A
Diverse Congregation
The congregation is first in more than just name at First Congregational
Church of Minnesota. At first church, all members are ministers.
The result is an diverse, active and caring group united in friendship,
fellowship and fun.
Our
Staff
Principal
Minister: Eric Marinus Nelson [Top]
Achieving
a balance between head and heart has long been a quest for Eric
Nelson, principal minister of First Church.
A quick review of his resume illustrates both the journey and
the struggle. Before becoming ordained in the United Church of
Christ in 1990, Eric channeled his intellect, creativity, and
passion into an eclectic range of jobs including print journalist,
teacher in an alternative school, and apprentice to a hammered-dulcimer
builder. Eventually heeding calls from both head and heart, Eric
turned to the ministry. He completed his formal theological training
at the divinity schools of Vanderbilt and Yale universities and
was called to his current position at First Church in 1992.
The quest to integrate body, mind, and spirit continues at First
Church, both for Eric and for the congregation. He is continually
looking for new ways to help others experience God in their everyday
lives, and members have a wide array of opportunities available
to help them grow spiritually. Such opportunities extend far beyond
listening to Eric's weekly sermons (delivered with poetic cadence
in his distinctive, lyrical style) to sharing joys, concerns,
and thoughts during the service's participatory prayer period;
and taking part in any of the church's varied extra-curricular
activities, such as art displays, the annual rummage sale, neighborhood
outreach programs, and trips of service and friendship every summer
to San Lucas Tolimán, Guatemala.
"First Church values learning. That's always been one of
its strengths," Eric says. "It's essential that churches
be well informed. But it's equally important that they not be
dogmatic, that they stay socially involved, and that they're deeply
involved in the Spirit."
In his spare time, Eric looks for ways to round out his predominantly
word-based work with art, film, and exercise. He goes to movies
weekly, has taken classes of late in painting and drawing, and
enjoys playing baseball in what a friend has dubbed the "ibuprofen
league." In fall 2006 he took a four-month sabbatical
to Turkey to learn more about Islam, to seek
out Byzantine art, and to rest and reflect. You can read his travel log from the trip here.
Eric lives in the church's neighborhood with his multitalented partner Robin, whose work includes folk-dance calling and arts education in the public schools. They have a daughter, Isabel, who lives in London; a son, Tucker, who attends Beloit College in Wisconsin; and a very friendly golden retriever named Finn.
Associate
Minister: Jennie Ott [Top]
Jennie Ott has felt called to ministry since the age of 12, and today she lives into that calling as Associate Minister at First Church. Passionate about pastoral care, community-building, and social justice, Jennie enjoys hearing people’s stories and understanding how individuals make meaning in their lives. She believes hospitality, inclusion, and a sense of community are central to embodying God’s grace in the world.
A transplant from the East Coast, Jennie grew up in Massachusetts, Georgia, and Maryland. She received her bachelor’s degree in history from The College of William and Mary in 1999 and her Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School in 2006. Jennie’s previous careers include fundraising, teaching, and hospital chaplaincy.
In her spare time, Jennie loves any outdoor activity, especially hiking, biking, and backpacking. She also enjoys cooking, going to museums, and watching independent films.
Jennie is part of the two-year Pastoral Residency Program, which is sponsored by the Lilly Endowment and designed to give new clergy a solid foundation in parish ministry. Jennie will be serving First Church from August 2007 to June 2009.
Minister
of Education: Sandy Casmey [Top]
In one way or another, Sandy Casmey has been engaged with Christian
education all her life – first as a child in a small Sunday school
in rural Indiana; then as a youth helper and teacher. When her
daughter, Kristen, was born, she taught and served as team leader
at Wayzata Community UCC. As director of the ecumenical Resource
Center for Churches, Sandy advised teachers from across the church
in selecting resources and designing educational programs for
all ages. Most recently she served as Director of Admissions at
United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities – hearing men and
women tell the stories that shaped their faith and called them
into ministry.
Committed to the United Church of Christ, Sandy has served in
positions of leadership in the congregation, association, conference
and national setting. She is at home in the church of the “Still-speaking
God.” Sandy is married to Howard Casmey and they live in Lindsay
Lofts, on “the other side of the river.” Their daughter, Kristen,
lives in Arlington, Virginia, with her husband, Ben, and is a
first-year student at Lancaster Theological Seminary. Walking
along the river, gathering with friends for home-cooked meals,
and stories – written and performed – are Sandy’s passions.
Christian Education is a family affair and Sandy is thrilled
to have a role in the ministry of education at First Church. Working
with you, she is committed to engaging our youngest members in
learning the stories and traditions of our faith so they can move
into the world with confidence, honoring self and others, serving
the poor, seeking justice and being good stewards.
