A White Steeple at the Heart of Avon
For more than two centuries, a single white clapboard meetinghouse with a tall steeple has watched over the center of Avon, Connecticut. Avon Congregational Church sits on the northwest corner where Route 44 (West Main Street) meets Route 10, a landmark easily spotted from the intersection and from the I-84 Exit 39 corridor. Members and visitors call it simply ACC, and its members greet each other under the motto “Many Voices, One Spirit.”
Avon Congregational Church is a congregation of the United Church of Christ and one of the town’s two historic Congregational parishes. It is an Open and Affirming church that welcomes people of any age, gender, sexual orientation, race, culture, ability or social or economic standing into the full life of its ministry. Pastor Chris Solimene, who has served the church since 2018, frames the community’s purpose plainly: “Each of us is called to live into our own unique expression of God’s creation.” It is a place where, in the pastor’s words, “No matter who you are, or where you are on your life’s journey, you are welcome here.”
The 1819 Meetinghouse and Its Storytellers
The Avon Congregational Church gathering first took shape in September 1819, when twenty-four people - thirteen women and eleven men - became the church’s original members and the Reverend Bela Kellogg was installed as the first pastor. Their meetinghouse, designed by the Waterbury-born architect David Hoadley in 1818-19, has stood at the same crossroads ever since. Hoadley, one of the few early Connecticut designers that architectural historian J. Frederick Kelly considered a true “architect,” drew the building in a style influenced by Charles Bulfinch, with the entire gable end treated as the dominant feature and the entry moved off the side. The building has been praised as one of the finest New England meetinghouses of its period and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972, the only Avon property on the Register besides the Pine Grove Historic District.
The meetinghouse has been altered, repaired and lovingly restored across two hundred years. Shutters were added in the 1800s, gallery pews were reconfigured in 1833 to give the singers room, pew slips replaced box pews in the 1850s, and a serious fire in 1876 prompted the windows to be replaced. After the close of the Civil War, the steeple bell was rung with such jubilance that it cracked and had to be recast; the same bell still calls the congregation to worship, peals at weddings and tolls at memorials. The hurricane of 1938 removed the steeple above the belfry; a friend of the church quickly underwrote an exact replica, set in place with the original banner weather vane. In April 1976, members Walter and Roy Read reinforced the bell, polished it and added 67 feet of new rope in honor of the late organist Lester M. Bradley (1891-1975).
The congregation’s story continues to be told through Meetinghouse Moments, a series of historical sketches by the church historian, Nora Oakes Howard. A Connecticut native, town historian of Avon and historical committee member of the UCC Connecticut Conference, Howard has published pieces on the founding vote of 1818, the Roosevelt women’s attendance at a 1932 wedding in the meetinghouse, the Bronze Star earned in World War II by former pastor John William Hamilton Jr., and the Johanson notebooks that recorded the co-pastorate of E. Jerome Johanson and Laura Lane Johanson from 1949 to 1964. The church’s 1982 paperback, “Onward: 1812-1982,” written and compiled by members under Susan K. Smith’s preface, established Hoadley’s authorship of the building. Howard’s later book, “Catch’d on Fire: The Journals of Rufus Hawley, 1763-1812,” recovers early Avon history through the journals of the long-serving Northington pastor. Much of this material rests in the Michael Covert Archive Room, named for a carpenter and donor who was the son of member Norma Goralski.
Sunday Morning at Ten
Worship is offered each Sunday at 10 a.m. in the historic meetinghouse, and the steeple bell rings out to call the community together. People begin arriving by 9:45 a friendly usher hands out a bulletin and invites each guest to sit wherever they choose. Service bulletins include a meditative thought to read while an organ, piano or bell-choir prelude plays. The service then unfolds with an extravagant welcome, responsive readings, well-loved traditional and newer hymns, Bible readings, a sharing of Christ’s peace, a sermon and open prayer time. Open Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month and at special services throughout the church year, with grape juice used in place of wine and a gluten-free option always available. All who attend are welcome at the table, and children may participate as their parents or guardians decide is appropriate.
The atmosphere reflects the congregation’s commitment to what Pastor Chris calls an arts-infused worship that engages “heart, soul and mind.” Choirs and occasional guest musicians contribute, and surprise elements - the Soul Sisters Choir on Mother’s Day, the children returning for the closing, a folk ensemble on a Sunday morning - keep each week fresh. Children in Faith Formation classes are seated with the congregation at the start of worship, leave for their classrooms after the Sharing of the Peace and return for snacks and fellowship at the close of the service.
