A Congregation Rooted in New Canaan Since 1733
The Congregational Church of New Canaan stands at 23 Park Street in the heart of New Canaan, Connecticut, and is known across the community simply as God's Acre. In 1731, twenty-four residents petitioned the colonial legislature to form Canaan Parish. Two years later, on June 20, 1733, the church was formally organized. The founding members entered into a covenant drawn from the early Puritan settlers, a covenant that lives on in the language members still recite today.
In 1960, the church affiliated with the United Church of Christ, the denomination created when the Congregational and the Evangelical and Reformed Churches joined together. Members also endorse the Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ. The community describes itself as welcoming, inclusive, and compassionate, gathering to promote the love and knowledge of the God revealed in Jesus Christ and inviting all to participate regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, ability, marital status, or sexual orientation.
The Meeting House and the Pulpit That Survived a Fire
The Meeting House in which the church gathers today is actually its third building. The original Meeting House stood at the intersection of what is now Park Street and St. John's Place. A larger Meeting House was built in the church's present location in 1752, but lightning struck it in 1840 and the resulting fire destroyed the structure. The wooden pulpit survived that fire and is still used in the Meeting House today. The third Meeting House was built in 1843, and the Chapel, Parlor, and Church School wing were dedicated in 1953.
The Meeting House is anchored by an Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ built in 1956. In 1996, a new chamber was built behind the choir loft and a new Austin Great windchest installed with the original pipes, plus a 2' Fifteenth and 8' Trumpet, while the original Great windchest remains in place as the Enclosed Great. The expression shades were changed from horizontal to vertical, and the console was rebuilt.
The grounds also hold a Memorial Garden designed to provide a special place for prayer, meditation, worship services, weddings, baptisms, and the interment of ashes. Past and present members and their immediate families are eligible for interment there.
Worship Rooted in Congregational Tradition
Sunday morning worship runs along a steady two-service rhythm for most of the program year. At 8:00 a.m., the congregation gathers in the Chapel for a service of worship that includes hymns with piano accompaniment and a soloist, with communion served each week by the Deacons. At 10:00 a.m., the larger traditional service is held in the Meeting House, accompanied by the Chancel Choir and organ, with communion served on the first Sunday of each month. Both services blend hymns, prayer, and Scripture reading with Biblically-based sermons meant to appeal to both heart and mind.
From Father's Day through Labor Day, the schedule shifts to a single 9:00 a.m. Garden Worship Service held in the Memorial Garden when weather permits and in the Meeting House when it does not. The 10:00 a.m. service during the program year and the 9:00 a.m. Garden Worship in summer are both livestreamed online, and video replays remain available throughout the week. Worship bulletins are posted online as well.
Attire ranges across the spectrum from Sunday best to business casual, and visitors are warmly welcomed. The church office, at the southwest corner of the building, is clearly marked with an exterior door sign and is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Senior Minister and the Raymond Preaching Fellows
The Rev. Dr. Stephen Chapin Garner is the church's nineteenth Senior Minister. He preached his call sermon on April 19, 2015, and was welcomed in August of that year. A native New Yorker who grew up in Westchester County, Chapin holds a Master of Divinity from Boston University School of Theology and a Doctor of Ministry in preaching from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He previously served as a pastor at the Village Church in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and the United Church of Christ in Norwell, Massachusetts. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Alban Institute, an adjunct faculty member in homiletics at Boston University School of Theology and General Theological Seminary, and a resident preacher at the Church at Point O'Woods on Fire Island and the Cuttyhunk Community Church in Massachusetts. He is the author of several books on preaching and inclusive faith and has written plays produced by Baker's Plays and Lillenas Drama.
The church's pulpit ministry extends beyond its own ministers through the Raymond Trust. Deacon William E. Raymond, a local businessman and committed church member, established the trust under his will in 1883 to ensure that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was preached in underserved communities in Connecticut. Today, the Raymond Preaching Fellowship program offers $15,000 preaching fellowships each year to several Yale Divinity School students who commit to a more rigorous study of preaching as a pastoral discipline. The Fellows then go out to preach at churches needing pulpit supply throughout Connecticut, free of charge, during the academic year. The church also names Lay Fellows from among its own members and friends who preach and serve in that broader ministry.
Children's Ministry from Nursery Through Confirmation
Children are a cherished part of the congregation and, after the children's sermon each week, depart for Church School. The Church School program runs every Sunday from September through mid-June for children ages three through seventh grade, using the Sparkhouse curriculum. On holidays and the first Sunday of each month, the classes combine for a single deeper lesson; on most Sundays, children are grouped by age from Pre-K and Kindergarten through sixth and seventh grade. High school students are often invited to assist as classroom helpers. The teaching team is team-taught by a group of dedicated educators and volunteers for a personalized experience.
