A brief historical review in support of the Ministerial Search

 

This congregation is young, and much has changed in the 18 years that Art McDonald served as minister. For most members, this recent history is the only history we know. Few members were around before this period began. The church population had shrunk to around a dozen active members, and many of them have passed on.

The longer church history influences our service and our faith. It’s worth looking back to touch on some of those elements and think about how they affect who we are today. If you travel between different UUA churches today, you will find various service styles and faiths. Some have a strong humanist leaning and do not wish to include Christian elements in their service. Some have a strong Universalist tradition and require that the Lord’s Prayer be recited weekly. Our service and approach today are influenced by the church's history, recent minister’s guidance, and our congregation’s beliefs and attitudes.

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Universalism began in the United States in nearby Gloucester with the preaching of John Murray. Rev. Murray spent some time in Essex when members of his church temporarily left Gloucester to be further away from the risk of British attack in the early 1800s. Not too many years after that the Essex Universalist Society was founded.

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This timeline, excerpted from a summary prepared by Mildred E. Johnston in 2001, shows some of the significant events from the past 187 years:

1774-John Murray began preaching Universalism in Gloucester

1819-Chebacco Parrish separated from Ipswich and incorporated as the Town of Essex

1829-Society founded

1830-Legally organized with 43 members

1836-Church edifice erected

1867-Sunday School started

1870-Manning Story engaged as Organist and except for 2 years, served until March 1934

1933-Basement excavated with the help of other denominational friends

1946-Church building and most of the contents destroyed by fire.

1950-Services moved from the old schoolhouse into the new church building

1961-Universalist Church of America and the American Unitarian Association merge to form the Unitarian Universalist   Association

1993-One World Coffeehouse began hosting monthly folk music events

1993-Dick Kimball served as minister

2003-Art McDonald began as minister

2005-175th anniversary celebrated

2017- New minister search begins

2017- 150th Anniversary of Sunday School!

2018- Rev. Eva Cameron called as minister

2022- Rev. Eva Cameron resigned due to disability

2022- New minister search begins for a Contract Minister 

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The various historical summaries in the records show that the church's strength ebbed and flowed over the years. Some significant donations by members in the 1930s helped the church to rebuild from fire and to survive some lean years that came later.

We know that through this time, the First Universalist Church of Essex held onto its Universalist roots. This is evident from the programs, music, bulletins, and conversations with the continuing members.

I do not know why the church shrank in population. There are many other options in this area for people who are seeking a UUA church (Rockport, Gloucester, Beverly, Salem (2), Danvers (Ipswich), and Newburyport.) That may have contributed. to it, and it is not uncommon for a church to stop attracting younger members and then shrink over time. The prior church leaders were careful with their money, potentially too careful. Rev. Kimball was employed on a part-time basis. He was loved by the members who attended but could not stop the decline.

At the turn of the century, some long-standing members retired from their leadership positions, and new members stepped in to join the board and lead the church. These fresh eyes saw the small congregation, saw a church close down the street, and realized that the church needed to grow, or it would also become an antique shop. They committed to spending their reserves on hiring a full-time minister. There was no longer a good reason to pinch the pennies.

This began an 18-year rebuilding process that was highly successful but continues today. There are three elements that we want to emphasize from the rebuilding process that helps us understand who we are today:

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• The faith expressed by the church was deliberately changed from a firm Universalism to a more open, exploring, and accepting combined UUA style.

• The rebuilding process meant we continuously added more each year, starting new traditions and welcoming new people. The congregation has been continually working to improve.

• We are a larger community once more and need to change some of our operational styles to fit

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Our congregation today is made up of members with many different beliefs. As read from the front of our hymnal, “The living tradition we share draws from many sources….” The list is excellent and represents the many different influences we have today. I don’t think that the prior generation of Universalist members welcomed as broad a set of sources. This summary and the UUA covenant ring true with our members today. This shift has helped us attract and retain the new members that we have now. Rev. McDonald made adjustments to shift the service to be welcoming of people with many faith backgrounds. He also worked to be sure we retained elements from the Universalist tradition. In his sermons, he emphasized the value of staying in touch with the religion we grew up with, even if we had left it to seek new sources. Over time our service and our sanctuary evolved. We retained the Universalist off-center cross at the front of our church to reflect the history of the church. Members added a circle of symbols representing other faith traditions that we draw on. This was to recognize those sources and help all who entered feel welcome. A rainbow flag appeared at the front of our church and outside our front door to communicate that we are a welcoming congregation. We sing “Hymn 380” weekly to keep a traditional melody in our ears, with some modern words.  The Lord’s Prayer appears on occasion rather than weekly. The service follows a fixed structure most weeks because the structure and routine help create peace and comfort. Our responsive reading is not recited in response to the minister. We alternate sides of the congregation to respond to the author and each other. Our annual calendar of services includes special events like the welcoming water ceremony, New Year’s “yarn” service, and spring Flower Communion. Easter, Christmas, and Lenten Meditations are also celebrated. We have retained many elements of the Universalist faith that formed the church, but we have also accepted many changes to welcome more spiritual influences.

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Our congregational rebuilding process has attracted people who are comfortable with change. Each year we have sought to build on what we have. We’ve responded to crises (financial, legal, and “acts of God”). We’ve continued traditions that we found and added new ones to fill out the year. Suggestions for improvements were generally met with “let’s give it a try.”  This is the attitude that is necessary to rebuild. The risk of failure creates permission to try new things (failure is imminent either way – might as well give it a shot.) The relatively low tenure of congregational members means we didn’t have entrenched attitudes or longstanding cliques. These strengths of the congregation will help us through the current challenge of seeking a new minister to work with us.

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