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About our labyrinth and garden

The Garden

Outside our historic building, you can find a sheltered garden, with flowering trees and shrubs in spring, cool green shade in the summer, falling colorful leaves in autumn, and the stark beauty of bare branches in the winter. You can reach the garden from the small room across from the kitchen (in the Parish Hall). Slip out the door, and you'll find a green oasis in urban New Bedford.

Designed by Sue Underwood, a long-time member of the church, the garden includes spring flowers, flowering trees and shrubs, a stone terrace, and a pleasant grassy lawn.

At the center of the lawn you'll find a labyrinth laid out in stones on the ground....

The Labyrinth: What is a labyrinth?

A labyrinth is a maze, but of a particular kind, without tricks or traps, or places to get lost. There is only one path, which leads to the center and out again.

Labyrinths have appeared in many cultures around the world for at least 3,500 years. Examples from ancient times still exist. The labyrinth in this garden is a seven circuit Cretan labyrinth, a version of the oldest form of the labyrinth. A more elaborate form, called the Chartres labyrinth, can be seen at Tabor Academy in Marion. It follows the design built into the floor of Chartres Cathedral, in France, in the thirteenth century.

In our time the labyrinth has been rediscovered as a spiritual, meditative and healing tool. Labyrinths are being laid out at retreat centers and schools, made available at medical facilities, in churches, and constructed in people's yards. Why?

Because we find walking the labyrinth to be calming, a respite from the often frantic pace of our lives. People with worries, people facing difficult health problems, seem to find help and courage in this simple act. For some it represents the twists and turns of our life's journey. For others, walking, running or dancing the path of labyrinth can be a form of meditation.

Dedication of our labyrinth

Stone by stone this labyrinth
Has come into being.
We have built it with love, with memories,
With celebration.

As we walk the quiet path
Our families, our friends, our concerns,
Are held within its circle.

May this place know silence
As a hundred hearts search inward,
Each for its own small spark of hope
That might otherwise
Be snuffed out in the noise.

May the rain fall lightly on this ground,
The sun shine warmly
The winds blow softly,
And bless it
As a place of joy and peace.