As in other early New England communities, sacred and civic life in Deerfield centered on the meeting house. Deerfield ministers baptized, admitted to membership, married, chastened, and reconciled free and enslaved residents. Ministers and enslavers in their congregations hoped to convert those enslaved in their households to Christianity and rejoiced when such conversions occurred. The Reverend Samuel Willard of Boston preached that “the Soul of a Slave, is, in its nature, of as much worth, as the Soul of his Master.” In 1742, the Deerfield church membership affirmed this “Duty of Parents & Masters,” and promised to “Send yr. children & Servants to Such Catachisings as their minister appoints until yy are 18 years old except married…. [and] to hear the explanation of the assemblies Catechism until they are 21 years old.”

What type of “catachising” did enslaved people in Deerfield receive? In an evening lecture in 1749, the Reverend Jonathan Ashley assured them that their lowly status on Earth would not dictate their place in the kingdom of God. “Servants who are at the dispose and command of others, who…are despised in the world, may be the Lord’s freemen and heirs of Glory.” “If you are Christ’s freemen,” he concluded, “you may contentedly be servants in the world.” But, he warned, “If you are not Christ’s freemen, you will be slaves of the devil.”