Rev. Dr. Rich B. Knight

Rev. Dr. Rich Knight, 64, passed away peacefully on Saturday, July 6, at Care Dimensions Hospice House, Lincoln, surrounded by his loving family. He was the beloved husband of Alisa (Pearson) Knight with whom he shared 15 years of marriage.
He grew up in Harleysville, PA, and graduated from Souderton Area High School. He graduated cum laude from Muhlenberg College (B.A. in Psychology), Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and Eastern University (D. Min. in Marriage & Family Ministry).
When Rich was young, his favorite word was "Pastor." Once he had children, his favorite words became "Daddy" and "Dad." Rich loved his family with great joy, commitment, and gratitude. He devoted himself to his children, Ben, Sam, and Maddie, and to his wife, Alisa. His favorite moments in his life were being outside with them, playing sports, camping, and hiking every peak in Acadia National Park. He loved coaching their sports teams and never missed their games, concerts, and art exhibits. He also loved playing cards and board games as a family and especially loved beating them all regularly at miniature golf. Rich enjoyed loudly rooting for all the New England sports teams, as well as playing tennis, golf, guitar, and piano.
Rich expressed profound gratitude and love for his wife Alisa, who's been his rock. He was also incredibly blessed throughout his life with wonderful friends and parishioners to share life's joys and sorrows.
Ordained in 1985, Rev. Dr. Knight pastored Ridge Valley United Church of Christ in Sellersville PA (1982-1995), First Parish Church in York ME (1995-2010), Trinitarian Congregational Church in North Andover MA (2010-2016), and Central Congregational Church in Chelmsford MA (2016-2024). During several of his years in York, First Parish Church had the highest average worship attendance among all the U.C.C./Congregational churches in New England, with over 440 a Sunday. Throughout his ministry Rich devoted himself to pastoral care, preaching and teaching, grief support, music ministry, youth ministry, and mission trips, having led 20 youth mission trips, taking over 500 teens on week-long mission trips to do home repair for those who could not afford it. He was also an End of Life Coach for the Dying and Grieving and led grief support groups for more than 20 years.
A memorial service will be held on Sunday, July 14, 2024, at 2:00 PM at Central Congregational Church, UCC, 1 Worthen St., Chelmsford, MA. A private interment will be held at a later date at the First Parish Cemetery in York, Maine. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to Central Congregational Church, UCC, to support their Good Samaritan Ministry which provides grocery store gift cards to those in need.