Dear Church Family,

Words cannot appropriately express the love and joy in my heart that I felt on June 12. I could not have dreamt a better send-off. It has been a pleasure to serve this community, and I look forward to sitting in the pews with all of you in the future.

Thank you for all the beautiful cards and sentiments that you all shared. Everyone should be as fortunate as I am to hear the gratitudes of others. You truly do not know the effect that you will have on others, so remember to always be kind, listen intently, help where and when you can, and above all … love one another.

Officially signing off 😊

Jennifer H. Smith

When Bill Thurber joined The Congregational Church of Middlebury last fall, it was a homecoming for a member of a beloved church family. Bill is the son of the late Betty and Harris Thurber and brother of Sara Marshall. He grew up in this church, was baptized and confirmed here, attended Sunday school, sang in the junior choir, and participated in (and later was an assistant leader of) the youth group. A sermon he gave as a young adult, “The Athletic Life: God’s Affirmation of the Physical Self,” based on his own experience recovering from an athletic injury, later became a resource as a coach helping young athletes who faced similar recoveries.

For many years, Bill lived in other parts of the state, where he raised his family, taught Sunday school and led the men’s group at his church, served the public schools as a math teacher, principal, and coach of basketball and soccer teams, and coached club teams. Visiting with family kept Bill connected to Middlebury and The Congregational Church.

Following his father’s premature death, Bill took over maintaining the Middlebury homestead and, as time passed, adding safety features for his mother and step-father, Dick Cramton. After their passing, the house brought him back to Middlebury to once again be his home. As Bill is doing most of the needed improvements to the 125-year-old house himself, it requires a substantial amount of the time now available to him in retirement.

Like his parents before him, Bill is an active volunteer for our church. While living here in the early 2000s, he taught church school for middle school age youth with Deb Karpak, and helped with the church audit. He joined the Board of Christian Development this year and now volunteers for clean-up duty with the Friday night Community suppers. Another of Bill’s great joys is his free service of providing videos of sports events and challenging hikes on his YouTube channel, vtboomer. His greatest joy is trips to visit his two daughters and their families, into which his fourth grandchild in 18 months was born on June 12th.

~Interviewed by the Board of Membership and Communications~

Dear Friends,

For nearly ten years, it has been my great pleasure to serve the Congregational Church of Middlebury as theologian-in-residence. I want to let you know that, as of this summer, I am relinquishing that role. To be clear, Elizabeth and I aren't leaving! Over the past several years, however, my responsibilities at the college have made it hard to offer adult educational opportunities with the frequency I once did, and the invitations to preach and teach in other congregations have increased so much that I am frequently absent from ours. At the same time, my role here became less necessary with the long-anticipated calling of our associate pastor, as well as the service of Andi Lloyd as a de facto member of the staff for the past couple of years. The result has been that I have not contributed as consistently to our congregational life as I was able to earlier in my tenure as theologian-in-residence, so it feels like a move with integrity to acknowledge that, by relinquishing a formal role on our church staff.

Again, Elizabeth and I have no plans to go anywhere. We are still active members of this church, so you will see us regularly in the choir and in other activities of our congregational life. I may even get the occasional Sunday to preach. Even though my role on the church staff has come to an end, we expect to be part of this wonderful community of faithful friends for more years to come!

With gratitude, James