Meet the staff of First Church
We’re excited to meet you! See below to read about our staff here at First Church.
The Rev. Emily C. Goodnow, Senior Pastor
Emily (she/her) is a New Hampshire native who moved from Oregon to Bridgton to be our Pastor in September of 2016. She is passionate about creative worship, intergenerational community, counter-cultural and gospel-centered living, and church as vehicle for social change. Emily was ordained in the United Church of Christ in 2013 in Dover, New Hampshire, and served as the Associate Pastor at the First Congregational Church of Salem, Oregon until 2016 when she and her husband, Noah, drove across the country and joined us here in Western Maine. Emily received her Master of Divinity from Yale University and her BA in Creative Writing and Religious Studies from Colby College. Between Colby and Yale Emily worked in Bamako, Mali with Save the Children and on a small grant-funded project called Awn Be Se, and then taught creative writing at The Telling Room, a nonprofit storytelling center in Portland, Maine. Emily also spent 5 summers working at the Maine UCC Summer Camp Pilgrim Lodge, first in the Craft Cabin and later as the Assistant Director.
Emily is honored to be a participant in the United Church of Christ’s Next Generation Leadership Initiative, a program for young clergy who have been identified by the UCC as transformational leaders with an important role to play in leading “the Church of the Future.” She grew up in the UCC and loves the denomination both for the ways in which it is rooted in tradition, ritual, and history, and for its courage to speak truth in love and stand for justice in the world.
Emily’s joys beyond church include camping, hiking, music, dance, theater, reading, learning the ukulele, making pickles, and roasting s’mores. Emily is partnered with Noah Garrison, a native of Minnesota who is a carpenter, potter, runner, banjo player, and beekeeper.
Spencer Law, Minister for Intergenerational Innovation
Spencer (he/him) is a recent graduate of Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School, where he received his Master of Divinity and the Martin B. Copenhaver Preaching Prize. In seminary, Spencer served as a liturgical chapel minister, an intern in chaplaincy at the Yale New Haven Health Pediatric Gender Program, and pastoral intern at Spring Glen Church, UCC in Hamden, CT. He is an alum of James Madison University, where he studied history as well as media arts and design. He has a background in communications, website and graphic design, advocacy, and historical research.
Spencer comes from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in Virginia, has found a spiritual home in the UCC in New England, and works for ecumenical collaboration among progressive Christian denominations. He is passionate about diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and intergenerational community in the church. Spencer spent three summers working at Pilgrim Lodge, the UCC camp in West Gardiner, ME as a staff member and childcare provider. Spencer currently lives in Portland with his partner, Lydia, who is the Assistant Camp Director at Pilgrim Lodge. Outside of church, Spencer enjoys camping, making art, singing around the campfire, disc golf, and traveling.
Spencer will serve at First Church for five years leading the Lilly Endowment grant funded Western Maine Children’s and Intergenerational Ministry Hub. He will be based in Bridgton, joining in the congregation’s imagining and innovating in children’s and intergenerational ministry, and will work over the next five years to do the same imagining and innovating with congregations across Western Maine and Eastern New Hampshire through the Hub. Spencer dreams of a church where all God’s children know they belong.
Sandy Wissmann, Christian Education Coordinator
Our children run down our church walkway on Sunday mornings to see Sandy (she/her), and Sandy loves every one of them!
With a background in Elementary Education and art and a love for little people, Sandy is always turning our church into a pirate ship for Vacation Bible Camp, learning a new song for Sunday School, or trying out a new craft to teach our church’s youngest.
Her artistic talents, compassionate heart, and gifted classroom skills are a blessing to our whole church community, though her focus here is with children, youth, and young adults. Sandy holds a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Stetson University.
Before moving to Lovell, Maine, and beginning at First Church in 2004, Sandy worked at St. Thomas Episcopal Day School in Coral Gables, Florida, as a teacher and, later, as the Director of Religion Education.
Debbie Owen, Music Director
Deborah has directed various church choirs for over 20 years, but also wears many other hats in order to share her love for the gospel of Jesus: choir director, singer, violinist, spiritual director, coach, educator, presenter, author, and podcaster.
