Dear Church,

I love the season of Advent for its reminder that preparation is a key to the spiritual life. Prepare the way of the Lord. Isaiah says it. John the Baptist says it. The ragtag bunch of Jesus’ followers show it on Palm Sunday.

We hear the urgent cry—Prepare the way of the Lord—more often during Advent than at any other time of the year. “Prepare the way” is such a common Advent refrain that it can be hard to hear its extraordinary claim: we are invited to participate in the arrival of Christ.

To prepare the way of the Lord is to expect the miracle of incarnation. And to watch for embodiments of love in the land of the living. And to make more room for wonder in our lives. And to make Christ known to others by our living.

Advent preparations—it’s how we wait. We wait with hope, peace, joy, and love. We wait for hope, peace, joy, and love. Our sacred stories are full of people waiting for such graces. Waiting to reach the Promised Land. Waiting for the exile to be over. Waiting for peace to make its home in Jerusalem. Waiting for a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.

The process of preparation is the heart of the celebration. God bless your four-candle journey and your Christmas joy.

With love,

Pastor Andy

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

It’s with gratitude and joy that we can announce that the 2021 Holiday Bazaar raised $10,000 . . . and counting!

The weather could not have been more beautiful (prayers work!), and comments from shoppers were overwhelmingly positive. These uncertain times posed challenges in planning and executing this event; however, after 97 years, the community's support for an in-person Holiday Bazaar is still alive and well.

Almost 50 volunteers worked diligently to organize a spacious and comfortable shopping experience, with everyone in the building masked. We are thankful for these amazing volunteers who put their energy and best talents to work. A constant stream of shoppers flowed (masked) through our doors, happy and full of compliments. The one complaint we heard most often was the parking spaces were full! We are grateful that everything worked so well, and everyone had fun.

There are so many people to thank! You who took a leap of faith and participated to make this Bazaar successful--the amazing table and room chairpersons, our generous donors and workers, and of course the super shoppers.

What’s next? Ruth and Judy have emailed an online survey to collect volunteer workers' feedback. The Bazaar wrap-up meeting is planned for Sunday, December 5, at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom, when the individual table and room final tallies will be shared by our wonderful Bazaar treasurer Katharine Scribner. The entire Bazaar Committee greatly appreciates all this year's donors and the volunteers who made this a fun community event! It's not too early to let Ruth and Judy know your input for Holiday Bazaar 2022.

The 2021 Holiday Bazaar Committee, co-chairs Judy Jessup and Ruth Penfield

With the study of the life of Rev. Albert Webster Dickens and his family this month, we will have discussed the lives of eleven pastors and their families. These biographies cover the settled pastors who served from 1790 to 1900. During this period there were also several ministers that have not been examined. Between the tenures of each settled minister, inevitably a period of a few months (maybe longer) existed in which several guest preachers led worship on Sunday mornings. We do not have a record of each and every guest minister; however, several were mentioned in history of the church written by Stephen Freeman.

As an example, the Manual of the Congregational Church, Middlebury, VT of December 16, 1875 stated the following: Mr. John Barnet was called to become pastor, June 15, 1790. As a step preparatory to the ordination of the pastor, six months previous to the admission of the State into the Union, September 5, 1790, the Congregational Church of Middlebury was organized, consisting of twelve members, seven males and five females. Mr. John Barnet was ordained November 11 of the same year. There was no minister of any denomination at this time in western Vermont, between Middlebury and the Canadian border. After Mr. Barnet’s dismissal on March 31, 1795, he continued to reside in town and to preach as a supply for nearly two years. Shortly after that, he returned to CT. From 1798, three other men were invited to be the settled pastor, but to no avail. President Atwater of Middlebury College preached two or three years for the church. On December 19, 1805, Thomas A. Merrill, who had been preaching for the church for several months in connection with his duties as a tutor at the college was ordained in the midst of a revival.

