Church admittance

Question

I have a record from the First Church of Amherst admitting a Sara Adams on January 20, 1754. Can someone explain what this means? Would she have been an adult, i.e. at least 18? I have almost no other records about Sara and I am trying to piece together her life. Adams was her maiden name, I am theorizing that she was born anytime between 1720 and 1740. Her family moved to Amherst around 1737. Thanks for any help!

Answer 1

Puritain Congregational Churches in early New England were somewhat democratic and governed by a covenant. In order to join the church, a person needed to agree to “own the covenant”, and church members (men) had to agree to and vote to accept the new member. Potential new members had to lay bare their sins and give testimony about a personal transformation through Jesus. Sarah may have been attending church before she was admitted as admission to the church is similar in concept to the the way today’s mainline Protestant churches hold “confirmation” for older children and new parishioners. 

https://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/purdef.htm

Comments

Thank you for the link!

Answer 2

I expect it just means she was being accepted as a member.

Comments

She could have been an adult convert, or (depending on the beliefs of that church) an infant/child upon baptism.

Answer 3

It looks like a possible DOB would be hard to extrapolate given just this record. Thank you all for your answers.