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 25^th, 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