Solomon Stoddard and the “Converting Ordinance” (1690)

On October 5, 1690, Solomon Stoddard, pastor of the church in Northampton, Massachusetts, preached a sermon that became widely discussed in New England. Concerned that piety was cooling and that many were lingering on the edges of church life, Stoddard urged that the Lord’s Supper not be treated only as a reward for the assured, but also as a means God may use to awaken the unconverted. He called it a “converting ordinance,” not because bread and cup save, but because God can use faithful participation—under the Word and with earnest seeking—to draw sinners to Christ.

Northampton, a frontier-influenced river town in the Connecticut Valley, faced both spiritual and social pressures. Stoddard’s pastoral burden was practical and tender: he saw humble people staying away from the Table out of fear, shame, or uncertainty. He pressed them to examine themselves honestly, to come confessing need, and to look to Christ rather than to their own spiritual credentials. “A broken and a contrite heart” was not to be despised, but welcomed.

His approach emphasized grace over spiritual pride. Scripture warns against careless participation, yet also invites sinners to come to Christ. “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Stoddard’s counsel aimed to keep tender consciences from despair while still calling for repentance and faith. “Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:22), he might say, not as those trusting a ritual, but as those clinging to a Redeemer.

Debate and Spiritual Legacy

Stoddard’s stance stirred lasting debate about church membership, assurance, and the proper fencing of the Table. Some feared it blurred the line between the regenerate and the unregenerate; others believed it magnified God’s ordinary means of grace and the church’s duty to shepherd seekers. In time, even within his own ministerial lineage, it provoked careful reexamination.

Yet the enduring challenge remains: the Lord’s Table is not a stage for self-congratulation, but a place where Christ is proclaimed and needy people are called to humble honesty. True heroism here is quiet and spiritual—repenting, seeking reconciliation, laying down hypocrisy, and coming in reverent faith rather than staying away in hopelessness. “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).