Colonial Church

Church was important in Colonial America. Men, women, children, slaves, and Native Americans all sat in their own sections. One sermon lasted 2-5 hours. After lunch, there was another sermon. Nobody could leave church except for lunch until the minister and his wife left. To strictly enforce the seriousness of church, there was a guard called the tithing-man, who had a stick called a church-stick. The stick had a hard ball for hitting misbehaving children and a foxtail for tickling sleeping adults. People were fined if they smiled or laughed because they were not taking church seriously. A Colonial American church service was very significant.