First Congregational Church and Cotton Mather Smith

Sharon's first religious services were held in the houses of Capt. Dunham and Mr. Pardee, as well as in Pardee's barn. The first meetinghouse, a log structure measuring 36' x 20' was erected in 1741, followed a few years later by a larger structure, 45' x 35' with 20' posts. A third meetinghouse was begun in the 1760s on the upper Green. At Sharon's first town meeting, a committee was selected to choose a minister for the community. Peter Pratt, a recent Yale graduate was selected, and was ordained in April 1740. Five years later townsmen dismissed him for intemperance. John Searle from Simsbury next occupied the pulpit, but was dismissed in 1754 for feeble health. On August 23, 1755, Cotton Mather Smith of Suffield was ordained pastor of the Sharon church. He was a 1751 Yale graduate and a descendent of Cotton Mather, Massachusetts' famed Puritan divine. Reverend Smith served as Sharon's pastor until his death in 1806 and exerted considerable influence over the town, especially during the Revolution.

Sharon played its part in The Great Awakening, a spiritual upheaval of awesome proportions that drew on a history of revivals dating back to the 1720s. Exhortations of ministers Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and others fanned the excitement, attacking orthodoxy and calling on listeners to repent. Supporters of the revival, who desired a more personal and intimate relationship with God, earned the name "New Lights," while opponents, upholders of tradition, became known as "Old Lights." In many cases parishioners left their congregations in large numbers and established rival churches. Whitefield visited the area repeatedly, the last time in 1770 when he spoke in Sharon, Canaan, and elsewhere.

When Whitefield revisited Sharon in July 1770 many opposed his being admitted to the town meetinghouse, but the Rev. Smith invited him in, even though opposed to Whitefields' message. Smith had been a student of Jonathan Edwards and possessed evangelical tendencies himself, and thus allowed Whitefield to speak when most ministers in Litchfield refused.

To accommodate the expected crowds the windows were taken out of the church and bleachers installed. Whitefield's sermons drew an immense congregation from Sharon and surrounding towns. He discoursed on the doctrine of the new birth "with astonishing power and eloquence." Many inhabitants followed him on his journey even after he left Sharon so that they might hear his words.

In 1775, word of the fighting at Lexington and Concord set in motion a vast grassroots military response. The news from Massachusetts reached Sharon on Sunday morning. After the early service Rev. Smith dismissed his congregation and 100 men gathered on the green prepared to march to Boston. They were encouraged by Parson Smith, an ardent Whig, whose public ministry had been filled with allusions to the tyrannical edicts of King George and the degraded and suffering conditions of the colonies. His patriotism extended to prayers and hymns. One song defied the "iron rod" of tyrants and the "galling chains" of slavery, placing trust in "New England's God" instead. Smith led his congregation out to that first wartime training session and later served as a chaplain during the Canada campaign.