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Welcome Back Updates!

STAFF OFFICE HOURS
Welcome back everyone! In addition to Rev. Jenny's office our Congregational Administrator, Catherine Bertrand, has returned from sabbatical and will be available in office Tuesday through Friday 8:30a-2pm and Sundays before the service and after until 12:15pm. Please feel to reach out via email or phone at 978-744-1551.

Our RE Coordinator Theo Burbank will also be posting office hours in the coming weeks so please stay tuned! Theo can also be reached through email.

As always Music Director Michael Kraft can be reached via email.

SIGN-UPS
Most sign-ups for the church year are available above. Simply click the link and volunteers for hosting Fellowship or providing Flowers. Lifebridge details are coming soon. Details can be found in the link!

THANK YOU!
There are many thanks to be given to all those who stepped up to make sure things ran smoothly while Catherine was off this summer. Let's acknowledge the extra efforts of Anna Brandenburg, Brenda Marean, and Claire Donaldson for coordinating the many moving parts of First Church. Thank you!

Welcome Rev. Jenny Rankin

Hello First Church in Salem!

It is wonderful to have “arrived!” I began last Monday August 22 and have enjoyed these first few days of meeting some of you and getting situated.

I’ve had a tour of your incredibly beautiful sanctuary, building and church grounds. I’ve begun to meet with staff, Standing Committee members and deacons. I’ve started moving in boxes and books to the minister’s office. And I’ve gotten a glimpse of the vibrant and historic community that is Salem!

One of the things I love about being an interim minister is that I get to travel to a new “country” each time I begin working with a new congregation. I’m looking forward to meeting you and hearing from you what it is you appreciate about the church, as well as Salem itself (and the environs). Each congregation has its own “language,” customs, and distinctive culture and I’ll be turning to you all to be my “local guides” to get to know this new territory.

Thank you for welcoming me, and I look forward to meeting you in person. My first Sunday in the pulpit will be Homecoming Sunday, September 11^th, and I will have office hours during the week (see specifics below). If you would like to visit in person, or on Zoom, please email me at minister@firstchurchinsalem.org

It’s good to be here.

Jenny

Office Hours for September
(please email Jenny directly to get a specific time or you are welcome to drop in, just know you may need to wait till she finishes meeting with someone else).

These office hours are in person at the church. I’m happy to add office hours on Zoom and evening hours, if you let me know you’d like that.

Thurs. Sept 1, 1-4 pm
Wed. Sept 7, 10-12 noon
Thurs. Sept 15, 1-4 pm
Wed. Sept 21, 4-6:30 pm
Thurs. Sept 22, 1-4 pm
Thurs. Sept 29, 1-4 pm

Learn more about Jenny's Interim Ministry here.

Pandemic Task Force

As we approach Homecoming Sunday and the heart of the new church year, I would like to ask you to join me in honoring the work of the Reentry Committee, who have worked diligently for over two years to keep us safe while facilitating our revered worship practices with hope, faith, and a commitment to inclusion. I encourage you all to read the report of the committee in the 2022 Annual report (page 45) to get a sense of the very thoughtful and deliberate process this team built on our behalf.

We are at something of a turning point now, as we have “re-entered” to worship in the Meeting House. And yet, the pandemic cannot be said to be over, and the key indicators of public health may swing negatively at any time. The need to balance the interests and vulnerabilities of all remains. At the same time, Reentry Committee members deserve a breather from the very committed work they have been doing for this extended period.

Recognizing that this diligent review must continue, even as circumstances change, the Standing Committee is discussing a plan to refresh the process and the committee. It is our intent to recruit a team of members to pick up this ministry, using the tools, references and guides available and to make sound recommendations for meeting and gathering practices, and communicating those clearly to the congregation.

We hope to have this group, tentatively called the Pandemic Task Force, in place and introduced within September, though we recognize the significant commitment such ministry represents. All input on the make-up, number of members, meeting frequency, and other considerations is welcome. Please touch base with any member of the Standing Committee if you have suggestions, comments, or questions, or if you see a role for yourself in this work.

In the meantime, as this team is being formed, we ask the congregation to patiently stay the course with current practices for worship in the Meeting House. That is, for the next three Sundays, we will continue to ask attendees to wear masks and respect social distancing.

We look forward to hearing your comments and reporting updates to you.

