Tri-Town residents are noticing bright yellow construction scaffolding alongside the historic Church Vestry, situated on the church green next to Town Hall. The scaffolding is part of a full structure “facelift” aimed at extending the beauty, longevity, and usefulness of one of the town’s iconic landmarks.
The Vestry and neighboring Sanctuary are the oldest buildings on the green and have been icons of Rochester Center since the late 1830s. The Vestry, originally opened in 1839 as the “Rochester Academy”, was also used by the town as school classrooms for nearly half a century, from 1905 to the early 1950s. Today, the upper floors are home to the Rochester Christian Learning Center, which offers academic resources for homeschooling families in the area.
This renovation of the Vestry is the ambitious undertaking of the First Congregational Church of Rochester and is the first of two phases in a $450,000 three-year capital campaign which will later extend renovations to the adjacent church sanctuary. The work involves removing multiple layers of aging clapboard and wood-shake siding and replacing it with composite materials designed to resemble the original historic façade. Windows are also being replaced as part of this effort
It’s an exciting time for this community church which is looking to provide the town with not only a beautiful backdrop to the town center, but an inspirational and functional center of worship, praise, and study.
The church welcomes donations from community members interested in supporting this project. Donations by check can be sent to the First Congregational Church of Rochester, P.O. Box 98, Rochester, MA 02770, or made online at RochesterCongregational.com. The church is a registered 501©(3) organization.
The First Congregational Church of Rochester welcomes the public to join worship services held at 10:00 am every Sunday.