Burial Hill in the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts serves as the final resting place for many influential figures in American history, one of which is Reverend William Brewster. Though the precise location of his remains is unknown, he is believed to have been buried on these grounds. A simple memorial to his memory was erected in 1967 there on Burial Hill. Brewster was born 1567 in Scrooby, England and died in April of 1644 in Plymouth, MA.
Brewster was a Separatist (those wishing to separate from the corruption of the Church of England) in the truest sense of the word. He helped to establish the Separatist church of Scrooby in 1606. Brewster believed that only the Spirit of God, and not any mere man or human government, was the Founder of the true church. Following an imprisonment, he became one of the leaders of the group of Protestants who moved from England to Holland in 1608 in an effort to be able to worship freely. In 1620, he boarded a west bound ship you just may have heard of. The ship was called, the Mayflower.
Both at sea and on land, William was a leader, even amongst this motivated group of tough-minded people. William functioned as the primary shepherd for this adventuresome band in the realm of Biblical doctrine and the practice of worship. A friend of Brewster and another William, last name Bradford, ultimately became the Governor of these people once their new colony was established. They called their settlement, "New Plymouth".
Somewhere around half of these settlers did not make it through that first winter. Such circumstances must have been remarkably difficult in which to pastor a fledgling church in a fledgling community, but Brewster faithfully labored, nonetheless. William is noted for his generosity, kindness and hospitality, which often came at significant cost to himself.
As my wife and I were blessed to walk the grounds of Brewster Gardens there in Plymouth in July of 2023, we stumbled across an understated plaque affixed to a large rock. As a minister of the gospel of Jesus myself, I was both struck and convicted by the inscription, which read, and I quote -
"...their Reverend Elder, Mr. William Brewster: 'a man that had done and suffered much for ye Lord Jesus and ye gospells sake...he was qualified above many, he was wise and discreete and well spoken...of a very cherfull spirite...under vallewing him self & his owne abilities...' - Governor William Bradford"
What a legacy to leave! Though his qualifications were many, Brewster is distinguished by those who knew him best as one who suffered for the Lord Jesus yet still maintained a cheerful spirit, and as a man who undervalued himself. Truly, these are the marks of a man of God!
"3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus..." - Philippians 2:3-5
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