![]() Kenney was also instrumental in starting a Christmas Eve service in 2001, as a way for the community to come together after the Sept. The couple have taken the lead in helping with the new restoration of the chapel, locking it up after services and helping to organize cleanups. That was the last major work on the church until now, said the Kenneys, both 81. ![]() The Kenneys’ parents pitched in to help refurbish the church in the 1950s, and arranged for services on an adjacent island while the repairs were being made. Later the chapel fell into disrepair, damaged by a hurricane and for a few years simply neglected. Kenney, whose mother invited guests by posting a notice on community bulletin boards. “We were the first wedding in the chapel in 40 years,” said Ms. They married there in 1950, each having attended its services during childhood summers. Mildred and David Kenney sense their own history in the chapel. In the back of the chapel, photographs from decades past hang, along with a list of parishioners who served in war and the sea captains who founded the church. One of the dozens of extra benches found in the attic now rests in the yard, beckoning to passers-by. The chapel has been multidenominational Christian for decades, though rabbis have occasionally presided over Jewish services from its wooden altar.Ĭongregants sit on the chapel’s original wooden benches. It was built almost entirely by islanders.Ī bridge to the mainland was opened in 1955, but the Sunday services, held only in July and August, continue, attracting some mainland residents as well as islanders. ![]() Its chapel was commissioned in the 1890s as a Baptist mission church so summer residents would not have to take boats to the mainland to attend services. Already the foundation has been replaced, but many repairs remain, among them straightening a wall that bows out about four inches.Ĭousins Island is part of the town of Yarmouth, on the coast 11 miles north of Portland.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |