Thetford Center
A congregation of some 40 people gathered as the Rev. Brigid Farrell declared the historic church deconsecrated.
Soon it will be up to Timothy Frost’s new owner — the town of Thetford — to decide how to purpose the building.
Farrell, who will continue in her role at the United Church of Thetford’s other building in North Thetford, invited those in attendance on Sunday to breathe in the place and listen to all the voices they had heard there over the years.
Farrell acknowledged the mixed feelings of the moment as the congregation prepared to relinquish its ownership of the building to the town with no strings attached or say in its next use.
Timothy Frost merged with the North Thetford Federated Church a decade ago to create the United Church of Thetford. Over time, managing and maintaining the two churches has detracted from the group’s primary goals of worship and community service, according to Curtis Richardson, the organization’s treasurer.
“We’re an older congregation,” Richardson said. “We’re a smaller congregation and we want to focus on worship, not on roof repairs. … We also realized that our congregation has used the building for two hours a week for quite a few years and the building has a lot more potential than that.”
Hence the closing of doors on a space that bore witness to many significant moments in the small village’s history.
During her final address, Farrell asked for a showing of hands by those who had attended Sunday school, gotten married or seen their children baptized in the church.
Some community members shared brief memories during the service.
One oft-mentioned name was Bertha Brown, a longtime former pastor at Timothy Frost.
Lisa Ladd recalled an auspicious encounter with Brown one snowy morning in the 1990s. Church was called off via phone tree, but Ladd, who lived in Thetford Center, wasn’t on it yet because she was new to the congregation.
So she bundled up her toddler and walked over to the church only to find Brown keeping an eye on the entrance in case anyone showed up.
“Bertha drew in her breath and said, ‘We are going to have church,’ ” Ladd said.
The three of them gathered around candles that Brown allowed the young boy to light, and a special occasion was solidified.
Sunday’s leave-taking service included singing accompanied by Faith Childs, who played an exquisite postlude medley, culminating with a toe-tapping rendition of Linus and Lucy by Vince Guaraldi.
Richardson spoke to the congregation’s potential future at Sunday’s service.
“The main thing that’s going on here is we’re in a process of love and trust,” he said. “The church’s membership loves its community and wants to make sure this building is a central part of it moving forward.”
Richardson indicated that there might come a time in the near future when the North Thetford Church gets repurposed for public and/or nonprofit use — a scenario that would render the congregation without its own meeting place.
“We would gather in whatever place would make us welcome,” Richardson said. “We could meet in a different house of worship, we could meet in a place that currently isn’t specifically dedicated to being a house of worship. We don’t know how that will exactly pan out. It’s a great leap of faith, if you will.”
Thetford Selectboard Chairman Stuart Rogers was on hand for Sunday’s proceedings. Rogers said that the building-use issue will be discussed — but not voted upon or settled — during “other business” at Town Meeting in March.
The church is known for its good acoustics. The ceiling was shaped without sharp corners in order to limit unwanted echoes and reverberation, according to Rogers.
The building is currently limited by its lack of plumbing, something Rogers said might be addressed depending on what tack the town takes.
Regardless of its next function, Rogers views the town’s acquisition, which will become official on Jan. 14, as a fitting complement to neighboring Town Hall.
“Town hall and (Timothy Frost) have been what we’ve considered sisters from the beginning,” Rogers said. “The land that they both sit on was donated by the same person. … The original town hall was built in 1830, (the church) in 1836. I’ve noticed for years it was the same builder. The same hand built both buildings using the same brick, using the same method.”
Adam Boffey can be reached at boffeyadam@gmail.com.