Saugus church celebrates 50th anniversary of its sanctuary

SAUGUS – The First Congregational Church, UCC of Saugus will hold a special service at 10 a.m. Sunday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its sanctuary.?It?s going to be rededicated,” said Carolyn Davis, Music Director and organist for the church. “Fifty years ago they had the builders speak, the architect, the trustees. These were all people that came together to build the sanctuary. The reason we built the sanctuary was we couldn?t fit into the building back there.”Bob and Carolyn Davis were just the second couple to be married at the church and they also used to teach Sunday school there. Their son was married there recently and their grandson is now attending Sunday school in the building.Bob, who owns World Series Park and helps put on countless fundraisers for the church, said strong community support has kept it going for all these years.?A whole bunch of real dedicated people step up and raise money to fundraise, and we really try to involve the community,” said Bob. “We do have a lot of people that come to all our events. They?re of different faiths but they support our church.”The original sanctuary, which is located in the building adjacent to the current one, is now used as a Masonic Lodge. But while the sanctuary may be turning 50, the church itself goes back even longer than that, said Carolyn.?I was born and brought up in this church,” she said. “The church itself used to be located in a house on Main Street. I think it was around since 1832 so it?s a very old church and very historical.”Carolyn said the church is known best for its annual pumpkin patch, along with dozens of other events it holds like community breakfasts and dinners.?If anyone asks where we are, we tell them we?re the ?pumpkin patch church? and they say, ?Oh yeah, I know where that is,?” said Carolyn. “We reach out to the community. We do different functions like breakfasts and suppers. In December we do a Christmas concert. We don?t charge. We just invite the community and it?s our gift to the community for all the support they give us.”It?s this reason, Carolyn said, the church has been able to survive.?I think you can say we just persevered through some years,” said Carolyn. “We?re moving forward right now. We?re building our Sunday school and we?re very proud of the fact that we reach out to the community and try to have people in. We invite everyone in to worship with us and learn about God.”Rev. Martha Leahy has been at the church for four years and said she loves the way its members are always trying to reach out to the community.?Although they do honor their histories and they honor the people that got them where they are now in this beautiful sanctuary, I have to say they?re not stuck in the past,” said Leahy. “They?re very willing to try new approaches to encourage people to try church, people that have kind of fallen away. That?s what I love about them.”Leahy said the sanctuary holds up to 250 people, which she noted would be packed when the church was in its “heyday.” Today, however, Leahy said attendance has been dwindling and has 71 members.?Now people have fallen away and attendance has fallen away,” said Leahy. “We don?t really think of that as the church disappearing because we have so many other ways to reach out to people. Our church is very active in the community. Even though they?re not showing up in the pews they?re showing up to other things we offer to the community.”To help attract more members, Leahy said she?s been encouraging support groups to use the church for meetings.?This year we began to host the Narcotics Anonymous meetings,” said Leahy. “That?s a really important thing especially for the young people in Saugus. There?s a big problem with heroin and teens in Saugus. A lot of teens come to this meeting looking for support so we feel this is a way to reach out to them.”Sunday?s 50th anniversary service starts at 10 a.m. and will be followed by a fellowship time.For more information visit 1stchurchsaugus.org.Ma