On the corner of Main and High Streets in the historic village of South Glastonbury, the Congregational Church in South Glastonbury has been a fixture of the village for nearly two centuries. The church is known in the wider community as an Open and Affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ that has welcomed all people without qualification since 1991, as a designated WISE congregation for mental health, and as a hands-on church-in-mission whose youth and adults travel near and far to build, glean, and serve. With about four hundred families, a thriving Sunday School, a recently rebuilt Austin pipe organ, and a sanctuary that seats three hundred, South Church balances a deep Congregational heritage with a steady stream of contemporary programming for every age.
Sunday Mornings: Two Services and a Live Stream
Sunday at South Church begins early. Worship is held at 8:30 a.m. in person in the sanctuary, and again at 10:30 a.m. in person and live-streamed on YouTube. The later service is the heart of the week, with the Adult Choir leading the music, children present for the first portion of worship, and a moment called "Words with Children" before the younger ones head upstairs to their classrooms. Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of every month at both services (9:30 a.m. in summer), and all who come forward are invited to partake.
Visitors are met at the doors by greeters and ushers who will happily help with seating. The church encourages children to stay in worship, sit close to the front, sing and pray along with their grown-ups, and use the rocking chair in the back when they need to move. Activity bags are available. If a child needs a break, parents are invited to return. Infant and toddler care is offered at the 10:30 service. After worship, refreshments are served in the first-floor Social Hall, and a Second Sunday Concert fills the half hour before the late service with music by visiting musicians from October through May.
Open and Affirming Since 1991
South Church adopted its Open and Affirming (ONA) covenant on January 27, 1991, declaring itself a community open to all people without qualification, including persons of any race, gender identity, age, nationality, marital status, physical ability, mental condition, economic status, immigrant status, or sexual orientation. The statement reads, in part: "Because we are all one, unified in Jesus Christ, we are called to be a caring community, made up of, and open to all people without qualification." More than three decades on, that welcome shapes everything from how weddings are celebrated to how the church staffs its ministries.
Ministers at South Church officiate weddings in the sanctuary or at the couple's chosen location, embracing interfaith, heterosexual, and same-sex unions. The ONA commitment is paired with the church's broader mission as a Christian congregation committed to interfaith engagement, to loving neighbors, and to servant leadership.
Becoming a WISE Congregation
In addition to being Open and Affirming, South Church has formally covenanted to become a WISE congregation for mental health - Welcoming, Inclusive, Supportive, and Engaged. The covenant pledges the church to educate its community about depression, anxiety, brain disorders, addictions, and trauma; to combat the social stigma that surrounds mental illness; to actively welcome those with lived experience into the life and leadership of the congregation; and to engage with outside organizations working at the intersection of mental health and faith.
A dedicated Mental Health Ministry Group carries this forward. Bookshelves in the church library carry resources on disorders, recovery, relationships, aging, and grief, and the church maintains links to outside organizations including the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Intercommunity Healthcare, the United Way 211 service, and the local chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous. Members and friends with lived experience are actively recruited for leadership roles and teams.
Music at the Heart of Worship
Music is woven through Sunday worship and through much of the life of the church. The Adult Choir, made up of roughly thirty-five singers from varied musical backgrounds, leads the 10:30 a.m. service most Sundays from September through June. Its repertoire is purposefully wide - sacred classics from every period, new compositions, and creative hymn arrangements - and the choir prepares special music for Christmas and Easter. Rehearsals are held on Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. in the Social Hall and on Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m. There is no audition; some choral experience is helpful, and members may participate for the full year, seasonally, or for a single service or concert.
The music program also includes the Joyful Noise Band, an intergenerational concert band led by Liz Smith of the Goodspeed Opera Orchestra's reed section, and a flexible Contemporary Ensemble directed by Hartt School-trained guitarist Paul DeMaio, whose repertoire ranges from musical theatre to progressive bluegrass. Children in Sunday School sing weekly in a Children's Choir that runs from age four through grade eight, with opportunities to share their music in worship throughout the year. During the summer, the choir loft opens for "Open Choir Loft" Sundays, when anyone who wishes may learn and sing the anthem that morning.
