The UU church in neighboring Kingston sustained extensive damage in the recent arson and vandalism attack. They have launched a 30-day crowd-funding campaign to help defray the costs of repairing and restoring their 1851 meetinghouse. They are using the platform Faithify, which is grounded in UU values and practices. Their goal is $30,000.
To contribute through Faithify, CLICK HERE.
The Social Justice Team and the Parish Committee have decided to allocate the Cash in the Plate for this Sunday, July 14, to the fund.
Here is a statement from Rev. Emily Bruce, the minister, about the campaign:
In the early morning hours of July 4, 2024, an individual broke through the windows of our historic meetinghouse and spent the next few hours causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage to the exterior and interior of our building. He shattered windows, tore off wooden shutters, broke window framing, and sprayed fire extinguisher foam everywhere. Perhaps the worst act of all was lighting our Progress Pride and Black Lives Matter flags on fire while they still hung on the front of our building. This attack was violent and sustained.
The suspect has been apprehended by the Kingston Police Department and is now in custody awaiting arraignment. We are grateful for their hard work to protect our church from further damage. And now we must turn to efforts of cleanup and restoration.
First Parish Kingston was founded in 1717, pre-dating the founding of the Town of Kingston by 9 years. Our current Meetinghouse was built in 1851 and we have taken great pains over the years to maintain and beautify this historic structure, including extensive interior renovation in 2021 and a planned roof replacement for this summer.
We are grateful to so many friends, neighbors, fellow churches and others who have offered to help us. We ask you to support our mission of being an inclusive faith community, grounded in love and equity, where everyone can feel belonging and where we all do the work of justice together.
Thank you for whatever you are able to offer, and please share widely with others that might want to help too.
In faith, Rev. Emily Bruce, First Parish Kingston
222 Main St, Kingston MA 02364
