At the corner of Main and Central Streets in downtown Natick, across from the town common and a short walk from the Morse Institute Library, the First Congregational Church of Natick has stood as a center of town life for generations. Its sanctuary was built in 1875 and extensively renovated in 2023 and 2024, and the church today describes itself as a community where no matter who a person is or where they are on life's journey, they are welcome. Known locally as FCCN or First Church Natick, it is an Open and Affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ, recognized for its progressive theology, expansive welcome, and an unusually busy calendar of programs that move between scripture and soup kitchens, choir practice and climate work, theology pub nights and Guatemalan partnerships.
An Open and Affirming Covenant Since 2003
In 2003 the congregation adopted an Open and Affirming covenant, formally declaring that no one has to leave any part of their God-given identity at the door. The church celebrates same-sex weddings, designated a gender-neutral bathroom, and partners with OUT MetroWest, which serves LGBTQ youth in the region. Members march in the Boston Pride Parade and host music and art events celebrating the LGBTQ community. In December, the front lawn is covered with hundreds of transgender flags honoring those lost to violence, and rainbow and transgender flags fly on Main Street.
Beyond its welcome of LGBTQ people, FCCN is committed to many forms of belonging. In 2017 it became an Immigrant Welcoming Congregation, with members working with the Metrowest Worker Center, accompanying people through immigration proceedings, and joining the Caring Coalition, a group of local faith communities coordinating support for new arrivals. The church is also a partner in the UCC Mental Health Network, working to include people with mental health challenges and neurodiversity in congregational leadership, and has hosted numerous racial justice trainings.
Worship on Sundays in the Sanctuary
FCCN gathers for worship on Sunday mornings at 10:30 AM in the Sanctuary for most of the year. During the summer, services shift to 9:30 AM and move into the air-conditioned Vestry on the ground floor. Services usually run about an hour and follow a pattern members describe as grounded, varied, and conversational: singing, listening, reading, reflection, silence, prayer, and laughter, along with the weekly collection of an offering. Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month, with all welcome to participate regardless of age, baptism, or belief. The elements are gluten-free bread and grape juice or wine; people are sometimes served in the pews and other times come forward.
Worship is led by the congregation's pastor, Rev. Cindy Worthington-Berry, and guest preachers who have included Rev. Adam Isbitsky, Rev. Linda Michel, Rev. Bernie Hinckley, and lay speakers. Volunteers serve as scripture readers, candle lighters, welcomers, and offering collectors. Each week a bulletin guides worshippers through the service, and recordings of recent services are kept in an online Worship Recordings Archive, with bulletins available for download.
Services are livestreamed on Sundays at 10:30 AM (or 9:30 AM in summer) through the Natick Pegasus community access channel, with replays available on the church's YouTube channel. Pegasus broadcasts on Comcast Xfinity Channel 22, Verizon Fios Channel 29, and RCN Channel 03.
A Sanctuary Built in 1875, Renovated for Today
The Sanctuary itself holds more than 300 people seated in pews, with room for another 50 in folding chairs. Its stained glass windows, ornate woodwork, pipe organ, and grand piano give the room a traditional feel, and the recent capital campaign added board-controlled lighting, a new sound system, and video monitor displays. A ramp leads up to the chancel area, and an elevator in the lobby brings visitors from the accessible Washington Street entrance up to the worship space.
Accessibility was a focus of the 2023 to 2024 renovation. The Sanctuary has wheelchair-accessible seating throughout, large-print bulletins and Bibles, the Listen Everywhere hearing-assistance app available through personal smartphones, and sanitized noise-canceling headphones. The building also includes a gender-neutral bathroom on the second floor near the nursery, and additional accessible restrooms on the first floor.
The church rents out parts of its building to community partners. The Vestry seats 200 in chairs or 134 at tables and has its own heat pump, distributed sound, and adjacent kitchen. The Sanctuary is used for weddings, memorial services, concerts, and large gatherings, and two smaller rooms, including the Parlor (capacity 20) and the Chat Room (capacity 30), host meetings, classes, and small group conversations.