Crowning the music program is the church's new Austin organ, Opus 2801. Designed by Michael Fazio, Floyd Higgins, and Jake Dowgewicz of Austin Organs in Hartford, it replaced a Schlicker organ that had served the congregation since 1973. Many of the Schlicker pipes were re-voiced and re-tuned for the new instrument, which sits in the choir loft and accompanies worship, concerts, and hymn singing each week.
Children, Youth, and Faith in Action
South Church takes its call to "nurture justice-loving disciples" as a primary ministry. Sunday School for children from Pre-K through grade eight meets during the 10:30 service, beginning right after "Words with Children." Children spend time in their families in worship, then move upstairs for engaging lessons that include Bible basics, singing, dancing, cooking, art projects, prayer, and community building. The Pre-K toddler room is bright and supervised, with the worship service streamed in so parents don't miss a thing. Older children gather for Children's Choir after Sunday School, learning engaging repertoire and occasionally sharing their voices in worship.
Faith formation continues through Wednesday School for high school youth in grades nine through twelve, who gather from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. each week during the school year for supper and faith exploration. Every participating family takes a turn preparing and serving the meal, and classes are split by grade: ninth grade welcomes newcomers and builds community, tenth grade centers on Confirmation, and eleventh and twelfth grade meets with Paul DeMaio to explore what it means to live as young adult disciples in the world. Confirmation is led by Senior Minister Rev. Jeffrey Braun and culminates in a personal statement of faith.
Faith in Action is woven in as well. Children in grades K-6 engage in age-appropriate mission projects during Sunday School. Middle School Youth Mission (MSYM) for grades seven and eight adds hands-on service opportunities, building to a four-day service-learning trip to Boston. Freshmen and sophomores travel together on a week-long face-to-face mission trip, while juniors and seniors partner with Habitat for Humanity for a week of building that ends with a commissioning service. Along the way, youth encounter the biblical model of Jesus washing his disciples' feet and learn what servant leadership looks like in practice.
A Church-in-Mission
Every year the congregation votes to allocate roughly eighteen percent of its budgeted expenses to mission. Local partnerships include the Adults on the Level gleaning project, the Halloween Parade, Mission Sunday, a food drive for the Pett, and a monthly dinner served at South Park Inn. The church participates in Glastonbury Pride Fest and supports Habitat for Humanity builds locally. Regional, national, and global partnerships extend the work into Hartford and surrounding towns, into Mississippi, New Jersey, and Texas for hurricane recovery, into South Dakota, and into Africa. The Adult Mission Group has traveled to multiple states for Habitat builds since 2007, and the Youth Mission programs send middle and high schoolers on year-ending trips that often become defining experiences for the young people involved.
The Missions Team identifies, evaluates, and allocates money to partners making a positive difference in the lives of recipients, while the Youth Mission Support Team develops service projects and fundraisers and walks alongside trip leaders. Whether the work is a food drive or a four-day immersion in an unfamiliar city, the goal is the same: to help disciples of every age become "a light in God's world."
The Building, Reimagined in 2010
South Church occupies a building that was significantly renovated in 2010 with the addition of a 15,000 square foot wing that includes the Social Hall, a modern office complex, and an education floor. The sanctuary seats three hundred in pews, with a choir loft above and a wheelchair-accessible pew that accommodates wheelchairs and walkers. The main entrances from either parking lot are equipped with electronic doors, and an elevator serves the entire building. Handicap parking spaces and designated spaces for those with mobility issues sit near the main entrances.