Special Sunday events mark the year, including a Blessing of the Backpacks, the Sneaker service project, a Thanksgiving service project, the Advent Fair, the Christmas Pageant, Souperbowl Sunday, Lenten Stations of the Cross, the Easter Eggstravaganza, and Children's Celebration Sunday Picnic. Family fellowship events such as playground pizza meet-ups, a Halloween party, Bingo Night, and family service projects fill out the calendar. Children work toward spiritual milestones throughout the year, including learning the Lord's Prayer, the Doxology, the Call to Worship, and the Benediction, memorizing scripture, receiving third-grade Bibles, taking part in the fourth-grade communion worship, and eighth-grade confirmation.
For the youngest children, Clementine's Playdates is a caregiver and child playgroup for infants through age three, meeting on Wednesdays from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. in the Parlor with play, stories, songs, snacks, and crafts organized around a simple faith theme. Nursery care is also offered for infants during Sunday worship.
Confirmation is a rigorous year-long program in which eighth graders, with a high school option, engage in twelve class sessions focused on core Christian beliefs while also regularly participating in Bible study, worship, youth group, and service opportunities. The Rite of Confirmation follows a thoughtful discernment process led by the ministers.
Children's Music and Drama
The church offers a robust graded program of children's choirs led by Greer Lyle, Director of Youth Ministries & Children's Music. Cherubs, for ages four through first grade, meet every other Monday from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. and are introduced to basic music concepts, percussion, rhythm, and dance. Spirit Singers, for grades two and three, meet Tuesdays from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m., singing both contemporary and traditional repertoire and taking part in the Christmas Concert, Christmas Eve 4:00 p.m. service, the Mary Bradley Clarke Benefit Concert, and a yearly musical. Joyful Noise, for grades four and five, meets Thursdays from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. and sings regularly in worship with solos and small ensembles, in addition to taking on significant leadership roles in the spring musical. The Junior Worship Team, for grades six through eight, rehearses once a month and sings with the adult and children's choirs, joining the Chancel Choir for the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols and the Mary Bradley Clarke Benefit Concert.
Six Youth Groups, Kindergarten Through Twelfth Grade
The church offers six youth groups meeting weekly through the school year, each built around the same mission: to foster a community in which young people may experience and share the love of God. Minnows is for Kindergarten and first grade, with monthly events built around fellowship, an introduction to service, and Bible exploration through art and games. Guppies, for grades two and three, meets weekly. JYG (Junior Youth Group), for grades four and five, gathers its members (called Fish) for faith exploration, service projects, and games, including a Tie-Dye Extravaganza, JYG Late Night, the Turkey Day Service project, and the famous Catacombs game.
MSYG (Middle School Youth Group), for grades six through eight, meets Sunday afternoons from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. with games, service projects, scavenger hunts, an overnight lock-in, a ski trip, and the Gross Out Games, alongside worship and spiritual discussion. The MSYG year includes a Mission Trip to Mountainside Treatment Center in Canaan, Connecticut, where the youth engage in faith exploration while restoring the facility alongside residents in recovery.
YG (Youth Group), for grades nine through twelve, gathers roughly two hundred local high schoolers each week, organized into smaller teams for community. Activities include team-building, service projects, game nights, scavenger hunts, and worship, with a winter Mission Trip during the New Canaan public school winter vacation that is widely seen as the highlight of the year. Recent trip destinations include Helena-West Helena, Arkansas; Waco, Texas; Puerto Rico; San Antonio, Texas; and Allendale, South Carolina. Participants leave their phones at home for the nine-day immersive experience of group work projects, meaningful interactions with community members, prayer, vespers, and worship.
Quest, for grades nine through twelve, meets on Thursdays from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. as another option for high schoolers. The youth groups also maintain an active Instagram presence at @yg_ig.
Music Ministry at God's Acre
Music is central to the life of the church, which welcomes singers, handbell ringers, keyboardists, instrumentalists, and listeners of all ages. The Chancel Choir, the adult choir, sings weekly at the 10:00 a.m. service and at special services throughout the year. Each Advent and Lenten season, a major work with a small instrumental ensemble is featured at the 10:00 a.m. service. Special services include the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, and the Mary Bradley Clarke Benefit Concert. Six section leaders assist the choir. Rehearsals are Thursdays from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. and Sundays at 9:00 a.m. The repertoire includes classical, hymn-based, gospel, and contemporary anthems accompanied by organ, piano, instruments, or sung a cappella.
Joyful Ringers, the adult handbell choir, was started during COVID and has continued to enhance worship. The ensemble has five octaves of bells - four octaves of White Chapel Bells and one octave of Schulmerich bells - and weekly rehearsals are scheduled at times to be announced.
