Three years from now on July 4, 2026, America will celebrate its "Semiquincentennial,” our nation’s 250th year of independence. Here in “Maine’s Prettiest Village,” there’s also a 250th birthday event that’s taking shape. Parishioners of Wiscasset’s First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ are commemorating their own Semiquincentennial on the second week of September. The church building, one of the most photographed in Maine, is at the top of Wisccasset’s Town Common, next door to Lincoln County Courthouse.

Nancy Roby and other members of the church who are involved in planning the event filled me in on some of the details this past week. “On Saturday, Sept. 9 we’ll be hosting an afternoon organ recital. It will begin at 2, and feature Joel Pierce of Topsham, a piano teacher and performer. Afterwards there’ll be a reception held in the church’s Fellowship Hall. The following morning, Sunday at 10 is when we’ll have what we’re calling our ‘Homecoming Service’ and that too will be followed with a gathering in the Fellowship Hall,” Nancy told me. The other members who make up the 250th planning committee are Joan Shea, Martha Speed, Deb Olsen, Susan Zimmerman, Linda Winterberg, Carol Peck and Jackie Lowell, most of whom are familiar names in the Wiscasset community.

Nancy is one of three, third-generation church members. Her late father, Walter Sherman, served a number of years as a Trustee president. Older Wiscasseters will remember that Mr. Sherman and his brothers Stan and Gerry owned the former Wiscasset Lumber Company on Water Street. Nancy’s mother, Betty Sherman, and her grandmother, Florence Sherman, were active for years in the church’s Organ Society. In the early days of the church, 1822, the women of the congregation formed the Ladies Organ Society to raise money. Their first fundraising effort was to buy a woodstove to heat the sanctuary which up until then had been unheated. That accomplished, the Ladies next purchased an organ in 1827. The group continues to remain active today.

Sarah Whitfield, Wiscasset’s selectboard chairman, is another third-generation First Congregational Church member. Her parents, Jan and Steven Whitfield, are members as were Steven’s parents, Bill and Bernice Whitfield. Bill, a pharmacist, owned Whitfield’s Drug Store downtown on Main Street. The Whitfields also owned the Whitfield Motel and Cabins on Route 1 that’s now Wiscasset Woods Lodge.

Betty Applin can call herself a third generation member, too. Her mother, Ruth Applin of Churchill Street, joined the church in 1922 and until just a few years ago was the oldest member of the congregation. Mrs. Applin lived to celebrate her 100th birthday.  

As part of its 250th birthday, the church will open its doors to visitors as part of the “Wiscasset’s Homes on Tour,” which is planned for Saturday, July 8. Docents will be there to share church lore with guests including the story of the church’s original bell cast in Paul Revere’s foundry. The bell’s ultimate fate along with an interesting story about the weather vane on the steeple top were researched by Mrs. Winterberg.

The church is also re-opening its “Centennial Coffer,” a time capsule found in 1991. As the story goes, in 1877 three parishioners, all men, met and filled a small wooden box with items they felt important enough to share with a future generation of Wiscasseters. The box was sealed and placed next door in the courthouse for safekeeping with the instructions that it not be opened until the church’s centennial in 1977. It was, however, forgotten about until being re-discovered and subsequently opened on Jan. 20, 1991.  I remember covering this story for the newspaper and photographing members of the congregation looking over the box’s contents that included letters written home to loved ones by men fighting in the Civil War. Pictured was the late Harry Haggett. For many years Mr. Harrett owned Haggett’s Garage, home to a Ford Dealership on Water Street. The building was demolished a few years ago to make way for a parking lot. Billie Barnes, wife of Charlie Barnes, was also pictured. Mrs. Barnes also deceased worked for Roy Farmer Real Estate and Associates in the Day House on Main Street.

Before closing let me share with you a very short history of the church. The building there now with its landmark white bell tower and steeple was erected in 1909. Its construction followed the second church building that had been erected in 1839-40. That building burned to the ground in a spectacular fire just a few days before Christmas in 1907. The first house of worship was built in 1764, a wooden structure also used for early town meetings and that took on the name of “Ye Olde First Parish.” Its first minister was Rev. Thomas Moore who began his ministry there Aug. 4, 1973 and whose grave can been seen in Wiscasset’s Ancient Cemetery.

Many interesting facts about the church, its pastors and early history appear in Rev. Harold W. Tucker’s book, “Ye Olde First Parish,” written in 1998. Rev. Tucker served as the church’s minister from 1985 to 1994.

Happy 250th First Congregational Church UCC and many happy returns!

Phil Di Vece earned a B.A. in journalism studies from Colorado State University and an M.A. in journalism at the University of South Florida. He is the author of three Wiscasset books and is a frequent news contributor to the Boothbay Register-Wiscasset Newspaper. He resides in Wiscasset. Contact him at pdivece@roadrunner.com