Nurturing Community
We at Old Ship seek to offer to all a warm welcome, loving support and a sense of belonging. We are a volunteer-led community of faith and action. Volunteer service is the very foundation of congregational life, connecting us to one another and engaging us in our mission. When we work and play together, we get to know each other outside of Sunday services and strengthen our bonds as a community.
The Old Ship congregation recognizes the different talents and interests of its members and the varying amounts of time available. Whether it’s a simple one-time Sunday Caring Task such as serving coffee during Fellowship Hour, or a greater commitment such as teaching in the Religious Education Program, your gift of time will enhance your experience as an Old Ship member. Moreover, it will help grow and sustain the vital relationships we develop with each other as friends and church members. Lastly, it is the only way we Old Shippers can run this show!
We hope all Old Shippers can take on tasks during the year. Please explore the toggles below to learn more. To get involved, please view contact information here.
Ways to Get Involved
Click the tabs below to explore details and contact information.
Every week, members and friends greet worshipers and hand them an order of service. The ushers should arrive at the Meeting House fifteen minutes before the service starts. Ushers may also be asked to assist with collecting the offering. Please wear your name tag.
Choir
Our choir, a mix of volunteer and professional voices, adds to our service through the glory of music. The choir rehearses every Sunday at 9:30 before the service. All singers are welcome.
Flowers
Floral arrangements are needed for every service. Please feel free to volunteer if you would like to provide flowers. Otherwise, others in the congregation will be happy to make the arrangement for you. These arrangements often honor individuals or are given in memory of loved ones.
Following the service, congregants gather for fellowship either outside the Meeting House (weather permitting in the spring and fall) or at 14 Main Street. Each week there is an announcement in the newsletter asking people to bring food to share according to the first letter of your last name.
Adult Presentations
Occasionally, a member or friend will volunteer to present ideas on a timely topic or a project on which this person has been working. These presentations usually begin immediately after coffee hour and are open to all.
Community Days
Several times a year, members and friends are asked to help clean the grounds, or to help with some mailings. Generally, a lunch is served after a worship service before the work begins. Notices about special community days will be in our newsletter.
Office Support
The office would be delighted to have people help with newsletter writing and folding, publicity, or to serve as librarian, or historian, contact the office.
This special December bazaar & cafe features a sale table of treasures from the attic, baked goods, gift baskets, crafts, used books, CD’s, DVD’s, children’s toys, a silent auction, gingerbread house raffle, and the highpoint: spectacular holiday wreathes, created by Old Ship members.
Spring Plant Sale
Another long-time tradition, the Spring Plant Sale features healthy perennials dug from local South Shore gardens including the Old Ship Memorial Garden.
Congregational Dinners
These social evenings, held either at 14 Main Street or at somebody’s home, are wonderful ways to share fabulous food, fellowship, and fun.
The Pastoral Care Leadership Team meets monthly and often coordinates meals and other forms of caring for Old Ship individuals and families in the midst of illness or crisis. At Old Ship we all share in our mutual caring and helping one another; the Pastoral Care Leadership Team simply helps to identify needs and coordinate responses.
There are specifically three ways Old Ship members might want to help out:
- Food: Would you be willing to prepare a meal to be given to someone who could use a little extra help following a hospitalization or in the midst of illness or crisis?
- Companionship: Would you be willing to spend time now and then with an Old Ship member who needs companionship?
- Rides: Would you be able to give an Old Ship parishioner a ride to church from time to time?
The Pastoral Care Leadership Team also plans a fun and delicious annual Valentine’s Day social. Please reach out if you would like to help.
Committees
The work of Old Ship Church is organized around five ministries:
- Nourishing the Spirit
- Educating Hearts and Minds
- Nurturing Community
- Serving Others
- Stewarding Resources
Each ministry is composed of a council and several committees. Committees are a great way to become involved in the Old Ship community… making friends around a common purpose, growing our spirit, and creating a vibrant community together.
Please use the toggles below to learn more.
Offering meaningful and beautiful opportunities to soothe and to grow the spirit.
Worship and Music Committee
Assists in creation and implementation of meaningful services and events that nourish the spirit, educate, and transform. Sunday services, chalice lighting, annual talent show, etc.
Flowers Committee
Coordinates flowers used for Sunday services in the Meeting House. Donors may provide their own flower arrangements or, for $50, have the committee provide an arrangement.
Candlelight Concerts Committee
Presents approximately three professional musical performances annually, in the Meeting House on Sunday afternoons, offered to the public without an admission charge. The concerts are funded by Friends of the Candlelight Concert and grants as well as free-will offerings collected at each concert.
