Research is worship.
This site is a recreation of a project and labor of love that my father, Henry Gartley, began in 2018. The original site is still live (https://houltonchamber.wixsite.com/goodshepherd), but I wanted to rebuild the site from scratch in order to preserve my father's original work while also taking the time to expand and complete areas he was unable to complete. I have also restructured the site somewhat to allow for easier navigation.
Although we had countless conversations about philosophy, spirituality, and religion, through reviewing and rebuilding this site, I have come to develop a new understanding and appreciation of my father as a man of faith. He loved his church and the community, but by father was not someone who was forward or in-your-face with his religious beliefs (although, I don't think being Episcopalian really lends itself to such tendencies).
I certainly inherited my own love of research, history, art, design, as well as the tendency for weird hyperfocus dedication to special interests. We often spoke about our respective projects, and he would come to be for help with citations and sources. I am confident that he would approve of the edits I have made. I am less confident that he would love the early 2000s web graphics I have added, so I have tried to use them sparingly.
Elizabeth Gartley, April 2024
The Church of the Good Shepherd was built in 1895 using the finest materials available and employing many Christian symbols throughout its structure. It is impossible for one to sit in a pew of the Church without admiring the beautiful woodwork, windows, and its overall calming elegance. Symbolism is intertwined through out everything about the Church, from ornamentation, to Church layout. This web site makes an attempt to explain some of the symbols within our Church.
"In Christian Symbolism we must learn not to merely look at the symbols but to look through them to the truth which they express."
Helen Stuart Griffith, author of The Sign Language of Our Faith
"Symbols are able to impart in graphic and dramatic manner truths which sometimes escape even the dimensions of language."
The Right Reverend John E. Hines, presiding Bishop of the Episcopal church 1965 – 1974
The Church of the Good Shepherd and Watson Hall, Houlton, Maine.
The Church of the Good Shepherd and Rectory, c. 1957. Photo courtesy of the Church of the Good Shepherd.
All photos are by Henry Gartley, unless otherwise noted.
Decorative images and GIFs courtesy GifCities at the Internet Archive.
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