The Oasis - October 18, 2023
Author: Rev. Eric Dupee
October 20, 2023
Recently, we posted a question at the entrance to the church and in Fellowship Hall: If First Parish Church were to suddenly cease to exist, who would miss us? We will post a series of questions in the coming months in what we are referring to as The First Parish Church Visioning Forum. These are the responses we received so far. I present them as they appeared on the newsprint. Who would miss First Parish Church?
We would, Choirs, visitors to York, Everyone, anyone needing hope, Spirit In(n) York, the congregation, the town of York, YCSA, our mission partners (over $10,000 sent yearly), leave a mark on the land, helping each other and our neighbors, Quilters, AA, OA, I would, scouts, Fairtrade (housing for homeless), church member, people would lose hope, coffee hour, the entire town, church, Daisy’s Children in Honduras, Me ditto!, The community 100%, Halloween Pumpkin patch, Navajo Tribe, God!
It's not too late to provide an answer to the question. If you’d like to add a response, feel free to email me: eric@firstparishyork.net. Recently, we applied for a grant from the National Fund for Sacred Places. The hope was to receive funds for much needed repairs on our church steeple and other building needs. We did not get the grant, but we put together a fantastic application. I want to thank everyone who assisted with that process. If the First Parish Church historic buildings were to suddenly cease to exist, they would be greatly missed!
Yesterday, a group of us took down the tent, tables, and decorations from our tenth annual Pumpkin Patch. Thank you to all who planned, organized, sold pumpkins, bought pumpkins, kept track of the money raised, and supported the Pumpkin Patch in whatever way. It was a great success! Thank you also to those who planned and provided food for the Family Fun & Chili Fest. If the Pumpkin Patch were to cease to exist, it would be missed by people from the Navajo Reservation to Maine.
Blessings,
Eric
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