Music Across the Congregation
Music plays a central role in worship at FCCN. The pipe organ and grand piano carry the congregation through hymns old and new, and most Sundays the choir sings together with the assembly. The FCCN Choir rehearses on Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 8:30 PM under the direction of Elaine Smith-Purcell, with Jeff Clausen serving as the church's Director of Music. The congregation is encouraged to sing every verse of every hymn, and the church's musical ministry regularly draws in visitors who arrive simply to listen.
Children and Youth at the Center of the Community
Children and youth are described as an integral part of FCCN, with programs that meet young people from preschool through high school and that affirm each child for who they are.
On Sunday mornings, the Prayground, a space right at the front of the Sanctuary with quiet activities and a great view of the service, gives younger children a place to wiggle and listen at the same time. Nursery care is offered for infants and toddlers, and the service is livestreamed into the nursery so a parent can stay with a child and still feel part of worship.
Midway through worship, after the Sharing of the Peace, children in preschool through grade 3 leave for Godly Play, a storytelling curriculum that uses visual objects and open-ended wondering to engage children's spirituality. Children in grades 4 through 6 attend Connect, which digs into the Biblical narrative arc and invites tweens to ask their own questions of the text. Both programs are led and coordinated by Sarallyn Keller, the church's Director of Spiritual Vitality and Congregational Care, and parents may walk their child to the classroom and then return to worship.
Older youth in grades 7 through 12 are part of Crosswalk Youth, a collaboration with St Paul's Episcopal Church that brings together middle and high schoolers from both congregations for Bible study, discussion, games, and service. The group meets Sunday evenings from 5:00 to 6:30 PM during the program year, alternating locations between the two churches. On alternate years, the youth program offers Confirmation, a yearlong discernment process with monthly meetings and a weeklong pilgrimage, and Our Whole Lives (OWL), a comprehensive human sexuality education program.
Adult Faith Formation and Small Groups
For adults, FCCN offers a wide range of weekly and monthly gatherings. Sunday mornings at 9:00 AM feature a conversation centered on the daily meditations from Father Richard Rohr's Center for Action and Contemplation, with recent themes including Radical Resilience. Wednesdays at noon bring Midweek Connection, a small, intimate Zoom gathering for sharing and prayer. Thursdays at 7:00 PM, Centering Prayer gathers on Zoom for a 40-minute session of devotional reading, silence, and a closing reading.
The Prayer Shawl Ministry combines fiber arts with pastoral care, knitting and crocheting shawls and blankets into which prayers are woven, then delivered to those experiencing illness, recovery, or loss. A separate monthly Knitting Circle, led by Sarallyn Keller, meets on the last Monday of each month at 7:00 PM in the Parlor and is open to anyone who wants to learn or simply share company.
Porch Theology (formerly Pub Theology) gathers on the first Wednesday evening of each month, often in an outdoor tent on the church grounds or in the Chat Room on the ground floor when weather demands. The conversation, with a beverage and snacks, drifts from local watering holes to living rooms and back to the church, taking on questions at the intersection of faith and contemporary life. Lunch Bunch, a purely social brown bag lunch on the third Thursday of most months, draws people into the Vestry for conversation, treats, and even hot soup in colder weather. The FCCN Men's Group meets periodically, and during Lent the church hosts a small, facilitated study of the season's themes, complete with daily prayer practices and readings.
Service and Justice Beyond the Walls
FCCN's justice work is woven into the life of the congregation. Members support Family Promise MetroWest, a local shelter that provides temporary housing and support to families experiencing homelessness, taking on key support roles three to four weeks per year and raising funds through the annual Walk to End Homelessness. Through the Cabell-Lincoln Workcamp in West Virginia, intergenerational teams have traveled for more than two decades to repair homes so they are "warm, dry, and safe," with members returning each year to share reflections with the congregation.
On the food front, members shop, cook, and serve at Open Door, a grassroots weekly shared meal, and support three Natick pantries. They restock the Common Good Mini Pantry near the church, give to the Heart Healthy Food Pantry of the Natick Service Council at Thanksgiving and the February Souper Bowl, and donate diapers, food, and personal care items to A Place to Turn.
