A Grand Presence

Nobody can have missed Thanksgiving a few days ago. Not many know, however, that it originated with a certain beloved Church. In fact many great things, rich in diversity, originated with this Church:

• the Commonwealth
• the United States
• the Great Awakening
• Harvard University
• modern hymnology
• modern missions
• the abolition of slavery,
       among other things. 

It is of course the Congregational Church, which has truly had a grand presence in history, and continues to have great influence in the world both directly and indirectly. OBSERVATION: It seems hard to fathom how one Church could start all this. It was, however, inspired by powerful, simple spiritual principles, and had some clear-minded, determined people behind it. The image depicts the first Thanksgiving, as Jennie Brownscombe imagined it.