The Congregational Church of Westborough has been gathering on West Main Street since 1724, and on any given Sunday at 10:00am, the work of those three centuries is still going on. Adults stream into a sanctuary filled with hymnals and choirs, children head downstairs to Faith Formation, and the whole church sits down together afterward for coffee. The congregation calls itself an Open and Affirming community, and those words shape everything from the welcome at the door to the partners the church keeps in Westborough and beyond.
Open Doors, Growing Faith
Two phrases sum up the church's self-understanding: "Open Doors, Growing Faith." "No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you are most wonderfully welcome here," the church writes, and the Open and Affirming covenant spells out what that means in practice. It is a full welcome into the life and ministry of the church for people of every race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, family structure, faith background, economic circumstance, and mental or physical ability. "We declare ourselves an Open and Affirming Christian community, actively expressing our belief in diversity and inclusion," the covenant reads, and the church treats the declaration as a working promise, not a slogan.
The pastor frames ministry as community-building. "I believe that building community is the core of ministry," Rev. Betsy Dorsi writes. "The community that Jesus built with his disciples was the pattern Jesus created for all Christians in all times and places. Knowing our neighbors as friends and not just knowing about them is crucial for sharing Jesus' love with them and working to promote justice for everyone. With this foundation, our Congregation seeks to be a vital, connective member of Westborough, caring for our neighbors as family."
The church honors the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds alongside Christians across denominations, and it uses a Statement of Faith rather than a creed. In worship the congregation prays this affirmation together: "We are not alone, we live in God's world. We believe in God; who has created and is creating, who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit. We trust in God. We are called to be the church; to celebrate God's presence, to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, our Judge and our Hope. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God." Scripture is read as a living, breathing document that God is still speaking through.
Sunday Worship at 10
Worship begins at 10:00am on Sunday mornings in the sanctuary and lasts about an hour. The service is rooted in Scripture and built around a weekly sermon. Liturgy flows through it: responsive prayer, the Doxology, the Lord's Prayer, and a time for the congregation's joys and concerns. The music moves freely between traditional hymns led by the chancel choir and contemporary songs carried by a small house ensemble. The church uses the word "liturgy" in its oldest sense - "the work of the people" - and there are opportunities for people of all ages to lead.
Communion is offered on the first Sunday of every month, and the table is open to all who wish to come. Children in pre-K and older start the service in the sanctuary with their families, then step out to Faith Formation. On Communion Sundays the children receive the sacrament in church alongside the rest of the congregation. After worship, everyone heads downstairs for coffee and conversation. "There are no assigned seats, and we celebrate the sounds of small children," the church notes, and newcomers are encouraged to come early to meet the minister and the welcoming team.
Music That Lifts Every Voice
Music sits at the heart of who this church is. "Music in the church setting is an act of worship, and therefore open to everyone," the music ministry team writes, and the program lives up to that claim. Director of Music Joseph Stillitano, a longtime choral singer who joined because of the "vibrant and diverse music program," oversees a roster that includes the Senior Choir, the JoySpring Contemporary Choir, Adult and Senior High Bell Choirs under Director Sue Menzel, instrumentalists, accompanists, and guest soloists and concerts throughout the year.
Handbells have been part of this church's sound for decades. Menzel, who moved to Westborough in 1977 looking to reconnect with a Congregational church, has directed handbell choirs of all ages ever since. "A week without Sunday Worship is like a week without the light of Jesus," she writes, and the bell choirs ring out as one expression of a much larger musical life that includes everything from a Sunday doxology to a holiday concert in the sanctuary.
Children and Youth
Faith Formation runs every Sunday morning. Children in pre-K and older start in the sanctuary with their families, hear the scripture readings and prayers, and then go to their own classrooms for an age-appropriate lesson and activities. Newcomers are welcome at any point in the year, and the youth return to worship for Communion on the first Sunday of each month.
Beyond Sunday morning, the church's young people get involved in the wider life of the congregation. The annual Great Pie Challenge is a whole-church event in which youth and adults bake roughly 150 pies to donate as Thanksgiving meals for seniors and shut-ins. Youth also take part in the church's meal-packing days and other mission projects, and the church has sent its senior high youth on work camps through Group Mission Trips for years, with hundreds of students and adults logging nearly 10,000 hours of service since the 1990s.
