He was just enjoying the scenery. That’s one way to illustrate the episode in which William Savage Pitts interacted with nature to imagine how a building not yet constructed could help nurture a community that was looking about them in two different directions -- horizontally and vertically. This was the “Church in the Wildwood” (also known as “The Little Brown Church in the Vale” [See the map-picture of Chickasaw County, Iowa, and the town of Nashua marked with a red circle in the southwest corner of the county.]). When William visited the area in 1857, the construction site was in the small community of Bradford, which has since declined in size, with no post office there since 1899. But the little church that was erected a few years later has remained. What was it that Pitts saw, besides the wooded valley that surrounded him that day?
A picture of the church from 2011 shows a sign on it that says the building was constructed in the period 1860-64. That, in a nutshell, perhaps captures what the 27-year-old William Pitts was trying to describe in his original poem. Somehow, he could hope that this little church, across many years, would help focus attention and act like glue for residents of that area – that they would appreciate their Creator as they looked around themselves and took stock of their lives. Could Pitts have known that a tiny, somewhat dingy-looking structure that he nevertheless admired in the mid-1800s would still be around 150 years later? After all, who paints a building brown?! Perhaps William thought the color that the members of that church community chose actually helped emphasize the church’s similarity with its setting. Pitts evidently thought this nature spot underscored the peace and beauty of His creation, a theme that he visits throughout his five stanzas. This spurred his appreciation for worship in such a spot, where people would respond to a ‘clear ringing bell’ on the ‘Sabbath’ (v.2). It creates an image of a God who gently invites and coaxes the faithful to join Him in spirit amidst His creation. Pitts could also foresee generations of the church’s members drawing descendants to that spot (vv.3 and 4), with reminders that the departed ‘lie’, sleep’, and are ‘close by the side of that loved one’, but are merely resting in a ‘tomb’ in that place. Evidently, like many rural churches, Pitts expected that a cemetery, to silently speak to people as they arrived and departed from the site, would occupy a portion of the church’s grounds. The church was also something like a stepping stone, as Pitts in his concluding thoughts envisaged a journey beginning there and proceeding toward ‘mansions of light’ (v.5). Pitts’ own story of the song indicates it was sung for the first time some seven years later in this crude structure during its dedication. That both the song and the church building have endured says something…how many other little, rural churches identify with that little brown one in the vale?
Pitts’ verses and refrain today still call churchgoers at the little brown church in the wildwood to nurture their faith, to look for and appreciate God in a church community, as it has done for many generations. Pitts’ own account of seeing for the first time the vale spot planned for the church indicates he was struck by the natural beauty he beheld there. As others have noted, nature has a unique ability to inspire reverence for and celebration of His dominion. So, the people of the little brown church did not attempt to erect a grand edifice, for that would have distracted from Him. Perhaps all they wanted was a basic roof, floor, and some walls. He’d already provided everything else. Besides, they probably suspected there was already a grand place awaiting them elsewhere. Where do you suppose that is?
See here for the song’s verses and the story of the song: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/l/i/t/t/l/littlebc.htm
See author’s brief biography here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/p/i/t/t/pitts_ws.htm
See here for background on the town of Nashua, Iowa and a picture of the little brown church: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashua,_Iowa
Information on the unincorporated site of the church named Bradford: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradford,_Chickasaw_County,_Iowa
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