All Souls turns back the clock to celebrate 100 years in NL

New London - One hundred years after the church first opened its doors, All Souls Universalist Unitarian Congregation marked the anniversary on Sunday with liturgy from 1910 and a concert of music from that era.

"It's been wonderful," said the Rev. Carolyn Patierno, the minister at All Souls. "We have a lot to be grateful for, not the least of which is that we are still here and thriving, which I think keeps true to the vision from 1910."

The events were initially scheduled for last weekend, but were postponed because of inclement weather.

Services on Sunday morning used liturgy from a century ago, harkening back to the days the church opened.

"I think it gave the entire community a feeling of that history and heritage," Patierno said.

Though church services are no longer held in the Huntington Street building (the congregation outgrew the space and now meets in a nearby building on Jay Street), the church held a concert and historical talk there Sunday afternoon.

Churchgoer Rebecca Noreen, who plays the bassoon, organized the concert, selecting music that premiered or was popular when the church first opened.

"It was a real turning point within American music," Noreen said. "Globally, there were so many different things happening and people were becoming more aware. That's why we did (Igor) Stravinsky and (Claude) Debussy. It was a big blossoming in terms of culture and part of that blossoming was this church."

At the start of the concert, New London historian Sally Ryan spoke about the history of perhaps the church's most significant asset, a stained-glass window crafted by Louis Comfort Tiffany, a Long Island-based artist who spent summers in New London.

"This is a beautiful example of his work," Ryan said, speaking from the pulpit in front of the stained-glass window which shows Jesus walking in a garden, the brightest part of the window shining through his halo.

Ryan said that All Souls, like the other churches in downtown New London, was built at a time when people would walk to services. More than a century ago, the city's population was centered downtown, close to manufacturing and whaling jobs.

"All churches were within walking distances of where people lived," Ryan said. "They didn't want people taking horse and carriage to church."

During religious education classes on Sunday morning, children were asked to write their names on a piece of paper and explain what their idea of a peaceful and happy world was, then write how that could be possible, said Nate Pawelek, the church's director of religious education, who played French horn in the concert. Then the children searched the century-old church for cracks and crevices to hide their papers.

"They now all have a connection to this building that will last maybe another 100 years," Pawelek said.