particularly bad one, both as regards the weather and a regards Brainerd's depression. He confesses to real struggles with pride and ambition. He found it very difficult to concentrate at times. He continued to look to God, however, and came through this time with a greater sense of dependence on the Lord.
On February 17, 1745, he preached and gave communion at a gathering of white frontiers folk. On March 7 he left for a five week trip east. He rode more than 600 miles seeking to find someone who cold help him in the work and funds to support him. Sadly, eight months later he has to confess that he had found no-one 'qualified or disposed for this good work'. On April 20 (his 27th birthday) he was at Abington for three days of ministry. Weak in body, he left with Tattamy on May 8 for another trip into the Susquehanna region and far beyond. Once again he had horse trouble. This time the horses ate poisoned leaves and so they had to proceed on foot. The trip there and back took 22 days and left Brainerd weak and dejected, depressed and disillusioned about prospects. A week later, however, he took a communion service at Neshaminny for Charles Beatty, where there was a movement of the Spirit, a small taste of what lay ahead.
Brainerd spent the the summer of 1742 with a young bachelor friend and a former student of Edwards, Joseph Bellamy (1719-1790). They worshipped and preached in a barn that served as a meeting house for Bellamy's small congregation in Woodbury, Connecticut. Brainerd preached his first sermon on July 30 at Southbury, Connecticut, on 1 Peter 4:8, having been licensed to preach the day before. Then, on August 12, he preached for the first time to Indians, in a place called Scaticock, near the Connecticut-New York border. A striking statement appears in his journal for August 25 'in family prayer, God helped me to climb up near him, so that I scarce ever got nearer.' Brainerd knew the depths, but he also knew the heights. For the next few months he travelled as an itinerant preacher though in September, 1742, he was forced to leave New Haven to escape arrest for unlawful preaching.
He set off on a 175 mile round trip, preaching along the Connecticut Valley. On November 10, older brother Nehemiah, a minister in Eastbury, Connecticut, died, aged 31, from tubercolosis - a reminder to Brainerd that time was short. On November 19, he received a summons from Pemberton, chairman of the SSPCK in New York, to come and discuss ministry to Native Americans. On November 25 he met with SSPCK commissioners, including Jonathan Dickinson, who was no doubt involved in recommending Brainerd. As part of his examination, Brainerd delivered a sermon. He grieved for the congregation, 'that they should sit there to hear such a dead dog as I preach.' Despite his feelings the commissioners were happy and accepted him for the work.
They felt it unwise to head west in winter so Brainerd preached in various places first, bidding farewell to family and friends. He was at Haddam on February 1, 1743 and also preached to Indians on Long Island under the care of SSPCK missionary Azariah Horton. For six weeks he served as supply preacher at East Hampton, Long Island. On his last Sunday there, March 13, though hardly able to stand, he preached an hour and a half. They pressed him to stay permanently (something they continued to do even after he began work among the Indians) but he refused. He said later, 'I never, since I began to preach, could feel any freedom to enter into other men's labours and settle down in the ministry where the gospel was preached before.' He felt he had to preach where Christ was not named nor known.
Kaunaumeek
He had been assigned to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and the care of a missionary of four years standing, John Sergeant (1710-1749). Brainerd arrived there on March 31, 1743. His main sphere of work was to be 20 miles further west at a place called Kaunaumeek, where he settled with a Scotsman and his wife, a woman who spoke hardly any English.
With next to no conversation or company, he was very lonely even though the Indians were cordial. His 25th birthday was spent fasting and praying alone in the woods. His diet at this time was hasty-pudding (porridge), boiled corn and bread baked in ashes. His lodging was a heap of straw, laid on boards in a log room with no floor. When Spring came he move into a wigwam. He had to travel a mile and a half daily on foot to reach the Indians. A Stockbridge Christian became his interpreter and friend. They translated Psalms and hymns, and, following a trip back east by Brainerd, were able to start an English school.
