Robert Dobson remembers two impressions from his first Sunday at First Congregational Church in Salt Lake City — that there was an “overwhelming” number of people in attendance and that he simply had to play the organ one day.
His family became a part of the church in 1956 when Dobson was a teenager and their own small congregation merged with First Congregational Church, and he’s been there ever since. He even kept his membership at the church when he went to work as a music teacher more than 90 miles away in Dugway, although he attended church closer to home on a regular basis.
From his days participating in youth Sunday School and ushering to his two-year term overseeing the church’s board as moderator to the countless hours he spent behind the keyboards as one of the church’s organists, 75-year-old Dobson has dedicated much of his life to being a part of the First Congregational Church.
It’s what the Rev. Michael Chittum, the church’s current minister, calls being part of “a family of faith,” and it’s that familial legacy and the congregation’s impact on the community that First Congregational Church is celebrating in 2015 as part of its 150th anniversary.
‘Treasure’ the history
A tour of the First Congregational Church’s building at 2150 Foothill Drive reveals a deep history.
A display case near the front foyer is filled with objects that provide a glimpse into the past, including a copy of an early 17th-century letter written by John Robinson to Plymouth Church in Massachusetts, minutes from a meeting of the First Congregational Church from the early 20th century and a photograph of the congregation outside its first building in 1865.
The pews in the main chapel glow with multicolored light reflected from multiple stained glass windows, including one depicting Jesus Christ with his disciples on the Road to Emmaus that was transported from the church’s second home to its current building.
Behind the latticed panels at the front of the chapel sit the more than 2,700 stately pipes of the congregation’s Farrand and Votey organ — an organ that was once the largest in the Utah Territory when it was installed in the congregation’s former building in 1892 and is still a pride and joy for many congregation members.
All the objects pay homage to the church’s past, back to its earliest days.
The congregation traces its roots back to 16th-century Separatists from England who “chose to risk life and liberty in order to follow their conscience” and “form a church that would be under God's authority alone, not bound by state edict or canon law,” according to the First Congregational Church’s website at firstcongregationalslc.org.
The concept of congregationalism — where each church is self-governing and selects its own pastor — found its way to Utah by way of the Rev. Norman McLeod. According to the article “Congregationalism in Utah” on uen.org, the Rev. McLeod was sent to Salt Lake City by the American Home Missionary Society, and upon arriving preached his first sermon on Jan. 22, 1865. Thus, the First Congregational Church was born and became the first permanent church outside of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the territory.
As the congregation grew in the following weeks and months, property was purchased to build a place of worship on what is known today as 300 South and Main Street, according to the church’s history published on its website, and Independence Hall played host to its first services on Nov. 18, 1865.
For the next 36 years, Independence Hall not only was the home of the First Congregational Church but also served as a center for other denominations, including Jewish, Catholic and various other Protestant churches, to host activities and worship services. In 1892, however, the growing congregation moved to a larger building on First South and Fourth East, and it was in this building that the church’s organ was first installed.
The congregation continued on with business as usual until members saw a need for yet another move 72 years later. The church relocated in 1965 to its current building on Foothill Drive — a place that further meets the needs of its members with amenities such as a basketball court, multiple classrooms, a library, a small chapel for smaller services and a large chapel for weekly worship services.
“We’re a long way away from the beginning of congregational life in the new colonies … but I think there is a sense here in which we treasure the hallmarks of our congregational life,” the Rev. Chittum said.
‘An outgrowth of our faith’
Outside the First Congregational Church is a sign that reads, “A congregation of faith, fellowship and freedom.”
“That is indeed the values we honor in this congregation,” the Rev. Chittum said.
It’s those ideals and the open and accepting nature of the members that endeared the congregation to the Rev. Chittum when he became the minister almost seven years ago.
“I was struck initially by the warmth and friendliness of the folks, and that hasn’t changed,” he said.
And Dobson has personally felt the fruits of the congregation’s culture of warmth and fellowship over the years.
