First Congregational Church of Essex (Massachusetts)
essex, MA
Church Description – First Congregational Church Of Essex History and Background The First Congregational Church of Essex (FCCOE) was founded in 1683, after independent minded residents grew tired of having to walk 5 miles a week to the neighboring town of Ipswich and pay tithes to the official church. They wanted to worship closer to home and the effort to break away was spearheaded by women of the congregation. FCCOE gained historic distinction through its first pastor, John Wise, who popularized the inspiring phrase “No taxation without representation”. John Wise was also an early leader who opposed the Salem witch trial hysteria of the day. The present day church building was constructed in 1792 and in 1797 the congregation donated silver dollars, silver spoons and jewelry to the Paul Revere foundry to cast a steeple bell. That bell, weighing 827 pounds, still rings to gather the congregation to worship every Sunday. For the next 225+ years, FCCOE has served the town as sanctuary, and up until a town hall was built in 1894, as the town meeting house. As with many churches in New England, membership started to dwindle in the 1970’ s and 80’s and was down to a few dozen by the early 90’s. Under the leadership of our retiring pastor, Tim Ziegenhals, numbers started to grow steadily. In 2005, we changed denominational affiliation from the UCC to CCCC, seeking to maintain unity and avoid the polarization the UCC’s focus on hot button issues was causing within our congregation. By 2010, membership stood at around 150, with about 2/3 of that total attending weekly. Covid had a significant impact on worship attendance, even after social distancing and masking measures were lifted. We have been slowly building back membership and adding both adults and some young families post covid. While FCCOE still has nearly 130 members, in person worship service attracts on average 40-50 people each week, with an additional number watching our live stream. Sunday school is attended by 15-20 adults and 5-10 children every week. Some of the curriculum we use is Group Publishing for VBS and NT Wright & Michael Bird for adult Sunday school. We also at times utilize guest speakers from Gordon Conwell seminary and Gordon college to lead the adult classes. The reduced worship attendance may reflect the national trend of fewer individuals identifying with an organized religion, but also reflects the changing characteristics of the greater Essex community. Essex was traditionally a mostly blue collar seaside town of shipbuilders, farmers and tradesmen. It is now a bedroom community North of Boston and its people are now more affluent, educated and secular without traditional ties to the church. We now draw from a broader geographic area, but remain very homogeneous ethnically. FCCOE has a strong, vibrant and welcoming community but we still wrestle with how to attract members to join us in this new environment. How and what to change about our approach to bring people in is clearly the greatest challenge and biggest opportunity we face as a church. Church Culture & Organization The FCCOE church family strives for a spirit of humble servant leadership, brotherly/sisterly love, winsome witness and unity in the essentials of following Jesus Christ. We combine that with civility and mutual respect across a congregation that has several lines of difference on issues of the day. We try to live by the words from Acts and devote ourselves to biblical teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer. The church has a weekly group who gathers on Zoom to pray for the Church and the broader world, and half a dozen small groups that meet to explore scripture and support each other’s faith journeys. The church is governed by a Church Council which consists of the Pastor, Moderator, Clerk, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer and committee chairs (Trustees, Deacons, Christian Education and Missions). The Church Council follows a series of by-laws that have governed the church, with periodic updating, for several generations. Church members meet annually to approve the budget, committee members and any special projects that need to be undertaken. In addition to a full time pastor, church staffing includes a recently hired part time youth pastor, a part time administrative assistant, music director and organist. We hire a cleaning service for the church building and lawn care for both the church and parsonage. FCCOE strives to be an active participant in our community and the broader world. Our missions committee supports 10 local organizations that range from local food pantries, to organizations building affordable housing, to ministries reaching out to college students in local high schools and Boston colleges. We support 8 international ministries that are providing relief in some of the poorest areas around the globe and looking to bring God’s word to those who have not yet had the opportunity to hear it. Members of our church make up the majority of the board of one of those organizations, Kijabe Children’s Education Fund, which is supporting wonderful schools in the worst slums of Nairobi. We reach out to the greater Essex area with monthly community breakfasts hosted at the church, serving dinners at the local food pantry, hosting a yearly Vacation Bible school and making our facility available for community groups to meet. We continue to look for new ways to stand alongside the community and build relationships there. Church Details The church includes a large second floor sanctuary with a balcony and pipe organ that can seat 250. The ground floor has a large kitchen and spacious fellowship hall. An additional wing was put on the church in 2001 which houses 3 classrooms, a nursery and offices for the Pastor, Church Administrative Assistant, Youth Pastor and Music Director. The church has a large yard behind it for recreation and picnics. The church property also contains a 2200 square foot parsonage with 3 bedrooms, 1 and a half bathrooms, a deck, large yard and off street parking. FCCOE finances have been managed well through the ups and downs of worship attendance over the last 50 years. The church is debt free and maintains a $300,000 endowment fund. The congregation has traditionally responded very generously to special requests for funding projects. Contact Information First Congregational Church Of Essex 39 Main Street, Essex, MA, 01929 Website: www.FCCOE.org Phone: 978 – 768 -7855 Email: [email protected]