Offering paths to all ages for fuller understanding of ourselves, our faith, our world
Children’s Religious Education & Youth Committee
Creates a meaningful community that values individuals and awakens their sense of wonder, reverence and self-awareness through fellowship, worship, education, and service. Supports the Director of Religious Education.
Adult Programs Committee
Encourages spiritual growth and learning through afternoon and evening classes. Offerings range from explorations of the world’s religions to poetry, yoga and much more. For adults, open to the public.
Offering all a warm welcome, loving support, and a path to deep engagement with the Old Ship community.
Pastoral Care Team
Works with the minister to coordinate and to provide pastoral care and outreach to members of our community who are in need, particularly parishioners who may be ill or housebound. Encourages congregation to all be part of the team. Offers events such as annual Remembrance Service, and pastoral visiting workshops.
Welcoming Congregation Committee
We are a Welcoming Congregation, recognized by the Unitarian Universalist Association. This means we affirm, respect, include and welcome people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and with all gender identities into all parts of congregation — worship, programs, social events and governance.
The Welcoming Congregation Committee acts to affirm and promote two Unitarian Universalist principles, recognizing the inherent worth and dignity of every person and promoting justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. We strive to support civil rights and to foster understanding enabling us to welcome LGBTQIA+ people into our church family by focusing on the needs of LGBTQIA+ people within our church, in our surrounding community and throughout the world.
We recognize that sexual orientation and gender identity are not the only aspects of a person’s life. Each person is complex mixture of their up bringing, education, ethnicity, economic stature and so much more. There will always be something more to learn, and we remain open to deepening our understanding about the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer and people and their gender identities.
Community Events Committee
Coordinates recurring and one-time special events to build community and includes some fundraising. Events include the annual Merrie Market and the Spring Plant Sale. These events encourage meeting folks and having fun.
Communications Committee
Updates and manages traditional and electronic means of communications including newsletters, emails, the web site, and the Facebook page.
Strengthening the human, physical, and financial resources entrusted to us.
Finance Committee/Stewardship Council
Works with the Treasurer to advise the Board of Trustees on all matters pertaining to the overall and ongoing financial health of the Parish.
Trustees of Invested Funds
Invests the funds of the Parish (the endowment and other gifts) and pays the income or portion thereof, as may be determined by the Board of Trustees, to the Treasurer, for use in annual operations of the Parish.
Pledge Campaign Team
Develops approach, messaging, and materials in concert with the Board and conducts the annual pledge drive. Pledge monies provide the majority of funds used to run operations, and are critical to the financial stability of the Parish.
Buildings and Grounds Committee
Inspects the condition of the Parish’s buildings and grounds and makes recommendations to the Board with respect to repairs and improvements. Also supervises the performance of such work.
Friends of the Meeting House
Helps to preserve the Meeting House. As a National Historical Landmark, the Meeting House is recognized as a significant part of both Hingham’s and America’s heritage. The Friends are a separate non-profit organization that works closely with First Parish to preserve the Meeting House by promoting a secular message that connects the wider community to our unique, historic building.
Memorial Garden Committee
Manages the Old Ship Memorial Garden, next to the Meeting House, which serves as the repository for ashes and as a place to memorialize family members buried elsewhere. Internment in the garden is available only to Church Members and Friends and to their families. Includes gardening duties for historically appropriate flowers and plants.
Grant-seeking Team
Identifies and evaluates grant opportunities for the Board. Develops and shepherds submissions.
Personnel Committee
Oversees annual performance review of staff. Board members and officers act as liaison for our paid staff.
Unitarian Universalist Affairs
Apprises the community about issues and actions of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Board of Trustees
Sets policy for community, including management of annual budget, of all governance issues, and of all resources to ensure long term health of community. Works closely with Minister and staff. Solicits congregational input on organizational priorities and issues. Meets first Thursday of every month (7 PM), at 14 Main Street and all meetings are open to everyone. Four officers and three trustees-at-large are elected by congregation at Annual Meeting (third Sunday in May) for one year terms (officers) and staggered three year terms (trustees-at-large). Click here for more information.
Deacons
Supports Minister and/or community members in times of need. Disburses interest from Deacons’ investment fund for discretionary use by Minister for pastoral emergencies. Ensures Worship Services are managed when Minister is absent or on sabbatical. Five members are selected by congregation.
Committee on Ministry
Supports Minister and congregation through monthly review of all ministries. Six members, staggered three year terms.
Nominating Committee
Proposes slate of candidates, at Annual Meeting in May, to fill elected positions in governance such as Board of Trustees and Trustees of Invested Funds.