He told of a 10-year period of his life where struggles within his own family constantly loomed over him. Yet over the course of that decade, he found support not only from the minister’s counsel but also from many other members of the congregation who knew of his hardships and reached out. And that support, he said, has been a constant.
“I’ve found that true ever since, that (the church) just kind of gives me a base to go back to when I need something to go back to,” Dobson said.
He in turn contributes to that “base” of support and faith for others as he fulfills his dream to play the church’s organ. For more than 30 years, he has served as an organist, starting out as a substitute organist, then moving to part time and finally becoming the full-time organist in 2009. Until he retired from being the full-time organist in January of this year, Dobson would practice up to four hours a day to prepare for the numbers scheduled as part of weekly worship, a program that sometimes included up to eight often-difficult organ accompaniments and solos.
“The fact that I can take the music and try and make it meaningful to other people for the church service, it’s sort of my little part in everybody’s worship service,” Dobson said.
Although serving and fellowshipping members within the congregation is an important part of life at the First Congregational Church, the Rev. Chittum also emphasized the need to reach out to those who are not members of the church.
“There’s a strong sense of our church, I think, looking outside the walls, and while church life may be centered on the 11 a.m. worship service … being ‘church’ goes beyond that,” the Rev. Chittum said.
The church accomplishes this goal by providing assistance to many community organizations and programs, including the Utah Food Bank and the Fourth Street Clinic.
Once a quarter following Sunday worship services, members of the congregation file downstairs in the building to make 600 to 800 sandwiches to serve to homeless members of the community at the St. Vincent de Paul Resource Center.
“It’s always fun for me to see folks with plastic gloves on, spreading peanut butter, spreading jelly, putting mustard on sandwiches and meat and cheese,” the Rev. Chittum said with a smile and a laugh.
It’s just one example of what the Rev. Chittum refers to as “day-to-day tasks” that strengthen faith and fellowship others.
“Making sandwiches, there’s not anything big and grand about that, but it’s an outgrowth of our faith and it also helps strengthen us in our goal to be people of God,” he said. “I’m very much a believer of that.”
150 years and beyond
The Rev. Chittum says it’s due to the church’s “survivability” that it has endured 150 years and will continue to move forward for what he hopes is many more years to come.
The First Congregational Church’s 2015 anniversary kicked off on Jan. 25 with a visit from the Rev. Doug Lobb, a former minister at the First Congregational Church, on the church’s Anniversary Sunday.
An organ recital featuring Mormon Tabernacle Choir principal organist Richard Elliot will take place April 26 at 4 p.m. to honor the church’s heritage and highlight the organ that is loved by many, including Dobson.
The anniversary events, however, not only serve as a celebration but also continue the church’s mission of making a difference.
Throughout the year, the congregation will pay tribute to its role in helping “provide the impetus for the state to provide free and accessible public education for all children” by collecting books for the students at Edison Elementary in Salt Lake City, according to information provided by the church about the year’s celebrations. The Rev. Chittum said that while their initial goal was to collect 150 books in honor of the 150th anniversary, he recently “upped the ante” and encouraged the congregation to collect a book for every student, a goal they are already about halfway to reaching.
In June, the church will also host the annual meeting of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches, an organization that brings together individual “Congregational Christian Churches for mutual care and outreach to our world in the name of Jesus Christ,” according to NACCC’s website. The Rev. Chittum estimates that around 400 churches from around the country are part of the NACCC, and he said the annual gathering actually ends up being “part business session and part family reunion.”
Continuing beyond the 150th anniversary, the Rev. Chittum said he looks forward to finding ways to further “be the people of God and to do the work of the kingdom of God in this place.”
As for Dobson, he plans to do his part by singing in the choir and occasionally substituting on the organ for as long as he can, which is exactly where he’s always wanted to be.
If you go …
What: Organ recital featuring Richard Elliott, Lauren Williams and Teresa Clawson
Where: First Congregational Church, 2150 Foothill Drive
When: Sunday, April 26, 4 p.m.
How much: Free
Phone: 801-487-1357
Web: firstcongregationalslc.org
Email: wbutters@deseretnews.com, Twitter: WhitneyButters