Ephraim Woodbridge
1769-1776

    Grandson of Ephraim Woodbridge, first pastor of the Groton Church.  A minister of strong Calvinistic convictions.  Piety at a low ebb, and growing religious indifference, largely due to practice of Half-Way Covenant, in use for over a hundred years in churches.  Woodbridge's ministry is an emphatic protest against the Half-Way Covenant.  "He insisted that persons who were received into the church should have an experience of renewing grace and make a public confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, nor would he acknowledge any church membership which was not justified by evidences of a change of heart."  He also refused to baptize the children of those who were not in full communion with the church.