The Reverend Dr. Priscilla Lawrence – Interim Minister
Priscilla Lawrence, a Massachusetts native, received her Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School. Ordained in Fall River, where her father was a minister, her first call was an Associate Minister at the Dane Street Congregational church in Beverly. Following that until the past spring, she served as sole pastor at the Community Church in Pepperell. Priscilla lives in Dunstable with her husband Patrick. Together they have two daughters, Elizabeth and Jane. Elizabeth is a lawyer for the Environmental Resources Defense Council in DC and Jane has started her second year of medical school at Mt. Sinai. Priscilla married Elizabeth to her partner a few weeks ago and Jane is engaged to be married this summer. Priscilla completed her Doctor of Ministry degree in Transformational leadership at the Boston University School of Theology in 2022. In her free time, she loves to needlepoint and garden. She is an avid reader and runner.
Charlotte Pomerleau – Office Administrator
Charlotte is our Office Administrator. She lives in Clinton with her husband, Gary; son, Isaac; and two cats, Hooper and Reese. She recently got into the aquarium hobby, and has a planted 20 gallon tropical freshwater aquarium that houses about 12 fish, including a betta named Car and panda garra named Oscar the Grouch. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and going for hikes.
Tom Hanson – Sexton
Tom became our sexton in 2010 and he keeps our church looking good, which isn’t always easy for an old historical building. Prior to working for the church, Tom worked for Breda Transportation building subway cars for the MBTA Green Line. He also worked at GenRad in Concord, MA. In his free time Tom enjoys spending time with his family (wife Mary and daughter Emily), making jewelry, playing drums and working on his 1936 Ford 5 window coupe. He also enjoys being a part of the handbell choir. He and his wife became church members in 2002.
Bernard Crane – Music Director
Bernard received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY, where he studied composition with Joseph Schwantner and Music Theory with Douglass Green. He is a Master’s degree recipient of the San Francisco Conservatory where he studied with Elinor Armer, Conrad Susa and David Conte. Through his many years as a composer and musician he has held numerous positions as teacher, conductor, church organist and director of music.
Cheryl Townsend – Handbell Director
Cheryl received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Crane School of Music, Potsdam, NY. She has maintained a piano studio in Groton for the past 25 years teaching and sharing her love of music to hundreds of students. In 2006 she was introduced to handbells at a music conference and that is when the UCC Faith Ringers was started. The choir plays monthly in service, has performed in multiple concerts, and other community events to share our love for handbells. In addition to directing the Faith Ringers at UCC Groton, Cheryl has recently been named Musical Director for The New England Ringers. She has been a ringing member at NER since 2014 with the choir and is excited to expand her skills and those of the choir to becoming one of the premier handbell choirs in New England.