Remarks on the Dedication of the Renovation

The reality of dedication was present long before the ground breaking, in the form of long range planning, which involved much more than the building itself. It involved articulation of how all of our space needed to serve the programs we have today, and hope to have in the future. John Harwood led those efforts in the late 90s, and he and his committee built on efforts going back longer than that. As I prepared to write these remarks, I took pleasure in reading the chapter in our History on the building of the new Meeting House in which we now sit. It is uncanny how history repeats itself. The momentous decision to build a new church took a long time to make, just as solving the more recent space needs of our society was studied for a long time. Our forebears were a little faster than we. They took 15 years to make their decision, according to some we took well over 20.

The reality of dedication represented by the Building Committee predated the ground breaking by many years. The Committee kept all of us focused on the realities, challenges and the possibilities of undertaking a building project. When speaking of the Building Committee we recognize the long-standing dedication, commitment and clear vision of its Chair, Peter Erickson, who most recently has spent countless hours, days and weeks guiding the design and construction of the current project and without whom none of what we have today would have been possible. The expertise of long service and professional experience on the Building Committee by people like Jim Kidd has benefited our church for many years. The renovation project is just the most recent example.

The reality of dedication has been well and truly present by the people, not among our members, who have toiled long, hard and well beyond their compensation to give us what we have. Andrew Sidford and his associate John Lavoie designed a space truly worthy of this magnificent, historic meeting house. The basement space has none of the negatives associated with the appellation, and all of the positives of light and openness we all prize so highly in the worship space. They designed a new space which so thoroughly blends into and works with the old that the words of architect Herbert D. Hale, son of Edward Everett Hale, spoken at the centenary of this building in 1901 continue to apply to the whole building today. He said "There is something quaint and old fashioned about this church interior. Somehow it takes us completely away from the mad rush of today and from the modern improvements of every kind that we have left behind us this morning"

Murphy Construction Company has been dedicated to this project since well before the ground breaking. Jack Murphy is one of those quiet, but strong contributors to our community who makes Newburyport the wonderful place it is. Jack has truly been with us every step of the way. He may have thought there were too many steps on the way, but he has been there. He, his son Brett, all of the subcontractors, the workers and craftsmen have given us work of a quality which matches that which has stood on this spot for over 200 years. There is one among all of these fine people who deserves to be singled out. He is Jack's son, Shawn Murphy, who supervised all of the work on the job. There have been many challenges associated with this job. One of the first was dealing with the ledge, of which we found much more than we expected. As I mentioned before, history does repeat itself, our forebears had to deal with the ledge also. Shawn, they had a unique way to handle it, which might have made your life a little easier. Our history tells us that the first entry in the expense account for the new building was dated July 2nd, 1800 and read "To cash paid, liquor for people getting out stone." Whether dealing with the ledge, beautifully orchestrating the movement of the stair from truck to where it rests today in under 2 hours, or the zigs and zags which are inevitable in a project managed by committee, Shawn has had a smile on his face, a can-do attitude and follow-through that never disappointed. Shawn told me the other day that this was the longest single job he's been on. Shawn we are lucky to have had you and truly grateful for your strong dedication.

To all of you who have toiled on this project, whether in the basement or the rafters, I'd like to paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emerson. In an essay he wrote:

He who digs a well, constructs a stone fountain, plants a grove of trees by the roadside, builds a durable house makes the land so far lovely and desirable, makes a fortune which he cannot carry away with him, but which is useful to his country long afterwards.

The dedication of the merry band you charged with seeing this through to completion, the Renovation Steering Committee, has been an inspiration. For over 2 years Nancy Crochiere, Anne Verret-Speck, Peter Erickson, Barry Kray, Howard Fairweather, John Mercer, Lynn Kettleson and I have raised the money, with the able assistance of Wayne Clark from the UUA, resolved longstanding legal issues with the title, made decisions about the specifics of the project, managed the finances, and communicated with you about the project's progress. The Committee has been a pleasure for me to work with and I would like to thank each of the members for their extraordinary dedication.

Finally, at the ground breaking I told you that we, all of us, continue the dedication shown over 200 years ago by the women and men who built this glorious Meeting House. To that dedication we all have added our own. The years of work, and gifts of dollars, both so generously given, have brought the dream to this, a new legacy.

At the time I said your past and continued dedication will be matched over the next 10 months, ok it was 12, by the efforts of the Renovation Steering Committee, in whom you entrusted the management of this effort. I told you we would dedicate ourselves to guiding this work through the inevitable challenges to the completion of our legacy. Our hope, and yours, was to see this through as well as our forebears did, to the end that, in September, ok, November, we are ensconced in spaces which enhance our entire community's ability to worship, and which serve as symbols of dedication we have all made, for those who follow.

Bill Hennehan
Chairman
Renovation Steering Committee