Congregational Reception flowers
The First Congregational Church of Houlton held their final service last Sunday in the Unitarian Universalist sanctuary, the same sanctuary where they worshipped with the UUs from 1956 to 1970. If you’ve been following along the last couple of weeks with the re-telling of our shared histories as First Church of Houlton you may have noticed it has all of the ups and downs and unexpected twists and turns of a two hundred year love story. We’ve had break-ups and getting back together again (several times), shared buildings and ministers and worked together on numerous joint ventures. The last ten years have been an especially meaningful time (please see my comments below). Last Sunday’s Service of Celebration and Leave-Taking was recorded in its entirety and will be posted on our UUHoulton YouTube Channel on Sunday morning at 10AM. I will be continuing our Summer Meditations this Sunday in the parlor with a talk titled “Gravity of Grace” inspired by a quotation from poet and Kentucky farmer Wendell Berry. Summer provides ample opportunities for natural grace and beauty to arise. You can find the link to our service (one week delay) on the UUHoulton Facebook Page and view the service on the YouTube Player on the front page of our church website at UUHoulton.org
Have a great week-end everyone.
Practice patience and kindness.
In Ministry,
Dave
Summer provides ample opportunities for natural grace and beauty to arise. Rev. Dave will be continuing Summer Meditations this Sunday in the parlor with a talk titled “Gravity of Grace” inspired by a quotation from poet and Kentucky farmer Wendell Berry. Please join us in the Parlor at 10:00am, Sunday August 15.
Last week’s link to the Congregational Service of Celebration and Leave-Taking https://youtu.be/kwUNmWNYRbM
UUHOULTON RELATED LINKS:
UUHoulton YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBqT7LyWvxNQ2DbXvvNKHvA
UUHoulton Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/HoultonUU
The Cup Cafe Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/The-Cup-Cafe-140376419359665
UUHoulton Website uuhoulton.org
Minister’s Blog backwoodsblog.com
COMMENTS DELIVERED BY REV. DAVE AT THE CONGREGATIONAL SERVICE
So here we are today – a day that no one wanted to arrive, but sometimes it does. So what do we say?
History is not just a listing of dates, accomplishments and events that occur over an extended period of time.
History is a living story filled with people, mishaps and adventures, cherished feelings, great hopes and many memories.
When First Church of Houlton celebrated its Bicentennial ten years ago in 2011, The First Congregational Church of Houlton and the Unitarian Society of Houlton held a special joint service to commemorate the event right here in this sanctuary. At the time I don’t think anyone anticipated what the next ten years might be like. As it turned out we decided to hold a joint Christmas Eve service that same year and shortly thereafter the Congos (as we affectionately refer to them) started to rent space from the UUs for their Sunday service. The UUs met at 10AM with coffee hour afterwards, the Congos met at 12 noon with coffee hour before, hence the overlapping Sunday coffee hour that allowed members from both churches to chat a bit and for Congos to see what UUs brought to coffee hour and for UUs to see what Congos brought. It was an amazing and most marvelous success.
Speaking as the Unitarian Universalist minister I view the past ten years as a notable phase in our more than 200 year relationship as First Church. The Congregationalists have been a true partner in helping us care for, maintain and improve this historic church building; assistance in building a handicap assessable bathroom on the main floor (as mentioned before), a generous gift towards the purchase of our new parking lot next door and numerous joint fund-raising events off and on through the years. One particular event that comes to mind is the early morning Easter Sunrise breakfast that the two churches host for the Southern Aroostook Ministerial Association and the greater Houlton community. We don’t usually see each other so early in the morning, (and it certainly requires a great amount of hot coffee) but the famous Congregational baked omelettes make it worth the extra effort. Such common tasks as working in the kitchen, washing the dishes and cleaning up afterwards, in my experience, are just as significant (perhaps more) than the event itself. And doing it together simply adds to the experience.
During these past ten years having you (the Congregationalists) here is like having more people under this one roof. It’s a big building and between the two of our small congregations we still have plenty of room, but having you here has made it special.
