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As if to secure final closure between Bowdoin College in Maine and the City of Beverly, Robert Gregory, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship Advisor to the Bowdoin Christian Fellowship, delivered a sermon on 22 May, 2011 at First Parish church, Unitarian-Universalist that was first given 1 May, 1796 by the Rev. Joseph McKeen, 5th minister of the Church and, later, the first President of Bowdoin College.
Reverend Joseph McKeen stands apart in the annals of Beverly history for his raw intellect and life’s mission of service to others. He was born in Londonderry New Hampshire on 15 October, 1757, the third generation of one of its founding families. In 1770, at the incredible age of thirteen he entered Dartmouth College as a Seminarian and graduated four years later, one of only eight in its first graduating class. He taught school in Londonderry for several years before entering military service as a Sergeant in [...]
Article by David Shawn
Rev. Thomas Blowers, the first minister of the 18th century at First Church in Beverly, replaced the legendary founding minister, John Hale. Blowers lacks the name recognition of his predecessor, but he led this church for twenty-nine years at a critical juncture in its history. What issues did Rev. Blowers and the congregation face in this new era? The most remarkable events prior to Blowers’ call to Beverly had to do with the Salem Witch Trials, which profoundly touched this church and its minister. Rev. Hale had initially affirmed the accusations of witchcraft in 1692 when Salem was looking for an objective expert, but, later, Hale reconsidered his views and wrote an important tract on the controversial events. In 1700 he passed away after more than 35 years in the pulpit. The new minister was faced with the daunting legacy of a founding minister and [...]
Article by David Shawn
In 1859, when First Parish Church called John C. Kimball to be its eighth minister, the congregation was entering into a new era that it could hardly imagine. Its past, however, was quite clear. The retiring minister, Christopher Toppen Thayer, had served for almost thirty years, calmly leading the congregation through an era of religious and social controversies. A physical testament to Thayer’s beloved character is the bust of him that occupies one of the front corners in the sanctuary still today. As a social and theological moderate, and a widely admired preacher, Thayer would describe his relationship with the congregation as one of “entire reciprocal concord.” The same could not be said, however, for the relationship between Rev. Kimball and the First Parish Church.
Before I discuss Kimball’s character and experiences as the FPC minister, it’s important to identify two key facts of this [...]
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