First Congregational Church Completes Renovation Project
By Jim Thomas

The First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ in Randolph Center recently completed a multi-year renovation project. This year’s portion of the project focused on repainting the exterior of the building. The existing paint, applied over 20 years ago, was deteriorating, and before the new paint could be applied, a vigorous scraping and application of primer coats were required.

The church was organized in 1786, and was at the time one of the most northern pioneer churches of New England. The first meetinghouse was a log structure on the east slope of Sunset Hill. Five years later, the church had outgrown the log structure, and the town voted to build a new one on the parade ground. Originally also used as the town meetinghouse, that post and beam structure was erected in 1792 and is still in use today.

By 1830, the West village (now considered "downtown" Randolph) had grown large enough to make a second Congregational Church desirable. In 1831 13 members of the Center church were dismissed to form a new body, which is today known as Bethany United Church of Christ.

During the past six years, several significant projects have been completed at the Center church, including renovation of the steeple, addition of a kitchen in the downstairs fellowship hall, installation of a new heating system, and replacement of the pew cushions. All of this work was done while remaining debt free. The members of the church are grateful for the support offered by the entire Randolph Center community.

The Center church will join the Bethany Church for worship Sunday, Nov. 4, to celebrate together the 50^th anniversary of the United Church of Christ and their shared history.

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