Members of the Boothbay Region High School Class of 2017 filed into the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor on Sunday afternoon and took their places in the pews at the front. The church was filled with family and friends and clergy from several Boothbay-area churches for the Baccalaureate Service of Worship.

Clergy included the Rev. Dr. Sarah Foulger, Congregational Church; Richard Rego, United Methodist Church Cooperative Parish; Maria Hoecker, St. Columba's Episcopal Church; Steve Nash, Boothbay Baptist Church; Kate Pinkham, Edgecomb Congregational Church; and Becky Alley, Our Lady Queen of Peace.

Pastor Rego gave the invocation. Then seniors Kate Friant and Nicole Clarke read a Litany of Thanksgiving for their families, friends, teachers and the community for their support and “For every gift and blessing, great and small.”

Several readings focused on the service’s theme, courage.

Rev. Nash read Psalm 27, which begins,“The Lord is my Light and my Salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is my strength and my life. Of whom should I be afraid?” Alley followed with the tale of the Good Samaritan, from Luke, 10:25:37.

Sam Betts, Class of 2017, played an instrumental piece on the piano called “A River Flows In You,” by the composer Yiruma, that evoked the melancholy of endings and the sweetness of beginnings.

Fellow Class of 2017 member Angelique Perkins wrote an essay entitled “Courage.” Classmate Madison Stahle read the piece, which quoted these words by Nelson Mandela: “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” Perkins' speech also focused on the everyday aspects of courage, using a quote by Mary Ann Radmacher: “Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”

Rev. Hoecker said a prayer for the graduates, saying in part, “Give us the space to listen to the silent music in the spheres, and in each other...” and “Help us say yes to life.”

Rev. Foulger closed out the ceremony with the Charge and Benediction to the Graduates. She voiced a concern regarding the current state of the world, and warned the graduates to “...stand up to evil.” But, she also reminded them, “You are graduating into a good and beautiful world.” A quote from Corinthians (1 Corinthians 16:13) was included in the benediction. “Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”