Episode Description
On Sunday, March 27, 1692, Reverend Samuel Parris led Salem Village through two Sabbath services shaped by the recent “dreadful witchcraft” crisis and the public suspicion of alleged witches. We cover how his sermon warned that Christ knows how many devils are in the church, prompting Sarah Cloyce—sister of Rebecca Nurse—to flee the meetinghouse, and we note later claims about what witnesses said happened after she left. We also discuss how, after dismissing non-members on sacrament Sunday, Parris addressed the congregation about Mary Sibley’s role in the witch cake incident, calling it seeking the devil’s help against the devil, while still allowing her to remain in fellowship if she humbled herself and promised greater caution.
00:00 Welcome and Hosts
00:11 Sabbath in Salem
00:41 Parris Targets Cloyce
01:13 Seven Sins Listed
01:48 Sacrament Sunday Dismissal
02:03 Condemning the Witch Cake
03:12 Mary Sibley Rebuked
03:54 Church Response and Closing
Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims
Find My Massachusetts Legislators
The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel
Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692
Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt
Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience
Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege