Interim Profile First Congregational Church Williamstown January 15, 2020 FOR LOCAL CHURCHES SEEKING LEADERSHIP IN AN INTERIM TIME The covenantal relationship between a church and those called by that church to serve as pastors and teachers and in other ministerial positions is strengthened when vital information is openly shared by covenantal partners. To that end, we attest that, to the best of our abilities, we have provided information in this document that accurately represents our church. We have not knowingly withheld any information that would be helpful to candidates. As the committee charged with the responsibility for identifying and recommending a suitable leader for the interim time for our church, we have been authorized to share the information herein with potential candidates. We understand that a candidate may wish to secure further knowledge, information, and opinions about our church. We encourage a candidate to do so, recognizing that an open exchange of relevant information builds the foundation for continuing and healthy relationships between calling bodies and persons seeking a ministry position. ___Margaret McComish_____ January 16, 2020__ Signature of Search Committee Chairperson Date Church Name: First Congregational Church Williamstown Address: 906 Main Street, Williamstown, MA 01267 Telephone: 413-458-4273 FAX: 413-458-3414 Email: [email protected] Website: www.Firstchurchwilliamstown.org Date of Vacancy: February 9, 2020 First Congregational Church of Williamstown Massachusetts Mission Statement, First Congregational Church of Williamstown Printed in our weekly worship service bulletin: “We, the members of the First Congregational Church in Williamstown, Massachusetts, strive to be a body of Christ in which all people may worship God and relate to one another with a secure feeling that they are welcome and appreciated. We seek to create a safe accessible haven where a person’s faith may be nurtured and developed in the sharing of diverse cultural and spiritual experiences of God. We will try, with the help of God, to lead a life of Christian love and service to God, humanity, and all creation. In offering ourselves to this sacred mission, we attempt to show the way of Christ so that the community and the world in which we live may learn to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.” (Micah 6:8) We see ourselves as a dynamic, inclusive, family-friendly hub where social justice, spirituality, and the arts intersect. We strive to be a caring community of earth stewards intent on global justice and spiritual transformation. Our Primary Goals and Needs for this interim time: 1. Maintain our momentum in progressively transforming into a new church that embraces both contemplation and action, spirituality and justice, and builds caring community within and beyond church walls. We seek to ensure vibrant Sunday worship services that combine authentic and inclusive spirituality with intellectually engaging and biblically-informed thematic series with attention to social justice issues and global crises. 2. Find a settled pastor who will support and guide us in #1. 3. Partner with an Interim/Transitional pastor in task forces on creative and inclusive Mission/Worship and Fundraising (for substantial repairs to our building), mentor a divinity school summer intern, and manage staff in Family Engagement, Community Organizing, and Administration/Finance. BASIC STATISTICS ABOUT FIRST CHURCH WILLIAMSTOWN Participation #Church Members 216 Avg Worship Attendance 75 Children and Youth Education Participation in 2019: ● 23 children participate in one or more after school service-learning projects ● 27 high school & college students participate in climate activism projects supported by First Church ● 16 children participated in at least 1 Junior Choir church performance or 3–4 rehearsals ● Ca. 45 children attend Sunday School or nursery programs at least once. Typical attendance: 3–4, with peaks of 9–13 for Junior Choir performances and Blessing of the Animals, Christmas pageant; Youth Sunday (highest: 19). Adult Education, Faith Formation and Community Building Events in 2019: 2nd Hour @ the Meetinghouse events: In 2019 we held 28 events, lectures, and discussion groups in the hour after Sunday morning worship. Attendance was typically 30-60 people. These included speakers from the church or the wider community about topical events, education, social justice, and topics important to our church community. Small Groups: In 2019 we organized 11 small groups, usually with multiple sessions, which included bible study, book or special topics discussions, and purely social gatherings. Financials 2019 Budget Total Income: $512,219. 2019 Total Actual Income: $522,291. 2019 Total Actual expenses: 479,531. 2019 Mission Expenditures: $53,571. Total investments* (restricted and endowed accounts): $2,500,000. (*fossil fuel free, private prison free, munitions free) Brief History Founded in 1765, our church and the town of Williamstown have been intimately connected from the start. Our church buildings served as the town meeting house for many decades, and after Williams College was founded in 1793, the church likewise was used for commencement, convocation, and weekly required religious services, often led by College presidents. Such luminaries as William Sloane Coffin preached here. Our connection with global history may date to the 1806 Haystack Prayer meeting of Williams students about 100 yards from our current building, which set in motion the American Foreign Mission Movement—on which we reflect critically through sermons, conferences, talks and collaborations with Williams faculty, students and staff. In 1850, Samuel Harrison, first pastor of a new Black church in Berkshire County (Second Congregational Church of Pittsfield) was ordained in our church, “large enough in space and heart for such an event.” Great Awakening revival meetings at the church incited the first Town-Gown discord, when the Williams College president objected to displays of emotion in church. Though we retain certain reserved New England Congregational characteristics, we have become increasingly open to experimentation, and now we hold blues and jazz services, drum circles, community Messiah sings, meditation sessions, centering prayer services and retreats, and other alternative kinds of worship and celebration of spirit and God’s creation. Our rural location in the Berkshire hills, on the Massachusetts-Vermont-New York border, inspires us to appreciate God’s creation in worship and activism. Our location in “the cultural Berkshires” also inspires summer Arts and Soul themed worship, drawing and reflecting on the many exhibitions, plays, concerts and cultural events like theatre festivals and our world-class art museums. We are also actively transforming our Christian Education program, introducing a nature-based biblically engaged “Forest Sunday School” in the coming months. We are continuing to evolve in our practices and beliefs, inspired by our history and our setting. Especially in the last decade, through extensive self-reflection and visioning, we have embraced our progressive identity as a community engaged in racial, social, economic and climate justice as we explore contemplative practices and an emerging Christian theology, inspired by our pastor and his affiliation with Fr. Richard Rohr’s Center for Action and Contemplation. We are a Just Peace, Open and Affirming, level two Sanctuary church for immigrants and refugees in need, have covenanted with Habitat for Humanity of Northern Berkshire, and partner with and house several local non-profits. After lengthy discernment about Divestment, we eliminated all fossil-fuel, private prison, and munitions investments from our endowments. We regularly host Second Hour at the Meeting House on Sundays after worship services, which are a rich offering of talks, presentations, group discussions, films, performances, workshops, etc. drawing on the deep expertise of friends and neighbors in Berkshire County and open to the public. Our Community Hall hosts youth music, service learning, and drama camps and a variety of community meetings and dinners. Indeed we have become a center of community activities and gatherings. Church Strengths We have many strengths! Our church today is strong and warmly welcoming. We have a firm foundation and inspiring faith and spiritual journeys. The lens of Christian compassion through which we view the world is a powerful key to our resilience, which we proactively cultivate weekly. In our worship service we practice sitting with ourselves and experiencing self in relationship to God and to others. In our relationships, we foster a healthy interdependence. We have talented lay leadership who are generous with their time and with their gifts. We have the support of a very well-organized UCC Conference. Nestled among the bucolic Berkshire, Taconic and Green Mountains, our beautiful white clapboard building with columns and towering steeple is not only a visual icon of Williamstown, but a symbol of our love for all of God’s creation. Our church is known for its socially engaged congregation, and is a centrally located gathering place for prophetic witness. We are committed to being as green as we can with an aging, large building, and we organize climate and other social justice actions regularly, using our church’s prominent location on Main Street to display signs, demonstrate, and share and inspire ideas, information and energy. We are part