Remember the one who fell overboard from the Mayflower? John Howland, the young man whose life was almost snuffed out in 1620, is John Howland the man in 1634 – in command of a post 170 miles north of Plymouth, refereeing a political dispute, driving away a threat to Plymouth’s wellbeing, and coming out of…
You may recall the sad saga of Rev. John Lyford we chronicled in the June e-news of this year. In summary, the Pilgrim congregation in Plymouth had been taught by Pastor John Robinson in Leyden to discern the character of their leaders, not just their knowledge. This is why it took a while for the…
To set the context for this story, we need to rehearse the theology of the Pilgrim Church in relation to its minister. Pastor John Robinson had taught them in Leiden that “a company of faithful people thus covenanting together are a church, though they be without any officers among them.” Robinson had taught that “if…
The spring of 1624 in Plymouth brought a contrast of character that provides lessons today for both the youngest of children all the way to those old enough to have experienced these observations first-hand. Bradford writes, “They began now highly to prize corn as more precious than silver, and those that had some to spare…
In the spring of 1624, the Pilgrims realized that changing the “common course and condition” (communal farming) to a private initiative where each family was responsible to produce its own corn was wise. Bradford writes, “…Having found the benefit of last year’s harvest, and setting corn for their particular, having thereby with a great deal…
When William Bradford, over 10 years after the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, pondered the real mission of the Leyden Church migrating to the new world, he wrote that: “A great hope and inward zeal they had for the propagating and advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the…
The Pilgrims and the Puritans celebrated two types of prayer services: fasting (and humiliation), as well as thanksgiving. As I wrote in my book, Journey of Faith: “To the Pilgrim, as well as the Puritan, everything was religious, but a prayer and fast day was called in the spring (regularly by 1694), to confess sin…
The Pilgrims were a praying people. It was out of a prayerful heart that their story was born. It was in prayer that they confirmed their salvation and relationship to Jesus Christ to “reform their lives.” It was also in prayer that they consecrated themselves to one another “by a covenant of the Lord.” They…
Four hundred years ago, Edward Winslow commented on the year 1623, writing in Good News from New England (originally published in 1624), “The month of April being now come, on all hands we began to prepare for corn. And because there was no corn left before this time, save that was preserved for seed, being…
Thomas Weston financially backed the Pilgrims and their voyage to the shores of New England. He was attracted to the Pilgrims because they came as families under a church covenant. This, he believed, would prove to be the best atmosphere for an investment that was risky, especially since many plantations did not have an outcome…
The story of Squanto is truly amazing. William Bradford called him “a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expectation.” Introduced to the Pilgrims by Samoset in March of 1621, his story of being captured by Thomas Hunt in 1614, being sent to Spain, gaining his freedom, learning English, and returning in…
The Plimoth Fort and palisade wall were built in the summer of 1622. A Benjamin Franklin aphorism published in his Poor Richard’s Almanack was, “Love your neighbor, yet don’t pull down your hedge.” This “pithy observation” of his, like many others, was derived from the wisdom literature of the Bible. The Bible’s injunction from the…
There were only about 140 people who attended the first harvest feast in the fall of 1621. But on November 20, 2021 thousands lined the route of this year’s Thanksgiving parade held in historic Plymouth, Massachusetts. Plymouth Rock Foundation, parent organization of America’s Hometown Thanksgiving and original sponsor was again proud to be involved in…
On Tuesday, October 5, as people gathered on the historic Plymouth waterfront, the long-awaited American Pilgrimage 400 culminated with the re-enactment of the landing of the Pilgrims from the newly restored replica shallop. Jumping from the boat into waist deep water to the cheers of on-lookers, the role players from Plimoth-Patuxet Museums came ashore, some…
They assemble by beat of drum, each with his musket or firelock, in front of the captain’s door, they have their cloaks on, and place themselves in order, three abreast, and are led by a sergeant without beat of drum. Behind comes the Governor, in a long robe; beside him on the right hand, comes…