Our Staff

Our staff is dedicated to the ministry, the mundane parts. Helmed by the inimitable Pastor Ed Young, the First Congregational Church of Douglas has the multi-talented Reverend Sheree A. Harrington as Associate Pastor. With the ever organized Lisa on the secretary end of business, we keep things running pretty smoothly.

About Pastor Ed:

Ed has been the pastor of First Church since 2003. He and his wife, Elva, came to us from New Hampshire where they ministered together for many years. All three of their grown sons still reside in New Hampshire.

Ed and Elva have been a blessing to us at First Church. Ed has many talents and experiences. He has frequently challenged our Body of Believers to go beyond their comfort zones in both ministry and in life. Ed teaches us weekly about how relationships are more important to God than anything: first our relationship to Him and then our relationships with each other. Since Ed came four years ago, there has been much bonding of good friendships and healing of old wounds in our fellowship.

In the last few years, he has helped to expand the Church's ministries in the area of theater and using that as a tool of ministry and in the youth programs.

We have just begun our youth program this year called the Mustard Seed Project. (You can read more about on their page.) This was a vision of Ed's. He developed the program, spearheaded the process, got in touch with the people who minister and serve in it, and continues to develop and teach the materials weekly.

Ed counsels, leads Home Groups, studies, preaches, teaches, and all with just seven days in the week. He is down to earth and yet godly. Ed continually serves unselfishly. We thank God for Ed and Elva every day and ask God to give us many more years with them both.

Ed Young graduated from a school of broadcasting and theater after high school. Although his real love was theater, he found a position as a disc jockey at a radio station in Vermont. A few months later, events in his life led him on a search for truth. His reading and personal introspection left him with no answers. That summer, a serious motorcycle accident landed him in a nearby hospital. His close encounter with death heightened his awareness of his own mortality.

While recovering from his injuries, he met a nurse who was headed for missionary service. There they established a true friendship. She presented him with a book that explained the truth about Jesus Christ. He found the truth he was looking for in a personal faith in Christ. Their relationship blossomed into love and marriage. Ed graduated from Bible school and served churches in New Hampshire for many years before being called to Douglas. He retained his love of theater and has written and produced several plays at the churches where he has served.

About Reverend Harrington:

Rev. Sheree A. Harrington serves as the Associate Pastor at First Congregational Church. She is the first female and first African-American pastor in the church's history. Sheree holds a Masters of Divinity degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, and a Master's in social work from Rhode Island College in Providence, Rhode Island. She is also an ordained deacon and elder in the Presbyterian Church USA. In addition, Sheree works as a Christian counselor in private practice with the Charis Counseling Center in Auburn, Massachusetts where she is committed to helping people heal and grow in their faith journeys. Sheree currently resides in Webster, Massachusetts with her husband, Barry. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, racquetball, and spending time with friends and family.

Pastor Sheree has been with First Church for two years. She spearheads woman ministries, hospitality groups, visitation to our shut-ins, and fills in for Pastor Ed when he is away. She does all these things as well as working full time as a counselor. Pastor Sheree challenges us to be better Christians and gives us food for thought and prayers of hope in her teachings. She and her husband have been a blessing to our church family and we thank God to have them with us.