The Congregational Church announces the following special events:
December 19 Service of Light at 7PM
December 23 Inter-generational Celebration at 10AM
December 24 Christmas Eve Candle Light Worship Service at 7PM
December 30 PJs and Carols and Bells at 10AM (Wear your PJs and bring a bell for this special celebration as we hear the Christmas story and sing our favorite Christmas carols.)
As always, the entire community is welcome to this historic church.
Built in 1754, the Hampton Congregational Church is the second oldest meetinghouse in continuous use in the state of Connecticut. It replaced an earlier structure, built in 1723 when the Second Society of Windham was organized and the Reverend William Billings was ordained as minister. In an installment of “This Old Hill”, a series published in the Gazette on the development of the village, town historian Bob Burgoyne described a “simple rectangular structure with a nine window front and central entry…the meetinghouse would have looked like a standard two-story colonial house without the chimney stack (early meetinghouses were not heated).” In 1790, the steeple was erected, and in 1798, the first bell was installed. In the late 1830’s, necessary repairs to the meetinghouse included the remodeling that resulted in the columned portico and the Greek Revival façade.
The 150th anniversary commemorating the significant restorations that architecturally transformed the meetinghouse celebrated a second event: the 1840 purchase of the historic pipe organ. According to a 1990 article by Bill Utley, the tracker organ, built by Denison Smith, is the oldest in the state still in its original location. Though its use was discontinued in the 1920’s due to inadequate maintenance, funds were raised for its restoration in the 1980’s, and a foundation was established to provide for a visiting organist to perform an annual concert, a sonorous recital for the quality of the instrument and the acoustics of the church.
Throughout the years, the Congregational Church has sponsored many community events. It serves as the center of our New England village and is never lovelier than during the holidays, when the candles in its twenty-three windows wish us all a Merry Christmas.