Frankfort's Historical Church Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Cache is placed at the Frankfort Congregational Church. The following is a copy of the written history of the church, given to me by the former pastor, Pastor Tim, who originally 'OK'd' the cache placement.
Frankfort, Maine was originally incorporated in 1789, and embraced the whole territory along the western bank of the Penobscot River from Belfast to Bangor, thus encompassing the present towns of Prospect, Winterport, Hampden, and parts of Belfast, Searsport, and Stockton. In 1793 the town was divided into three towns of Prospect, Frankfort, and Hampden. The boundaries of Belfast, Searsport , and
Stockton were later firmed up, and the last community, Winterport, was set off in 1860. Settlers were recorded in Frankfort as early as 1770, and records from 1773 report twelve families residing at Marsh Bay, one family at Oak Point, and one where the village is now.
The congregation that became the Frankfort Congregational Church began as a meeting in the house of Upton Treat, great grand-father of Robert Monks. As the concept of a village church grew toward reality, the parcel of land on which the church was to be built was deeded, in 1850, to a building committee of three. The church was
constructed and dedicated in 1851. It is reported that pews were sold to residents for $42 each. The church was originally named as the Union Meeting House, based on a mutual agreement that would share the church building among three denominations. The Congregationalists would occupy the space for 50% of the time, and the Methodists and Universalists would occupy the space for 25% of the time each. This arrangement, however, did not work out, and it was reported that the church was taken over by an “orthodox” Congregational Church. Fourteen people joined the newly dedicated church, with several transferring their membership from other places of worship. in 1875 there were 21 members, and in 1886 there were 75. The Constitution of the Church was accepted in 1890. The
Church was reported to have a very active Missionary Society, which contributed funds for the planting of churches in the expanding American western frontier. In 1887 the town of Frankfort acknowledged a very generous gift for the community – a clock installed in the church steeple. The donor included in the gift a subsidy for maintenance of the clock, which to this day operates efficiently with maintenance provided by the town. The church in 1890 was prosperous. While no record exist on who donated the church
steeple bell, it was reported that Captain Josephus Rogers, one of the original pew owners, brought the bell from Boston on his schooner. The pulpit chairs, tables, and other furniture were solid mahogany, and the church had a valuable player organ and
spool standards. In 1895, $400 was raised to build a chapel in the church. This was accomplished by raising the church building and placing it on a foundation of granite from Mt. Waldo, field
stone and cement. Over the years this chapel space, now called the church vestry, has been used for the church school, meetings, suppers, and other functions. In 1921, electric lights were installed, the church was painted and the belfry was repaired, all once again from a generous gift of an individual. The church continued to function independently until a point when members agreed to “yoke” the church with other local congregations and share ministerial staff. For several years the combined congregations of Frankfort, Monroe, Brooks, and Freedom were served by one full time minister with some part-time assistance. The Frankfort Church withdrew from the yoked
organization in 1989, becoming once again an independent congregational church associated with the United Church of Christ (1957). In 1988 the church received a grant that allowed the construction of an addition to the west side of the vestry. This addition included the church’s first indoor bathroom, a multipurpose room, and amenities that provided the church with a year-round supply of water. The Frankfort Congregational Church has long enjoyed a special mission as a teaching church, accepting as its pastors students from Bangor Theological Seminary. This arrangement was sustained both before and after the “yoked” status of the church, and is supervised by both the seminary and the Hancock Waldo Association. Students often come to the Frankfort Church after preliminary studies at the seminary, and stay until
they graduate and achieve ordination in the United Church of Christ. The arrangement provides excellent learning and practice opportunities for students, and it provides church members with opportunities to help form new pastors while they grow in faith
and love.
The cache is placed by a cacher who is not a member of the church but does sing in the choir occasionally and it was placed by permission of the church leaders. This was placed to be a truly handicapped accessible cache which I would like to dedicate to Verne and Juliana Wood., husband and wife, who are not geocachers. Verne obtained permission in 8/2011 from the then Pastor Tim, for me to place the cache on church grounds. Juliana kindly drove Verne to the church late one afternoon their HA van and waited patiently while he tested this cache from his motorized chair and gave it the thumbs up. Cache container is hidden well, but not hard to find. Please do not search during active church services approx. 7:30 AM-11AM on Sundays or when there are obvious church functions going on (such as weddings, funerals, Sat turkey suppers, etc. ie...if there is a full parking lot, please come another time.) The church leaders know the cache has been placed but most members don't. Please use stealth the rest of the time as there are houses within view and the church shares their parking lot with the Town Office and the USPS. Use discretion when night caching as the church and USPS were both robbed a couple winters ago thus the neighbors are very sensitive to night time activity in that parking lot. There is a geo pin in the cache for the FTF. Happy Caching. Big congrats and thank you to mainiac1957 for the FTF!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Tenavgr vgf abg uneq gb svaq!