Candles in windows at Gorham’s First Parish Congregational Church and black ribbons pinned on 168 dresses draped from the inside balcony on Good Friday (April 3) were memorials for those lost in the U.S. war with Iran.
The candles were in remembrance of 13 U.S. service members lost in the conflict and black ribbons in memory of girls “killed by U.S. missiles at the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Iran,” according to a church press release.
The Rev. Christine Dyke, church pastor, said in an interview in the sanctuary Friday that the U.S. “admitted we’re at fault” in the missile strike and it bothers her.
The church was open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for those seeking personal reflections on the Christian Holy Day before Easter Sunday.
The church has been creating dresses for Project Dress a Girl for several years.
The dresses, handmade by a dozen church women, will be sent to Kenya in Africa for needy girls ages 1-18. Dyke said one woman, who she declined to name, sewed and donated 100 dresses.
“We were fortunate to have so many people dedicated to sewing dresses,” Susan Morrow, project co-organizer, said in the press release.
Before the dresses are shipped, church members will lay hands on them, Dyke said, as they are blessed in a future Sunday service . Dress pockets will also include a sewn doll.
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