On Sunday April 2nd, after the 10am worship, First Church Pastors Reverend Patrick Collins and Reverend Cydney Van Dyke, will host a dedication ceremony for the newly erected Peace Pole. The first in Greenwich, the Peace Pole has been a lifelong dream of Rosemary Lamie, previously of Riverside and a longtime member and staff of First Church’s active congregation. Having seen the Peace Pole at Lake Mead, Connecticut, while on a visit with First Church Confirmation Students many years ago, Rosemary always wanted to bring a Peace Pole to the community of Greenwich. On her retirement, after more than 20 years of service to the congregation and especially its children, First Church is dedicating the Peace Pole, in Rosemary’s name, to the whole community of Greenwich. The Peace Pole is a global symbol of peace on earth and the hope is that it will become a place for both congregation and the local community to seek solitude, to meditate, pray and reflect.

The First Church Peace Pole features 8 world languages, some of which were specifically chosen to reflect the community of Greenwich. The languages are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Ukrainian, and Algonquin, the language of local Indigenous tribes within what we now call Connecticut. Senior Pastor Patrick Collins says, “Honoring Rosemary with this symbol of peace is truly fitting because she made such a peaceful impact on the children, youth and families of First Church, which I am sure has spread beyond what we can imagine.” Read more about the Peace Pole global movement here.

A Peace Pole is an internationally recognized symbol of the hopes and dreams of the entire human family, standing vigil in silent prayer for peace on earth. Each Peace Pole bears the message, “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in different languages on each of its sides. There are estimated over 250,000 Peace Poles in every country in the world dedicated as monuments to peace.