OUR PASTOR
Second
Congregational
Church
An Open and Affirming Congregation
of the United Church of Christ
Sunday 9:30 AM
35 Conant Street, Beverly, MA 01915
978-922-5722
CARING FOR OUR COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY SUPPERS
Community Suppers, originally Ham & Bean suppers, have been taking place at Second Church since at least the 1950s. These suppers are prepared and served by an all-volunteer team.
We welcome all people to join us for
a fun night of food and fellowship!
Our delicious and varied entrees include:
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Ham and Beans (The Original!)
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Spaghetti and Meatballs
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Turkey and Fixin's
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Roast Beef (each December)
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Roast Pork
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New England Boiled Dinner
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Chicken
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Burgers and Dogs
Rolls and butter, coffee, tea or milk and our popular "Home Baked Pies" are always on the menu!
Bring your family and eat cheap!
Only $8.50 or less for dinner and pie!
The meals take place on the third Saturday of the month from September-May. In June we hold an ice cream and strawberry social to celebrate summer! Community Suppers in November and December are earlier in the month. Check out our Calendar for more info!
COMMUNITY EVENTS
Our congregation is very community and family oriented. In an effort to engage with the wider community and make better use of our great space and location, we developed what we call our Community Series to host events that may impact or be of interest to the community.
In our first year we hosted two musical events, two author presentations and a good old-fashioned strawberry social. For our second year, we hope to add social justice documentaries along with more musical performances, author presentations and, because it was such a success, another strawberry social.
If you have any presentation suggestions or needs, please let us know.
Please check our Calendar and join us
for one of our Community Series events!
All events are free and open to the public.
HOMELESS MINISTRY
Second Church cares deeply about families in our community, especially those who are the most vulnerable. That's why we are strong supporters of Family Promise North Shore Boston, a local non-profit organization helping to end homelessness, one family at a time.
Four weeks per year, Second Church provides temporary lodging in our building for the guest families in the Family Promise program. Dedicated volunteers from our congregation set up bedding, make and serve meals to the families, play and help children with homework and even sleep overnight to provide loving hospitality to families who really need it. By interacting with parents and children, our volunteers come to know the human face of homelessness and become a powerful force for change in ending homelessness.
Members of Second Church also participate in and donate to fundraisers for Family Promise and Beverly Bootstraps throughout the year. Sharing our time and treasure with those who need it is a big part of living into the mission of Jesus Christ.
ADDICTION MINISTRIES
Recovery High School
It started out with lipstick and a little eye makeup and grew into one of Second Church's most important ministries. Rosie McKenna would pack up her Mary Kay goody bag and visit with the girls of Recovery High School, hoping that a little lipstick and girl talk would help them find hope in a life of struggle. Now, members of our Board of Social Action and Mission meet with all the students on the second Friday of every month at Second Church. Over cookies and coffee, we talk honestly and earnestly about things that are happening in their lives. We offer our wisdom, our truth and our empathy, but mostly we just listen. The students are brutally honest about their lives and their struggles and their raw truth often brings tears to our eyes. But they persevere and we continue to support both the students and the staff of RHS.
We prepare a Thanksgiving dinner on the Wednesday before the holiday to make sure everyone has a celebration. We hold the RSH graduation ceremony in our sanctuary. And we hold Memorial Services at Second Church when one of the students dies. It is important work to reach out to this community that is often misunderstood, ignored or judged harshly.
So many families are touched by the problems associated with addiction and Second Church tries to make a difference by reaching out to people in need of love and support. You are invited to join us in our mission!
AA and Al-Anon
Second Church opens our church home to those living with addiction and their families by accommodating meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon in our building.
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AA Fellowship (Open Meeting)
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Fridays, 7:00-8:00pm in Fellowship Hall
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AA Fellowship (Open Meeting)
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Sundays, 8:00-9:00pm in Fellowship Hall
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Al-Anon Fellowship (STEP Program)
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Saturdays, 10:45am-12:00pm in the Chapel
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Please see our Calendar for directions and more details.
KNITTING MINISTRY
The Second Church Knitting Ministry started with Pastor Esther Thompson. She gathered women of the church to knit prayer shawls for shut-ins and Hospice.
Over the years, our knitters have expanded their craft to include:
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Prayer shawls for shut-ins and Hospice
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Baby blankets for Christenings, sick children, new mothers, unwed mothers, and mothers in need
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Blankets for the firemen to use to wrap fire victims in
The Knitting Ministry meets the second Wednesday of the month at 1:00 pm in the Church Parlor. Check our Calendar for details!
INTERNATIONAL MINISTRY
Second Congregational Church supports an orphan age called “Casa San Jose de los Huerfanos” located in Colima, Mexico. Volunteers travel to Mexico to work at the orphanage with the children and to repair the facilities.
The Casa San Jose is a 120-bed orphanage. While not all the children are orphans, they come to the Casa because their families are either too poor to care for them or because they have been abused. The children, anywhere from 2 to 18 years of age, are clothed, fed three meals a day, housed in dormitories and educated at the Casa up to grade 6; the older children then travel daily to a local high school.
The Casa truly needs our support, and in turn we have been transformed by our relationship with the children and teachers of the Casa. If you wish to donate to the Casa Building Fund, please click on the donate button, select Other and put "Casa Building Fund" in blank box. Thank you.