As we all know, it’s the people in a church that make a church a church and as I reflect upon the First Congregational Church of Houlton it’s the people that I associate with this church and their faces and their stories and their jokes and their generosity that I think of when I think of the Congregational Church.
Even at the close of today’s service when the organized church meets for the final time, what continues is all that has come before, the names and faces of the ancestors along with the names and the faces of the current day congregation; we remember, we carry them with us, we can still see the faces of those who are with us. We carry all of this with us in a most precious collection of memory and experience. That will never end. It endures as long as we carry it with us – as long as we keep telling the stories and sharing how those experiences have shaped and formed us. When I hear the name First Congregational Church of Houlton I see faces, I remember the stories, I feel emotions that are deep and personal to me and I suspect that it will be the same for you.
So again, what do we say?
This leave-taking is a day to carry with us. (It’s okay to be a little emotional.)
This is a day to be glad that we have been associated with The First Congregational Church of Houlton in some way.
In my closing comment I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to and for First Congregational Church of Houlton and my special thanks to Rev. Dale Holden as a colleague and most dear friend through all these years. You have served as a steadfast minister, minister emertita, and musician extrordinaire.
Hallelujah and God bless us all on our continued journeys.
HERE IS THE ZOOM COFFEE HOUR LINK FOR SUNDAY:
(It may take us until 11:15 to get the zoom set up and ready so keep that in mind…)
David Hutchinson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: zoom coffee hour
Time: Aug 15, 2021 11:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Every week on Sun, until Sep 5, 2021, 4 occurrence(s) Aug 15, 2021 11:00 AM Aug 22, 2021 11:00 AM Aug 29, 2021 11:00 AM Sep 5, 2021 11:00 AM
Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.Weekly: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/tJYoceqhqTkoE9DKBLWCG65xBqSHwcjpeYuL/ics?icsToken=98tyKuCqqz0pE9OXshCDRowQGY_ob_PwtnpBj_p5tz3JNAN0NFbuFPNxGqV8GsjV
Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/92563972294?pwd=YXB4WTJucTdFQlp2N3lzTmFrVzNZQT09
Meeting ID: 925 6397 2294
Passcode: 289694
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Virtual Offering Plate
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UU Church of Houlton
61 Military Street
Houlton, ME 04730
After 210 years, one of Aroostook’s first churches holds its final service
Bangor Daily News
by Alexander MacDougallAugust 9, 2021
HOULTON, Maine — The Rev. Doug Dunlap took to the altar on Sunday morning, beginning his sermon with a short song of prayer.
“We are pilgrims on a journey, we are brothers on the road,” he sang. “We are here to help each other, walk the mile and bear the load.”
It was the first time that the First Congregational Church of Houlton, part of the United Church of Christ denomination, held an in-person service since March 8, 2020. It would also be its last. The 210-year-old church announced at the end of July that it would cease its services, bringing an end to the first Christian congregation in Houlton.
Over the years, Aroostook’s population has seen a notable decline, due to closures of military bases and changes in Aroostook’s potato industry, leading people to seek better work opportunities elsewhere. And while Aroostook remains one of the more conservative areas in the state, Maine as a whole continues to be one of the most secular states in the union, according to the Pew Research Center.
“I certainly sense that there are fewer people living here. For example, Loring [Air Force Base] closed and reduced agriculture in general so that things are more mechanized,” said Dunlap during a reception held after the service. “But every time I come up here, the hospitality, and the graciousness and kindness of the people is remarkable.”
Houlton was founded 210 years ago in 1811, when Maine was still part of Massachusetts. The law at the time required towns to establish a Congregational Church in order to be incorporated. So the First Congregational Church of Houlton was established.
As most of the first settlers in Houlton came from New Salem, Massachusetts, and members of the Church of Christ, it became the denomination of the new church, slowly adding more members, including armed service members sent up during the Aroostook War skirmishes in the late 1830s.
Church membership first began to decline shortly after 1956, when the church’s original location burned down on New Year’s Day and the Congregationalists had to share services at the Unitarian Church for several years. Eventually they moved into the former Presbyterian Church on High Street in 1972, which would become their new church home.