The facility is also a community resource. The Social Hall, at roughly 56 by 28 feet, holds up to two hundred standing or up to about 125 seated, with seven eight-foot rectangular tables, seven six-foot tables, five large round tables, six small high-tops, a drop-down screen with built-in audio/visual technology, and a 16 by 8 foot portable stage. The commercial-grade kitchen carries an 8-burner gas stove with two lower ovens, convection oven, refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher, three-bay sink, prep sink, hand sink, and a commercial coffee maker, plus a serving window to the Social Hall. Meeting rooms of various sizes, a library with a kitchenette, a children's classroom with a sink, and a casual basement with ping-pong tables round out the spaces. Outside groups are welcome to inquire about building use by contacting the Parish Administrator.
Adult Learning and Bible Study
Adults of all ages are invited into ongoing opportunities for discipleship and spiritual growth. A weekly Bible Study meets Tuesday mornings at 10:00 a.m. from September through May, gathering in person or on Zoom under the leadership of the Senior Minister. Newcomers are warmly welcomed at any point, with no preparation needed. During Lent, a three-week Soup and Film series gathers on Monday evenings from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. for a simple meal, a thirty-minute film segment, and round-table conversation. Short-term book groups, such as Bible(ish) Study sessions on Barbara Brown Taylor's An Altar in the World, meet virtually on Monday evenings. The Art in the Meeting House program hosts rotating exhibitions by artists from the church and wider community, inviting visitors to reflect on the spiritual dimensions of craft and creativity.
Baptisms, Weddings, and Funerals
Baptism is one of the two sacraments celebrated at South Church, framed as a three-way covenant among parents, the congregation, and God. Parents promise to expose their child to all that is of God and to let their home be a place of prayer; the congregation promises to be good role models and to support the child and family with love; God promises always to forgive, to provide daily bread, and to love without condition. The ritual takes place in the context of Sunday worship when the community is gathered in Christ's name.
Weddings at South Church are open to interfaith, heterosexual, and same-sex couples, consistent with the church's Open and Affirming covenant. Ministers are available to officiate at the sanctuary or at a location of the couple's choosing. Memorial services are arranged in consultation with the ministers and can be hosted at the church, with the Christian Service Team coordinating a reception afterward. Donations to the team are appreciated.
A History on High Street, Then Main Street
South Church's story in the historic village stretches back nearly 190 years. A short documentary note from member Bob Erf captures a turning point: in 1965, the congregation turned - literally and figuratively - from High Street to Main Street, the home the church still occupies. The Open and Affirming covenant adopted in 1991 marked another turning point, one that has shaped the church's identity ever since. The 2010 building project reimagined the campus for an accessible, intergenerational future, and the 2019 installation of the new Austin organ Opus 2801 refreshed the heart of the sanctuary's music ministry.
Clergy, Staff, and Leadership
The church is served by Senior Minister Rev. Jeffrey Braun and Associate Minister Rev. Melissa Spindler-Smith. Pastor Jeff brings nearly two decades of ministry to South Church, with prior service in Congregational churches in Winnetka, Illinois, Cheshire, Connecticut, and Redding, Connecticut, and a divinity school internship in Fairfield. He is passionate about intergenerational connection, dynamic worship, and the conviction that youth are today's leaders, not only tomorrow's. Rev. Melissa, who grew up in New London and now lives in Montville with her husband James and daughter Eliza Louise, focuses her ministry on creating spaces where children feel safe, seen, and celebrated.
The staff includes Director of Music Greg Flower, Church Organist and Pianist Eric Ouellette, Sunday School Coordinator Ande Shutler, Parish Administrator Beth Doherty, Administrator of Business Affairs and Facilities Lynne David, and Sexton Natalie Gonzales. Contemporary Ensemble leader Paul DeMaio leads the Grades 11 and 12 Wednesday School class. A long list of ministry teams - Deacons, Trustees, Christian Service, Music Ministry, Missions, Hospitality, Faith Enrichment, First Response, Membership, Stewardship, Legacy Circle, and more - keep the life of the congregation running week to week.
South Church is a member congregation of the United Church of Christ, in covenant with the Hartford East Association of the Southern New England Conference. As an autonomous church in a non-hierarchical denomination, South Church sends delegates to local, regional, and national gatherings and engages with UCC statements on issues of the day as a matter of prayerful reflection and conversation.