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The First Parish in Bedford Unitarian Universalist

75 The Great Road, Bedford, Massachusetts 01730 On the Common

781-275-7994

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Breaking Ground, Rebuilding Community
Sunday, Feb. 21, 1999, 10:30am

First Parish in Bedford celebrated the ground-breaking for its new church addition with a service led by Rev. John E. Gibbons, supported by members of the Building Committee. In an unusual departure from its usual service format, the conclusion was held outdoors behind the church.

In the mid-seventeenth century the Polish Unitarians wrote in a new preface to their catechism:

We do not think that we ought to be ashamed if in some respect our church improves.
- Rocovian Catechism, 1665 edition.

A Story for All Ages

Sharon McDonald summarized the story of our addition with the help of a large number of animal puppets. Contributions from the cast included:

Beaver: "Let's get started!"
Horse: "Neigh, Neigh!
Bee: "We're all so bizzzzy!"
Centipede: "I'm still figuring how to put one foot in front of the other!"
Turtle: "Slow down! You're going too fast!"
(and many others)

Focus

Maureen Richichi
Maureen drew on our mission covenant statement to reaffirm our basic beliefs as an inquiring community that cares for each other.

Karen Frederick
Karen explain how she became involved with the committee based on experiences teaching in a small, crowded classroom. She feels it's important to live your principles.

Rev. John Gibbons
Rev. Gibbons made a solemn pledge to honor the sadness that comes with change while celebrating the new things we are making. He spoke about "threshold moments", when we can clearly see both the past and the future.

Nancy Daugherty
Nancy presented gifts to those who had served on the building committee and spoke of their dedication and work. Gifts included small silver shovels to be worn as a pin.

A Place of Meeting
a responsive reading by Eileen B. Karpeles

Out of wood and stone, out of dreams and sacrifice,
the People build a home.
Out of the work of their hands and hearts and minds
the People fashion a symbol and a reality.

May this house be truly a place of Meeting --
meeting one with another
in warmth and joy and openness;
meeting one with another
in courage and love and trust.
May all who enter here trust noe another so surely
that they dare to share the deep fires that burst in anger
as much as the sweet springwaters that swell into laughter;
the slow erosion of wounded tears
as much as the soaring song.
May these walls known silence
as a hundred hearts search inward
each for its own small spark of home
that might otherwise be snuffed out in the noise.
May these rafter hear the voice of the child
as surely as that of the orator,
and the sound of the lute,
the clack of the keyboard,
the swish of the broom,
and know that all are as hole
as the shout of a million stars.
May the rain fall lightly on this house,
the sun shine warmly, the winds blow softly,
and bless it as a place of joy and peace.

Ground Breaking

The congregation convened outside behind the church where the new addition is to be built. After reciting the responsive reading above, we tried a round written in Latin by Charlie Schwerin. The sentiment was great: "Yeah, I'm talking to you: there's no free lunch. That's the deal. I'll put my cards on the table - where do I sign? Come on, let's go!" Unfortunately, our musical abilities didn't prove up to it.

Rev. John Gibbons led the ground breaking ceremony by inviting young and old to take turns with a shovels to turn over the fertile soil. Though cold, the sun was shining and the ground was soft. With the thrust of a tool, we changed our community. Soon there will be a new addition.