“The Influence of Religious Belief on the Citizens of Brockport” at Morgan-Manning House November 15

“The Influence of Religious Belief on the Citizens of Brockport” will be presented on Thursday, November 15, at the Morgan-Manning House in Brockport.

Mary Lynne Turner will discuss how the development of religion in Brockport came from many cultural influences, creating the diversity of the existing churches.  Among various influences were the teachings of Benjamin Titus Roberts, for whom Roberts Wesleyan College is named, and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, prompting morals and trends that shaped the identity of the town.  Turner is a member of the Western Monroe Historical Society board of trustees.

Sponsored by the Western Monroe Historical Society, the event takes place at the historic home at 151 Main Street in Brockport. Refreshments will be served following the program. Free and open to the general public. For information phone 585-637-3645.

Born and raised in Brockport, Turner became acquainted with various churches. “My father was a practicing Catholic and my mother was Presbyterian,” she said.  Her school friends were of different denominations, including Baptist, Catholic, Episcopalian, and Presbyterian and they would visit each other’s churches on occasion.

Turner was involved with the Brockport Village Museum, now the Emily Knapp Museum, she said, “eventually taking the title of Director around the time the library moved out of the Seymour Building” (cc. 1995).  “It was wonderful to see the photos of old Brockport, including the churches. I read about events of the different eras, many sponsored by or associated with various churches.”

“I am an active member of Nativity (Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Brockport),” Turner said, naming several committee memberships.

“It is in gathering with people on social or ‘work’ committees … that is important in examining the role of churches in history, because they helped form social conscience and drove ideas into becoming realities. From ladies’ guilds to Masonic groups to temperance unions and more, religion helped form our early local and national moral codes,” Turner suggested. “More recently, the introduction of other, non-Judeo-Christian faiths, the formation of various sects, cults, and independent churches, and the overall decrease in attendance in mainstream faith communities spells a change in what society considers to be normal (in moral codes).”