March 7, 2025 - Update from Pastor Jenn

The Construction Committee (Christine Groleau, Paul Kelley, Peter Kinner, Doug Woodward, and Pastor Jenn) is excited to share that the Milestone construction team is making wonderful progress! Though we have been out of our building since November, the Construction Committee, meeting every other week, has seen real, tangible progress every time we meet. We are hopeful to be back in our church soon. While Easter was our original goal, given the work and finishing touches we hope to incorporate, we may have to push that out. However, we are confident that we will be back in our space by mid-spring. With this, our construction team will still be in the midst of completing work such as our exterior doors, the lift from the basement, roof/ceiling work, and securing the pews in the balcony. They will complete this work during the week so as not to disrupt our Sunday services. We are working on a plan to ensure our space will be functional and beautiful, even with some parts of the project ongoing. However the next few weeks shake out, we will keep you updated.

As we prepare to return, you all have an opportunity to make sure our kitchen and church facilities are fully equipped for our ministry and mission. We seek additional funds to purchase essential appliances and other items not included in our construction budget to complete our kitchen and construction upgrades. These additional items include a built-in donation box, storage cabinets, microwave, dishwasher, warming oven, updated security, exterior outlet and water spigots, and more finishing touches. We are hoping to reach our goal of $25,000 by March 15. Your generous support will help us create a welcoming, updated, functional space for fellowship, events, and outreach.

If you feel led to contribute, donations can be made by check, designating “Building Blessings Fund,” mailed to North Church. Alternatively, you can drop a check in the weekly offering designated as “Building Blessings Fund” or contact Christine Groleau to figure out the best way to give today for the blessings of our future. Every gift, big or small, makes a difference!

Thank you for your prayers, generosity, and faithfulness. We cannot wait to worship together again in our renewed space.

February 10, 2025 - Update from Pastor Jenn

As of early February, the balcony has been re-framed, the offices, bathrooms, and meeting spaces have been framed, and electric and plumbing work has begun. The view from the front of the sanctuary shows the new and beautiful dimensions of our new balcony. We can already imagine all the activities and offerings we'll be able to do in our church when all is said and done.

Milestone Engineers and Samyn-D'Elia Architects have been doing an amazing job, and we're so grateful for their work! The project has hit the halfway point, putting us back in the sanctuary by early May if all goes well. As for now, we're praying, hoping, and preparing for what life will look like when we return, and navigating this season with grace.

January 13, 2025 - Update from Pastor Jenn

Our construction project is well underway!

For many weeks there has been fencing up around the front of the church, with dumpsters, work trucks, and supplies ready for use. There have been work crews in the building taking out the back five pews, bringing down the rear balcony along with a portion on the sides, and preparing the basement and first floor for the new rooms to be built.

The construction team (made up of church members, Samyn-D'Elia Architects, and Milestone Engineering) have met every other Monday for the last three months to discuss hardware choices, wall colors, bathroom fixtures, project timeline, and more. There has been a great deal of progress so far, and we're looking forward to even more! 

October 11, 2024 - Update from Pastor Jenn

It is with joy and hope that we share our construction date: November 1st, 2024!

We are so excited to begin this journey toward the future God has for us. There is much to do in the next few weeks, from cleaning out the sanctuary, tidying up the balcony, planning fellowship activities for our time away, and preparing our hearts and minds for what is to come. In this letter, we will share a bit about what you can expect in the next few months and we’ll invite your prayers and participation in this season’s unfolding.

As far as a calendar and expectations for church life over the next few months, here’s what you can expect:

OCTOBER

Church Life:

October will look largely normal. We’ll participate in the Crop Walk, worship in the sanctuary on Sundays, Bible study will meet at 1 pm on Tuesdays in the sanctuary, and all other church activities will take place as they typically do.

Special Events Related to Construction:

On October 20th we will host an information session in which we will update the church on any developments, share this calendar verbally, remind everyone of the details for the project, and then we will do a sanctuary/narthex/balcony clean up. Pizzas and salad will be ordered for lunch. Please make a plan in regards to parking prior to Sunday morning.