Rev. Albert W. Dickens served The Congregational Church of Middlebury from 1893 to 1900. He came to Middlebury from a Congregational church in Ticonderoga, NY. He resigned his pastorate on October 14, 1900, but continued to reside in Middlebury and remained a member of the church and the community, frequently acting as moderator for the society and practicing law until he died in 1926. Tomas Simms accepted the pastorate in February 5, 1901, leaving a gap of only three months.

PARENTS: Rev. William Dickens (of Middletown, CT) married Nancy Cross (of Berlin, CT) on 21 Oct 1839 in Berlin, CT. They had two sons: Andrew Jay Dickens (born 1845) and Albert Webster Dickens (born 1852). Census records revealed no further information on Nancy Cross after 1855. A reasonable assumption is that the mother died around 1855–1860 and the sons (Andrew and Albert) moved in with relatives. Beginning in 1860, according to federal census records, Andrew (oldest son), Albert (youngest son), and William (father) were living in three different households in Chester, Washington, NY. William was listed as a Baptist preacher until 1870 but is not found in published records after that time.

Rev. William Dickens born ca 1810 England [d. unknown]

Mary Nancy Cross born ca 1818 Tolland CT [d. unknown]

BROTHER:

Andrew Jay Dickens b 16 Apr 1845 IL d 4 Mar 1912 Hudson Falls NY

married Helen M. Jan 1866 (born Feb 1851 NY, died 24 Jan 1922 Hudson Falls, NY)

Andrew Jay Dickens and Helen M. married in Jan 1866. Andrew served in the Civil War. This couple had two children, with only one still alive by 1900. They had a grand-daughter, Ethel, who married a Mr. Carpenter and had five children. This couple had two children but could only find records of Charles:

Charles J. Dickens b 28 Sept 1870 d 17 Feb 1952 m [unk] – 2 children

   [unknown child] b before 1900 d before 1900

OUR PASTOR:

Albert Webster Dickens b 20 Oct 1852 Comstock NY d 8 Nov 1926 Middlebury (Angina pretoria)

In June 1884, Albert Webster Dickens married Sara Smith (born 9 Nov 1864 in Argyle, NY). Parents of Sara are John Hayes Smith (born ca 1810) and Mary Cook (born ca 1818). There were no offspring.

In federal census records for 1900, Albert was listed as a minister. After 1900, Albert studied law for two years and then practiced law for the rest of his life. During his pastorate here he undoubtedly lived in our church parsonage at 1 South Pleasant Street. In 1910 and 1920, they were listed as living at 66 Court Street, Middlebury. Upon the death of Albert, Sara continued to live at 66 Court Street until her death on Mar 7 1953 of myocardial degeneration. Both were buried in the Middlebury (West) Cemetery.

Albert W. Dickens lived in Middlebury 34 years. Born in Comstock Landing, NY, the son of a Baptist clergyman, he graduated from Princeton in 1878, being a classmate of Woodrow Wilson, and from Union Theological Seminary three years later. He was married to Sara M. Smith of Argyle NY. He was called to Middlebury from an eight-year pastorate in Ticonderoga and was minister of the Congregational Church in Middlebury from 1893 to 1900. After two years of study he was admitted to the bar in 1902 and practiced law until his death. For eight years, he served as municipal judge, having received his first appointment from Governor Graham.

Sara Smith Dickens, wife of Albert W. Dickens, was born in Albany, NY, daughter of John Hayes and Mary Cook Smith who came to America from England in the early 1860s. Her childhood was spent in Argyle, NY. She graduated from the Argyle Academy and worked in the county clerk’s office. After her marriage to Mr. Dickens, then a minister in the Argyle Church, they moved to Ticonderoga where Mr. Dickens was pastor in the Congregational Church. In 1893, they came to Middlebury where Mr. Dickens became pastor of the Congregational Church. Mrs. Dickens was a member of the Congregational Church for 60 years, a member of the Hawthorne Club and Women’s Club, and maintained an interest in civic affairs.

Next month we will present the biography of Rev. Thomas Simms (and his family) who came to the Middlebury Church from South Manchester, NH, and left Middlebury for a pastorate in Braintree, MA.

Mal Chase, Historian