The Old Red Church opened its doors Sunday, Aug. 27 for its annual colonial service.
More than 50 people attended the service sponsored by the Old Red Church Board of Trustees.
“It’s not like an ordinary service,” said Bob Swanson of St. Petersburg, Fla.
Swanson who has a summer home in Standish has attended four of the annual colonial services. “It’s always unique.”
Each year the Old Red Church invites a different guest speaker. This year the sermon was delivered by Reverend Helen Zidowecki, a consultant to Unitarian Universalist congregations.
“I am just delighted to be in this beautiful church today,” said Zidowecki. “This church holds a lot of history.”
Zidowecki’s sermon “When the Old Becomes New,” encouraged people to embrace the new without forgetting the old. She focused most of her 20-minute sermon speaking on the history of the church building.
“These church windows are old marbled glass. They are different from windows of today, but that doesn’t mean we need to change them. It just means that we see things differently through them,” she spoke from the 19th century pulpit.
The Old Red Church, originally named the First Unitarian Parish Meetinghouse, opened in 1804 and sits on land granted to the proprietors of the parish for service to King George in the war of 1754.
In 1848 a second floor was added to the church and became the Standish Academy. The Academy closed in 1852 when a trustee made off with Academy funds. The church closed in 1859 but the second floor was still utilized by different organizations including the Grange, the Unity and the Good Templar’s Lodge.
Starting in 1893 the second floor of the church was used as the Standish High School for five years before a new high school was built in Sebago Village.
The Old Red Church was deeded to the town of Standish and is managed by a board of trustees. The church is self supporting and depends on donations and money raised from craft fairs to maintain the building.
The second floor is now home to the Standish Historical Museum and is open to the public Mondays and Thursdays.
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