PARIS — The First Congregational Church of South Paris celebrates its bicentennial this year, strong in its faith and strong in its community, the Rev. Don Mayberry said.

“We consider the most important aspect of our 200th year simply to be the ongoing Sunday worship and being a faith community that is carrying on what was begun back in 1812,” he said. “That, to me, is the biggest tribute we can do for these 14 people who started the church.”

On Nov. 14, 1812, 12 women and two men organized the First Congregational Church of South Paris, building the meeting house seven years later on a hill at Brimstone Corner on East Oxford Road.

It was on that site, now a grassy field owned by David Shaw, that more than 100 parishioners gathered 200 years later on Easter morning just after 6 a.m. for a sunrise service. Several hours later, another 250 parishioners gathered at the later 1835 church on East Main Street to celebrate Easter.

It is the gathering of  parishioners, hundreds strong, that Mayberry considers the real honoring of the church’s 200 years of community faith. He has served as senior pastor since 2001.

Mayberry said recently that Easter sunrise service was the official start of the yearlong celebration that marks the church’s important role as the “light in this community.”

Throughout the year there will be a number of events to commemorate the anniversary, including a fall trip to the village of Plymouth in Massachusetts and Plymouth Rock where participants will be able to tangibly link Congregationalism and the Pilgrims. In November, there will be a banquet for the official anniversary party.

Also this year, the church will host Tom Richard, executive secretary of the National Association of Congregational Churches and minister of the First Congregational Church in the 1970s.

A hymn sing will be held late in the year where parishioners will sing old and favorite songs. And packets of cards and prints of a painting of the church done by the late Ellie Viles, a former church member and well-known local artist, will be on sale.

Parishioners are also being asked to sign a six-foot tall wooden cross made for the Easter sunrise service to record all who worship in the church this year.

Mayberry said after 200 years the church building remains a vital meeting place for parishioners and local organizations.

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