First Congregational Church of Wiscasset was founded 250 years ago on Aug. 6, 1773. As part of the 250th celebration, the church has offered weekly historical snippets about the church. The celebration will culminate this weekend with an organ concert by Joel Pierce at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9 followed by a tea, and a celebration Sunday church service at 10 a.m. Sept. 10, followed by a reception. Visitors are welcome at all weekend events. Please visit this historic church any Sunday, at 28 High St., Wiscasset. For more information, phone the church office at 882-7544.  

We hope you have enjoyed the historical articles. This is the last article in the series.

Rev. Rensel H. Colby and New Parish House 

“One of the most beloved and one of the oldest pastors of our church was the Rev. Rensel H. Colby (1948-1952).  He was admired in churches across the state and served as president of the Maine Conference of Congregational Churches from 1935 to 1936. He was always very active in civic affairs, serving as an officer in Kiwanis, the Masons, and the Grange and he served as a Boy Scout leader throughout much of his ministry.” 

“Mr. Colby served the Edgecomb church along with Wiscasset. That church still had 30 members at the time, and an excellent average weekly attendance of 30. The Wiscasset membership grew from 100 to 122 in the Colby years.” 

“The great accomplishment of Rensel Colby’s pastorate was the erection and dedication of the new Parish House, built onto the rear of the 1909 church building. The total cost of the addition was $20,000, much of that amount being raised by the Building Committee chairman, Joseph E. Hubbard, who went door to door in the Wiscasset community collecting the needed funds. The Parish House was completed and dedicated without a penny of debt. The building was built by Harold Sherman of Wiscasset” whose son, Walter Sherman, served on the committee to expand the church once again starting in 1994 and being completed in 1997. 

“First Congregational Church was in its 178th year when the new Paish House was dedicated on Nov. 29, 1951.” “The church had a great increase in space for all its activities with a kitchen, fellowship hall, and meeting room on the top floor, and five Sunday School classrooms on the bottom floor. None of the rooms were set aside as an office for the pastor … as ministers usually worked out of a study in their homes. Two of the classrooms would be turned into offices for the pastor and a secretary in the 1980s, cutting down the space available to the Sunday School. Another addition would be added to the Parish House in 1995-1997.” This would include more Sunday School classrooms, a much larger kitchen, and the spacious Fellowship Hall we have today. 

Credit for this snippet goes to Harold W. Tucker and his book, “Ye Olde First Parish, History of the First Congregational Church.”