In This Place

Ways of Life

00000177-ba84-d5f4-a5ff-bbfc9baa0000Ways of Life airs every second Monday at 8:40am and 5:45pm.Our series Ways of Life is A collection of stories about people who live down the street... our neighbors: Fishermen, scientists, craftspeople, recovering addicts, surgeons, dog rescuers, motorcycle gang members, nursing home residents, musicians, the homeless, kid athletes, social activists, and all the others who share this place.Each portrait becomes part of the surprising, interwoven tapestry of our lives together here on the Cape, Coast and Islands. Ways of Life is edited by Jay Allison and produced by our production partners at Atlantic Public Media Ways of Life is made possible by The Circle of Ten, ten local businesses and organizations committed to local programming on WCAI.

Rescuing the Pilgrim's First Church

CAI | By Martin Gonzalez

Published December 30, 2019 at 7:45 AM EST

First Parish Plymouth is the oldest contiguous congregation in America. They trace their lineage all the way back to 1606, in Scrooby, England – before the Pilgrims even left England. They’ve had a church on the same land since the year after the Pilgrims landed.

Mayflower Meeting House is the fifth one, built in the 1890s after a fire decimated the previous one. But it’s gone largely unrestored since its completion, and the building was starting to show serious structural damage. As the 400^th anniversary of the Pilgrim landing approached, the congregation had some tough choices to make about their future.

This piece comes to us through our Production Partners Atlantic Public Media and their Media Traing program: The Transom Story Workshop. Martin is a graduate of the program and you can find out more about the program at Transom.org.

Ways of Life is made possible by the Circle of Ten - ten local businesses and organizations committed to local programming on WCAI.