|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
Meetinghouse
MEETINGHOUSEMEETINGHOUSE. Reserving "church" to designate a covenanted ecclesiastical society, New England Puritans used "meetinghouse" to denote the assembly place used for church services, town meetings, and other public gatherings. Church membership was restricted, but attendance at church services was mandatory. Services included baptisms, sermons, prayers, psalm singing, and funerals for notable persons. Typically a white frame structure, the early square meetinghouse, with a central tower, gave way to an oblong style with an end tower topped by a spire. The pulpit dominated the simple but dignified interior. In much of New England, taxes as well as pew receipts supported the meetinghouses' religious activities. In late colonial times the meetinghouse became a center of revolutionary activities. BIBLIOGRAPHYDonnelly, Marian C. The New England Meeting Houses of the Seventeenth Century. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1968. Von Rohr, John. The Shaping of American Congregationalism, 1620–1957. Cleveland, Ohio: Pilgrim Press, 1992. Louise B.Dunbar/a. r. See alsoCovenant, Church ; New England Way ; Theocracy in New England . |
|
|
Cite this article
"Meetinghouse." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Meetinghouse." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401802595.html "Meetinghouse." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401802595.html |
|
meetinghouse
meet·ing·house / ˈmētingˌhous/ (also meet·ing house) • n. a Quaker place of worship. ∎ hist. a Protestant place of worship. |
|
|
Cite this article
"meetinghouse." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "meetinghouse." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-meetinghouse.html "meetinghouse." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-meetinghouse.html |
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
