First Parish Unitarian UniversalistThis Old House
A sermon preached by the Reverend Diane D. Teichert
First Parish Unitarian Universalist - Canton, MA
January 13, 2008
Let us begin by acknowledging a sense of loss even as we celebrate our sanctuary and its stained glass windows today. That sense of loss is in relation to the fact that, when the Canton Unitarian and Universalist congregations consolidated in 1974, the Universalist church building was sold and eventually torn down. Today, there is a convenience store on the corner of Washington and Mechanic Streets.
But, for 127 years, a lovely white frame building stood there, in which Universalists gathered to worship, to marry, to welcome their young, and to mourn their loved ones, and to hold church suppers, fairs, men’s group and women’s group meetings, Sunday School for their children, and more. It was their spiritual home, and when it was sold and torn down, the setting for many memories was no more.
I think we all know that it is more difficult to retain memories when the place in which those memories were made is no longer in our lives. All of us here today, whether or not we ever were in the Universalist church building, lost something when it was torn down. As the heirs to the decision to consolidate, we Unitarian Universalists today have lost some part of our common heritage, including-- no doubt--important stories, and memories and hopes associated with the building itself.
To honor and remind us of our Universalist heritage, out on our front lawn is the bell from the steeple of the Universalist church building and in our Parish Hall, in a locked glass cabinet, are mementoes from the sanctuary, from congregational life, and even the original time capsule with its contents going back to 1847.
I might not have thought to begin this homily by mentioning our Universalist heritage if not for a poignant event last week that reminded me of this lost history. I was contacted by a UU I know who is collecting old photos and other artifacts from Universalist churches in southeast Massachusetts. He has in his possession a black and white photo dated 1942 of a very well-attended church supper. For various reasons, his research led him to believe that it was likely taken in the First Universalist Church of Canton.
He asked me to direct him toward someone who might be able to identify the location of the photo, and I connected him with Lil Staples. They met last Sunday during Coffee Hour. To his great disappointment, Lil told him the photo was not from Canton—the pillars were not the ones in the fellowship hall of the church in which she had grown up (and where she and Ralph were wed), and she did not recognize a single person present. No way would there have been a Universalist church supper in Canton in 1942 at which Lil knew not a single soul!
And, so, even now, as we move our attention this morning toward the windows in this sanctuary, let us pause to give thanks for the Universalist side of our family tree, and for those among us whose families were in that tradition.
This building—just the sanctuary and vestibule, not the office behind it or any other parts of the present premises—was built in 1825, with clear windows, as was the custom with traditional New England meeting houses, as sanctuaries were called then. They included clear windows on either side of the pulpit behind me, where we now see these blank alcoves.
(It is interesting to note that it was just three years later, in 1828, that the Parish voted to become Unitarian, and those of the Trinitarian persuasion resigned their membership here to form the Evangelical Congregational Church, the forebear of the United Church of Christ now across the street from us. I wonder how they felt about leaving the meeting house that they presumably helped build?)
In parish records, we find a first mention of the replacement of the clear windows in the minutes from a parish meeting held on April 9, 1888, at which they “laid on the table” Article 9, to see what action the Parish will take regarding the acceptance of Memorial Windows that may be presented to the Parish for its Meeting House.”
The matter was brought to the fore again on July 30 th, also 1888, from which the minutes read “Voted, that the Parish gratefully accept the offer of Mr. Charles F. Dunbar to give a window to the memory of the Rev. Samuel Dunbar and instruct the Committee on repairs to place it in the church at the side of the pulpit with a suitable inscription thereon.”
Rev. Dunbar served as the second minister of the parish for fifty-six years from 1727 to his death in 1783. And the Committee on repairs, I gather, was the predecessor of our Buildings and Grounds Committee.
Furthermore, they voted to “instruct the Committee on repairs to place a window in memory of the Rev. Benjamin Huntoon with a suitable inscription therein, in the Church at the side of the pulpit.”
Rev. Huntoon served the parish twice, once for eight years from 1822 to 1830, during which time the Parish voted to become Unitarian, and then for nine years from 1841 to 1849. In between, he served a Unitarian church in Bangor Maine, where he moved in part so that his children could receive a better education, but after his wife died desired to return to Canton for the support he felt he would get. [Source: his son Daniel T.V. Huntoon’s History of Canton, p. 559].
And, on that same day of July 30 th, 1888, they voted “that the Parish authorize and instruct the Committee on repairs to place the Historical Windows in the Church with inscriptions substantially as read to the Parish this evening, recording the prominent events in the history of the town and parish, and the succession of the ministry.”
The Committee on repairs was destined to be busy—much like today!
I wondered how they planned to pay for all these windows? Clearly, one was a gift, but what about the others?