On October 27th in worship we will have a time of blessing and sending. We will say goodbye to the sanctuary in its current form. We will share memories from our time in the sanctuary, we will offer up times when God winked at us in this space. Then we will offer a blessing and a prayer of hope for what could still be, and for what our space and our church will become as a result of this process.

NOVEMBER

Worship:

We will spend November worshiping with Second Christian Church of Kittery at 33 Government St, Kittery, Maine. They are so excited to have us back, and we’re excited to be reunited with them! Pastor Jenn and Pastor Brad will trade off preaching, the choir is invited to participate in Second Christian’s rehearsals, and we will work together to find joint fellowship opportunities.

Community Life:

While all this is going on, the rest of our church functions will continue. Bible study will take place at various coffee shops, the Atheneum, Hearth Market, and other places. Men’s and Women’s Breakfasts and book group will continue at Cafe Espresso. Wentworth and Webster Senior Living Services will continue.

Committees will still meet, though each committee will decide where they would like to do that. Some options are the Portsmouth Library, the Atheneum, individuals’ homes, etc.

We will also gather for fellowship time, our first opportunity being a Pumpkin Painting Party at the Parsonage on November 3rd at 3pm. All are welcome!

Office and Staff Schedules:

Paula and Jenn will be working remotely while the building is under construction. Paula and Jenn will meet weekly on Tuesdays at the parsonage for some co-working and planning time, and Jenn will host office hours in the community twice a week. On Mondays she will be at Cup of Joe from 10 am-12 pm and on Wednesdays she will be at White Heron from 12-2 pm. Come by and say hi! These office hours will continue at least through the length of our project.

DECEMBER

Worship:

Currently, the plan is to worship with Second Christian until we are able to worship in our sanctuary again. We are also looking for opportunities to go and visit other churches in the area to learn a bit about how others worship, how they do outreach, and what their fellowship and committee structure is like. We’re hoping to potentially go on these adventures in January, but start thinking now about some churches you’d be interested in visiting!

Christmas:

While we do not know how long it will be before we can resume services in the sanctuary, we are hoping to be back in the Church for worship at Christmas. However, this requires construction to reach a point where the City will give the Church a temporary occupancy permit. We will be working with Milestone and the City to see if this can be done practically and safely. This doesn’t mean the project will be complete by Christmas, just that we may be able to resume gathering in the sanctuary once a week by that time. That said, none of this is guaranteed, so we will be flexible and transparent about any changes to that schedule.

More information about Christmas will be available as soon as we have it. Pastor Jenn is working on backup plans in the event we are not able to be in the sanctuary this year.

Community Life:

There will be opportunities for connection and fellowship throughout December. In particular, the Parish Life Board is working on putting together a trip to see Langston Hughes’ The Black Nativity in Boston sometime during Advent, likely on a Sunday afternoon. We’ll be organizing a bus to take everyone down and back. If you’re interested, we’ll have a sign-up sheet available soon!

Beloved, navigating this season of change will take all of us. It will require us to reach out to each other, to call one another, to write letters, to make visits, to show up for worship even in new places, to stretch ourselves, and to embrace what could be. These changes might bring anxiety, they may be disorienting - that makes perfect sense, dear ones. Changes to church life can be hard, especially when the church has been the place we could count on to be steady for so long. I wonder if we might look at these changes as an opportunity to create spaces for future generations to find the steady, reliable, unconditional love of God. I wonder if we might look at this season of wandering and learning and wondering as an opportunity to grow even deeper in our faith, trusting in God to guide us and love us and show us the way.

I believe that God is guiding North Church to a future filled with hope, and I believe we can do this together - in fact, it’s best that we do. Together, we can do anything. When we place our trust in God, so many things become possible. I pray we will lean into that possibility together.

October 3, 2024 - Update from Pastor Jenn

Construction Update: We have a start date for construction! October 27th will be our last Sunday in the sanctuary, with construction to begin in earnest on November 1st. In the weeks ahead we'll be sending out more information like a calendar for worship and fellowship activities, and opportunities for service. In the meantime, put October 20th on your calendar for an information session and final building clean up!