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- Respected Neighbor
- Pawtucket, RI
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A renewal of the Pawtucket Congregational together in Lincoln.
| Pawtucket Congregational has new home |
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on 01-15-2010 01:46 
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LINCOLN — Change does not come easy after 180 years in one place. Yet, now that their historic church in downtown Pawtucket has been sold, the members of the Pawtucket Congregational Church have stayed together and soldiered on to a new home just over the city line in Lincoln. The Pawtucket Congregational Church is now worshipping at the Sayles Memorial Congregational Church at 185 Chapel St. in Lincoln. According to the Rev. George Peters, it is not quite being called a merger, but the Pawtucket congregation has definitely found a warm and hospitable place to continue its longstanding spiritual mission.
“The Pawtucket Congregational Church still exists, but this is the building where we are now. We are two churches acting as one congregation,” Peters stated. He added that the members of the Sayles Memorial Congregational Church have welcomed the Pawtucket Congregational members “with open arms.”
Last April, the congregation sold its landmark buildings and property at Walcott Street and Broadway to the Temple of Restoration. As part of the agreement, the members were able to continue using the space until the end of December. Peters, who had been serving as pastor of both churches for the past three years, could have held a last Christmas celebration for the congregation at its downtown Pawtucket church.
However, thinking that would be too depressing, he decided to end the congregation's stay on a different note, opting to make an Oct. 18 Service for Healing and Forgiveness the last official church event.
Rev. Peters said that the congregation viewed this special service as “one way to give a lasting gift to the community it has served for 180 years before it moves on to a new home.” He added, “Instead of having a service to mark the occasion of leaving our building, we had a service to mark our possibilities for the future.”
Rev. Peters said he now knows that this was the right decision, because the Christmas Eve service that was held at Sayles Memorial involving the two congregations for the first time was “wonderful.” “It was a great uplifting kind of service, as opposed to it being sad,” he said. He added that the Sayles Memorial congregation has been “very welcoming.” The two congregations got together for their second joint service this past Sunday, and Rev. Peters said “there seems to be a good spirit” among both groups.
Rev. Peters noted how Pawtucket Congregational Church, as with many churches of all denominations, experienced a decline in membership due to changing demographics and the increasing secularism of today's society. The church's sanctuary was built to hold 530 people, but most Sundays there would be about 50 people occupying the pews. In contrast, the sanctuary of the Sayles Memorial Congregational Church was designed to seat 125, so when the combined congregations attend services, there are typically 85 to 90 people present. “There is a better feel now. And there seems to be a good spirit,” he stated.
Founded in 1829 and in the downtown location since 1868, the stately wooden Pawtucket Congregational Church had 800 members during the 1950s, but then began experiencing a gradual decline in the 1960s that continued to the present. At last count, there were about 120 members. The sprawling property, which includes a kitchen, gymnasium and bowling alley, began to become a burden for the congregation to maintain. “We could all see that the building was so big and we were getting so small,” he said.
Rev. Peters said that a steering committee was formed in 2005 to study the issue and make recommendations on what to do going forward. “We were using up our endowment. The committee looked at everything from going out of existence to selling the building or just staying there until the money ran out,” he said. Last January, the congregation decided that it would be best to not own the building anymore. “This is a much more manageable building,” he said, of the circa-1877 stone church and its more modern attached hall, office and classroom space.
Rev. Peters said that while, on one hand, he thought it was “a shame” to see the landmark Pawtucket church building have to be sold, he also takes the approach that one should look to the future. “Pawtucket Congregational Church is not closing. It's not a building-- it's a community of faith that still exists. It has just sold its house and moved to a new house.”
While the Pawtucket Congregational Church drew heavily from the city, Rev. Peters said that its members also included people from surrounding communities such as Lincoln, Cumberland, Providence, East Providence and Seekonk. With the move to Sayles Memorial, he noted that some of the members are physically closer to Lincoln than they were to downtown Pawtucket.
Rev. Peters, a pastor for 37 years, said he also views the move as providing an opportunity for the congregation to grow and attract people who are currently unaffiliated with a church. He is encouraging members to reach out and invite someone to come to a Sunday morning service or other church event. “I constantly emphasis personal invitation,” he said. “If a church is going to grow, people have to promote it by word of mouth.”
For now, there are two governing boards, two treasurers, and two annual meetings, but plans call for some of the functions to merge, such as the program committees and the Sunday School. There are bibles from both churches now in the pulpit and the hymnals from both churches in the pews. Eventually, Peters said he would like to see the two congregations become one church.
“This has been a good match because each church has certain assets, both human assets and spiritual assets,” said Rev. Peters. He also said that members of the Pawtucket Congregational Church have started taking part in some of the Sayles Memorial activities, such as assisting with the thrift shop and attending the potluck supper and Yankee Swap that typically marks the Epiphany.
“By bringing the two churches together, each has something that the other needs,” said Rev. Peters. There is better potential, I think, for both churches to thrive as one.” He added, “I really think Pawtucket has come home.”
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