Celebrating 75 Years of Sundays, and the Community That Comes With It 

Shirley MacPherson, a lifetime resident of Pine Plains, marked a remarkable milestone this month – her 75th year as a member of the First United Presbyterian Church.  

Dozens of churchgoers celebrated her achievement surprise-party style at the April 16 service marking the second Sunday of Easter.  

The guest worship leader, the Rev. Jan Brooks, began with a traditional sermon. Then she suddenly asked the congregation to rise and announced it was time to play a game.  

“I came to church with no idea what was happening – only that I was delighted to see so many people there,” MacPherson said afterward. “But when the reverend said we were going to play a game – that was the first time I had an inkling of what was in store.”  

Brooks first asked new visitors to sit down. Then people who had been members of the church for five years or less. Then 10 years. Twenty. And so on, through the growing decades of membership, until MacPherson was the last person standing.  

“Your greetings and friendly smiles have made you a wonderful church member,” said Brooks, who in 42 years as a minister has presided over 75-year commemorations only twice. “Seventy-five years is an accomplishment, and a gift based in a deep and abiding faith.”  

MacPherson, who turns 90 in May, first entered 3039 Church Street as 6-year-old Shirley Ann Smith, bound for Sunday school in the church’s Fellowship Hall. While children at the time were not permitted to attend services, she remembered peeking through a door at the adults lining the pews in their Sunday finery.  

Once she was confirmed at age 15, she officially joined the congregation, attending her first sermon on April 4, 1948.  

From that point forward, she said, the church became her “second home” and the site of many memorable events, including her 1955 wedding to Walden MacPherson; the baptism of their daughter, Roanne; and Roanne’s first wedding.  

Walden MacPherson, who grew up an Episcopalian, joined the Presbyterian Church in 1959 when Roanne began Sunday school so that they could all attend the church as a family.  Although illness prevented him from joining the April 16 service, both partners received commemorative plaques honoring their 75 and 64 years with First United.  

It was the day-to-day activity of the church that MacPherson said she found most meaningful. In addition to many years as an alto in the choir, she also was a member of the women’s association and helped plan rummage sales, Christmas bazaars and the Memorial Day chicken barbecue lunches that were a signature event on the church’s calendar. And every Sunday service was followed by a chance to gather for coffee, lunches and conversation.  

And then there were the services themselves. “I’ve always loved the peaceful, calming feeling of sitting in the pews,” MacPherson said. “It was so beautiful to walk in and see the organ, or to stand with the choir and see the sun shine through the stained glass windows.” 

Rain or shine, she was there, rarely missing a service. “It’s not a Sunday if I don’t go to church,” she said.  

In recent years, both Covid and dwindling church attendance have struck a blow to once-thriving congregations like First United, which is currently without a permanent minister following the departure of Pastor Ryan Larkin in 2022.  

MacPherson fondly remembered the Rev. Charles Moser, who served the church for 42 years and performed her wedding ceremony as his wife, Margaret, played the organ.  

Another highlight came between 2007 and 2018, when Carol Miller, a Pine Plains native, was pastor. “She knew people and she was always out and about, which is important in a small town,” MacPherson said. A special commemorative message from Miller to MacPherson was included as part of the April 16 service.  

MacPherson hopes to once again see the crowded pews she remembers as an early churchgoer. “People think they don’t need their church until they have to get married or have a baby baptized, or until something goes wrong,” she said. “But having that community is important. I told everyone who came to the gathering for me, “I hope I see you next week!”