#MIDDLEBURY
St. John of the Cross Catholic Church was dedicated in 1914. It was founded by the Rev. John J. Loftus. (Middlebury Historical Society photos)
By DR. ROBERT L. RAFFORD
From the beginning, citizens living in the part of Waterbury that is now Middlebury were church goers. Religious societies had a central role in the lives of Middleburians at the formation of the town, and that tradition continues to this day.
In 1907, the cornerstone was laid for St. John of the Cross Roman Catholic Church. On Nov. 24, 1914, the church, with 20 families, was dedicated by Bishop John J. Nilan. The church was built of native stone brought in by wagon loads by church members and friends. The Rev. John J. Loftus, who had been the Roman Catholic priest in Watertown, founded the Middlebury and Woodbury parishes and served as their priest until 1916. He was a selfless man who raised chickens and grew vegetables so that he could give them to the poor and unfortunate.
On Nov. 4, 1956, groundbreaking was celebrated for a new Baptist church on Kelly Road in Middlebury. The church was originally established in Waterbury in 1892 as the Swedish Baptist Mission. In 1905 the mission became the Swedish Tabernacle Baptist Church, but by the 1950s the church was seeking a new site because its old church building was too small and hidden by the tall buildings around it.
A dedicatory service was held Sept. 17, 1960, and the Rev. Maurice C. Lundh announced that more than 250 people were in attendance. The structure was completed, and the dedication of the Middlebury Baptist Church, as it is now named, occurred Nov. 18, 1962. Carl F. Froelich was the chairman of the building committee.
St. George’s Episcopal Church is shown here during its construction in the 1960s. It was built on land donated by George A. Goss Jr. and his wife, Claire.
In 1958, St. George’s Episcopal Church was formed in Middlebury. On July 26, 1958, George A. Goss Jr. and his wife, Claire (Leader) Goss, gave 6 acres of land on Tucker Hill Road for the site of the church. A temporary structure was built and the dedication was held Nov. 17, 1963, with more than 300 in attendance. The Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Connecticut, The Right Rev. Walter H. Gray, officiated with visiting ministers. The building committee was headed by Harry Wynn.
The first vicar was the Rev. F. Newton Howden and the first full-time vicar of St. George’s was the Rev. Bruce M. Robinson. In 1963, The Right Rev. J. Warren Hutchens, Suffragan Bishop of Connecticut, presided at a ground-breaking for a new, permanent church building.
A more recent religious institution organized in Middlebury is the Mattatuck Unitarian Universalist Society, begun in 1980. It now meets in Woodbury.
The most recent religious institution, Word of Life Family Church, is a non-denominational Christian church that shares space with St. George’s Church on Tucker Hill Road each Sunday morning and offers a variety of programs for area churchgoers.
More detailed information on the religious life of the Middlebury community is in the pages of Delia Bronson’s History of Middlebury. Copies may be purchased from the society or at the Town Hall or library. A history of St. John of the Cross Church was written by Dr. Ray Sullivan of Middlebury.
Bob Rafford is the Middlebury Historical Society president and Middlebury’s municipal historian. To join or contact the society, visit MiddleburyHistoricalSociety.org or call Bob at 203-206-4717. Your membership would be a valuable addition.
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