FRSUU Fourth Century Campaign

The Fourth Century Vision Team: Background and Mission Statement for Parish Hall

The First Religious Society Unitarian Universalist of Newburyport, Massachusetts is celebrating its 300th anniversary in 2025. Since 1725, FRS has been integral to the fabric of this community by the Merrimack River, predating the formation of the independent town of Newburyport by almost 50 years. Both its first building in Market Square and the current 1801 Meetinghouse on Pleasant Street in turn have been icons of the city skyline, beacons of faith, community, and inclusion for long-time residents and newcomers alike.

Looking to our future with hope and with a commitment to enduring community service as a part of our spiritual practice, the membership of FRS is excited to support a bold initiative to revitalize our Parish Hall building. Our vision for this building looks for inspiration to its 19th-century roots as a community meeting space; a space where congregants and the wider community have gathered for a variety of events and occasions. The building has long served as a meeting space– a hall for celebrations of all sorts, a performing arts space, a church school space, and more recently, as sanctuary housing for an Afghan refugee family. After 150 years of service, it needs significant work to upgrade accessibility, refurbish systems, upgrade its kitchen to meet commercial food service codes. Our aspirations include adding a functional sanctuary apartment and building out comfortable multi-function spaces to adequately serve the diverse needs of our congregation and the broader community.

FRS has undergone a wide-ranging effort of community insight discernment to identify the general priority of the Parish Hall revitalization and its uses. Following this mandate, the Capital Campaign Team has interviewed a series of architectural firms with the goal of selecting a firm to assist FRS in further defining our objectives for the Parish Hall revitalization and ultimately providing design work from which we can realize our goal.

Along with revitalizing this key building on our campus, we have identified a need for consistent proactive upkeep of our facilities, both for baseline maintenance and to thoughtfully upgrade systems such as HVAC to maximize efficiency and further our alignment with climate-friendly technologies.

Together, the revitalization of Parish Hall and strengthening our endowment for facilities maintenance will ensure our facilities can meet the programmatic needs of our congregation and the broader community well into our 4th century.

View the Presentation to the Congregation During the February 23 Service

Parish Hall Revitalization Details

Built in the 1870’s and in constant use, the building has not seen substantial revitalization in over 50 years.  As a result, we have a range of much-needed work:

Vital Upgrades:

• Accessibility – making the building accessible, specifically the two main floors, excluding the basement and the small third-floor room. This most likely involves installing a lift between the two main floors.
• Fire safety – a sprinkler system is urgently needed

Critical Upgrades:

• Any structural deficiencies, including a new roof, reinforcing foundation, support beams, etc.
• Replace antiquated heating system
• Bring building to code as required

Program Upgrades:

• Reconfigure space for multi-function use. In general, and within the scope of available funds, reconfiguring the floor plan of the two main floors to provide more efficient space for meetings, functions, teaching, and performances.
• Commercial kitchen. At present, food cannot be prepared onsite except for closed church functions, and even for that purpose the kitchen is in significant need of upgrades.  Ideally, we will install a kitchen that meets code requirements for food service to the public.
• Sanctuary Apartment: Churches are in a unique position to offer sanctuary housing.  We envision an apartment that would provide temporary sanctuary for families or individuals in need of support.

Desirable Upgrades:

• New Windows and doors
• New bathrooms
• Envelope Upgrades (insulation/vapor barrier

Capital Repairs and Maintenance Endowment:

In 2015, FRS engaged Noblin Engineering to study our facilities’ maintenance needs on a 30-year cycle.  Most critical components of our building’s structure and systems need some sort of repair, maintenance and/or replacement within a 30-year cycle.  Both the Noblin report and historical spending trends for our repairs and maintenance indicate FRS would be in a strong financial position vis-à-vis building maintenance if the church had a capital repairs and maintenance endowment of at least $1 million.  One of the goals of this capital campaign is to begin the process of building that reserve.

Below you will find linked a summary of the findings from the Fourth Century Congregation Workshops. Please click this link or the green image below to access the full report.

Fourth Century Team and Process

If you would like to learn more about members of the Fourth Century Team and Process overall, please click here for additional context and background. This document includes background about the work surrounding proposals from architectural firms. Members of this team include: Reverend Rebecca Bryan; Tina Benik; Joanna Fernandez; Barbara Garnis; Doug Latham; Lark Madden, Lisa Mead and Jim Supple.

Parish Hall Memories 

A few photos to remember the various gatherings we’ve enjoyed together over the years…from soup sundays, to rummage sales and pie sales, live music and much more.