The Oasis - February 28, 2024
Author: Rev. Eric Dupee
February 28, 2024
At our Annual Meeting on Sunday, we officially kicked-off the “Our Time” Capital Campaign. For hundreds of years, members and friends of First Parish Church have been stewards of the historic campus. Now, it is our time. It’samazing what the committee has been able to accomplish in the silent phase of the campaign. We're off to a wonderful start.
In my brief remarks, I mentioned a book that was given to my great grandmother. It is titled Steeples Amongthe Hills, by Arthur Wentworth Hewitt. He was an educator, pastor, and poet in Vermont. My grandmother gave me thebook before she died. She taped a note to the inside cover, indicating the author gave her high school graduating class of 1928 the baccalaureate sermon.
On the front cover, there is a quote from the book. It says something about the meaning and significance of a church steeple like the one we are seeking to maintain on our meetinghouse. I shared these words on Sunday, andthought I would share them with all of you, who could not be with us. It reads:
In the village that lies in the fold of the hills, stands the white church with its steeple glistening in the sun. It is the figure in the landscape that marks the community, and represents its best life – social, intellectual, spiritual. The steeple stands also as a monument to the faithful [people] who for generations have ministered to the spiritual needs of the community and have projected their lives into the lives of thesucceeding generations of the village and countryside.
I want to thank everyone who gives of themselves, in so many ways, in order to build up First Parish Church so it can continue to make disciples of Jesus Christ and witness to God's love and presence in our world, both with our activity and our campus.
Blessings, Eric
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