Special to the Star-Herald
Congregationalists claim their origins from the original Massachusetts Bay Colonists who sought religious freedom from England in 1620. The Pilgrims, the more familiar name associated with the early colonists, believed in a policy of church governance in which every church was independent, guided by an ordained minister but managed by the members of the church through organized boards of oversight. This form of polity continues today. The Congregational Church of Presque Isle was officially organized on July 25, 1865, and an account of the dedication service appeared in the Wednesday edition (July 26, 1865) of the local newspaper of the times,
The Loyal Sunrise of Presque Isle. Several prominent individuals of Presque Isle were instrumental in the formation of this congregation: C. F. A. Johnson and Mrs. Sarah C. Johnson, George Curtis Jr. and Mrs. Eliza W. Curtis and Elisha E. Parkhurst. For several years prior to the official organization, services of the Congregational denomination had been held in schoolhouses with at least five ministers listed in the church history between 1848 and 1863. These meetings pre-date the official founding of Presque Isle in 1859.
The Congregational Church of Presque Isle built the first church structure in the city, although the congregation was the third to be officially organized.
The first building, as described by Miss Marion Oak in her history of the church compiled for the seventy-fifth anniversary, was a plain colonial structure with a square bell tower on the center front and 44 pews, which could comfortably seat four persons each.
The building process had been started during the previous two years, but the underestimated cost prevented completion. The land was given to the church by the Honorable Sumner Whitney; and R. S. Locke, a farmer resident of the village, gave $500.00 in lumber and materials for the building with the remaining expenses paid by “friends of the congregation, both near and far.” The total cost of the first structure was $4,750.00
In the difficult economic times of today, it is difficult to imagine how the church supported itself in the mid-19th century. The church’s historical records mentioned three methods from which current practices have evolved. Subscription, as reported in a document dated Jan. 20, 1868, described the circulation of a paper requesting names and pledges each time money was needed to support the minister or make repairs to the church structure.
Each time a need arose, the paper would once again be passed among the members of the congregation. Benevolent contributions were requested on specific Sundays scheduled for that purpose, usually Communion Sundays, and were dedicated to specific organizations outside the community. Renting pews provided the third means of support “to meet the unavoidable expenses of public worship for a year.”
On June 7, 1909, the original church structure was destroyed by the fire than consumed a large part of the northeastern section of Presque Isle.
The Unitarian Church, whose pulpit was vacant at the time, offered the use of their building and construction for a new church commenced immediately. The cost of the new church was $6,000 with an additional $1,000 for furnishings.
The population of Presque Isle at this time was 5,000 with the principal businesses listed as potato farming, lumbering and general trade. By 1910, a new church had been erected and dedicated.
In the spring of 1914, the original parsonage on Second Street, next to the present post office, was sold. The current parsonage, located next to the church, was constructed on the lot donated by charter member Elisha E. Parkhurst. Mrs. Marilynn Parkhurst Bonenfant, great-granddaughter of Elisha E. Parkhurst, is still an active member of this congregation.
In 1936, the Church and parish united into a corporation, the legal entity to be known as the Congregational Church of Presque Isle with by-law changes and updates occurring during the intervening years to the present. A new challenge faced the members of the Congregational Church of Presque Isle in late 1959.
The merger between the Congregational Christian churches and the Evangelical and Reformed churches into the United Church of Christ was a really big step for the stoic, independent, no-frills New Englanders. In 1961 the members of the church voted to become a member church of the United Church of Christ.
A tradition with the Grant Memorial United Methodist Church began in 1962 when the Congregational minister, the Reverend Richard Ryder and the Methodist minister, the Reverend Howard Rowley, approached their respective administrative boards with a proposal to unite the two congregations for summer worship during the months of July and August, alternating services one month at each church. This practice has continued for the past 47 years fostering growth and communication while providing vacation opportunities for the respective clergy.
The annual Good Friday Service joins parishioners from St. John’s Episcopal, Grant Memorial United Methodist and Presque Isle Congregational churches with clergy from each church leading worship on an alternate yearly basis.
In 1868, $700 was raised to put a bell in the original church structure. The congregation wanted the bell to be rung daily up to three times a day, but the cost to pay the sexton at the time was prohibitive. When the original church structure burned in 1909, the bell was not repaired and a new bell was not purchased.
In 1989, Judge Julian Turner, a member of the Presque Isle Congregational Church, felt the church needed to replace its bell after so many years. He located a 36” cast bell in a church in South Deer Isle, Maine and arranged to drive down, pick it up, and have it installed. The Trustees approved the $400 to purchase and install the bell, which rings every Sunday morning and on special occasions.
From an historical standpoint, our church members have participated in organizations and service clubs which work toward improving our community and providing varied types of assistance to local citizens. Early contributions included furnishing the Congregational Room at the original hospital in 1918, with a second memorial donation to the Arthur R. Gould Memorial Hospital in 1956 and providing high school classrooms after the high school burned in the winter of 1922-23.
Under the direction of the Reverend Milton Grant, who served as pastor from 1934 – 1943, the Community Clothing Service was established in the Presque Isle Doble Block. Reverend Grant actively promoted the work of the USO and was instrumental in the organization of a Service Star Mothers Unit during World War II. The Reverend E. Milton Grant Playground and Swimming Pool, enjoyed by Presque Isle children and families, is an ongoing tribute to his community service.
Today, the Presque Isle Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, is one of the four churches supporting GIFT – Grace Interfaith Food Table, which supplied food locally to 627 families in 2008. Our fellowship hall and classrooms welcome community groups like TOPS, Girl Scouts, and the Northern Maine Peace and Justice Group.
For the past several years, the Presque Isle Daybreak Center has used some of our space.
The history of the Presque Isle Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, lists 32 ministers on the church plaque from 1865 to the present pastor, the Reverend Dr. Robert S. Grove-Markwood (1988) serving the longest tenure. Of historical interest, Charles Edward Stowe, son of Harriet Beecher Stowe, served the church for less than a year in 1879.
Today, the official name is The Presque Isle Congregational Church, United Church of Christ. The church is part of the Aroostook Association of the Maine Conference, United Church of Christ. The earliest mention of a “county meeting of churches” dates back to the late 1880’s when meetings of the County Conference of the Congregational Churches occurred in Sherman, Patten or Island Falls.
The words of the Reverend E. Milton Grant in his 1938 Pastor’s Report remain with the church today, “It does not need to be argued that the mutual growth of the community itself and of its religious institutions is logical and not accidental. The spirit of the church and the spirit of a town are not something separate and unrelated. They are ultimately a part each of the other, and dependent each upon the other for maintenance.”
The history of Presque Isle and the history of the Presque Isle Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, have been, are now and will continue to be intertwined.
With thanks to the late Marion Oak, Marilyn Lamoreau Clark, Frances Flewelling, the late Mildred Sutter Osborn, and Mary Turner for their contributions to the historical data of The Presque Isle Congregational Church, United Church of Christ.
