Plymouth Magazine-Fall26-DIGITAL - Flipbook - Page 2
Letter from Your Senior Pastor
By Rev. Dr. Jared Wortman (he/him)
Dear Plymouth,
In so many ways, we’re part of an
enduring story. It’s a story shaped by
coming together across generations,
finding faith and hope in an everchanging world.
This year, we have the remarkable privilege
of celebrating 100 years of Plymouth life
at the corner of 42nd Street and Ingersoll
Avenue. A century ago, Plymouth began
putting down roots here, imagining a
church that could serve its congregation
and the wider community well beyond
their own lifetimes. The people who
made those decisions couldn’t have
known what the next hundred years
would bring. They simply believed there
was a future worth building.
As I write this letter, scaffolding is rising
around the sanctuary as roof and masonry
work gets underway. In a recent sermon,
2
I said scaffolding goes up because what’s
underneath is worth tending. Scaffolding
feels like a fitting image for Plymouth at
this centennial moment as we care for
what we’ve inherited and prepare it for
what comes next.
to them, then asked what their own
moment required. As we celebrate this
century at 42nd and Ingersoll, we have
the opportunity to do the same. We
remember with gratitude while looking
ahead with courage and hope.
These pages remind us how many people
have cared for Plymouth before us. We
learn more about the congregation’s
abolitionist convictions and its early
commitment to serving the wider
community. We meet people such as
Martha and Alvah Frisbie, whose leadership
helped shape Plymouth for decades.
We see that same spirit carried forward
through ministries such as Plymouth
Nursery School and Plymouth Place.
I want to offer particular thanks to
Plymouth’s Archives Committee and to
the authors whose careful research made
this issue possible. If history is partly
about standing on the shoulders of those
who came before us, these pages give us
the privilege of looking over the archive
team’s shoulders. We get to see some of
what they’ve discovered as they’ve sifted
through photographs, sermons, and
church records. Their work has given us an
enduring record of Plymouth that we can
save, share, and return to for years to come.
We also encounter traditions that have
shaped Plymouth life across the years.
Matins has given young people a place to
sing and belong for more than 70 years.
Troop and Pack 50 have shared more
than a century of life with Plymouth.
Saturday Night Worship created a new
way for people to find a spiritual home.
Our Open and Affirming commitment
reflects the continuing work of widening
that welcome. The story reaches our own
time through the This Moment campaign
and the work underway around us.
What strikes me is how often faithfulness
has required both continuity and change.
Again and again, people received something
they didn’t create. They remembered
what was best in what had been handed
The scaffolding around the sanctuary will
eventually come down. The deeper work
of tending this community will continue
as we receive what has been entrusted to
us and carry it forward with faithfulness
and imagination.
I’m grateful to share in that work with
you, and I’m filled with hope for all that
awaits us,
