Mary-Ella Holst – Opening – June 8, 2014
Good morning and welcome to our service this morning.
I joined All Souls in 1964 and so am in the midst of my 50th year of membership. Of course, like
many others, perhaps some of you, I hadn’t joined right away. In fact, I had been attending since
1960 and began teaching in the church school almost immediately and since there was only one
service in those days, and because I was in the classroom, I seldom actually attended the service.
I am not even sure I knew that “being a member” was anything more than showing up.
Much has changed since those early days and change did not always come easily. One of my
favorite examples of this is that when I first came to the church, the ushers were all men and wore
formal morning coats. So when women were finally permitted to usher, there was a controversy
as to what they would wear. “Would skirts be permitted?” was a controversial question.
In 2019 this congregation will celebrate the 200th anniversary of its founding. When I realized
that I have been a member for one-quarter, or 25% of the congregation’s existence, I admit that I
was a bit stunned.
Over time since that first congregation gathered in 1819 to practice and celebrate a liberal vision
of religion, can you imagine how much has changed? How much are we aware of and how much
have we forgotten?
As many of you know, I am interested in history and so I research and read more than many
people want to know. For example, I like to say that I am probably one of the very few people
you know who has read 40 sermons by Theodore Chickering Williams, minister of this
congregation as it transitioned from the 19th to the 20th century. I suspect it was at that time quite
controversial when he introduced the topic of evolution from the pulpit but perhaps even more so
when he spoke of the men experiencing a “mid-life crisis.”
I look forward to celebrating our history but today I also celebrate with great hope our future
together and the changes that will inevitably come to our Sunday mornings and to our lives as we
join together in shaping the future of the 21st century … and beyond.