How We Are Structured
First Church is governed by a Standing Committee, congregational meetings, and church bylaws. The Standing Committee establishes other committees of the church. We also have a Trust that maintains our church endowment.
The Standing Committee
The Standing Committee is a group of 7 elected church members whose role is to act as the governing body of the church. Members serve a 3 year term with a maximum of 2 terms.
Joy Falk and Persis Yu, Co-Chairs
Linda Omstead, Vice-Chair
Jack Wellman, Treasurer
Patrick Simmons, Clerk
Mark MacGilchrist
John Eckelman
Jon Clardy
Stephen Toropov
The committee also includes the Minister, the Clerk and the Treasurer as ex officio voting members. Members meet monthly from September through June to discuss church matters and bring proposals, such as the annual budget, before the Congregation for a vote.
The Standing Committee members are active members of the church who have the general care, superintendency, and the control of all temporal affairs of the Church. In addition, each Standing Committee member acts as a liaison to one or more of the other church committees. If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, please contact any of us.
The First Church Trust
The Church building and certain Church endowment funds are held in a Trust designed to ensure the long-term survival of this Church community in Jamaica Plain. The Trustees of the Trust are all long-term members of the Church. The Trust makes a yearly contribution to the Church’s operating budget which is consistent with recommended practices for charitable endowments.
One of the Trust's principal responsibilities is the stewardship of the Church's endowment fund. The Trust formulates an investment policy for that fund that accounts for both financial and social responsibilities. In 2014 the Trust voted to divest the endowment of fossil fuel based assets, and immediately sold off all individual stock holdings in fossil fuel companies.
The current Trustees are Gerry Culver, Gwyn Helie, Kurt Hemr, Jom Michel and Tim Williamson and can be reached through the church office at firstchurchjpoffice@gmail.com.
Welcoming Committee
The Welcoming Committee strives to make the church a hospitable environment for all who enter. They are particularly focused on greeting and engaging folks who are ‘church shopping’ or are new to the church. The entire congregation is encouraged to join in creating an actively welcoming community. Contact Paul Miller at welcoming@firstchurchjp.org.
Religious Education
The Religious Education Committee is charged with overseeing the various Religious Education functions at First Church. These include nursery care for children up to 4 years of age during our weekly Church Service, and children's classes during worship on Sunday. The committee’s members are involved in various aspects of these activities and work in conjunction with the Director of Religious Education.
Ministerial Committee
The Ministerial Committee provides support and feedback to Rev. Elizabeth's ministry to First Church in Jamaica Plain. They meet monthly with Rev. Elizabeth to identify and review issues, challenges, and areas for growth. They also coordinate the UUA evaluation process for Rev. Elizabeth's first year and plan her installation service on April 29th. Members are:
Robert Amelio
Andrea Fleck Clardy
Abby Krueger
Danielle Levac
Margaret Suby.
Music Committee
The Music Committee provides support and feedback to the Music Director, and helps organize special musical events. Members are:
Thalia McMillion (chair) tmcmilliion @ gmail.com
Nancy Ahmadifar
Cynthia Bainton
Abby Krueger
Anna Lawrence
Social Justice
Social Justice is a critical part of First Church including educational events, initiating/supporting outreach programs, and serving as social justice advocates. Our efforts include work on issues involving hunger, homelessness, civil rights and economic justice. The First Church Food Pantry is open twice a month. We are partners with Sojourner House (a family shelter) to help support their residents. We partner with the JP Forum to offer programs on issues impacting our neighbors and larger community. Members of the congregation offer leadership on each aspect of our social justice work.
Building Committee
The Building Committee meets regularly to address the physical needs of our beautiful, historic building. Volunteers work to provide a safe, clean and fully functioning space for all users of the building, to coordinate maintenance and repairs as required, and to assist the Standing Committee and Trust with major capital repairs.
Caring Committee
Coordinates support for members and friends in times of personal need or crisis, including the provision of meals, transportation, shopping, friendly visits and hugs.
Personnel Committee
The Personnel Committee provides guidance and recommendations to the Standing Committee on staff issues such as salary increases, job descriptions, and annual evaluations. The Committee also provides guidance to Church staff on issues related to working at First Church. We are involved in hiring new staff, including interviewing, and making recommendations to the Standing Committee for new hires. We are available as a resource to support First Church in its effort to follow workplace laws and guidelines to ensure that First Church is a good employer of quality staff.
Nominating Committee
Responsible for choosing candidates for officer positions and Standing Committee members.
Finance Committee
The Finance Committee does quarterly reviews of the status of the Church Budget and creates a “Dashboard” report for the community. This committee is responsible for proposing a new budget at the end of the Annual Budget Drive.