‘It’s not just about us’: Hingham Congregational Church celebrates 175th anniversary

HINGHAM – The collaboration between Hingham Congregational Church and the town has "been a faithful partnership,” church moderator Kathi Blair said, and to celebrate that union the church will be holding activities throughout the year to marks its 175th anniversary.

Blair and Debbie Edmundson are co-chairs of the church's jubilee committee and have been working the Rev. Peter Allen to plan the celebrations.

“We didn’t stand there alone for 175 years. We’ve always been in partnership with the town,” Blair said. “Hingham takes good care of our church, and we love to give back.”

The yearlong celebration, which kicked off in January and will continue throughout 2023, is called Jubilee 175. The slogan for the year is “175 Years of Faith and Community.”

The church will be partnering with the Hingham Public Library through the “175 Book Drive.” The church will host fundraising activities with the goal of donating 175 books to the library by the end of the year.

“Outreach is our purpose and one of the most important missions of our church,” Blair said.

Blair said when church members started to plan the anniversary last summer, they expressed a desire to work with other institutions in Hingham. Given recent controversies about books, book bans and libraries in some parts of the country, the church wanted to show its support for Hingham's library, she said.

After church members talked to Library Director Linda Harper, the two institutions came up with the idea of the book drive to correspond with the 175th anniversary. The books will focus on racial, social, LGBTQ and climate justice.

“We wanted them to align with our values and they happen to be mutual values that the Hingham Public Library supports as well,” Blair said.

The library is selecting the titles, while the church is recommending the topics. The church has held a number of fundraising events for the book drive, including Bingo for Books, Bowling for Books, Baking for Books (a bake sale), and Bargain for Books, which the consignment center at the church held. The Bottles for Books fundraiser was a bottle and can drive.

Blair said the cost of providing 175 books is about $5,000 and the church is within 65% to 75% of reaching that goal.

In addition, a church float in is planned for this year’s Fourth of July parade and the church is planning a community event Sept. 17 to thank the town for supporting it. Local representatives and senators will be guest speakers and there will be music, food and tours of the church.

The church also raises money through its 60-year-old consignment center in its basement where people bring in used household goods and gently used clothes. The consignment center gives the community a way to buy inexpensive items and it serves as a way to recycle things, Blair said.

The proceeds go to organizations and local charities including Wellspring and Interfaith Social Services and to the church's general budget. Some of the proceeds from the consignment center went to the book drive.

Hingham Congregational Church is also working on a historical timeline to go with the anniversary.

More: $3 million renovation project complete at Hingham church

“We’re trying to make sure that we celebrate ourselves internally, but more so we want to understand and appreciate that we wouldn’t have been sitting on that spot for 175 years if it wasn’t for the support of the community as well, so we want to give back not only this year for our 175th anniversary but for all 175 years we’ve been trying to give back to our community and partner with our community," Blair said.

She said the 175-foot-tall steeple and clocktower at the church is maintained by the Hingham Historic Districts Commission because it is such a historic part of the town. The commission gave a grant to the church to build a handicapped-accessible ramp, and Blair said she wants to thank the town for allowing church members to park on the street on Sunday mornings because the church doesn’t have a parking lot.

For more information or to donate to the book drive, visit hccucc.com.

Reach Joel Barnes at jkbarnes@patriotledger.com.

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Patriot Ledger subscription. Here is our latest offer.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Hingham Congregational Church celebrates 175th anniversary