Finding My Roots: The Mather Legacy

When I was 5 years old my parents took me for my first dental appointment. I don't remember much of my visit other than something the dentist said to me in the presence of my father. The dentist leaned down in my direction and whispered, "Your family name is important, when you are older you need to learn about the history of your family." When I was 8 years old my father bought an encylopedia and I looked up the Mather name. In the meantime my father had researched our family genealogy and verified we are direct descendents of the Mather's who immigrated to America as Puritan minister. As I have gotten older the history and calling these men experienced has had a direct impact on my life. That dentist whispering into a 5 year old child's ear helped me rediscover my roots. I would like to share a little bit about the Mather family who immigrated to America so long ago. Richard Mather was the first of my family to arrive to America. He was born in 1596 near Liverpool, England.  He became a believer as a teenager.  After brief study at Oxford University, in 1619 Mather was ordained as an Anglican minister. In more than a decade of pastoral ministry, he upheld Calvinist orthodoxy while keeping clear of the Anglican ceremonies, he and other Puritans found objectionable. In 1633 Mather was briefly suspended from his position; the following year he lost it. In 1635, Richard and his family took sail for Massachusetts.
  Richard was soon installed as pastor of the small church in Dorchester, just south of Boston. He had 2 major accomplishments in his work there: 1. He persuaded the congregation to require that those wanting to be members provide a convincing account of their own conversion, the goal being a church composed of 'visible saints'. 2. He composed the bulk of the Cambridge platform (1649), a sort of Robert's rule of order for the government of New England churches. Richard died in 1669.
  Richards son, Increase has been hailed as the "greatest American Puritan". Increase was a dominant figure and the leading voice for orthodox Calvinism in an era when rationalism was beginning to undermine the Bay Colony's  religious foundations.
  Increase attended Harvard receiving his B.A. in 1656. But instead of staying at Harvard for his M.A. he enrolled in Trinity College, Dublin, from which he received his master's degree in 1658. In 1664 Increase was called to Pastor Boston's  Second Church, where he remained until his death. He spent most of his waking hours in his study, preparing the biblically grounded, theologically sophisticated sermons his congregation demanded. His delivery was free, direct and vivid. Many of his sermons were published.
  Increase was appointed a fellow of Harvard College and a member of the school's corporation in 1675. 10 years later he was elected President. He insisted on retaining his pastorate.  His absence from the campus while pastoring resulted in his ouster in 1701 by religious liberals... the low point of his ministry.
  The high point of his ministry was when Increase was called to London to negotiate the return of the colony's original charter, which has been rescinded by Charles 2.... although he failed in the task he greatly influenced the new charter granted by King William. Increased died in 1723.
  Cotton Mather was born in 1663. He was named for his maternal grandfather, the well known John Cotton. Cotton mastered Latin, Greek and Hebrew and graduated from Harvard at the age of 15. He followed both his father and grandfather into the ministry having become a believer in his teen years. In 1685 he was ordained and installed as his father's associate Pastor at Boston's North Church.
Cotton shared his father's commitment to evangelical Calvinism. But where Increase's sermons were plain and direct, Cotton's were ornate and full of literary references and deep theology.
 While Increase focused on the preaching and study, Cotton canvassed house by house across Boston...reaching the unchurched! He even composed an instructional booklet to guide other pastors in evangelism.
  Cotton also organized small groups of a dozen or so members, which met in private homes once or twice a month for the purpose of prayer, bible study and fellowship. Such groups contributed vitally to the health of North church.
  Regrettably, most closely associated with Cotton's name is the Salem witch trials of 1692. In fact Cotton denounced the way the trials were being conducted, insisting on more objective proof. It was the united opposition of Boston's clergy that was crucial in ending the trials and saving dozens from the gallows.
  Cotton's supreme achievement was in drawing on the perspectives of Puritans like Richard Baxter and German Pietists like August  Hermann Francke to forge a distinctively American spirituality. This new piety would finally come into its own with birth of American evangelicalism in the 19th and 20th centuries. Mather's ministry bridged the gap between what was and what was to be.
  For years, Cotton Mather prayed for New England's spiritual awakening, praying that God would agains pour out his Spirit on its churches and communities. In 1728 his death brought and end to the Mather spiritual dynasty of the era, but within a decade came the answer to his prayers--the Great Awakening! (excerpted from an article by George W. Harper)
  I became a Christian just before my 21st birthday on August 2nd, 1980. Now I look back on what the first Mather's in America accomplished and realize the power of a Godly heritage. I feel the power of the prayers of my forbears from centuries ago and long to serve faithfully in my generation. Thank you God for calling my family from England so long ago. Help me Lord to serve you with the same faith, dedication and vision that the early American Mather's were known for!

Jim