Debbie has Masters degrees in Choral Conducting and in Library and Information Science, as well as certifications in Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Direction, and coaching certifications in the Enneagram, Strategic Intervention, parenting, life, and mindset. Debbie is passionate about the profound power of disciplemaking to grow the church and change lives; her forthcoming book is Inside Out; Experiencing New Life in Christ Through Integrated Discipleship with the Enneagram.
While raising their three children, Debbie was a public school library teacher for 12 years, achieving National Board Certification. These days, when she’s not singing with the Cantata Singers in Boston or directing the FCC choir, she splits her time between writing marketing content and copy, coaching clients with the Enneagram, and working as a spiritual director. She has written and led retreats and hopes to do more of that in the future.
Debbie and her husband Arch – who is an engineer – moved to Stoneham full-time in December, 2021. They have three millennial children, a daughter-in-law, and a granddaughter. They love to go hiking with their two flat-coat retrievers, and they love to ski at Sunday River and hang out at the lake. They enjoy being with family more than just about anything else, as well as traveling, reading, watching movies, and playing Settlers of Catan and Splendor.
Oren Varess, Pianist & Organist
Oren (they/them) grew up in Maine and has played piano in churches since the age of 10, accompanying hymns, choirs, and chamber music. They hold a degree in piano performance at the University of Southern Maine where they studied with Dr. Laura Kargul. They are currently continuing at USM working towards their Masters in performance. They focus primarily on classical music, especially enjoying the works of Schubert, although their skills branch widely.
Oren has been teaching piano lessons privately at a studio in Yarmouth since 2017, and is passionate about accessible and empowering education in music for people of all ages. They especially enjoy teaching classical music and mentoring high schoolers through their personal pursuits of professional music careers.
Oren currently lives in a big farmhouse in Norway with their two partners, Aster and Selaine, their friend Celeste, Nyn the dog, Inara the cat, and 8 chickens who graciously provide plenty of eggs. They love hiking all throughout the Western Foothills area, baking bread, making herbal concoctions, and tending to a variety of land and garden projects at home.
Cassie Cooper-Ricci, Youth Choir Director
Cassie Cooper-Ricci (they/them) is a graduate of Southeastern University (‘16) and Florida State University (‘21) with degrees in Music Education and Church Music. Originally an elementary music teacher in Florida and Maine, Cassie is now the Associate Director for the LGBTQ+ youth-serving organization, OUT Maine. Cassie strives to ensure the joy of music is accessible to all types of people and learners through culturally responsive and trauma-informed teaching practices. Cassie has experience in directing elementary school choirs, drumming ensembles, rock bands, and marching bands. They enjoy serving the music education community as the Maine Music Education Association Executive Board Treasurer. Cassie loves to teach music with singing games, parachutes, bucket drums, movement, and more.
When Cassie isn’t teaching or playing instruments, they enjoy skiing, reading, beating friends in Mario Kart, and spending time with their wife, Kait, and their beloved beagle, Maggie.
Molly Wunderli, Administrative Assistant for Graphic & Web Design
Molly (she/her) was the office manager at First Church from fall 2018 to the summer of 2021, before relocating to Bangor. She rejoined our staff in fall of 2024 to remotely manage our graphic and web design needs.
Molly comes to us with a background in visual arts, website management, library and information science, and copy writing and editing. She spends her downtime working on art projects and trying to keep her six cats from fighting each other.
Kylie Morel, Office Manager
Kylie (she/her) was the office manager at First Church from Fall 2021 to Winter of 2023 before moving on to pursue a career in 911 dispatching. She rejoined our staff in fall of 2024 to manage the office and all of the administrative needs of the church.
Kylie lives in Bridgton with her 3 year old son, Jesse, who keeps her very busy and constantly laughing. They love to go on nature walks together, spend time at the playground, go to Storyland, learn about dinosaurs or vehicles, read books and sing together.
Kylie has a Bachelor’s degree in Health Studies & Business Administration and a strong background in management and customer service positions. When she is not working at the church, she manages a local pool hall & hosts weekly trivia on Tuesday nights.