95 CEMETERY ROAD COLCHESTER, CT 06415
Parsonage Phone (860) 267-0480
Church (Canney Hall) Phone (860) 267-6711
email : westchesterchurch@sbcglobal.net
Pastor: The Reverend Karl G. Ostberg
Ministers: The Congregation
Minister Emeritus: Reverend Fred M. Dole
Organist: Mrs. Betty J. Ous
"LOOK UP,LAUGH,LOVE AND LIFT"
AN INFORMAL HISTORY OF THE
WESTCHESTER CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
(the Second Church of Christ,Congregational, in Colchester, Connecticut)
By NAN WASNIEWSKI
The Westchester Congregational Church was organized by
a group of Westchester area residents of the town of
Colchester, by petition to the Connecticut General Assembly
in 1726, which did grant said request, thereby creating
the second ecclesiastical society of Colchester, in the west
parish. Sixteen men and women signed the covenant on
December 17, 1728, and a meetinghouse was raised in 1730,
located near the present Westchester Center Cemetery
(originally the church cemetery).
Need for the creation of a church in Westchester, breaking
away from the Congregational Church in the center of
Colchester was predicated by the difficulty of traveling by foot,
horseback, or wagon, the several miles to the center of town for
Westchester area residents to attend worship services.
According to the earliest extant record book of the church, by
1739 the congregation had grown to 198 persons under the pas-
toral guidance of the Reverend Mr. Judah Lewis, the founding
pastor of the church who died in that year and who is buried in
the Westchester Center Cemetery. Records do not indicate what
happened to the original church building, whether it burned or
was abandoned, although evidence of a granite foundation has
been discovered in the area. We understand that it was a very
primitive structure with few amenities and sparse furnishings.
It was a plain, unpainted wooden building with no steeple,
approximately 40' x 30' x 20' in size.
The second church building was raised at the site of the
present Church in 1791, but unfortunately was destroyed by fire
in March 1847. Local tradition has it that the church sexton who
had been terminated a few weeks before the fire had said that if
he wasn't there to ring the bell, no one else would, either. The
truth of the matter is more likely that a chimney fire was the
cause of the blaze. The entire community, church members or
not, participated in raising the new structure which is the
same building where we worship today. It was dedicated on
February 22, 1848. The Reverend S.D. Jewett's sermon on that
Sunday is one of the few we have from the past. In it, Mr. Jewett
gave a lengthy history of the church. It might also be noted that
the business committee took out an insurance policy on the new
building.
The 1848 building was renovated at least twice after it was built,
once in the late 1800s and again prior to the 200th anniversary
of the church in 1927. At that time a stretched canvas ceiling
was installed and the original pulpit was set in place on a
raised platform created from the original pew doors. The many
years of the Reverend Mr. A. Wallace Canney's pastorate from
1920 until 1972 saw innumerable changes, mirroring the
changes in the entire country, as we became a mobile society,
and modern amenities such as electricity and plumbing
reached out to the village, and communications through the
media, opened huge new vistas for us. Church membership and
activities fluctuated, dictated by events such as the great wars
and the great depression. During these years many improvements
were made to the building. Electricity replaced kerosene lights
and oil heat replaced wood in the 1920s. In the 1970s the roof
was reshingled, the carpet replaced and duplicates of the
original pew doors were built and installed. In the years since
Mr. Dole has been our minister we have renovated the basement,
creating Canney Hall, and added a state of the arts kitchen.
The old, rotting steeple was replaced, and the old steeple
restored and made into a gazebo, now the centerpiece
of Raymond Park, which is the site of sunrise Easter services,
weddings, games and picnics. The driveway has been
rerouted and improved parking areas created.
