First Congregational Church of Wilmette (FCCW) sits at 1125 Wilmette Avenue, anchoring the heart of historic downtown Wilmette on Chicago's North Shore. The congregation traces its roots to an 1875 gathering of neighbors in the home of Thomas M. Brooks and has remained on or near this corner ever since. Today FCCW is known as a progressive, open and affirming congregation in the United Church of Christ tradition, with a deep record of social justice work, a long-running music ministry, and an unusual willingness to share its building with the wider community.
Sunday Worship at Ten
Sunday service begins at 10 a.m. and runs about an hour. As worshippers step into the sanctuary, ushers hand them a printed bulletin that follows the order of worship. The morning includes prayer, congregational hymns, music from the chancel choir or guest musicians, scripture reading, and a sermon preached by the Senior Pastor.
One of the most appreciated parts of the service is the period called Joys and Concerns, when anyone in the pews is invited to share prayers. People lift up names of family and friends, mark milestones and losses, and call attention to people and causes in the wider community. Prayers of gratitude are as welcome as prayers of need.
After worship, the community gathers in Pilgrim Hall for coffee hour, a relaxed chance to grab a snack, meet a few new faces, and continue the conversations that Sunday mornings begin.
On the first Sunday of each month, the Sacrament of Communion is celebrated. The table is open, meaning that anyone who wishes to participate is welcome; baptism or church membership is not required. Worshippers who wish to receive come forward, take a piece of bread from a plate, and dip it in a cup. FCCW uses non-alcoholic grape juice and offers gluten-free wafers. Ushers will bring communion to anyone in the pews who cannot come forward.
For those at home or traveling, services are livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel, with recordings of recent services available to watch afterward.
A Progressive Voice on the North Shore
FCCW is Congregational by heritage and part of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a Protestant denomination formed in 1957 by the merger of two earlier Christian traditions. The UCC has no top-down hierarchy; the church shares leadership among clergy, lay leaders, and members. FCCW's members are bound by a covenant of whole inclusion that makes room for doubt, for questions, and for the spiritual journeys of every individual.
The congregation's faith statement, in its own words, declares:
We are an open community of faith where we affirm that the origins of Christianity may be 2000 years old, but our thinking is not. We are grounded in scripture as a guiding principle of our lives without the need to take it literally. We celebrate the God who is Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit without the dogmatic pressure of what one must believe to join us. We strive to follow the teachings of Jesus as the guide to our actions and the inspiration of our hearts. We pray for our actions to embody his model of justice, compassion and grace for our neighbors and ourselves.
That practical ethic is captured in the church's motto: Care Deeply, Live Fully, Make a Difference.
FCCW welcomes people of all ages, genders, races, ethnicities, physical or mental abilities, and sexual orientations. As an Open and Affirming congregation within the UCC, FCCW has long been part of a denominational family that has celebrated same-sex marriages since 2005 and ordained openly LGBTQ+ ministers since 1972. Members and visitors come from many backgrounds and hold a range of beliefs about religion and social issues.
Since 1875: A North Shore Story
The congregation's story begins in 1875, when Thomas M. Brooks invited Wilmette neighbors to business and social meetings in his home. Eighteen charter members made up the founding group, with the Reverend Edward P. Wheeler as the first pastor. Services soon moved into a frame schoolhouse at Central and Tenth Streets, and in 1883 a new building on Eleventh Street was dedicated.
By the early 1890s, the church had grown to one hundred members, and on June 5, 1904, ground was broken for the present sanctuary building by Warren Beardsley Gates. The brick exterior, the stained glass windows, and the Tudor-style interior beams remain defining features today.
The middle of the twentieth century pulled FCCW into the larger questions of the country. Between 1948 and 1952, the church joined the post-World War II European Resettlement Program, which helped nearly 400,000 refugees begin new lives in the United States. In the 1960s, the Reverend Buckner Coe, pastor from 1962 to 1969, marched with the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, led the 1965 Chicago North Shore Summer Project for fair housing, and organized local anti-Vietnam War campaigns. The Reverend Dr. Robert Lee continued that commitment in the 1980s by joining the Sanctuary Movement, which sheltered Central American refugees facing deportation.
In 1993 the Reverend C. David Owens was called as Senior Pastor, often preaching on the sanctuary floor rather than behind the pulpit, modeling a leadership style that trusted the congregation's own thinking. Pastor Owens led small groups of members and youth to the Holy Land on educational and spiritual pilgrimages. He was followed in 2004 by the Reverend Stephanie Perdew, who developed a deep and lasting partnership with Congregation Sukkat Shalom, a progressive Jewish community on the North Shore. For more than a decade FCCW hosted Sukkat Shalom for the Jewish High Holy Days and other shared programming, including joint social-justice work, until Sukkat Shalom purchased its own building on Central Avenue in 2012. Friendship and joint programming continue.
A capital project in 2009 and 2010 added an elevator tower with a separate entrance, a new roof over Pilgrim Hall, and a fully upgraded kitchen, while keeping the stained glass and Tudor beams intact. The Reverend Lark Hapke served as interim pastor beginning in 2022, and in 2025 the congregation called the Reverend Mary Katherine Herbig of the Central Union Church in Honolulu as its new Senior Pastor.
