Where everyone is welcome...NO EXCEPTIONS!
Welcome to Central Congregational Church United Church of Christ
An Open and Affirming Congregation
WELCOME
You are Welcome Here...
We are officially an ONA Church - Open and Affirming.
You are welcome here. You are celebrated here with all the diversity you bring in race, background, country of origin, beliefs and doubts, class, education, age, abilities. You are celebrated here with all the diversity you bring in gender orientation, gender identity; our LGB TQ+ siblings you are welcome here ….
In a world where it sometimes feels unsafe to be who you are you are safe here;
You are seen here
This is God’s home
This is sacred space
God is here with us and we are here with God.
We are a people who honor God experienced by us as father and mother, Christ and Holy Spirit, but we don’t have a religious test for participation. So come with your beliefs, questions and doubts. Just come…with an open heart to where God is still speaking in your life and ours.
Because, we seek to honor the dignity of every human being, speak the truth to one another in love, listen with compassionate hearts and walk humbly with each other and our God. We’re not perfect, neither are you, and you don’t need to be.
So bring your traumas and triumphs, your fears and fervor, your anxieties and awakenings, your worries and weariness, your joys and laughter.
Bring the sounds of children and the sounds of silence and the songs we sing together.
You are welcome here, you are safe here, you are loved here, you are home here.
About Us
Worship
Please join us - no matter your age or stage in life - young families, singles, seniors, empty-nesters or young adult - there's a place for you here at Central Congregational Church.
Come and see!
Worship is held at 10:00 am each Sunday in the Sanctuary September through Memorial Day.
Join us for Worship at 9:30am June - August in our Air-Conditioned Sanctuary.
Our Church building is easily accessible and air-conditioned.
We have plenty of accessible parking and an elevator
with trained staff to assist you.
Join us - come as you are! You are welcome here!
ANNUAL PUMPKIN PATCH RETURNS!
PUMPKIN PATCH 2026
Saturday, September 26th at 9am, the new batch of Pumpkins and Gourds arrives!
Do you have an organization or group willing to lend a hand unloading the truck that day? Please contact the Church at centralucc@verizon.net and we will put you in touch with our Pumpkin Patch Leaders. (NOTE: Church Office is closed July 31st - Aug 17th).
Volunteers will be needed everyday throughout the month of October. Please ask about days and times and how to sign up from your home, in late August. Thanks a bunch!
Pastor's Ponderings
August 2026 -
Parades and Festivals. As we have moved into and through the beginning of summer I am remembering, with gratitude, our church’s presence at 2 Pride festivals and our town’s 250th parade. I remember grateful smiles from kids as we gave them toys and candy. I remember gratitude from parents with a cool bottle of water. I remember people expressing appreciation that our church offered its witness of inclusive love, even as voices of shame and oppression echoed around them.
Its hard to underestimate the impact we have when we make our Welcome Statement tangible in love and witness. A tube of bubbles, a string backpack, a granola bar or Hersey kiss, a smiling ball; they were not just free giveaways. They were moments of connection. They offered love and acceptance without cost or expectation. Our faith calls that grace.
In a world where love is too often transactional, we offer it generously. In a world with judgment and condemnation flow too easily, we offer understanding and acceptance in abundance. Our world needs that.
I am grateful to many of you who helped with our Pride booth on windy days. I am grateful for many of you who stood in line over an hour waiting for the parade to start on a hot day. I am grateful that our church is intentional about countering the message that too many people hear from too many churches. We are indeed an Oasis of Caring and Joy.
SCHOOL BLESSING SUNDAY – SEPTEMBER 13th
We are going to bring a special focus to our September 13th worship service. The children of our church and community will be starting up a new school year. And we want to bless them and their teachers and all those who dedicate time and energy to helping our kids thrive.
We will be offering a “Blessing of the Backpacks and Learning Tools” as part of worship on September 13th.
We invite all families from our church and the community to bring their kids’ backpacks to church. But more than that, we invite you to bring sports equipment they use for town sports, musical instruments they use in band or their lessons, art equipment they use with clubs and classes, and any equipment they use as part of their learning to be fully human and fully alive.
We will bless them all. And we will bless the kids as they begin a new school year. And we’ll bless their parents who are so crucial to their integration of the lessons they are learning. And we will bless the teachers, and administrators, and custodians, and school nurses, and teachers aides, and coaches and everyone who comes alongside our children and youth as their minds and lives are growing and learning.
Let your friends know about this so that everyone feels welcome to our church where we say each week: “You are welcome here. You are loved here. You are home here.”
