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After 10
years, Rev. Diane Teichert says goodbye to First Parish
By Kathy Anderson
Special to the Citizen
Ten years
ago, Rev. Diane Teichert was welcomed to First Parish Unitarian
Universalist Church in Canton as its first settled minister
since 1996. During the past decade she helped the First Parish
congregation become a healthy and thriving spiritual community
after losing four interim ministers in two years — two from
grave illness and two due to unexpected relocation.
 On Sunday,
June 15, Teichert gave her final sermon from the pulpit inside
the yellow doors. She recently reflected on her years in Canton
as a long-term spiritual leader and a member of the community at
large, and is looking ahead to her personal endeavors and the
continued fellowship at First Parish.
“I’ve felt
that ten years is a nice length of time,” she said. “We’ve had a
wonderful ministry here and I think change is good for a
congregation — having someone come in with a new set of ideas
can be a positive thing.”
Teichert
recalled that upon her installment as settled minister, many
parishioners spoke of the hardship their church community had
felt in the wake of an unstable two years.
“I felt [the
congregation] needed stability and a calm, stable presence in
the community,” she said. “They needed someone who would stay no
matter what because they had so much turmoil and had become
accustomed to crisis management.”
“With the
help of Diane’s gentle and compassionate influence, we
transitioned into the welcoming and friendly community that we
have all grown to treasure,” said Laurie Burkhardt, who served
as parish president from June 2002 to June 2006. “I have
observed on numerous occasions how Diane takes in everything
that is said in a meeting or conversation and then quietly works
behind the scenes to provide steady and effective leadership in
guiding us toward an outcome or decision.”
“I tried to
have a variety of topics and issues in our worship services to
appeal to a wide range of people,” Teichert said, “using not
only scripture but poetry, history and text from the world’s
religions for inspiration.”
Over the
years, Teichert became known as a humble and well-respected
member of not only First Parish but of Canton as a whole.
She became
involved with the Canton Clergy Association soon into her
ministry, helping organize “Promote Understanding: Stop the
Hate” in her second year. The Clergy Association held a service
on the front lawn of First Parish on the first anniversary of
9/11, which all members of the association attended. She has
delivered the blessing at Canton High School graduation, written
a guest column for the Canton Citizen and participated in
the town-wide Earth Day celebration two years ago.
More
importantly, Teichert assisted in organizing several social
action programs at First Parish.
“We
accomplished a lot as a faith community with educational
outreach events,” she said. “Early on in my ministry we hosted
‘Diversity Days,’ consisting of adult-oriented panels with a
cultural component. One year the Boston Community Chorus
performed, and we hosted an international food affair that was a
huge success and was well attended by the public. Diversity Days
focused on racial issues, one being children of color in the
public schools.”
Out of
Diversity Days was born a ten-week curriculum entitled “Weaving
the Fabric of Diversity, which led to a process of becoming more
welcoming to gays and lesbians.
“Becoming a
welcoming congregation involved a process of self-education,
which delved into the issues of intolerance and gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgendered concerns,” she said. One discussion
in First Parish’s Infinite Hope Forum supported gay marriage,
she said. Another addressed the struggle between Israel and
Palestine.
In 2000
First Parish celebrated the 175th anniversary of the present
meetinghouse at 1508 Washington Street, with a presentation by
local historian Kathi Keith, and a display of documents and
artifacts from the archives housed by both the church and the
Canton Historical Society.
But of all
the memories she has had over the past decade, she said her
fondest is getting to know the adults and children who comprise
the First Parish community.
“I will miss
the people here the most,” she said. “They are all very
dedicated and kind. I do regret not being able to see the
children grow up and I’m curious who they will become.”
“I
appreciate Diane’s dedication to the values and importance of
children’s religious education,” said First Parish Director of
Religious Education Patsy Hatch-Reinertson.
“It has been
my absolute pleasure to get to know and love such a genuinely
good person as Diane,” Burkhardt said, “and I know that we have
been fortunate to have had such a selfless person with the
utmost integrity to serve as our minister for ten years.”
Now
preparing for her next venture as assistant minister at the
Unitarian Universalist church in Bedford, Teichert sees a bright
future for First Parish.
“I love
having the old history here to learn about, and this may sound
morbid, but I will miss walking through [Canton Corner]
cemetery,” she said. “I have enjoyed learning about the history
of people who’ve lived here. I have enjoyed working with the
staff here and will miss them as well. This transition period
will give the congregation time to assess who’ve they become and
who they want to be so they can choose a minister who is
uniquely suited to accompany them to their vision.”
June 26, 2008
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