Three Centuries on West Main Street
Few congregations in central Massachusetts can trace a story quite like this one. The church was founded in 1724, in the colonial era, and in its third century still gathers in the same community it has always served. "Our history goes back to colonial New England, but our focus is on new faith experiences and today's needs," the congregation writes. The past is told in the present tense: the church sent the first Christian missionaries to Hawaii, sent food and money to Ireland during the Potato Famine, and continues to find ways to put faith into action. The 300th anniversary was marked with a special Pentecost celebration.
The building on West Main Street is the church's home, and the parking lot next to it fills up quickly on Sunday mornings. Street parking is available on West Main Street, and additional parking is open next to the Library. There are no assigned seats, and the sanctuary welcomes the sounds of small children. As for what to wear, the church has heard the question often enough to put the answer in print: "Some people wear suits or dresses. Others wear jeans and boots. We're just glad to gather together."
Growing in Faith as Adults
Adults have several ways to go deeper. Small groups gather in homes and at the church, in all shapes and sizes: singles, couples, men, women, with or without kids. Some are study groups that meet for several weeks around a book or a Bible study; past series have included The Well, a No Fuss Book Group, a study on Open and Affirming subjects, Advent devotions, and a discussion circle called G.I.F.T. (Growing in Faith Together). Others are drop-in community groups: a Men's Breakfast on the second Saturday of each month, an ongoing Women's Fellowship, and a grief support group that meets regularly.
Prayer is woven through all of it. Each Sunday, the congregation shares its joys and concerns out loud and in silence; small groups add more personal prayer support; and anyone can submit a prayer request to be held by the prayer chain. The prayer page offers a simple practice: empty your hands, breathe deeply, name the people and the worries on your heart, and lay them down. "Christ invites us to 'come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.'"
Mission, Near and Far
Mission shapes the church's calendar almost as much as worship does. "We are an open and affirming community of purpose. We help each other grow in faith and learn to live out God's love in the world around us. Together, we can transform ourselves, our neighborhoods, and our world, one loving act at a time." In the MetroWest area, the church supports the Westborough Food Pantry, End Hunger New England, Abby's House, the Westborough senior center, veterans' programs, the In the Hour of Need Family Shelter, the Crop Hunger Walk, the Dismas House reentry program, and the Pastoral Counseling Centers of Massachusetts.
The church's own annual meal-packing event has filled more than 20,000 meals in a single two-hour session, with eight boxes going directly to the Westborough Food Pantry and eight more to The Mustard Seed in Worcester; the remainder has gone to food pantries around New England and to wildfire relief on the West Coast. The church's reach also runs national. Members have served on Habitat for Humanity builds across the region, traveled on mission trips to Sandy Hook, New Jersey and New Orleans in the wake of Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina, and traveled the country with Group Mission Trips. The Women's Fellowship, which meets on the first Monday evening of October through May (second Monday in January), supports many of these efforts and adds its own: school supply drives for Youth and Family Services, Valentine boxes for college students, and care packages for the church's college-age members.
Parish Life and Annual Traditions
Between the Sunday sanctuary, the small groups, and the mission work, the church is simply a busy place to be. The parish calendar is full of potlucks, progressive suppers, pancake brunches, bowling nights, game nights, and pizza and caroling at Christmas. The Women's Fellowship hosts the annual Evergreen Fair, a December tradition filled with greens, baked goods, and handmade items, with all proceeds supporting the church's missions. Each fall, the Women's Fellowship also runs a much-loved Yard Sale that draws a crowd from across the region. The building hosts Boy Scout meetings, music ensemble rehearsals, adult education classes, concerts, and guest speakers, and does duty as a community hub for the town as much as a Sunday sanctuary.
Joining In from Anywhere
For those who cannot make it to West Main Street, the church offers a full online worship experience. Services are livestreamed on the church's Facebook page and on Zoom, with a virtual coffee hour afterward for those who want to stay. Recordings are also broadcast on Westborough TV on Monday and Thursday evenings at 6:30pm. The Zoom link is not posted publicly; it goes out in the weekly Evangel email, so anyone who wants to attend online is asked to contact the church office to be added to that list. Giving is available online as well, with options for one-time gifts and recurring pledges. The easiest first step, though, is just showing up. Come a few minutes early, walk in through the open doors, and the church will take it from there.