Church member Mary Ann Millsap introduces the church’s colonial-era silver and the people who gave it. Her illustrated talk explores the function of silver in colonial churches and describes Theodore Parker Church’s own collection, stored at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. 2:00 pm in the sanctuary, followed by a reception in the parish hall. Free and open to the public. This event is featured in the Boston [un]Common Preservation Month Calendar. 
Not all of the church’s treasures are as easily appreciated as its stained glass windows. Silver vessels given to the church in the 17th and early 18th centuries are important material artifacts that, although too valuable to display, link us to the rituals of a bygone era and remind us of the generosity of our forbears.
Our colonial silver consists of six tankards, one beaker, a baptismal basin, three wine cups, and two patens (plates used for Holy Communion).  All have been on loan to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston since 1911, when the museum mounted an extensive exhibition of colonial silver from American churches. According to Alexander Yale Goriansky, who appraised our silver in 2008, we have a “fine collection” especially of tankards, each from a different silver maker.