As we have likely observed, the town of Colchester has been celebrating the 325th Birthday of our town.  It was wonderful that some of our Deacons organized tours of our historic church as part of the celebration.  Thank you! 

Some of you may recall (and others may not have been part of our faith community at the time, so it’s worth retelling!) that during worship on November 24, 2019, members of the Colchester Historical Society presented our church with some artifacts from our church’s history.  The photo above is me holding the church key from 1771.  This was the key to the Second Meeting House of the First Congregational Church of Colchester.  We currently worship in our church’s Fourth Meeting House, dedicated in 1842 and built using some of the timbers from the Third Meeting House.  (Gotta love that Yankee frugality!) 

Today you can see this church key on display in the narthex.  As you enter the sanctuary from the front door just go to your left and there you will see display cases that house some of our church’s historical artifacts.  The key is difficult to see up-close, so I wanted to share this picture taken a few years ago.  It was great to see some of the items from the Historical Room on display during Coffee Hour a few Sundays ago too.  Our church building contains all sorts of these treasures if we just know where to look!

Colchester’s town motto is, “Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow.” 
This motto is good to keep in mind when it comes to our historic church. 
We have a long history (320 years and still going strong) and rich traditions that help ground us. 
We can also be open to where God is leading, how God is still speaking, and what tomorrow may offer. 

Happy Birthday, Colchester! 

Love,
Pastor Lauren   

Photo by Rev. Lauren Ostrout.

Thursday Thoughts 10/19/23.