Sermon returns to 18th century for history event in North Augusta

Dana Cheney watches as Daniel Brown conducts communion at an 18th century church service Sunday morning. Staff photo by Amy Banton.

People gathered at the Willow Springs Meeting House on Sunday morning for worship and a bit of a history lesson.

An 18th century-styled Anglican church service was held Sunday as part of the North Augusta Living History Park's free event, Colonial Times: Under the Crown.

Father Daniel Brown of the Church of the Holy Trinity in North Augusta led the service for the third year in a row. Being a local Anglican minister, Brown also carries the title of historian. With his strong faith and love for history, Brown was able to lead the service and strategically incorporate facts from the past throughout the sermon.

"I see faith through a lens of history," he said.

Wiping the sweat from his brow as the temperatures were steadily rising that morning, Brown was dressed in 18th-century ministry attire, complete with wool socks. He didn't let the uncomfortable haze of heat distract him as he said the people of the 18th century and before endured the heat; back then, there really was no escape from it.

Brown led the visitors through prayer, communion and "Amazing Grace" during the service inside the tiny wooden meeting house. The service lasted about an hour, but Brown said services during that time period typically lasted for two hours.

He also shared with visitors a brief history behind the church, the importance it had to the people of that time period and the hardships they faced.

"Life could be quick, brutish and short. It was a hard life," Brown said, citing that many people buried more children than they raised during that time, due to disease and other health risks. "They took church extremely serious."

At that time, many of the small churches did not have a permanent minister, and, when his presence was made, he would come with information and the latest news to go along with his sermon, Brown added. That traveling minister may have been one of the only sources outside a small town to the people who lived there, and Brown said they were eager not only for the sermon but also for information.

Charles Hudson of Virginia was re-enacting a loyalist officer, someone who was commissioned by the crown and who had authority to hold service when there was no chaplain present. Hudson has been coming to North Augusta to volunteer at the Living History Park since the early 2000s and said that such event is beneficial to the community.

"It gives people an opportunity to learn a history less sterile than what you may learn from history books and school," Hudson said.

Brenda Bancroft, the historian for the Living History Park, said the re-enactors who volunteer for their events do an extraordinary job, and it means a lot to them when people come to see their craft.

Bancroft added that visitors of these events come from all walks of life, but all of the parents who attend have one thing in common - sharing with their children the benefit of living history.

"They want the best for their children, and they know how important it is to teach them early on the history and all the sacrifices made by their ancestors," she said. "This is a family affair."

Contact Amy Banton at abanton@aikenstandard.com.