Chesuncook parsonage to get repairs

CHESUNCOOK — Restoration work on the parsonage at the Chesuncook Village Church is expected to take place this fall with new sills being placed under the sagging building.

The Chesuncook Village Church, located in Township 5, Range 13, is a summer ministry outreach of the Union Evangelical Church in Greenville.

The church and parsonage were renovated during the 1970s, but major work on the parsonage has not taken place since then. At the same time, the Chesuncook Committee, which oversees the summer ministry for the Union church, is seeking donations of good used furniture to refurnish the parsonage.

Placing new sills under the parsonage, along with pilings and other work, is expected to cost several thousand dollars. An appeal is being made to visitors and friends of the church to help with funding for the project. Anyone wishing to make a tax deductible donation should send it to Diane Roberts, Chesuncook Committee treasurer, at P.O. Box 261, Greenville 04441-0261.

The Chesuncook Village Church is open for Sunday services during the summer months. Ministers of various faiths and backgrounds spend a week at the parsonage and conduct the Sunday service. Sometimes no one comes to church and other times there may be 50 seated in the tiny “Church in the Wilderness.”

Everett Parker of Greenville, a licensed minister of the United Church of Christ, coordinates the summer ministry program.

The parsonage is actually two camps which were joined together many years ago to house the visiting ministers and their families. The parsonage has settled over the years, leaving a large gap between the buildings. Without proper sills, the buildings have sagged, making windows and doors difficult to open and close.

Bert and Maggie McBurnie of Chesuncook Village have assisted the committee for years in maintaining the buildings, but increasing demands on their time have resulted in more work being done by the local committee.