Remarks delivered by Susan Farrell, June 26, 2022 at the Williamsburg Congregational Church, part of an ecumencial service to mark the state of the town’s 250th anniversary.

Good Evening, 

When Reverend Noyes asked me, as the Moderator of the Haydenville Congregational Church, to speak about the history of our beloved Church, I said Sure – how long does it need to be?

Three to four minutes I was told. I thought, how do you tell the story of an institution that was built over 170 years ago in three to four minutes?

But, then again, how long do you want this service to be? I should not have been so willing to do this because it’s not as easy as it sounds to do it justice but I will do my best.

Of course, there are significant dates to cite and important names to raise up but I think that what’s most important is not to lose sight of what this building and church represents to the community.  Soon I’ll read a far more eloquent passage about this.

In 1851 the main sanctuary was built for $6,500 and Reverend Edward Sweet was the first minister.  In 1873, the Sunday School rooms were built and moved from the basement and the church parlors were created at the back of the main building.  Diane Scott, a member of HCC since childhood, did say that the basement then had plaster walls and some sort of flooring lest this seemed too gruesome.  On a sad note, one of those large parlors was the temporary resting  place for many of the 150 souls who lost their lives in the MIll River Flood of 1874.

There are two tablets in our church. One was dedicated to Joel Hayden and his wife, Isabella Weir Smith, by their three daughters.  Mr. Hayden, who later became the Lieutenant Governor in 1863, was one of the 10 original men who prepared the articles of Faith, Covenant and Bylaws.  These same three daughters also donated the bell tower as well which served as the town clock just as the one in this church in WIlliamsburg.  Interestingly, that spire was lowered 40 feet in 1886 for safety reasons.

The second tablet was dedicated to Hattie J. Rice, a congregant of the church who became a missionary to China and was later tragically killed in the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.

Reverend Robert H. Life, who was a much loved pastor from 1904-1934, is always remembered every year for the scholarship fund he left in his will to promote secondary education for our church’s children. To this day, this fund continues to help both children and adult members to pursue learning beyond high school.

In preparing this remembrance, Trish LaFreniere and Diane Scott, long-time members of the church, shared their memories with me: 

 – how at different times over the years there were there were four different part-time pastors who shared ½ time with the Williamsburg church

– the Pilgrim Fellowship in the 1960s, where teens from all the local churches participated in musical services and provided service to their churches.  Diane remembers the different levels of jobs the children had as they rose through the ranks from Sunday Collections to reading scripture, doing responsive readings, and sharing Communion after they officially joined the  membership as well as her many years of leading the choir. 

–  Trish remembers a strong Ladies Aid who fundraised for so many important issues that arose in the Community. 

Both women continue this strong tradition of service to this day – Diane with the maintenance and improvement of our building and grounds and Trish with leading the never ending need for fundraising as well as arts and theater projects for Williamsburg.

In 2004, Reverend Andrea Ayvazian joined our church when there were only 13 members who were valiantly and loyally holding the fort for years. During her 12 years, Andrea raised the membership to over 200 while helping us to become a truly open and affirming church that fully embraced our LGBTQ+ members. She also accurately named those original members “The Saints” for their perfect example of steadfast devotion to keeping this church open, even when they had to hold services in the dining room because it was too expensive to heat the sanctuary.

As I’d mentioned earlier, I would like to close with a reading from this booklet entitled A Century of Church Life, which was created in 1951 for the church’s 100th anniversary. This passage was written in 1910.

“The story of the organization, the erection of the meeting-house, the addition of the chapel and parlors – the relations with different pastors and how the church met the changing social conditions brought about by the great Mill RIver disaster and influx of Irish, French, Polish and Greek people is partly set forth in the records of the Parish Society, but the good it has done to the community life, the character formed in the men and women is not recorded: nor is there any record, except between the lines, of the patient continuance in well-doing of its officers and members, who, each in his day and generation, labored for the well-being of the parish and maintenance of public worship during the half century of village life since 1851”.

I understand that it’s important that we not forget these histories and raise up the people who kept this church open despite hardship. As a  member of one of these churches in our town, I am grateful for their vision and enduring commitment.  For me, being a member of both Congregational churches for the 34 years I’ve lived here and raised my family, I’ve felt welcomed, comforted, supported and have enjoyed a place to share my deep love of music.

Thank you for this honor to share this small slice of the history of one of our towns’ cornerstones of decency and God’s love.