The building is fully air-conditioned in the warmer months. Worshipers who use wheelchairs will find ramps from the main hallway into the meetinghouse, an elevator on the second story near the sanctuary entrance and accessible parking at both ends of the Main Hallway. Ushers can guide visitors to the specially designed front pews that accommodate wheelchairs. Headphones are available for the hearing impaired, and large-print bulletins and hymnals can be requested from any usher. Ushers also hand out children’s worship bulletins with crayons and a small stuffed “pew pal” in each row. About half the congregation dresses up and half dresses casually, so newcomers are invited simply to come as they are.
Choirs, Bells and a Folk Ensemble
Music has shaped Avon Congregational Church almost since its founding. Early generations “lined out” psalms a cappella and moved on through pitch pipes, bass viols and melodeons before settling on two successive reed organs. The present Austin pipe organ and the Schulmerich Carillon were given in memory of a descendant of one of the church’s original members. Handbells and Orff percussion instruments were added through later gifts.
Karen Levan directs the music ministry and plays the organ for Sunday worship. A graduate of the Hartt School of Music in West Hartford, she has served Lutheran, Reformed and UCC congregations in Connecticut and New York and came to ACC in 2018. She leads the Gallery Singers, an adult choir that sings two-, three- and four-part music drawn from hymns, spirituals, global songs and contemplative works, and the Celebration Ringers, the handbell choir that rings the church’s five octaves of Schulmerich bells. Both choirs rehearse on Wednesday evenings from September through June and sing or play on most Sundays. Levan also welcomes occasional instrumentalists, an ad hoc folk ensemble that has covered Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel tunes, and the Soul Sisters Choir, a Mother’s Day tradition that brings mothers, daughters, sisters and grandmothers together. A Children’s Choir prepares singers for the Christmas Pageant and Children’s Sunday throughout the year.
Avon Nursery School and Sunday Morning Formation
Avon Nursery School has been a part of the church’s ministry for decades. Director Jolene Tefoe holds degrees in child development and social work from the University of St. Joseph, State of Connecticut Head Teacher certification, and First Aid and CPR credentials. Her teaching team includes Janelle Sanchez, Jennifer Oligino (who serves as the school’s “Special Scientist”), Charity Tang, Molly Roselli, Tuesday Grosso and Kelsea Tefoe. The school offers four programs: a three-year-old preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 to 11:30 a.m., a four-year-old preschool on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 to 11:30 a.m., a half-day Pre-K option Monday through Friday from 9 to 11:30 a.m. and a full-day Pre-K option Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The curriculum follows the Connecticut Early Learning and Development Standards and the standards of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), emphasizing open-ended play, science, music and movement, art and outdoor learning. The school does not teach religion or proselytize.
Sunday morning formation mirrors a similar educational energy. Children in preschool through eighth grade begin worship with their parents at 10 a.m., leave with their teachers after the Time for All Ages and return to rejoin the congregation. The younger class (Ages 3-8) meets in a state-of-the-art classroom and learns through storytelling, crafts, music and play. The older class (Grades 4-8) uses a rotation-model curriculum that tells the great stories of the faith through art, science, cooking, drama and movement in specially designed rooms on the second floor. The Crib Room on the main hallway is open from 9:45 a.m. until after worship for infants and children up to age three, with a new changing table, rockers, sink, toys and speakers carrying the service audio. Pastor Chris oversees the program, drawing on a lifetime of youth and arts ministry, and adult volunteers must complete Safe Church background checks and training before working with children.
A Confirmation program for older youth meets with Pastor Chris across a season that includes study of the congregation’s history, time with an adult mentor and a retreat, ending in the confirmands’ personal choice about church membership.
Faith in Action: Outreach and Hidden Treasures
The congregation’s outward ministries reach across the Farmington Valley and well beyond. Avon Congregational Church partners with Avon Social Services, Gifts of Love and My Sister’s Place; prepares Stone Soup, a monthly meal delivered to Loaves and Fishes in Hartford; hosts First Friday Dinners whose offerings have helped fund a clean-water well in Africa and support the Prudence Crandall Center and Hands on Hartford; packs food alongside the Farmington Valley Muslim Center; rings the bell for the Salvation Army; assembles Thanksgiving Food Baskets; writes letters to prisoners; contributes to UNICEF; and supports IRIS, a refugee resettlement program based in New Haven. The Sew Thankful Quilters make and donate Quilts of Valor to veterans. Members sponsor the education of an Indian child through Family Village Farm, support the Guiding Light Orphans of Uganda in partnership with Simply Smiles, mentor third-grade readers at Gaffney Elementary School and serve as delegates to the wider UCC’s gatherings. The church belongs to UCC Global Ministries.
Hidden Treasures, the church’s curiosity shop, sits next door at 12 West Main Street and is staffed entirely by volunteers. Inventory comes from donations and proceeds support every other ministry of the congregation. The shop is typically open on Thursdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with hours that vary depending on volunteer availability. Eight Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, Al-Anon and SAA all meet at the church alongside sessions of Guiding Eyes for the Blind puppy raising, events for the Avon Free Public Library, Scouting groups and meetings of the Avon Historical Society.