In community,

Steve

Sunday Services

Sunday services are held in the Meetinghouse, and begin at 10:30 am.

Sept 4th (Labor Day weekend): No service
September 11: Homecoming Sunday, led by Rev. Jenny Rankin (in-person, and on Zoom)
** Special Fellowship following the service: Meet and Greet Rev. Jenny **

We are so thankful to everyone who helped make worship services possible this summer. Special thanks to Rev. Claire Donaldson for coordinating and leading services. We also especially thank Diane Smith, Jim Ognibene and Tiffany Magnolia for their contributions and wise words from the pulpit.

Religious Education

The Standing Committee and Rev. Jenny are so pleased to announce that Theo Burbank will be staying on in her role as Religious Education Coordinator!

A note from Theo:
Hello children, youth, and caregivers!
I am so excited to be joining you again this year. We have an exciting year of learning, growing, and exploring as a community ahead of us, which you will hear more about soon.

If you have a child who plans to participate in RE this year, please take a moment to fill out our RE Registration Form. If you are interested in volunteering with RE this year, you can sign up here! And as always, you can contact me anytime at fcreligioused@gmail.com.

Best,

Theo Burbank

Upcoming RE services and events:

Sept 11: Homecoming Sunday, Intergenerational Service

Sept 18: First Day of Sunday School

Thank you for the Flowers!

Many thanks to all who have signed up to contribute flowers for our Communion table.

August 21: Penny Bigmore
August 28: Mimi Ballou
September 11: Deacons

We are always grateful for your help in making our Sunday services more festive.

Support for Lynn Taggart

Lynn underwent major surgery August 10. She will have a long recovery, but so far Russell has been sharing good news! We are supporting Lynn and Russell with meals, restaurant gift cards and notes of encouragement.
Please look for details on the meal train site: https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/q551w8.

If a meal is not possible please feel free to send a card to Lynn Taggart, 15 Canterbury Road, Marblehead, MA 01945. Let's keep Lynn in our thoughts and prayers.

First Church Links

We are delighted to announce that we’ll be welcoming Rev. Jenny M. Rankin as our Interim Minister on August 29, 2022. Jenny will work with the Board and the Transition Team to help the congregation accomplish the 5 interim ministry goals recommended for a congregation in transition between settled ministers.

Jenny was born in Boston and raised as a Unitarian Universalist at King’s Chapel. She graduated from Princeton University and after working for a few years as a community organizer, in Paris and Boston, went on to earn a Master of Divinity degree at Harvard Divinity School. Jenny began her career as an interim minister in Hingham, Cohasset and Hopedale before going on to serve as Minister of the First Parish in Concord, a settled ministry position, for fifteen years. She received additional training in transitional ministry and decided to make this particular form of ministry her focus. She recently completed her seventh interim ministry with the First Parish in Lincoln in June of 2022. Originally a two-year contract, it was extended to three, and then because of Covid, to four. Most of her interims have been two years.

“To me, interim ministry is a ministry of accompaniment,” Jenny said recently, “I walk with congregations who are going through a period of uncertainty and direction-finding after the departure of a settled minister. All congregations have challenges, of course, and I consult with and guide churches leaders to help them choose what is “top priority” for the interim period, what most needs attention to allow the church to be ready to call a new minister.”

“Each congregation is different, of course,” she continued, “with its own unique history. but some of the issues I’ve encountered in my work include unresolved grief, conflict, factions and fissures, a decline in trust, de-energized leaders, a decline in membership and/or pledging or both. I have watched congregations engage in tough conversations and do brave work together in the service of healing. It is not magic. It takes hard work and all hands on deck. It can be uncomfortable, at times. But it is rewarding for me to see congregations emerge from an interim time with more hope, energy and strength, well equipped for their next chapter.”

Jenny loves to learn, especially in community with others. She has taught classes on Transcendentalism, Celtic spirituality, prayer and the contemplative tradition, Spiritual Autobiography, and “Creativity as a Spiritual Practice.” Sometimes, she takes the learning “on the road” and has led seminars and walking tours both locally and in Europe. With a friend and UU minister colleague, Jenny leads contemplative retreats on the island of Iona of the west coast of Scotland. In 2021, Jenny earned a certificate in Spiritual Direction at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.

Jenny lives in Concord, Mass with her husband Rich Higgins, author and photographer. They have three children, now young adults. And a much-loved dog named Finn!