As I sit down to write this edition of Church Matters, I find myself still in the afterglow of last week's Ash Wednesday service, which featured Faure's Requiem and Cantique de Jean Racine. Over seventy singers gathered in the choir corner and organ-side balcony pews to blend their voices together, singing with six marvellous strings and our stalwart pipe organ. From the very first notes of the Cantique to the final chord of In Paradisum, I felt transported to another realm and could feel that many others in the room were right there with me. 

This was a community event in every way. The service featured our very own Chancel Choir, additional singers from our congregation, and many more volunteer singers from Addison County and beyond. Most choral singers know the Faure Requiem intimately well and have sung it more than once in their lives, which allowed us to put this project together with just three rehearsals. Choral singing is an act of resistance in many ways, as it brings together people from all walks of life to unite their voices for a common purpose. It reminds us that when we stop to engage with beauty and awe, so many of our problems fade away and we find ways to move forward, together.

Meditating on eternal life and death feels like an appropriate way to start the season of Lent. To me, Faure's Requiem feels introspective, pensive, and dark at times, but also exceedingly hopeful. The opening figures in the final movement draw the ear and eye up as they float toward heaven, and the soprano voices glide effortlessly over the already buoyant texture. The lower voices in the choir ground us as the train gently pulls into the station, beckoning us with open arms. We have journeyed through the woes of life but have found a sense of peace and rest. We have finally made it home.

I hope that you may carry this music with you throughout Lent. Let the music serve as a guiding force in your daily lives. Remember the common truth which unites us all: one day, each of us will die, and everything we know and love will cease to exist. With that in mind, what a joy it is to behold the wonder and mystery of life with each breath that we take. What a gift we have all been given to have crossed paths to create such music as this. I am grateful to each of you for your presence, your ears, your voices, and your love.

-Ronnie Romano, Music Director

Prior to 1945, a mimeographed brochure of some ten pages had been distributed at each annual meeting, giving chiefly the financial reports, holdings, and budgets. Beginning with the annual meeting for 1950, this was expanded to some 20 pages, to include written reports from the pastor, Rev. W. T. Hawley; the historian, Professor R. H. White; and the chairmen of the deacons and deaconesses, and other major committees. These were interestingly written and communicated far more information about the church activities than was hitherto generally known, or possible to impart at an annual meeting [copied from S. A. Freeman].

The 1945 Annual Report was titled “The Congregational Church and The Religious Congregational Society of Middlebury, Vermont - - - Financial and Membership Reports for 1945.” There was no text in this report, but there were numerous financial tables and membership reports (similar to an attendance record).

In the pre-1950 Annual Reports, “The Congregational Church and The Religious Congregational Society of Middlebury, Vermont - - - Financial and Membership Reports for 1945” showed that the financial statuses of these two organizations were kept separate. It was interesting that the Moderator title was used for the Church, while the Clerk title was used for each organization; leading to the fact that there could be two clerks organizationally speaking, it was in the 1960s that the two organizations merged so that there was ONE Moderator and ONE Clerk for each year.

Beginning before World War II, here is the list of Moderators:

• Howard I. Slocum, 1939 through 1948
• Stephen A. Freeman, 1949 through 1988
• James Douglas, 1989 through 1995
• Anne Ginevan, 1996 through 2001
• Ronald Rucker, 2002 through 2005
• Russell C. Carpenter, 2006 through 2019
• Katy Smith Abbott, 2019 through 2021
• Leanna Maglienti, 2022 through current

Note that the years listed in the church fiscal years served, is not showing that January of the year that follows (up to the day of the Annual Meeting) was technically included. Each transition officially took place at an Annual Meeting.

Comments from John Emerson (10-10-21):

1. Howard I. Slocum, D.O. (osteopathy) was Moderator through the 1940s, and died in 1970.

2. He was active in many community organizations.

3. When Amy and John Emerson joined the church in 1973, Stephen Freeman was Church Moderator; Steve was Moderator beginning in1949. (He built up the French School starting in the 1920s, was a College Vice President “forever,” and served as Acting College President for one year.)

4. When Steve was abroad at the French School, Dick Hubbard served as substitute Moderator. Steve’s last full year as Church Moderator was 1988.

Note: Do you recall the names of the Clerks? Comments on the names of the clerks will be presented next month!

Historian: Malcolm W. Chase (with assistance from John Emerson)

The Green Team has been reflecting over the past several months about how our actions as individuals can have a collective impact. We are grateful to have connected with a local organization already doing the good and hard work of moving our entire community, one household at a time, toward a future where greenhouse gas emissions in Addison County are declining, rather than rising. We hope you will join us in learning more about local solutions for a global problem. The Green Team believes that together, we can make a difference!

Mission Possible: Be a Wiser Energizer!

Want to develop a plan to save money, be more comfortable, and reduce carbon emissions in your home? And would you like to develop that plan for free? The Green Team has some good news for you!

Middlebury's Town Energy Committee has partnered with CEACAC (the Climate Energy Action Center of Addison County) to establish the Addison County Energy Navigators. Energy Navigators provide FREE one-on-one home energy consulting services for residents of Addison County. An Energy Navigator will come to your home, meet with you, work with you, and follow up with you. The plan can be simple or complex, and can include a variety of weatherization, electrification, or conservation advice.

Interested? Want to learn more? Come to Fellowship Hall (AKA coffee hour) after the worship service on Sunday, March 9! Our Middlebury Energy Navigator, Adayliah Ley, will be at a table there, ready to answer your questions and provide more information.

(More good news: Adayliah says that apartment and house renters can also get audits!)

For additional information and to sign up for your free energy audit, please go to ceacac.org and click on Energy Navigators at the top of the page.

TOGETHER, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!