Project Updates > Previous

WE BEGIN

Greeting First Church Members and Friends,

This is our first Project Update Newsletter.  The First Church is moving ahead with our construction project and our plans for worship this fall.  Here we hope to provide regular updates about the project and as well as opportunities to help out and stay connected as we move ahead. 

There are two significant items to report:

1) We are moving ahead with our construction project this summer and hope to have most if not all of the work completed between now and the end of November.  The project consists of building a 24' x 24' addition on the garden side of the building with an elevator and a new stairwell, reconfiguring the interior space on the same side of the existing building, and replacing our oil-fired, steam heating system with a new, high-efficiency gas, hot-water system.

We have signed an agreement with Essex Builders to be our General Contractor and hope to have an initial construction schedule in place by July 9.  We are working with our architect, Menders, Torrey & Spencer to finalize our plans and make sure we are ready to go.  There is a LOT to do.   Keep a look out in future emails for calls for volunteers. 

2) We plan to join the First Universalist Society in Salem for their service this fall.  Not using the First Church building for services will permit the contractor to move ahead with the project far more quickly.  During this time, we will maintain the Church Office and the Minister's office at the First Church. 

We are delighted that our sister church in town is happy to open their doors and host us temporarily while we are out of our building.  (See the article by Lynn Taggart and the welcome letter from the Rev. Marjorie Matty included in this update.) 

Next month will find us hosting our August summer services at the Universalist Church since the work at our church will have begun.  Our next service will be Sun, August 7 at the First Universalist Church. Jeff Barz-Snell will be presiding with the Rev. Marjorie Matty of the First Universalist Society co-officiating.  It will be a fun celebration of Salem's amazing Unitarian Universalist history.  We will send out a schedule of guest preachers for August later in the month.

Our regular church season will resume on Sunday, September 11.  We invite all First Church members to gather outside the Main Door of the First Church that morning and then process down Essex Street to Townhouse Square (i.e. the fountain by Rockafellas and the site of the original First Church building).  We will then take a left and walk down Washington Street to join the First Universalist Society for their service.  Paul Madore will be performing that morning and Jeff Barz-Snell will co-officiate with Rev. Matty.  We have a wonderful program of worship planned for the fall with special music, engaging services and the same fantastic RE program but in a different space.

There will be many updates and surprises in the coming months.  There always is with a big construction project!  Please look for these Project Update newsletters and emails and / or check the First Church website for the most up to date information.  We are making great strides in our larger goals of accessibility, community and sustainability! 

Thank for your support, good will, and help during this very exciting time.

~ Rev. Jeff Barz-Snell

"CHURCH IS WHERE WE ARE."

Just as we know that Summer has finally come, we know too that changes to our beloved old building are coming with it.  We also know that there will be some upheaval during the time of construction, but as Paul Madore so beautifully pointed out in his last Herald article, church is where we are, no matter where that may be. 

And we now finally do know where that will be!  Our sister church, First Universalist Society in Salem, has opened its arms and its beautiful building to us for as long as we need to be away from our own home.  The vagaries of construction schedules (and the very long lead time for ordering an elevator) mean that we don't know exactly how long we will need to share space, but that is one large thing now off the long list of our concerns. 

Reverend Marjorie Matty and Reverend Barz-Snell have been planning worship services, and the RE directors of both churches have already begun to plan a wonderful program for our children.  Just wait until you see how much room they have for Family Fun Nights!  The First Universalists are actually looking forward to sharing their space with us and we will, in return, share our talents and treasures, chief among them our music program and our much-loved "sacrament" of after-worship fellowship.  Representatives of our Standing Committee and their Board are discussing how to share our cultures and traditions and even strengthen the effectiveness of our respective commitments to social outreach.   

In all of these talks, I have been struck by how gracious and freely given is the offer to help.  Everyone working on the plans to come together has become truly excited at the prospect of getting to know one another better.  These two churches of such impressive and sometimes divergent history now have a great deal in common… more than one might think. 

So Summer will come and go, and we will hold our July and August services in the gorgeous sanctuary of the First Universalists.  And then Labor Day will pass and Homecoming Sunday will be upon us.  There is a real danger that some of us will decide to wait to "come home" until we are back in our own building, but I think that would be a great loss for all of us.  Our church family can become stronger and more vibrant through this experience - we can become a wider community of two churches. 

An enormous gift has been offered graciously, and it behooves us to accept it equally as graciously.  I am looking forward to worshipping and singing in such a beautiful space, but even more, I am gladly anticipating the opportunity to accept the blessed hand of friendship being offered to us.  We are embarking on a journey of sorts, and part of it is this unforeseen opportunity to accept a blessing that has been bestowed on us.  

Please join us in worship at the First Universalist Church over the Summer and into the Fall.  This can become a very silver lining if we choose to make it so. 

See you in church!

Lynn Taggart, Chair of the Standing Committee

A WELCOME FROM THE FIRST UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY

Dear Friends from The First Church Unitarian,

As the leadership of The First Universalist Society we would like to welcome you to celebrate worship with us, utilize our facilities, and engage in an opportunity for theological exploration and reflection while your building undergoes renovations this summer and fall. We can only imagine that making such a shift of location might feel disconcerting but please know that you are welcome to make First Universalist your spiritual home for as long as you are displaced. As the other Unitarian Universalist congregation in Salem we are looking forward to the opportunities that being together has in store for us. We are two UU congregations that have some of the most interesting and impressive history in the denomination it will be extraordinary to celebrate our respective histories together for a time.

Someone once wrote, "The ornaments of your house will be the guests who frequent it." 

We look forward to welcoming you, getting to know you better, to working, worshiping, and learning more about our faith with you.

Sincerely and with Faith,

The Rev. Marjorie Matty and the Board of Trustees

First Universalist Society of Salem