First Congregational Church of Essex Junction, 1 Church Street, Essex Jct., VT 05452 | (802) 878-5745
COVID19 Update: November 2020
Dear Friends:
It is with heavy hearts and great disappointment that the Executive Committee has to inform you that we have determined not to begin holding in person worship on Sunday mornings just yet.
Our staff and committees had been working out details – we were poised and ready to begin in person worship just in time for Advent on November 29th. Unfortunately, the COVID cases have surged not only throughout our nation, but also in VT – even in Essex. COVID cases are expected to continue to rise as students return home from college and as we all begin to move our lives back into confined spaces for winter. In their press conference yesterday, Governor Scott and the Vermont Department of Health sounded a warning for all of us to take the threat seriously. We need to limit the number of people we interact with and the size of groups with which we engage. All of us on the Executive Committee were saddened because we crave to be together as a community of faith, especially during the Advent and Christmas season. While we are postponing the in-person worship, we have not decided, at this time, to reimpose stricter requirements on the groups currently meeting at the church. If the case counts continue to rise, we will have to revisit the restrictions.
On a brighter note, the staff has already begun to prepare for the Christmas services. The Deacons are coming up with a plan to decorate our newly painted sanctuary with our Christmas decorations [will it be bright red or burgundy no one knows….!]. Anita and Elaine are working hard to get our Giving Tree Program up and running this year. Laurie is working on streaming our Annual Christmas Pageant. Carol, Rick and our musical groups are already singing some favorite carols for Christmas Eve Services. Rev. Mark, Rev. Josh, and Laurie are preparing to present the Christmas story [pre-recorded] in costume and character for their annual 5:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Service. We are working on a few other surprises so our community will get the flavor of our Christmas Spirit despite our lack of physical presence at traditional worship services.
So despite our disappointment in this setback, we are moving ahead with our celebration of Christ’s birth and the many blessings we have in our lives. It will not be the same, but it will still be joyous and good. All of you will be invited to join in as always. Then when this surge of COVID is passed and the new vaccine is closer at hand, the EC will revisit the issue and begin in-person worship as soon as we can do so safely. Until then keep the faith, stay hopeful, call the ministers if you need someone to talk to, and remain steadfast in the Lord.
Blessings from the Executive Committee,
Maureen Evans – Cathy Shearer – Christine Sinkewicz – Mark Mendes – Ann Gray – Josh Simon – Alison Wermer
2021 Stewardship Campaign: Welcome to the Journey, Part 3
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept, remembering Zion.
On the poplars of that land we hung up our harps,
There our captors asked of us the lyrics of our songs and urged us to be joyful.
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” they said
How could we sing a song of Zion in a foreign land?
Psalm 137:1-4
Dear Friends:
Luckily, the Israelites did sing and offer prayers to God in Babylon and they became the only deported people of their day to ever maintain their national identity. Within a generation they returned home, re-built their temple with a renewed spiritual awakening, re-established civic organization, and watched as the economic underpinnings became strong once again.
First Church continuing to sing our song in the midst of the worst pandemic in a hundred years is a tribute to the faith and devotion of our members and friends. Worship, music, meetings, giving, outreach, and mutual support are all continuing to occur because of you…..thank you! Like the Israelites in Babylon, all of you know the importance of keeping First Church running smoothly now so that our witness to Christ’s love in the future might remain strong.
The importance of keeping our pledges steady during the next year of uncertainty is crucial to our continued well-being. Let me encourage everyone to spend a little time thinking about the importance of First Church in your lives and in the wider life of Essex and then pray some and figure out what you intend to pledge to the church this next year. Please consider level funding your pledge and if possible even raising it a bit to make up for the government coronavirus loan/grant that we will not be getting in 2021.
Together, we can remain strong and keep our beloved church looking to the future with hope. Your pledge will allow us to create an accurate budget and keep paying our bills.
On behalf of the Church Council, I offer you
Blessings and Gratitude
Rev. Mark Mendes
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Some statistics and charts shared in Part 2 of our Stewardship Campaign drive were miscalculated. Please, review these details by visiting this link:
2021 Stewardship Campaign: Welcome to the Journey, Part 2
Dear Friends:
First Church has changed quite a bit since I first arrived here in 2008, but all institutions and people change with time; circumstances, both good and bad affect how we engage the world. Those changes in turn demand our spiritual work in discerning where God’s Spirit is directing our attention. When civil unions awakened our culture’s conscience, First Church took up the call and listened for the Spirit’s leading and over a decade ended up voting to be an Open and Affirming Church and allowing GLBTQ marriages in our sanctuary. For 150 years, First Church has changed to answer God’s call to spread Christ’s love to the wider Essex community.
The same is true for 2020. To spread Christ’s love in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the percentage of our budget shifted dramatically from 2019 to 2020. Mission spending, as a percentage of the total budget, went up from 11% in 2019 to 16 % in 2020 and that does not even include the physical food we distributed to food insecure folks in our community. We have also taken advantage of no one being in the building during the pandemic for Building and Grounds spending as a percentage of the budget went up from 30 % in 2019 to 37 % in 2020 and that does not even include the money spend on the facility from the capital campaign!
In addition, overall expenses have been below the budgeted amount and overall income has increased thanks to our members faithful giving throughout the year as well as the US Government’s PPP loan that totaled $ 62,135. If we continue along these lines, then what started out as a deficit budget in January has turned into a surplus budget in October. Good news for this year.
But next year is up for grabs. We do not expect another PPP loan and as our church begins to open up in safe and prescribed ways, normal expenses are projected to return. So, the key is maintaining or even increasing our income and the largest part of our income stream is our giving from members and friends. This year, with the PPP loan, our pledges made up 66% of our income but last year without the loan it made up 80%!
We need your help to keep our church actively spreading Christ’s love and making Essex a better place in which to live. Look at the trifold and see where we spend our money. Your giving supports our Worship & Spiritual Care, our Building & Grounds, our Music, our Faith Formation & Youth Groups and our Mission & Outreach. Look at the bar graph and see where your pledge registers and see if you can nudge it over to the next higher category. If you do not pledge, seriously consider supporting our church financially…. now is the time when the need is so obviously clear.
Next week you will receive our final letter and pledge card and on October 25th, we will celebrate everyone’s support in worship. Think and pray about your gift and get ready to send your pledge in with some prayers for the continued well-being of our church.
May God’s Blessings Be With You All
Rev. Mark & the Stewardship Team