Through the Guatemala Partnership, the congregation has built a years-long relationship with Santa María Tzejá, a Mayan community in northern Guatemala, raising funds, gathering school supplies, and sending delegations each February. Members also raise funds for Angels of Hope clinics in Uganda, founded by an FCCN member. In 2023 the church was a founding member of the Caring Coalition, a group of local faith communities coordinating support for people arriving in the area from the southern border, including food, clothing, and housing help.
In 2019 FCCN was recognized by the UCC as a Level 3 Green Congregation, after years of work to replace the heating system, improve insulation, join Natick's green electricity aggregation program, begin composting at the building, and plant a pollinator garden. Members serve on town and nonprofit environmental boards, host annual Earth Day in Natick events, and gather each year for a workathon at the Natick Community Organic Farm.
In June 2025 the congregation voted to dedicate $450,000 from a generous gift to grants supporting organizations that align with the church's mission, with brainstorming sessions after worship to identify potential recipients.
Making Community Together Inside the Church
Inside the building, members keep the church running through a long list of small teams. The Snow Brigade clears sidewalks and steps through the winter. The Comfort Food Team delivers casseroles to people during illness or crisis. The Praying Hearts team passes prayer requests along an email chain. Friendly Visitors spend time with those who are homebound, and Coffee Hour volunteers set up refreshments after Sunday worship to give newcomers and regulars a chance to talk. The Worship Team helps prepare the sanctuary, reads scripture, serves communion, and supports special services, while the Worship Tech Team runs the soundboard and cameras that make the livestream possible.
Getting There and Visiting
FCCN sits at the crossroads of Central Street (Route 135) and Main Street (Route 27) in the middle of Natick, across from Natick Common and near the Morse Institute Library. The parking lot is on the north side of Central Street, with its entrance on Washington Street between the church and the library; on Sundays, none of the spaces are reserved for bank customers, and additional free parking is available on neighboring streets. Two handicap parking spaces sit near the accessible entrance and elevator. The accessible entrance is at the double glass doors off the parking lot, with a buzzer to the right of the door. On Sundays the front doors with the main staircase are also open.
The church office is staffed Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, closed on most federal holidays. Visitors are encouraged to come as they are: the dress range on a Sunday morning runs from jeans to blazers, and worship leaders make it clear that no one is required to believe, be baptized, or be a member to participate. Communion is offered to all who wish to receive it, and folks watching online are invited to bring a bit of food and drink to their own tables. Coffee hour in the Vestry after worship is the easiest on-ramp to meeting people.
Clergy and Staff
The church is served by Pastor Rev. Cindy Worthington-Berry. Sarallyn Keller is the Director of Spiritual Vitality and Congregational Care, overseeing children, youth, and adult faith formation. Jeff Clausen is the Director of Music, and Elaine Smith-Purcell directs the choir. Cynthia Hamwey and Vicky Guest round out the staff team. The Coordinating Council, which meets monthly on the third Wednesday evening in the Vestry, governs the congregation, supported by Finance Team, Building and Grounds, and other committees that meet regularly throughout the year.
Special Services Through the Year
The congregation gathers for several special services in addition to its weekly rhythm. On Christmas Eve at 7:00 PM, the sanctuary fills with carols, stories, and candlelight. On the Sunday closest to New Year's Eve, the church weaves a brunch into worship along with communion, often gathering in the Vestry. Ash Wednesday opens Lent with a shared simple meal and the imposition of ashes from the previous year's Palm Sunday palms. Maundy Thursday gathers the congregation for a simple meal, candle extinguishing, and a leave-in-silence service remembering Jesus' final hours. The calendar of upcoming services, along with Bible studies, pub theology nights, knitting gatherings, choir rehearsals, and council sessions, is published online and can be added to Google Calendar or Outlook.
Generosity and Giving
The congregation collects an offering each Sunday in the pews, but giving happens in many ways. Members can give online through a credit card option recommended by the UCC, set up recurring gifts through their bank's online bill pay, or mail a check directly to the church office. The church is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charitable organization, and giving is described as both a spiritual practice and a way to support the ministries that extend from the building into Natick and the wider world.