The parsonage located across Cemetery Road from the
meetinghouse was built around 1900, although for many years
it was not occupied by a parson as the Reverend and Mrs. Canney
made their home with Mrs. Canney's family in North
Westchester. The parsonage became a valuable rental property
for many years, and at times was used for extra Sunday School
classes or meeting and storage areas for the Women's
Fellowship. When Mr. Dole moved to Westchester in 1974 the
parsonage was completely renovated and in 1987 a new porch
and minister's office was added. The Dole family resided there
for over twenty years until they purchased their own home a
few miles from the church. It was briefly used again for Sunday
School and Women's Fellowship projects, until it was
refurbished for the Reverend Ms. Comeau, who took up residence
there in March, 2003
In the years when traveling was difficult the church provided
not only a spiritual base for the area, but also a gathering
place for many social events, open to all the community.
This included not only the period before automobiles came into
use, but also the war years when gasoline was rationed. At one
time during the later part of the 1800s into the mid 1900s there
were two schools in Westchester, a secondary school in
Westchester Center near the Church, and a primary school in
North Westchester, as well as a general store, a post office and
a railroad station. Traditionally Colchester's second selectman
came from the Westchester area, and was generally a church
member. Two small businesses and many family farms
provided income for area residents. The community was quite
self-sufficient, with the church as a focal point for spiritual
and social activities. Interestingly, what did not happen in the
years after the church was founded was that Westchester did not
become a separate town, which was what usually happened
when the General Assembly granted permission for the
creation of a new parish. Probably an expected population
growth did not occur and Westchester remained a part
of Colchester. Various written histories, as well as church
records, chronicle the activities of the years as faithfully
as possible from sketchy records and fading memories.
Music has been an integral part of our worship services,
whether hymns sung by the congregation, or special
music presented by the choir. In the very early years
when there was no organ, the hymns were sung a cappella,
pitched by a pitch pipe. In 1868 the Ladies Benevolent Society
purchased an organ for the church. This was a bellows operated
instrument, operated by foot pedals. In succeeding years we
have had two electric organs. One was donated by Newton
Brainard in the 1950s and the present organ was dedicated in
1991 in honor of the 20th anniversary of Mr. Dole's ordination
to the ministry.
The Sunday School, founded in 1818, has been staffed
through the years by committed volunteers. Instructing both
children and adults, it has always been a training ground for an
informed, knowledgeable congregation, whose base of
Christian training is a strong and enduring foundation for our
Church Family.
Since the 1800s there has been an organized women's
group serving the church. The Ladies Benevolent Society is
mentioned in early records. This name was shortened to the
"Ladies Aid" at some point, and the Women's Fellowship was
organized in 1974. For a time the Ladies Aid, mostly older
women, held a monthly luncheon meeting at members' homes,
while the younger members of the Women's Fellowship met
separately. The original Ladies Aid passed into history, but the
younger and vital Fellowship continues to fulfill many needs of
the church and community. These diligent women have raised
money for the church, cared for ill and indigent, helped staff the
Sunday School, encouraged and planned social activities,
worked for missions at home and abroad, and a myriad of other
tasks. They are an irreplaceable force in the life of the church.
An organized social group for young people of the church
has seen various ups and downs in activities. Named the
Pilgrim Fellowship in the 1950s, it was later renamed the
Pilgrim Youth Fellowship, and then shortened to the Youth
Fellowship. By whatever name, it serves as a social and
educational group for the young people of the Church.
As a group we were fiercely patriotic, and records of the war
years indicate our support of the nation, sending our
boys to the front, and working at home to assist in civilian
activities to help the war efforts in all wars in which the
nation was involved in the history of our Church and Nation.
As the years passed we became more sophisticated, but
always determined to maintain our independence, continuing
as we had originally organized, as an independent Congrega-
tional Church, resisting an effort by some for us to become part
the United Church of Christ.
When that denomination was created in 1957, the
Westchester Congregational Church voted to become a member
of the National Association of Congregational Christian
Churches and the Connecticut Fellowship of Congregational
Christian Churches, both being organizations which were
continuations of the original Congregational denomination.