Parish records show that on March 27 th of 1890, the Committee on Church Renovation and Repairs reported total collections of $3,290.27 from a variety of sources. More than half, $1800, came from “subscriptions” which I believe were individual contributions, and the rest from the proceeds of no less than ten fundraising events, as well as a $500 grant from the Church Fund, and contributions from the “F.F. Club” (I’m not sure what that was) towards frescoing, and two from the Ladies Sewing Circle (one substantial one for carpets and the other of a lesser amount for whatever). Among the fundraising events were a Children’s Party, a Children’s Fair and a Children’s Carnivale, three lectures, an operetta, and a Gentleman’s Party!
The Committee also reported expenditures including $1,100 for “Colored Glass Windows,” as well as expenses for shingling, painting, frescoing, pew cushions, carpets and sundries. And, our Treasurer will not be surprised to hear, a reported “Deficiency still to be raised” of $145.00! Did you notice that the name of the committee changed to reflect its additional duties, from Committee on repairs to Committee on Church Renovation and Repairs??!!
I read the minutes for the next few Parish meetings, looking for further references to the “Colored Glass Windows,” but found none. However, I did find an unrelated entry so humorous, I must share it with you.
On August 11 th of 1890, at the same meeting at which they voted to allow the Ladies Sewing Circle to put Electric Lights into the Parish Hall, but dismissed their request to put Town Water in, they read aloud a letter from one of their members, dated August 1 st:
“To the First Congregational [as it was then called] Parish, Canton, Mass. Gents: Previous to the annual meeting of the Parish last Spring, finding I could not attend, I sent a letter to the Parish Clerk requesting him to ask you not to choose me one of the Parish Committee for this year as I had not the time to give it the attention necessary for the needs of the Parish. You took no notice and elected me. Which I very much regret as it has obliged me now to send you this letter resigning the position, which I request you to accept, and very much oblige. Yours Truly, Larra W. Sumner.”
The meeting voted to accept the resignation and elected someone to serve out Mr. Sumner’s term.
We can see from these records how little things have changed—except the cost of repairs and renovations! Then, as now, members of this parish set ambitious goals, don’t quite raise what’s needed, absorb the difference, and move forward on their goals anyway. And, then, as now, some don’t have the time to serve in leadership capacities! But, you would never elect someone against their will, would you!??!
In our remaining few minutes, let us take a walk around the windows. First we’ll go upstairs. In the steeple above the choir loft level are the side-facing windows repaired by Ruth and Diana, each with a lovely sunburst at the very top. They renovated two smaller ones on the choir loft level, also. If you want to go up to admire these windows, climb a set of stairs in the front vestibule, through a faux leather door. Use the ladder to climb above the choir loft.
Now let’s return down to the sanctuary level. About the downstairs windows, the first question to arise is: what happened to the windows in memory of Reverends Dunbar and Huntoon, which were to be placed on either side of the pulpit, but are not visible today? Were they painted over?
By careful examination of old photos taken in 1925 on the building’s first anniversary (which are on display in the Parish Hall today, along with a recent photo album showing all of the windows), I determined that those windows had indeed been there, but were moved when the Minister’s Study was added behind the pulpit, to the center position along the side walls of the sanctuary. What happened to the Colored Glass Windows originally in those center positions, I do not know.
The other windows to your right, on the cemetery side of the sanctuary, are the Historical Windows. They tell the story of the founding of the parish in 1707 when it was voted a Precinct by the Dorchester Parish, then officially gathered in 1717 as the First Church of Christ in Dorchester-South Precinct, going south as far as Stoughton until 1797 when Canton was separately incorporated, though all the those eighty years its Meeting Houses were here in Canton, this being the fourth of them.
On your left are the windows listing the ministers who have preached from this pulpit from 1717 to the present, including the three who served during the ten-year period leading up to their consolidation in 1974 when the Unitarian and Universalist churches in Canton shared a minister: John Nichols, Bill Jacobsen and Ken Phifer.
I’ve heard John Nichols tell how he had to race from the Universalist to the Unitarian church every Sunday morning, and how he appreciated the help of the police officer in Canton Center who stopped the traffic coming out of St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church so that Rev. Nichols could get by and arrive here on time!
Such stories! I wish that the parish records told more of the story of our windows. For example, would the parish have replaced all their clear windows with Colored Glass Windows if not for the gift of the window in memory of Rev. Dunbar? And, why did they choose to place Historical Windows rather than windows depicting Bible scenes or scenes from classic literature, as we see in other church or public buildings of the time? Who chose the symbols at the tops of the windows, and why?
We’ll probably never know these stories, but we can well imagine that the people then were much like us.
Moved by the sunlight through warm colored glass.
Appreciative of the lovely grain of the dark high pulpit.
Hoping to make the pews more comfortable with pew cushions.
Taking care of this old house as best they could.
Creating for themselves, and for us, a beautiful sanctuary of memory and of hope.
Amen.