The Mary Bradley Clarke Memorial Fund, established in 1973, honors the wife of the Reverend Merrill Fowler Clarke, minister from 1922 to 1950. Mrs. Clarke sang in the Chancel Choir and was deeply interested in the ministry of music. The annual Mary Bradley Clarke Benefit Concert in May celebrates her continuing legacy and is free and open to the public.
The music ministry is led by Nerva Altino, Director of Music Ministries. A graduate of Atlantic Union College and the Manhattan School of Music, with emphasis in piano, Sacred Music, and Pipe Organ Studies, Altino is part of the Altino Brothers piano duo, whose performances have taken them to Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Yale University's Woolsey Hall, and the Library of Congress. He has more than thirty-five years of experience as a church organist and more than twenty-five years as a Music Director and Choral Leader.
Adult Formation: Bible Study, Small Groups, and Adult Confirmation
The adult formation program aims to stretch both mind and soul with a range of ongoing offerings. The Monday Bible Studies use the Yale Divinity School Bible Study series, with the men's group meeting from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. in the Library and the women's group meeting from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. in the Library. Each course is a six-to-eight-week study of a biblical book, deepened by insights from Yale Divinity School professors, and both groups are available on Zoom.
On Wednesdays from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. in the Library, the Senior Minister leads a Bible study that reads and discusses the scripture to be preached two Sundays out, a conversation that often informs the direction of the sermon. A Zoom option is available.
Merton and Friends meets on Fridays from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. on Zoom. Inspired by the Trappist Monk Thomas Merton, the group reads and discusses spiritual and theological writings. Past reading has included work by Merton, Richard Rohr, Henri Nouwen, and Hildegard of Bingen.
Adult Confirmation is a curriculum developed by the Senior Minister for adults who want to spend twelve Sundays reading and discussing scripture, faith themes, and faith questions with church friends. Prayer, resurrection, worship, and sacraments are explored before writing one's own statement of faith. The class is open to those brand new to faith and to those reaffirming a long-held faith, with a Zoom link available upon request.
Small groups for men and women meet monthly during the program year to deepen engagement with others and grow in faith through fellowship, study, and prayer. Throughout the program year, special offerings such as writing workshops, guest speakers, ministry chats with guest preachers, and topical series supplement the regular Bible study and small group schedule.
Women's and Men's Fellowship
The Fellowship Ministry Team promotes Christian fellowship through weekly interaction at the Fellowship Hour following the Sunday morning 10:00 a.m. worship service and through planned social events such as the Kickoff Brunch, Children's Sunday Picnic, Fall Fellowship Party, Paddle Tennis Chili Party, and Spring Gathering. Women's Fellowship coordinates five or six gatherings for women of the church each year. Men's Fellowship, also known as Men's Group or MG, gathers for events such as golf outings, seasonal dinners, and March Madness, and has developed a particular bond with the men of Pivot Ministries through fellowship breakfasts, dinners, and service opportunities. Pivot is a Christ-centered, Bible-based ministry that helps men recover from alcohol and substance abuse.
Pastoral Care: Stephen Ministers, Prayer Shawls, and a Listening Presence
Pastoral care at the church is offered through a network of lay ministers and the Pastoral Care Minister, Barb Clayton. Stephen Ministry provides one-on-one care and support to members of the congregation and the community who are going through difficult times such as grief, divorce, job loss, chronic or terminal illness, or relocation. The Stephen Ministers meet their care receiver weekly to listen, encourage, and provide emotional and spiritual support, and the relationship lasts as long as the need. Stephen Ministry has been active at the Congregational Church of New Canaan since 2005, and thirty-eight commissioned ministers are currently available. The Stephen Ministry team meets every third Monday of the month from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. in the Parlor with a Zoom option.
The Prayer Shawl Ministry has been knitting shawls since 2005 for members and friends of the church who are experiencing significant life challenges. The shawls are made with love and blessed with prayers in worship. Knitters gather on the second and fourth Monday from 10:30 a.m. to noon in the Parlor; no experience is needed, and all supplies are provided.
The Prayer Ministry collects prayers from the congregation each week, read by the Deacons aloud during worship, and the prayer list is also emailed to members of the Prayer Ministry throughout the week. The Chapel is open every Wednesday from 3:00 to 3:30 p.m. for silent prayer and reflection, and all are welcome to come and stay as long as they feel called.
The Flower Ministry designs floral arrangements each week for worship at the altar and in the Narthex, and the Deacon of the Month delivers altar flowers to members who have been blessed by the dedication. The Card Ministry handwrites cards of sympathy, encouragement, and recognition of unsung heroes. The Transportation Ministry provides weekly rides to church, Bible study, and other activities for parishioners who cannot drive.
