Church Looks Toward Future

By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT — The First Congregational Church in Claremont is calling on the community to help them look toward the future.

The church hopes to utilize an online survey to gain insight into the community’s awareness of current and prior church activities. The survey also will also ask residents of Claremont what they think the church’s involvement in the growing economy and revitalization of downtown could, or should, be.

Earlier this year, the church saw Reverend John Johnson announce his plans for retirement. After Johnson retired from the church in June, they have taken it as an opportunity to not only find a new pastor, but to consider the church’s place within Clarmeont.

In the past several decades, churches nationwide have had to either close or join with other churches to combine their congregations in an effort to stay open. This downshift in church patronage has been true across nearly all denominations and major religions. Collections of aggregated data across the United States show that in 2020 church membership for adults had reached an all time low of 47 percent. The declining numbers are often attributed to societal, technological and generational changes. While Millennials and Gen Z numbers remain significantly lower than Baby Boomers, even older generations’ church attendance has dwindled over the past decades.

With this information in mind, First Congregational hopes to look to the past to inform their future. In an effort to observe how the church was able to serve their community through religion and involvement, they hope to bring renewed fervor to a hopefully growing congregation. First Congregational had its beginnings in 1771, a few short years after Claremont had been chartered. Their first pastor, Geroge Wheaton, was ordained in 1772.

After the first meeting house was sold to the city of Claremont, the location of the church had changed over a number of years. Finally, in 1836 the building at 72 Pleasant Street, where the church stands today, was purchased and has remained the home of the church ever since. “The history of the First Congregational Church is closely tied to the history of the City of Claremont. The first meeting house of the church became the City Hall. We believe that the close ties to the city may provide us new opportunities to help Claremont thrive and grow,” Church Moderator Jean Allen said.

Over these many years, First Congregational has offered a number of important community services, including a soup kitchen and a childcare center. The church also takes special care to focus their budget with the intention of helping Claremont residents while working with groups like TLC Family Resource Center and Turning Points Network. Due to issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as financial uncertainty, the church is unable to currently offer some of those services. As they look to the future, they believe that with a reintroduction of those services, along with their centralized location in the downtown area, that they will be able to continue to support community needs.

To offset some of the financial burden the church has voted to sell their parsonage. The 85 Myrtle Street location was purchased by the church for the clergy to live in in October 1948. The property is currently listed at $325,000 with Town and Country Realty. It is expected to close sometime this month.