An Open Door on Main Street
Rollstone Congregational Church has stood at the corner of Main and Snow Streets in downtown Fitchburg, Massachusetts since the late 1800s, and the building still does the work its founders built it for. The Gothic stone sanctuary, the tall windows, the heavy wooden doors, and the music of a 19th-century pipe organ together make this a Mainline Protestant church that values tradition while staying engaged with the wider community. Rollstone Church is a welcoming community living by the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Worship, fellowship, Sunday School, music, Bible study, fundraising for cancer research, and a long-running summer camp at a nearby lake all happen under the church's name. The address is 199 Main Street, Fitchburg, MA 01420, and the phone is (978) 342-0432.
From a Granite Ledge to a Gothic Sanctuary
The story of Rollstone begins in early 1867, when members of the Calvinistic Congregational Church in Fitchburg gathered at the home of David Boutelle to talk about founding a new congregation. Boutelle, along with industrialist and politician Alvah Crocker and donor Henry F. Coggshall, drove the effort. The two men's names live on in Fitchburg landmarks: Crocker Field and Coggshall Park.
On February 27, 1868, the new body was officially organized and given the name Rollstone Congregational Church, after a prominent granite ledge that rose above the city. Less than a year later, on October 5, 1868, the cornerstone of the church building was laid. The Gothic-style building was designed by Fitchburg architect Henry M. Francis, whose other works around the city include the former Fitchburg High School, the Phoenix Building, the Wallace Library and Art Building, and the former First Universalist Church. Total construction cost $88,088.76, and the finished sanctuary was dedicated on November 3, 1870.
From the start, the church has been more than a worship space. The same families who shaped Rollstone also shaped Fitchburg, leaving civic and cultural legacies that the city still enjoys.
The Hook & Hastings Organ
Inside the sanctuary sits one of the church's most prized possessions: a three-manual Hook & Hastings pipe organ installed more than 135 years ago. It has accompanied the congregation through more than 7,000 Sunday services, along with weddings, funerals, and concerts.
The organ was built by the Boston firm of Hook & Hastings, founded in 1827 by brothers Elias and George G. Hook and joined in 1871 by Frank Hastings. The company produced over 2,000 pipe organs across the 19th and early 20th centuries, and many are still in use today. Rollstone's instrument underwent significant changes between 1920 and 1993, when its action was converted to electric, but it retains its historic character. A dedicated repair and restoration fund keeps the organ tuned and playable for future generations.
Music recorded on that organ, including hymns like "Be Thou My Vision," "Be Still My Soul," "Eternal Father Strong to Save," "Here I Am Lord," and "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today," is shared on the church's YouTube channel. Recent additions also include a piano performance of "The Prayer" by Lorna Chabot.
Sunday Mornings at Ten
Sunday is the anchor of the week at Rollstone. Worship is held at 10:00 AM, and Sunday School meets at the same hour so that families can worship and learn together. After the service, the congregation gathers for fellowship in Cookman Hall at 11:00 AM, a routine that has made the parish hall as central to Sunday life as the sanctuary itself.
The building's lower level also opens its doors to the wider Fitchburg community. Throughout the year, Fitchburg State University performing arts groups use Cookman Hall for free public performances, including recent runs of "Sights & Sounds of the City" and "Stare & Share." A short film project from FSU was also shot on-site at Rollstone.
Special Sundays carry their own traditions. On Pentecost Sunday the congregation is invited to wear red, marking the start of the Christian Church. When the pastor is away, the deacons step in to lead worship, and the calendar carries that as a feature rather than a disruption. Bible study gathers weekly on Monday mornings at 10:00 AM and is open to all; recent weeks have walked through the Joseph cycle in Genesis.
A Progressive-Traditional Pulpit
The Reverend David Hanks has served as pastor since 2012. Raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, he brings more than 35 years of ministry experience to Rollstone. The congregation describes his theology as progressive while still being traditional in nature, and frames itself, with him, as a safe space to worship and gather without regard to age, socio-economic status, education level, race, gender, or orientation.