Choir, Organ, and the Sound Sanctuary Series
Music has been at the heart of FCCW since 1916, when the church installed its first pipe organ. A second pipe organ replaced it in 1959, and in 1998 a Rogers 950 three-manual organ with 76 stops, housed in a custom oak console, took its place in the sanctuary.
The volunteer Sanctuary Choir leads worship from September through May, with rehearsals on Wednesday evenings and a brief warm-up Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. Singers of every ability and experience level are welcome. Beyond the choir, the music program has steadily widened. Ensembles of church members and guest musicians sometimes bring barbershop quartets, jazz trios, American bluegrass, and pop-influenced folk songs into Sunday worship.
The Sound Sanctuary Series transforms the church's lower level into an intimate concert venue on Sunday afternoons to welcome local musicians and neighbors into the building. Katherine Hughes, Interim Music Director, is a violinist, producer, and contractor for more than four decades who has performed with internationally known artists and in numerous Broadway orchestras. She co-founded a nonprofit to bring recording and music-education opportunities to Chicagoans, and each year produces a peace-themed concert and art exhibit.
Mission Grants and Hands-On Outreach
FCCW's mission work moves in three directions: financial Mission Grants to outside ministries, hands-on service projects, and community outreach with the wider village. In one recent year the Mission Grants program supported eight ministries. Meanwhile, members prepare monthly meals for Connections for the Homeless in Evanston, fill backpacks with school supplies, collect warm socks and underwear, gather clothing for newly arrived immigrants, support the Wilmette Community Nursery School diaper drive, donate food and hygiene items to local food banks, and stock community refrigerators in Evanston.
FCCW is an active member of the New Trier Multi-Faith Alliance, sharing FCCW events through the alliance's communications and joining programs with other local faith communities. The church donates to food banks each month and supports the wider effort to resettle refugees - a thread that runs through FCCW's history, from the post-World War II European Resettlement Program to the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s.
A Building Shared with the Village
One of the most distinctive things about FCCW is how many other organizations call its building home. On any given week, the church accommodates:
- The Wilmette Community Nursery School (WCNS), a private, play-based preschool serving about 100 children from age two through kindergarten.
- The Actors Training Center (ATC), founded in 2007, which offers acting, musical theater, and on-camera classes for all ages; ATC students rehearse in the church.
- The Studio, a shared creative space opened by church members Cady Liederbach and Jennifer Kelleher for paper arts and garment sewing and design, with weekly open studio hours.
- The Breathing Room, a donation-based yoga studio founded by FCCW member Trish Nealon, which offers mindful movement, strength building, and breath awareness in the church library.
- Scout Troop 2, chartered by FCCW since 1921 and meeting at the church every Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. The troop has more than 230 Eagle Scouts to its credit.
- Wilmette Tai Chi, meeting in Fellowship Hall in winter and outside in summer.
Through the Sharing Our Space program, FCCW also rents out the sanctuary for weddings and memorials and meeting rooms for group work, workshops, and conferences. The kitchen, audio-visual setup, and nursery play area make it a flexible venue for both church and community use.
Smaller Circles: Book Club, Craft and Chat, and More
Beyond Sunday morning, FCCW offers a steady lineup of smaller gatherings. The Book Discussion Group meets on the third Thursday of each month at 3 p.m. in the Library. Craft and Chat gathers every Thursday from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Library, welcoming crafters, quilters, knitters, and anyone who just wants company. The women's group Mary Supper meets in Pilgrim Hall for an evening meal and conversation.
Other ways to be involved include volunteering as a Sunday liturgist (reading scripture, leading prayer, or assisting the pastor), joining the photo and video team, decorating the sanctuary for the seasons, gardening the Memorial Garden and other outdoor spaces, and helping prepare meals for FCCW events and outside ministries.
Spiritual enrichment includes occasional Advent and Lenten study series and workshops on topics that come up in the wider world, ecumenical evenings with neighboring faith communities, nature walks, sound bath meditation, and a women's retreat.
The Memorial Garden
The FCCW Memorial Garden, dedicated in 1989 on the east side of the church building, holds the cremated remains of members and friends of the congregation. The garden can be reached from the 11th Street entrance gate or, from inside the church, through the Library. A refresh in 2015 added new pavers, improved drainage, a cedar trellis wall, and an additional planting bed; an all-weather memorial bench was added in 2023 in honor of a young church member.
The garden and adjoining courtyard are designed for quiet reflection, prayer, and remembering loved ones, and they are also a pleasant place to sit during warmer months. Special services are sometimes held there, and visitors are welcome to come and stay as long as they like.
Planning a First Visit
FCCW's front entrance is at the corner of Wilmette Avenue, Lake Avenue, and 11th Street. A short flight of steps leads directly into the sanctuary. Visitors who need an elevator can use the wooden side door marked as handicap accessible on the Wilmette Avenue side; the elevator is straight ahead and reaches Pilgrim Hall and the Sanctuary on the second floor.
Parking is on the street along Wilmette Avenue and 11th Street, with a public lot at 747 11th Street that is free on Sunday mornings. Dress is anything that makes you feel comfortable. Children are welcome in the pews, and an usher can provide an activity bag. Childcare in the Creation Room on the first floor is available from 9:50 to 11:00 a.m. when reserved by Friday at 3 p.m.
The church office is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at (847) 251-6660 and 1stchurch@fccw.org.