But in 2011, with attendance at services dwindling, the congregation decided to close the building. Services continued for another 10 years — held once again at the Unitarian Universalist Church building. By 2021, fewer than 10 people were church members.
The Rev. David Hutchinson, who leads the Unitarian congregation in Houlton, spoke at the Aug. 8 final service to tell the congregation that a church does not consist of just a building to hold services in.
“It’s the people in the church that make a church a church,” he said. “Their faces and their stories, their jokes and their generosity. That is what I think of when I think of the First Congregation.”
Lynn Tweedie, a member of the First Congregational Church who has been attending since the 1970s, said that despite the end of official services, she hoped to still find a way to meet with her church family.“I feel kind of sad, but I don’t think that we’re through,” she said. “I think that those of us that are still going to church will still be together in some way.”
Joys & Concerns
When one of us is blessed we are all blessed.
When one of us experiences sorrow we all feel the pain.
Messages from Dale to the Ecumenical Choir and the host UU Houlton Church:
Dear Friends,
My (and all the other Congos’) sincere thanks for your beautiful music on Sunday, and your time, effort and willingness to participate. It felt like a real celebration and I was so pleased (and proud) of everything.
I wanted to make time stand still so that I could savor it longer and fill up on all the love and friendship and music.
The UU’s’ efforts on our behalf were way beyond what we could have imagined – from the beauty of the flowers, the generosity of the “feast”, the warm hospitality, and the beauty of the spit and polished building – it all was amazing and we’re all still basking in the glow.
And Linda, Karen, Leigh, Fred, and Judith, your pictures were right in the BDN!!!
Thank-you ALL so very much. Your presence meant more than words can say. Your musical gifts touched many that day.
I love you all.
– Dale
Dear David and UUs,
Words can’t express the gratitude I feel for all the effort you and the UUs put into making our final service so very special. The building was spotless! -from stem to stern- spit and polish. The reception was beyond our imagination – wonderful and abundant food and drink – overflowing with deliciousness and hospitality, and the flowers 0-oh, the flowers! so lovely and artfully arranged. The temperature in the sanctuary was sp cool and comfortable, and the air so fresh. I was able to be mindful all during the service and really take in every precious moment…
Again, thank you for everything you did to give us old Congos an awesome send-off!
Love,Dale
photos from the Congregational reception(a grand time was had by all!)
A BIG THANK YOU TO BETTY WHITE AND BARBARA ERICKSON (co-chairs of the reception committee) and to all the UUs who helped set up, serve, provide delicious desserts and help clean up afterwards.
Rev. Dale and two Congregationalists, Doreen & Tim Humphrey holding the congo sign from the front lawn
flower arrangement by Betty White
JOYS
Susan Carmichael has a birthday this week. Send her a birthday greeting!
CONCERNS
Covid numbers are trending up around the country and other parts of the world. The virus continues to mutate and the Delta variant is particularly difficult to monitor and combat. Please remain diligent.
Please continue to send in joys and concerns during the week to revdav@mfx.net and I will post them on the Support Page.
The joy or the sorrow of one is shared by all. May our hearts be as one on this day. Let us carry each thought or concern expressed in our heart and may the light of our love and compassion transform suffering into non suffering and ease the difficulties of life. We radiate love and the light that we are. Blessed are we all.
Prayer List
For those recovering from COVID-19 in the state of Maine
Local emergency personnel and hospital staff
For our state and national leaders as they respond to the current coronavirus crisis
For those working for social justice and societal change
Pray for peaceful action and democratic process in our nation
Prayers for those affected by the floods in Europe, India and China
Prayers for those affected by the drought and fires in Greece, Italy, Turkey and Siberia
The Four Limitless Ones Prayer
May all sentient beings enjoy happiness and the root of happiness
.May we be free from suffering and the root of suffering.
May we not be separated from the great happiness devoid of suffering.
May we dwell in the great equanimity free from anger, aggression and exclusion.
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