In his weekly column, "From the Pastor's Desk," Hanks writes in a conversational voice about the realities of preaching in a changing world. In one reflection he observes that "Churches get a bad reputation of being too soft when we are teaching love, compassion, respect, forgiveness, mercy, and acceptance." In another, "A Place of Love and Hope," he names the people who walk through the church doors and the pastoral questions they raise, including the gay couple holding hands and the unmarried couple expecting a child, ending with the line that recurs throughout his writing: "the pastor tells me he doesn't know what to say." A Lenten reflection in March 2025 encouraged members to give up fear rather than sweets, and a New Year message urged patience with resolutions that tend to fall as quickly as they are made.
The congregation is served musically by organist Gavin Klein, whose degree recital was held at All Saints Episcopal Church in Worcester, and pianist Lorna Chabot. Both appear on the music recordings posted to the church's YouTube channel.
Camp Wellville on Lake Winnekeag
For almost 70 years, a separate ministry has flourished on Lake Winnekeag in neighboring Ashburnham. Camp Wellville was given to Rollstone Congregational Church in 1956 by the Whittemore family. Since then, members and friends of the parish have steadily developed the property into a summer retreat.
The camp covers 43 acres of private lakefront and holds twelve 1940s-era rustic cabins and twenty tent sites with water and electric, scattered along dirt roads through the woods. A playground, craft shed, hillside chapel, camp store, and ballfield round out the property. Cabins named Linger Longer, Hate-To-Quit-It, Sunshine, Wayside, Meonah, Birchknoll, Greenbrier, Romany, Wanaki, Menahaga, Lake Rim, Overlook, and Evergreen each sleep six or more in three bedrooms, and a few include private bathrooms. Hate-To-Quit-It was fully rebuilt most recently and features a full bathroom with shower.
An active summer program runs eight weeks and welcomes campers of all ages. Nature hikes, a book group, scripture discussions, Sunday evening vespers, fishing, swimming, boating, and picnics fill the week. Campfires happen most nights with special events for kids once a week, and swim lessons and craft activities fill weekday mornings. The summer's stated mission is to celebrate God's creation as a place of stillness, beauty, and renewal, with a 2026 theme of Spirit, Community, Rebirth and a themed calendar that runs from "Play Ball!" through "Give Thanks."
Non-motorized boats can be launched from the Camp Wellville waterfront onto Winnekeag, a 118-acre pond that is surrounded by Ashburnham State Forest and other woods well suited to hiking and picnics.
The Rollstone Rollers and Community Life
Outside the church building and the camp, Rollstone has made one piece of community service its own: the fight against cancer. The "Rollstone Rollers" team has participated in the Greater Gardner Relay for Life every year since 2009, raising more than $100,000 over that period. Co-led by Kim Bourque and Mary Lyman, the team has consistently placed in the top five percent of all participating groups, finishing as the fourth highest fundraiser among seventy-seven teams in 2024.
The church also hosts and shares in Fitchburg's cultural life. Cookman Hall opens its doors to Fitchburg State University performances throughout the year, and the building's stone walls have been the set for student film work. A celebration of life service for longtime member Bob Goguen is preserved on the church's YouTube channel, alongside the music recordings.
Music, Newsletter, and Prayer
Music sits at the heart of Rollstone's identity. The hymn recordings posted online, led by Pastor Hanks at the organ with Gavin Klein and accompanied by Lorna Chabot on piano, capture the kind of singing the building was designed to support: classic hymns like "Be Still My Soul," "Hymn of Promise," and "Hallelujah, The Christmas Story," along with seasonal pieces for Christmas Eve and Easter.
A weekly newsletter called the Warbler keeps the congregation informed through the summer at camp, and a monthly newsletter called the Rolling Stone carries news of the church year-round. A prayer list, maintained online, gathers the names and concerns of the church community in prayer. Members who want to pitch in can sign up through a volunteer form on the church site, and giving is available online through a dedicated cart page.
From the granite ledge that gave Rollstone its name to the lakefront in Ashburnham where another generation gathers around a campfire, the church has stayed close to its founding purpose: a community living by the teachings of Jesus Christ, anchored in a Gothic stone sanctuary and the music that fills it.