Our Mission
“The Mission of our Church is to proclaim and celebrate the Good News of God, to foster love and reinforce feelings of self-worth for all people, and to grow together as the ‘Body of Christ,’ each of us combining our talents with others.”
Rev. Mike Duda
Senior Pastor
Reverend Michael Duda has served as Senior Pastor of First Church in Wenham since 2006. He was ordained in the Presbyterian Church USA and currently holds standing in the United Church of Christ (UCC) serving as an active member of the Essex Association.
Mike was formerly Chaplain and Director of Community Services at Endicott College and the founder and director of the Youth at Risk Initiative of the Essex County Community Foundation. For 23 years he was the Executive Director of the Anchorage, Inc., a residential program for at-risk adolescents in Beverly, MA.
He consults for the Public Conversations Project in Boston and has a long history in the non-profit arena. He is currently serving as the President of Family Promise North Shore Boston, a program for homeless families on the North Shore.
Abby Frost
Choir Director
Abby Frost serves as Choral Conductor for FCW, where she leads the Senior and Junior Choirs in regular worship and biannual works with orchestra. The Choir recently performed AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS, the Pinkham Christmas Cantata, Faure Requiem, Vivaldi Gloria, and will undertake the Ramirez Missa Criolla in spring of 2020.
Ms. Frost is serving in her fourth year as Director of Choirs at Ipswich High School. At IHS, she conducts the Ipswich High School Concert Choir, Bel Canto Women’s Chorus, and Chamber Singers, teaches Guitar and Theory, and serves as Music Director for the spring musical. In the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association competition, Bel Canto was selected to perform at Symphony Hall as part of their Gold Medal Showcase in 2017 and Mechanics Hall in 2018. IHS Choral students are regularly selected to District and All-State Honor Choirs. An experienced music and drama educator, Ms. Frost has taught at the middle, high school, community, and collegiate levels since 2003. Ms. Frost also has extensive experience as a director, vocal coach and musical director for opera and musical theater productions; her own stage credits include straight theater, musical theater, and opera, and many years of choral singing with Lyricora (Byfield, MA), Lorelei Ensemble, Boston Cecilia, Tanglewood Symphony Chorus, Tucson Chamber Artists (now True Concord), Tucson Symphony Chorus, and the served as president of Nordic Choir of Luther College under Weston Noble. Prior to her time in MA, Ms. Frost has led singers in the Tucson Girls Chorus, the University of Arizona Hepcat Jazz Ensemble, public schools of Mason City, Iowa, and sacred choirs in both Tucson, AZ and Decorah, IA.
Ms. Frost earned a dual music education/performance degree from Luther College (IA), a Masters in Choral Conducting from University of Arizona, and National Board Certification. A native Minnesotan, Ms. Frost lives in Ipswich with her preschool daughter.
Joe Stroup
Organist and Pianist
Joe Stroup has been the organist and pianist at First Church since 1986. He is a graduate of Ohio’s Oberlin College School of Music with a degree in Organ Performance. His varied musical career on the North Shore has included regular performances with the New England Light Opera Company, with whom he recently recorded the soundtracks for two of their original productions, as well as guest appearances with the Boston University Chorale, the Salem State College Chorus, and the Hillyer Festival Orchestra. At Suffolk University in Boston, Joe has been the accompanist and Music Director. He is a Board Member and contributing editor to the Boston Singers Resource website.