Heritage Trail Guide
Stop #14 - Stepney Baptist Church (c.1848)
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Two centuries ago “religious diversity” had a very narrow definition in Connecticut. Congregationalism, the theological successor to Puritanism, was the state’s established tax-supported religion. The only other faiths Connecticut grudgingly tolerated were Protestant denominations, like the Episcopalians and Baptists who established churches before the American Revolution.
Lower Stepney was the location of Monroe’s first Baptist church, built in 1793 on land given by Samuel Waklee on Judd Road. In 1818 a new state constitution stripped Congregationalism of its special status. Other denominations subsequently gained large numbers of new members. Between 1800 and 1848 the number of Baptist churches in Connecticut almost doubled, and the number of members nearly quadrupled. A second Baptist congregation was established in Monroe.
In the 1840s the two Monroe societies merged and set about building a new house of worship. The logical location was Birdsey’s Plain, later known as Upper Stepney, which, thanks to two new turnpikes that intersected there, was fast becoming Monroe’s commercial center.
In 1848 the Stepney Baptist Church was built on what was then known as the Monroe and Bridgeport Turnpike. The new house of worship was built in the popular Greek revival style, using some materials from the original 1793 church. According to local histories, the construction of this church was begun on 1841 and completed just prior to the formation of a congregation from the unification of the Stepney Baptist Society and the Monroe Baptist Society in 1848. The Methodist church built in 1839 almost directly opposite on Pepper Street originally looked very much like the Baptist Church. It was, in fact, a near duplicate of the Stepney Methodist Church (today Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel). The two buildings became known as the “twin churches.” Baptists continue to worship in the church they built more than 150 years ago.
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Different persons gave lumber, timber or their labor and under the supervision of Hanford Hull, a noted jointer, this building was erected. The Reverend Asa Bronson of the Stratford Baptist Church delivered the dedication sermon.
The Monroe Baptist Society and the Stepney Baptist Church held their first meeting on February 29, 1848. Reverend James Mallory commenced his labors as the first pastor. In 1855 extensive repairs were made and a new addition to the church was completed. The choir was moved from the rear gallery to the front of the church. After alterations were made to the steeple, the bell was hauled up into the belfry where it was used to call the faithful to worship until it broke from its moorings and fell on the rafters in 1964. This bell now rests on a stonework structure at the south side of the church, and was dedicated to the memory of two prominent church members, Charles F. Nichols and Louis W. Fuller. In 1901, discussion began on the possibility of a Baptistery to be constructed in the church. This was not completed and put into use until 1909.
In 1912 an Estey Reed Organ was purchased with funds raised by church members and partly by a grant from Andrew Carnegie. William J. Nichols headed up the fund drive and also played the reed organ until 1917. His niece, Bertha Fuller, replaced Mr. Nichols in that year and continued to play for services for 49 years.
In 1947 the wood burning stoves were removed and an oil-fired furnace was installed. During this conversion Stepney Baptist united with their Methodist friends across the Green for worship.
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In 1950 the interior of the sanctuary was completely renovated and redecorated, doors were re-hung, carpets installed, and extensive storm damage to the steeple repaired.
Architecturally the Stepney Baptist church is a two story Greek Revival-style church set with the gable end facing the street and has four bays articulated as a pilastered Doric distyle in antis¹ structure with flanking Doric corner pilasters. The main facade is flushboarded, while the sides are covered with clapboard. Recently the entire church has been covered with vinyl siding.
The paired recessed entries have their own simple pediments, and are topped by stained glass windows. A simple gable articulated as a severe, stripped classical pediment tops the main facade. This, in turn, is topped by a two-tier steeple, the upper level of which is articulated with corner pilasters and tipped by gothic finials. The side facades are punctuated by two stories of trabeated windows (constructed with horizontal beams) with stained glass.
The entire building rests on a granite cut-stone basement. The basement is used as meeting rooms. It is a well-preserved example of the Greek revival style church in Connecticut. It is virtually identical to the church across the Stepney Green, a rare occurrence that points to a high probability that these buildings share a common builder. The church property consists of 1.2 acre shared by the parsonage (419 Main Street) the Beulah Beck Building (423 Main Street) and the modern youth center (427 Main Street originally a branch of the Connecticut National Bank, the first Bank in Monroe).
¹ Distyle in antis: having two columns in front; - said of a temple, portico, or the like, between two antae - pilasters forming the end of a projecting lateral wall, as in some Greek temples, and constituting one boundary of the portico.