Missions Near and Far
The Missions and Social Action Committee (MSA) oversees the church's mission budget and is responsible for a wide network of partners. Locally, the church supports Open Doors in Norwalk through financial contributions and three food drives a year, and members volunteer in the Open Doors kitchen on the fourth Thursday of each month to prepare and serve a meal to an average of nearly two hundred people. The Pacific House Shelter Ministry Team shops, cooks, and serves meals to homeless men in Stamford once a month. Meals on Wheels of New Canaan receives weekday meal deliveries from church volunteers, and the Inspirica partnership includes the annual Sneaker Tree for new school sneakers, the holiday gift program, and varied volunteer opportunities.
The Maasai Ministry Team was created as a response to the events of September 11, 2001, in an effort to replace evil with good. The team partners with Simba Maasai Outreach Organization (SIMOO) in Kenya, facilitating an education scholarship program and a yearly spring Maasai fundraising project in May and June. Projects are recommended by Maasai tribal elders as the greatest community need each year.
The Adult Mission Trip program has sent groups each year since 2003, typically over one week in the spring. Past destinations include Exuma in the Bahamas; Mobile, Alabama; the Rift Valley in Kenya; San Antonio, Texas; Chacraseca, Nicaragua; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The trips include construction, renovation, cultural, and relational projects.
The church also sponsors fifty-one children in Colomoncagua, Honduras, through World Vision, supporting infrastructure and education in the area, and partners with Americares for natural disaster and emergency medical funding, Daystar University in Nairobi for empowering Christian servant leaders, Filling in the Blanks for addressing childhood hunger in Fairfield County, and Pivot Ministries for Christian men's addiction recovery in Bridgeport.
The Homefront Day project repairs and rehabs a Norwalk neighbor's home when the homeowner cannot because of health, age, or financial reasons.
The Preschool on God's Acre
Located on the church grounds, the Preschool on God's Acre (PSGA) is a separate preschool whose mission is to nurture the whole child - in body, mind, and spirit - through values-based learning experiences. Guided by an emergent curriculum, the preschool fosters curiosity and growth through developmentally appropriate, child-led learning experiences, prioritizing joyful exploration through play. The program embraces a comprehensive approach to early childhood education that recognizes the importance of social-emotional development alongside academic learning, and the experienced staff follow the Connecticut Early Learning Standards in creating and implementing curriculum and assessments. The preschool is reachable through its own website and phone line.
Life Events: Baptisms, Weddings, Funerals, and the Memorial Garden
The Sacrament of Baptism is reserved for members of the church and is performed in the presence of the congregation, with baptisms typically held on the last Sunday of each month. Ministers meet with parents in advance to prepare, and no fees are charged for baptisms.
The ministers perform weddings for church members and members of their families. A date is only confirmed once the church has received a $150 deposit, and the ministers require three premarital conferences with the prospective couple.
For end-of-life planning, the ministers are available to conduct funerals, memorial services, or interments for church members and those connected to the church. The Memorial Garden provides a place for the interment of ashes of past and present members and their immediate families. Ashes are placed in the garden without a container, and only the standard granite marker, made according to guidelines available in the church office, is permitted.
Self-Governance and How to Join
The church is entirely self-governed. Church Officers, Deacons, Trustees, and members of Standing Committees are elected by the congregation at the Annual Meeting each March. A twelve-member Board of Deacons, together with the Senior Minister, leads the spiritual life of the church. The twelve-member Board of Trustees manages business affairs. Standing Committees include Nominating and Governance, Leadership, Investment, Personnel, and Missions and Social Action.
Ministry Teams made up of church member volunteers support the ministers and program staff. Teams include Buildings and Grounds, Card Ministry, Children and Family Ministries, Children's Music and Drama, Fellowship (Adult - Men's and Women's), Flower Ministry, Helping Hands Ministry, Maasai, Men's Small Groups, Middle School Ministries, the Missions and Outreach Steering Team (MOST), Music, Pastoral Care Leadership Team, Pastoral Ministries, Prayer Ministry, Prayer Shawl Ministry, Stephen Ministries, Welcoming/New Members, Women's Fellowship, Women's Small Groups, and Youth Group.
New Member Sessions are offered twice a year in the fall and spring, providing an opportunity to meet leaders and learn about the religious beliefs and traditions that have shaped life on God's Acre since 1733. Those interested in joining are invited to contact Anna Rogers in the Welcoming/New Members Ministry Team.
The church can be reached at office@godsacre.org or (203) 966-2651. Giving is accepted through Pushpay, and honor and memorial giving can be made online. The weekly e-newsletter, news@godsacre, is the best way to keep up with all that is happening across the church's ministries.