Guiding our affairs autonomously, we created various
committees to lead us. The Deacons have always been strong
and revered leaders of the Church and continue their charge of
stewardship of our spiritual life. In addition, the Prudential
Committee guides our business affairs, with help from various
other committees such as the mission/outreach, fundraising,
maintenance, and so forth.
In recent years, under the guidance of the Reverend Mr. Fred
(Ted) Dole, who served as Interim Minister from 1972 to 1974
and who became the permanent minister in 1974, the church
has grown significantly as young families have moved into the
area and as families from other parts of town and surrounding
towns have found a welcome and spiritual fulfillment in our
house of worship. The Reverend Mr. Dole is revered throughout
the area for his dedication to ecumenical activities and in his
service as Chaplain to the Colchester Hayward Volunteer Fire
Department. Mr. Dole's retirement in 2003 has marked an
unusual 31 years of commitment to one congregation. The
vitality of the church at this time must be credited to his
dedicated leadership and the strength of his Christian faith. At the
Annual Meeting on Januray 19, 2003, the Church Membership
voted to name Reverend Dole as Minister Emeritus of the
Westchester Congregational Church.
Reverend Dole also provided guidance and mentoring to
several individiuals pursuing careers in the ministry. At the
Annual Meeting on January 16, 1994, the Church membership
voted unanimously to take two members "In Care Of" the
Westchester Congregational Church as a visible statement of this
Church's recognition of their desire to enter the Christian Ministry.
Mr. Duncan Green pursued a lay minister program through the
National Association of Congregational Churches Committee (NACCC)
and was commissioned as a Lay Minister in our Church on
February 9, 1997. The Reverend Amy Perry served as a
student intern, received her degree from the Yale
University Divinity School and was ordained at the
Westchester Congregational Church on June 1, 1997.
Two other student interns from the Yale University Divinity School,
the Reverend Claudia Muro, September 10, 2000 - September 16, 2001,
and the Reverend Ms. Carolyn Johns, November 4, 2001 - May 19, 2002,
also benefited from the tutelage of Reverend Dole. In
November 2004, the Prudential Committee voted unanimously
to take another of our members, Ms. Amanda Ladegard,
"In Care of" the Westchester Congregational Church. At
the Annual Meeting on January 16, 2005, the Church voted
unanimously to take Amanda Ladegard "In Care Of" the
Westchester Congregational Church as a visible statement
of this Church's recognition of her desire to be part of the
Christian Ministry.
The next era in the Church was under the guidance of the Reverend
Ms. Megan Comeau who was called as the Minister of this Church
at the Special Meeting on January 12, 2003 and began her
service on March 1, 2003. Reverend Comeau was installed on
September 28, 2003, the first female minister of the
Weschester Congregational Church, sharing her enthusiasm,
sensitivity, deep faith, and devotion to the principles of
Congregationalism that we revere.
The beginning of the year 2007 brings the Westchester Congregational
Church to a new phase in our history. Pastor Megan Comeau has
left this Church to continue her ministry in a new venue. She led her last
worship service here on January 7, 2007. Following the service she
was honored at a very well attended coffee hour and was presented
with a gift and many tokens of thanks and appreciation for her
time as our Pastor. Since that time a Search Committee has been
formed to begin the search for a new, permanent minister.
The Prudential Committee engaged the Reverend Bob Woodward
to serve as interim minister until his resignation April 4, 2007.
Sunday School and Youth Group activities wil continue under
the guidance of lay members of the congregation during this
interim period. The Women's Fellowship, which has been
inactive for a few months, will again become a vital and
important part of the church. We will continue to seek ways
to build or financial strength through fundraising activities as
well as donations.
We look forward to the continued growth of our church, drawing
on the wisdom and strength of the ministers and the generations who
have led us in the past, and the input of new faces, in both the
pulpit and the congregation, who will bring new ideas and energy to
our church community and strengthen our personal commitments to
the Westchester Congregational Church.
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