Minister
of Music: Cynthia Mortensen [Top]
Cynthia Mortensen grew up in St. Paul, and graduated with a B.A. in Organ Performance from the College of St. Catherine in 1980. She studied organ with Robert Wolfe, Dr. Paul Manz, and Dr. James Callahan. She has served as a choral conductor throughout her career, both in churches, (most recently at St. Anthony Park United Church of Christ) and as a High School Choral/Vocal teacher at Cretin-Derham Hall High School for more than fifteen years. She has been an adjudicator Regional Choral and Solo/Ensemble Contests sponsored by the MN State High School League. Her conducting teachers include the late Dr. Maurice Jones at the College of St. Catherine, Dr. Edith Copley of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ, as well as with Dr. Axel Theimer at St. John’s University. She also studied voice with Dr. James Sample at the College of St. Thomas, Dr. Maurice Jones, and Dr. Patricia Kent. While in college, she performed the Poulenc Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani with members of the Minnesota Orchestra.
Cynthia has sung with The Minnesota Chorale and Kantorei. Cynthia also has a fondness for jazz, and has performed with a few big bands in the Twin Cities. She is a member of the VoiceCare Network, the American Guild of Organists, and the American Choral Director’s Association. She currently teaches private voice and piano. Her hobbies include gardening, golf, knitting and reading.
The
History and Mission of First Church [Top]
On
November 16, 1851, seven years before Minnesota became a state,
First Congregational Church was organized in the frontier town
of St. Anthony, when seven women and five men covenanted "to
walk together" in Christian affection, duty and discipline.
The first minister, Charles Seccombe, Calvinist, staunch abolitionist,
devoted pastor--had been sent from the East by the American Home
Missionary Society for work in the frontier community. For several
years the Society gave money to the struggling congregation.
First
Church survived hard times and the difficult Civil War period.
Over the years it worshiped in different buildings close to the
milling industry that led to the rapid postwar growth of Minneapolis,
the city with which St. Anthony merged in 1872. The church also
grew and prospered. In 1886 it laid the cornerstone of its present
building. Built of red sandstone in Gothic-Romanesque style, with
round-arched windows and semi-circular rows of pews, it still
is one of the best local examples of the distinctive Akron-plan
church. The building is now on the National Register of Historic
Places.
When
erected, the church building stood in a neighborhood of business
and civic leaders, some of whose pre-1900 houses can still be
seen along Fifth Street Southeast. But as residential patterns
changed around 1900, the congregation began an uncertain era of
transition. Then, during the 1920s it formed a new relationship
to the University of Minnesota. For the next 20 years, First Church
was the center of a campus ministry. The congregation gained extra
vitality from undergraduate activities and participation by serving
as the "church home away from home" for the state's
Congregational students.
Different leadership emerged after World War II. Membership and
Sunday school enrollment grew, and so a full-time director of
religious education joined the staff. In 1945 the first lay moderator
marked an increase in lay participation in church affairs. Outreach
to the community expanded with a focus on such needs as neighborhood
improvement, senior citizen programs, youth drop-in centers, and
nursery schools.
In 1961 First Church, accepting the union of Congregational Christian
Churches with the Evangelical and Reformed Church, became a member
of the United Church of Christ denomination. Another change came
in 1969 with the disbanding of the Women's Guild. The guild was
the final successor to the many women's groups that since 1860
had so greatly enriched the church's life. Now First Church women,
as full participants in all church organizations, were exerting
greater leadership in both spiritual and financial matters.
In the 1970s, as Southeast Minneapolis shifted from single-family
homes to multiple housing with a transient population, a more
widely dispersed membership was still drawn to First Church by
the quality of its preaching, its educational programs, its outreach,
and its music. During this decade, the church formalized its ongoing
commitment to the use of inclusive language and imagery in worship.
In the late 1980s, First Church again witnessed on significant
social issues. In 1987, the church voted to become an Open and
Affirming congregation, stating that the church resolved to be
an inclusive community, welcoming people of any sexual orientation.
At that same time, the church declared itself a "Just Peace
Church, seeking the interrelationship of friendship, justice and
global security from violence." First Church continues to
explore ways to be faithful to both of those commitments in our
ever-changing world.
In the 1990's, the congregation has partnered with organizations
ministering to people with AIDS and to families with young children,
putting its building to use throughout the week.
Since 2001 First Church has participated in an experimental Pastoral
Residency Program funded through a grant by the Lilly Endowment.
Through the program, First Church helps to nurture young clergy
while also benefiting from the creativity and gifts that they
bring to the ministry.
For more than 150 years, from frontier-village to urban congregation,
First Church has sought to minister to parish, university, and
community. Despite many changes, our fellowship of differing but
kindred minds still walks together in Christian affection and
responsibility.
First
Church's Covenant of Membership [Top]
May
2004 revision
As
an inclusive Christian community responding in joy to God's love
and failthfulness, we covenant with one another:
to attend to God's activity -- in us, around us, and through
us,
to live in ways that honor our interdependence with all creation,
to confess our faults and our incompleteness,
to work for justice and peace,
and to express the gospel of Jesus Christ in worship, word,
and deed.
In
light of God's holy mystery, we affirm the right of private discernment,
and seek to build together a community of generous hearts and
differing but kindred minds.
