Collect for All Saints
O ALMIGHTY God, who has knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord; Grant us grace so to follow thy blessed Saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys, which thou has prepared for them that unfeignedly love thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A brief history of All Saints
The first documented Episcopal services held in the Hamlet of Hoosick were conducted during the 1850’s by the Rev. G.B. Manser, D.D., Rector of St. Peter’s Church in Bennington, Vermont. In 1864 George Mortimor Tibbits, Troy businessman and Hoosick farmer, began construction of what would become the nave of All Saints Church. The structure was built with native stone quarried locally and trimmed with sandstone brought from Connecticut by sloop up the Hudson River and carted by wagon to Hoosick.
A temporary wooden spire was attached to the original building but this was replaced in 1872 when the present stone tower and the chancel were constructed.
When the tower was completed the Tibbits family presented the church with a set of bells, cast in Florence, which had won Grand Prize for a peal of bells at the 1867 Paris Exposition. The little bell at the top of the tower is an ancient sacring bell (ca. 1578) and was brought here from Munich, Germany. It is said to be one of the oldest church bells in the United States.
During the early 1860’s one of George’s sons, John Bleeker Tibbits, experienced a religious awakening which led him to study divinity. He was ordained a deacon in 1866 and placed in charge of the new All Saints Parish.
The ground on which All Saints Church is situated remained in the Tibbits family until the death of George M. Tibbits in 1878. In his will he stipulated that the property continued to be used for a parish church.
On October 10, 1885, the Rt. Rev. William Croswell Doane, D.D., Bishop of Albany, traveled to Hoosick to ordain the son of Rev. John B. Tibbits, Edward Dudley Tibbits, as a deacon. Three years later Edward was ordained a priest by Bishop Doane at the Cathedral of All Saints in Albany. For the next four decades the life and work of Edward Dudley Tibbits and All Saints Church would be inexorably intertwined.
In 1867 All Saints Parish began the Mission of the Holy Name in nearby Boyntonville and in 1889 a church building was consecrated there by Bishop Doane. That same year All Saints Parish also expanded to Raymertown and in 1893 St. Paul’s Mission was consecrated, again by Bishop Doane.
A day school for the parish was established by Rev. Edward Tibbits in 1889. In 1892 it became All Saints Choir School and later Hoosac School. For many years the parish and the school were closely related with the church property actually belonging to the school. On May 17, 1923 All Saints Parish was incorporated under the laws of the State of New York and was placed in union with the convention of the Diocese of Albany, thus making it a fully organized parish. Then in 1933 the church property was deeded back to the parish by the Hoosac School and in the mid 1950’s the school campus was moved from the environs of the church to its current location west of the Hoosick River.
While the history of All Saints Church during the second half of the 20th. Century has been a quiet one, our mission remains unchanged. When we view the faith and religious life as maintained through the ages by our Anglican traditions, we see for this parish a mighty work and a golden opportunity. In the care of faithful clergy much will be done. Yet “the harvest truly is plenteous but the laborers are few.” The work for which this parish exists can only come to fruition through the willing hearts of our parishioners who bear out in word and deed the good news of the Kingdom of God. May the Lord grant that each of us may open our eyes to behold that vision and that the All Saints Church of the future will not fail the All Saints Church of the past.