By August 1 he had completed building a hut for himself and had a better place to sleep. He writes of the sweetness of religion and a conviction that it was 'worthwhile to follow after God through a thousand snares, deserts, and death itself.' There were problems still, however. He had to go or send 10 or more miles for bread and it would be mouldy and sour before he could eat it all. The worldly conversation of some irreligious Dutchmen oppressed him.
Further trips east included a stop at New Haven for the graduation, which was probably when he first met Edwards personally. Some writers like to speculate that he also met Edwards' 14 year old daughter Jerusha at that time and fell in love with here. We do not know. Staying at Bellamy's he became ill but recovered sufficiently to return to his station on October 4.
On November 29 he began language study with Sergeant in earnest. He continue to preach and to fast and pray regularly though with no marked signs of progress. He bemoans at one point how much of his time is taken up with travelling. His entry for January 24 speaks interestingly of his developing ideas regarding the nature of love, which, if it is virtuous, he says, must be disinterested.
In the Spring of 1744 he received urgent invitations to minister at Millington, Connecticut, and at Easthampton, Long Island. However, on March 11, he preached his last sermon at Kaunaumeek. He persuaded most of the Indians to move to Stockbridge, where they came under the ministry of Sergeant and later Edwards. After a short trip back home, on May 1 he proceeded to his originally intended destination, the Forks of the Delaware river.
Forks of the Delaware
Brainerd took just under two weeks to reach his destination and was well received by the Indians there. On May 28 he left for Dickinson's house in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, three days and 70 miles away. This was to prepare for his examination for ordination. He was ordained in New York on June 11, 1744, with Ebenezer Pemberton preaching on Luke 14:23. Just over a week later he headed back to preach in the highways and byways of the remote wilderness.
Brainerd had to preach sitting down during the August due to ill health. By the end of the summer some 40 Indians were listening to his preaching. He had also made contact with some receptive Indians 30 miles further west. In October, after returning from a trip east, he made an exploratory trip some 70 miles west into the Susquehanna region. He was accompanied by a minister called Eliab Byram, his interpreter Moses Tattamy and two other Indians. It was on this trip that his horse was lamed and had to be put down. That Autumn he travelled east once more,staying again with fellow minister Aaron Burr, then a minister but later to marry Edwards' daughter Esther. Brainerd loved to be on his own with God but he also truly appreciated being with friends and talking about the things of the Lord. 'Friends are a great comfort and it's God that gives them; 'tis he makes them friendly to me.' (06/03/45).
In this period Brainerd lived much of the time with the Hunter family at a place a little way away known as Hunter's Settlement. Brainerd was also supply minister to the Scots-Irish community there. By December, however, he had built himself a little house into which he was able to move. (A stone now marks the site). He spent December 6 in prayer and fasting, 'to implore the blessing of God on myself, on my poor people, on my friends, and on the church of God.' Although Tattamy began to come under conviction for sin, these were not very encouraging times for Brainerd. Hwoever, he was able to write 'Towards night I felt my soul rejoice that God is unchangeably happy and glorious; and that he will be glorified, whatever becomes of his creatures.'
That winter was a particularly bad one, both as regards the weather and a regards Brainerd's depression. He confesses to real struggles with pride and ambition. He found it very difficult to concentrate at times. He continued to look to God, however, and came through this time with a greater sense of dependence on the Lord.
On February 17, 1745, he preached and gave communion at a gathering of white frontiers folk. On March 7 he left for a five week trip east. He rode more than 600 miles seeking to find someone who cold help him in the work and funds to support him. Sadly, eight months later he has to confess that he had found no-one 'qualified or disposed for this good work'. On April 20 (his 27th birthday) he was at Abington for three days of ministry. Weak in body, he left with Tattamy on May 8 for another trip into the Susquehanna region and far beyond. Once again he had horse trouble. This time the horses ate poisoned leaves and so they had to proceed on foot. The trip there and back took 22 days and left Brainerd weak and dejected, depressed and disillusioned about prospects. A week later, however, he took a communion service at Neshaminny for Charles Beatty, where there was a movement of the Spirit, a small taste of what lay ahead.
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