Weddings, Memorials and the Memorial Garden
The 1819 meetinghouse, with its tall white steeple, soaring interior balconies and historic windows, has become one of Avon’s most sought-after wedding venues. Both church members and non-members are invited to be married there, and the church’s open and affirming covenant means the celebration welcomes same-sex couples. Pastor Chris coordinates the date and a personal meeting with each couple; the church organist plays for the ceremony, consulting with the couple on musical selections. Flower arrangements may not be fastened with adhesives to the walls or pews, and couples are asked to skip rice in favor of bubbles or birdseed. The Fellowship Hall, with its attached kitchen and capacity for 108 guests, can host the reception, with a licensed and insured bartender required to serve alcohol on the property.
Funerals, memorial services and celebrations of life are arranged through Pastor Chris and the Special Receptions Ministry Team; the Fellowship Hall can serve as a gathering space afterward. Many families choose the Memorial Garden, the landscaped area on the west side of the meetinghouse created in memory of Alice Coombs Sanderson (1916-1988) when the new Fellowship Hall was built in 2002. The Special Gifts committee oversees the garden and a Committal of Ashes Service can be held there. A bronze plaque in the garden can be inscribed to honor additional church members.
Open and Affirming, Open Doors
Avon Congregational Church formally holds the United Church of Christ designation of Open and Affirming, having made a public covenant of welcome into the full life and ministry of the church to people of all sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions. The congregation’s Statement of Inclusion reads in part: “In keeping with the life and teaching of Christ Jesus, we joyfully and unconditionally welcome all people of any age, gender, sexual orientation, race, culture, ability or social or economic status into our community of faith. We affirm the humanity of all people as unique individuals made in God’s image.”
The church belongs to the United Church of Christ, a denomination that the congregation describes as having formed in 1957 through the merger of four earlier bodies and continuing as “a united and uniting church.” Avon Congregational Church is part of the Southern New England Conference of the UCC. Although autonomous, the church connects with wider UCC initiatives in social justice, environmental stewardship and disaster response. Its statement of mission is to “enable people to know God’s unconditional love and to be a community of faith helping one another to live as Jesus Christ lived and taught.” Its vision is “to be an open, caring, and growing community” that worships, works and celebrates together joyfully while using its gifts to create “a world of compassion, peace and justice.” Nine core values - Compassionate Caring, Openness, Fellowship, Celebration, Spiritual Growth, Participation, Service to Others, Risk-taking and Justice - guide the journey.
The Pastoral Team and Shared Stewardship
Pastor Christopher Solimene was ordained in 2018 and joined Avon Congregational Church that same year, after completing a Master of Divinity at Yale Divinity School and a cooperative MDiv program at Hartford Seminary. Before seminary he worked in publishing, directed drama at Haddam Killingworth Middle School, served as Youth Minister at Bruton Parish in Colonial Williamsburg and narrated audiobooks as a Screen Actors Guild member. An ecumenical journey that began with Catholic baptism and Lutheran upbringing, and continued through Episcopal and Baptist youth work, brought him to ordained UCC ministry. He and his husband Kent live in the Avon parsonage and a second home in the Northwest Hills, and enjoy gardening, meals with friends and visits to historical sites.
He is supported by a staff that includes Karen Levan (Director of Music Ministries and Organist) and Jolene Tefoe (Director of Avon Nursery School). The church’s ministries are organized under four action verbs: Worship, Nurturing, Outreach and Support, each with multiple teams under co-leaders. A Steering Circle (the Moderator, Treasurer, Clerk, Director of Music, two Members-at-Large and the Pastor) guides the work of the whole. As Pastor Chris puts it, “Ministers all of us.”
Joining In, Giving and Coming Home
Visitors who decide to make Avon Congregational Church their church home are received into membership throughout the year. Members vote on the mission, vision and finances of the church and share in the work of its ministries. There is no diocese or other higher authority deciding the church’s path; each UCC congregation is autonomous and self-funded.
Worship services are livestreamed on YouTube for those unable to attend in person. Annual pledges, online one-time and recurring gifts and mailed checks sustain the work of the church. The church accepts several kinds of legacy gifts, including bequests through wills, IRA beneficiary designations, life insurance policies and gifts to the building and grounds, to worship music and arts, or to mission and outreach programs. Stewardship extends to facilities as well, with the Building and Grounds and Properties committees caring for the historic meetinghouse, the 12 West Main Street store, the parsonage and the modern two-story campus that houses the Nursery School, the Faith Formation rooms, the Fellowship Hall, the library and many community meeting rooms.