Transition Team 2022-2024

The Transition Team at First Church in Salem from its formation in November 2022 until June 2024 led the congregation as we learned together what it means to be a church in transition. The members of the team were Deborah Greel, Jerrie Hildebrand, Eric Kenney, Patti Roka, and co-chairs Russell Lane and Melody Lee. We have been working under the guidance of our interim minister Rev. Jenny Rankin.

Year One
Our first order of business as a team was to write a covenant to guide our work together and remind us to bring our best selves to the table. Tackling this challenge helped us better understand some of the difficult dynamics at play within our congregation.
Next, we focused on the first of five UUA suggested interim goals: coming to terms with our past. We designed a series of Community Conversations to lead the congregation in a process of self-reflection and self-discovery. During these discussions we focused on the past five years of our congregational history. These included the departure of our long-time minister Jeff Barz-Snell, a one-year interim and search process to call a new settled minister, Elizabeth Ide, and her three-year tenure with us, which coincided with the challenges presented by Covid. Unpacking our varied responses to these events has given us a lot to talk about.

Year Two
During our second year of work, we focused on the second UUA interim goal: discovering our identity. We started off the year by distributing copies of Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg’s On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World, which was the UUA Common Read for 2023-24, and leading discussion groups that focused on naming the harm caused by the actions of the congregation during the tenure of our last settled minister.
In November we held a community-building potluck and conducted a “Spirituality Snapshot” survey which highlighted the diversity in belief among our congregants. In February we led a Leadership retreat with members of the Standing Committee and the Deacons to encourage discussion among church leaders and assess our readiness for search. In April the Transition Team led a Sunday service on Shared Ministry to help the congregation learn more about what this means and what we already contribute to the church.
At the end of this year, our focus shifted to the fifth interim goal of looking into the future and thinking about who we want to become as a congregation.  Patti Roka, who stepped down from regular participation in the Transition Team, led the congregation in a Blue-Sky brainstorming event to envision how we would like to see our congregation develop over the next five years. Here are the lists of what folks came up with.


What we learned
One of the takeaways from our work as a team is the importance of talking to one another directly in times of conflict. We have recommended that the Standing Committee form a Right Relations Committee to address conflict in our church community and Rev. Jenny is available for mediated conversations.
Many thanks to everyone who participated in the potlucks, discussions, survey, and services hosted by the Transition Team. It has been important to come together both to listen to one another when we disagree and to dream about how we might grow in the future.  Let’s keep the creative juices flowing as we continue to learn and dream together. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Rev. Jenny who has guided and shaped our work together. We could not have done it without you.

Five focus points of an Interim Period

Five focus points of an Interim Period

Blue Sky Brainstorming (click for full list)

Benefit Concert at First Church

The members of First Church in Salem are thrilled to welcome to their space, Ingrid Jacoby, for a benefit concert to support both the church and the North Shore Lions Club. The performance begins at 4pm on Saturday, September 9th  in the Meeting House of the First Church located at 316 Essex Street. A reception will follow. The event is open to the public. Tickets are $25 online and at the door. To purchase online go to https://bit.ly/fcbenefitconcert. 

Ingrid Jacoby, internationally acclaimed as both a recording and performing artist, was awarded a Career Life Award by the National Society of Arts and Letters in the United States, is a “Steinway Artist,” and a member of The Steinway Hall of Fame, and she has recorded for its new Steinway Label in Hamburg, Germany. She is a triple United States, United Kingdom, and German citizen and performed at venues across the globe. Ms. Jacoby lives in London and has played piano for the world's best conductors, including Yehudi Menuhin. She has played with the London Symphony, the St. Louis Philharmonic, and the San Diego Chamber Orchestra, in addition to a variety of international venues.  She has also recorded a number of CDs, several of which made critics' "best of" lists in the classical music press.

Ingrid’s sister, Helen Jacoby, has been integral to the planning of this event. Helen is a member of the North Shore Lions Club as well as the Standing Committee of First Church. She has been happy to arrange such a wonderful event, “It's a special trip she's making to do this.”

Homecoming Weekend

On Saturday, September 9 The members of First Church in Salem are thrilled to welcome to their space, Ingrid Jacoby, for a benefit concert to support both the church and the North Shore Lions Club. The performance begins at 4pm on in the Meeting House of the First Church located at 316 Essex Street. A reception will follow. The event is open to the public. Tickets are $25 online and at the door.

On Sunday, September 10 we begin our church year with our annual Homecoming Service which includes a Water Communion. Religious Education classes resume. Service begins at 10:30am and we hope you will join us. If you are able feel free to bring a bit of water from your travels - whether from your own tap or garden hose, the local beach, or across the world.

Peaks Island, ME