Community Engagement
Space for Community
Since its first construction in the present location, in the center of Williamstown and in the heart of the Williams campus, the Meetinghouse has welcomed and accommodated the Williamstown and college communities. At the building’s inception in 1869, Williams College supported construction costs to enable its use for lectures, commencement ceremonies, and college worship services. In 1913, in planning for the renovation to the present appearance, church building committee chair Robert Cluett advised including space for meetings of groups such as the Boy Scouts.
Expanding our Reach
In its long tradition of using the Meetinghouse to welcome and help the community, the church sponsors its own public programs as well as welcomes community groups as “mission partners.”
Public second hour programs have been designed to stimulate thinking about and respond to the spiritual and ethical challenges of our time. Presentations have included: Elizabeth Kolbert, Climate Change; Bill Moomaw, Beyond the Paris Climate Agreements; Magnus Bernhardsson, Islam and the West Today; Dick Ford, Economic Warfare and Racial Intolerance; Nicholas Howe, Religion and The Environment; and a Scholar/Activist Panel, Why Protest a Pipeline.
A Versatile Community Space
The church’s website encourages inquiries about use of the Meetinghouse and states that “part of the church’s ministry is to welcome people to its space. From weddings, funerals, community theater, concerts or counseling services, many organizations, groups, and families find that our space meets their needs.” Mission partners using the building include Rainbow Seniors, Al-Anon, Habitat for Humanity, CSA food pickup, Hoosic River Watershed Association, yoga classes, Positive Momentum Fitness, Red Cross Blood Drive, A Better Community and users of our commercial kitchen space. As soon as public health measures permit in-person gatherings, those groups and others are expected at the Meetinghouse, including a youth group that wishes affiliation in order to participate in community engagement.