A challenge faced by teachers of American history, especially those dealing with younger students, is the antipathy felt by 17th century Puritans, and particularly Separatists, towards the Anglican Church.

The point of these dissenters was that while King Henry and Parliament had severed ties with the Roman Catholic Church many years earlier, the English church was still far too Catholic in its liturgy and trappings. I had explained this a couple of times early in my junior high teaching career, but I didn’t really think I had gotten through. One of the problems was that while many of my students went to church from time to time, few had ever visited another church.

They had no point of comparison.

The idea I tried in the late ‘70s was to question kids from different churches about outward signs of their denomination. (I had better sense than to even think about asking about theology!) In a seventh grade class I had a boy who I knew went to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (the American branch of the Church of England). I asked if anybody attended St. Patrick Church, also in Mystic, and sure enough, another lad indicated that he did.

Finally I asked if anyone attended a mainline Protestant church, a church that would be more in line with the early New England settlers. A girl said that she did, though she didn’t mention which church. Good, I thought, I was all set to teach my lesson. Little was I to know!

My first question to each of them was what title was used when addressing the leader of the Congregation? The Catholic boy said Father Comtois. The Episcopalian said Father Adkins. The girl didn’t know the clergyman’s last name, but was sure that he was addressed as Father.

I probably should have stopped right there, but foolish me, I didn’t.

My next question dealt with the interior of the church. Both the Catholic and Episcopalian described a church with several candles on or about the altar, and stained glass. The Catholic lad said that there was a statue in the church and also one outside. The Episcopalian said that there was only one statue and that was outside in the garden.

Sure enough, my young Protestant also had stained glass, candles, and a statue in her church.

I began to wonder if I was unaware of a Protestant church in the Mystic area, but having been in all of them, I thought, at one time or another; I couldn’t come up with a possibility. Finally, when I realized that my lesson was completely falling apart, I asked the girl what Protestant church she attended. “Noank Baptist,” she replied.

Now, I had been in Noank Baptist Church several times. My late sister directed the nursery school there. My niece was married there and my brother-in-law’s funeral was held there. While both the exterior and the interior of the church building are beautiful, the church is typically Protestant. There is no stained glass, nor are there statues, either inside or outside.

I had known Jim Pratt, the pastor of the church, for several years and had sung with him in ecumenical choirs. The next time I saw “Father” Pratt, I told him of my lesson gone awry. He smiled and told me that the child in question had been to the church only a couple of times with her grandparents and then explained to me what I should have known, but didn’t yet have enough experience as a teacher to realize it; she just didn’t want to appear different.

I’ve taught that lesson since – using photographs!

Robert Welt of Mystic is a longtime retired history teacher in the Groton Public Schools.