MADRID – The United Church of Madrid will soon celebrate its 175th anniversary, the completion of the Good Shepherd window restoration and placement of the church on the state and national Registers of Historic Places.

The public is invited to a party June 3 at 1 p.m. at the church at the corner of Main and Cross streets.

The Good Shepherd window originally came from the Madrid Methodist Church where it was installed in 1918. When the Congregational and Methodist churches merged in 1974, the window was removed and replaced in a new Sunday School addition on the Congregational Church.

Wind, weather and the move 38 years ago took their toll and Ed Dehors of Martville was hired to restore the magnificent window. The window is signed by Harry J. Horwood, a prolific stained glass artist from Ogdensburg whose work is featured in many North Country and southern Ontario churches.

In 2010, the First Congregational Church and parsonage of Madrid were named to both the state and federal Register of Historic Places. The building is now home of the United Church of Madrid which has served the community since 1807.

In 1837, a separate Methodist charge was formed from the Canton circuit, centered in Buck’s Bridge. By 1847, however, the congregation moved their meeting place to Madrid.