The image at the right is copyrighted and used here with permission of RobertStrongWoodward.com. Titled "Heart of New England," the original work is an oil on canvas painted in 1939 by landscape artist Robert Strong Woodward (1885-1957). This work is a view of Upper Street looking north towards the common and our Mary Lyon Church with Cross Street turning off to the right. It shows the old horse sheds that once stood on the northeast side of the church, as well as the Old Cemetery, the first burial ground in town. The Buckland Public Hall building (formerly the hall of Grange No. 87) shows at the rear of the church. Mr. Woodward lived just south of the church on Upper Street. His art studio and his works continue to be important and popular today thanks to the late Dr. Mark Purinton who was a beloved member of our church and a longtime family physician here in our Buckland neighborhood.
Our church building, and the Buckland Public Hall next door, are locations of weekly 12 step groups:
Usually in the church on Wednesdays from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. is an AA Step Meeting
Usually at the Hall located on the north end of our property on Sundays from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. is an AA 11th Step Speaker Meeting.
Until further notice both of these meetings are being held via video and phone conferencing on Zoom.
For more info on these groups visit Western Mass Intergroup
Rev. J. Paul Sampley
March 5, 1935 - September 25, 2021
Full Obiturary available online Copyright © 2021 Greenfield Recorder 10/9/2021
There's lots to do and see in our neighborhood and the surrounding area. Here is a list of community websites you may find helpful:
Buckland Union Cemetery Association
Franklin County Chamber of Commerce
Worshipping Together While We Are Apart – Churches In West County and beyond...
During this pandemic, our West County churches experienced a loss. We were not able to come together in our annual Lenten Ecumenical Service. In some ways we “lost touch” with each other when we started to earnestly hunker down in, or actually out, of our local churches. But the truth is that of course, while our church buildings have been closed since the end of Lent, we are all continuing to gather spiritually. In this time of Covid-19, when we are called to stay at home, maybe we can use this time to connect ecumenically (experiencing the universal Church not just our own congregations.) While some of us have more time to travel on the world wide web, or to reach out on the telephone or use the postal service to connect, can we use this time to visit each other, lending our spiritual support, and alleviating our isolation? If you would like to join with other churches, either virtually or in any other physically distant way – here is some basic information about some of our neighboring western Franklin County churches. Mary Lyon Church is a member of the Franklin Association of the UCC. The other 17 churches are listed below. This is a time to pray for the Church, pray for the people, and pray for the planet. ~ with grateful thanks to Rev. Marguerite Sheehan, Pastor of Trinity Church, Shelburne Falls, MA for inspiring this message and the list below. Photo map is available online from Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG)
[all website links were valid as of April 30, 2020]
Trinity Church, Shelburne Falls, MA
Shelburne Congregational Church, Shelburne, MA
Federated Church of Charlemont, Charlemont, MA
Heath Union Church, Heath, MA
St. John's Episcopal Church, Ashfield, MA
Ashfield Congregational Church, Ashfield, MA
United Church of Bernardston, Bernardston, MA
United Congregational Church of Conway, Conway, MA
First Church of Deerfield, Deerfield, MA
First Congregational Church of Greenfield, Greenfield, MA
Second Congregational Church of Greenfield, Greenfield, MA
First Congregational Church of Montague, Montague, MA
Central Congregational Church, New Salem, MA
Trinitarian Congregational Church, Northfield, MA
Central Congregational Church, Orange, MA
Community Church of North Orange & Tully, North Orange, MA
First Congregational Church of Sunderland, Sunderland, MA
First Congregational Church, Whately, MA