A Christ-Centered Community Across from the Town Common
First Congregational Church in Winchester sits on Church Street in Winchester, Massachusetts, directly across from the Town Common and behind its historic steeple. The congregation has gathered on this spot since 1840, and today describes itself as a "Christ-centered, nurturing community, growing in faith, serving in love, welcoming all with joy." It is a member congregation of the United Church of Christ and belongs to the Metropolitan Boston Association.
The church's character is shaped by an explicit Open and Affirming covenant adopted by congregational vote in April 2001 in response to the UCC General Synod resolution of 1985. The covenant pledges the congregation to follow Christ's call to love one another, to promote justice, to bring relief to the oppressed, and to walk humbly with God. It welcomes all people - of every race, age, mental and physical ability, gender, sexual orientation, economic class, ethnicity, and religious tradition - into the full life and ministry of the church. The congregation also practices Open Table communion, and worship uses inclusive language in prayers, hymns, and liturgy.
Worship Sunday Mornings at Ten
Sunday worship begins at 10:00 AM in the sanctuary, with a livestream on YouTube for those who prefer to join remotely. During the summer months the congregation gathers in Ripley Chapel, a more intimate space that was recently renovated and now hosts Advent and Lenten services such as the Service of Light and Ash Wednesday.
The service runs about an hour and follows the traditional pattern of progressive Protestant worship. Joyful hymns are accompanied on organ or piano, a remarkable choir shares a wide variety of music, scripture is read, prayers are offered, and the pastor preaches a thoughtful sermon grounded in the lectionary and centered on the life and teachings of Jesus. A Time for the Young at the front of the sanctuary engages children before they head to their classrooms. The first Sunday of each month includes Holy Communion, also called the Eucharist or Lord's Supper, and in the spirit of Jesus' hospitality everyone is welcomed to the table regardless of church membership or background.
The building itself is striking. The sanctuary has cathedral ceilings, grand pillars, ornate wood carvings, and stained glass windows, including a beautiful depiction of "Laborers in the Vineyard" in the back. By contrast, the congregation describes its attitudes as "decidedly less formal and actually pretty easy-going," and visitors are welcome to come as they are. A range of clothing shows up on Sunday mornings, from suits and dresses to jeans and sweatshirts. After the service the community gathers in Chidley Hall at about 11:00 AM for coffee, tea, and conversation; in warmer weather the fellowship moves outside to the front steps and lawn overlooking the Town Common.
Seasonal and Special Services
Beyond the regular Sunday schedule, the church offers a full calendar of seasonal worship experiences. On some Sundays a lively Jazz Worship service fills the sanctuary with readings, prayers, and jazz music. The congregation also steps into the wider town: a Blessing of the Animals is held on the Town Common, the Sunrise Service on Easter takes place at Wright-Locke Farm in Winchester, and on Ash Wednesday morning the pastors offer Ashes and Grounds (coffee) to commuters at the rail station. The Christmas season includes a Family Service at 5:00 PM and a Candlelight Service at 10:00 PM, while the Lenten journey includes Ash Wednesday Taizé, the Service of Light, Blessing of the Palms, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter services at 9:00 and 11:00 AM.
Clergy and Ministers
The pastoral team is led by Rev. William Burhans, who has served as Lead Pastor since September 2015. He holds an M.Div. from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and previously pastored the Charlotte Congregational Church, UCC, in Vermont for fifteen years. A singer, guitarist, and self-produced musician, he is known for breaking into song during sermons and prayers, and brings a faith shaped by his Southern Baptist upbringing, time in a Benedictine monastic community, and UCC theological education.
Rev. Maeve Kieran Hammond serves as Associate Pastor. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), she graduated with her M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School in May 2022 and joined First Congregational shortly thereafter. Her previous ministry included a fellowship at First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor, hospital and university chaplaincy, grief and small-group work, and teaching. She is passionate about faith formation, spiritual care, social justice, and fellowship across age and identity.
Jane Ring Frank has served as Minister of Worship and the Arts since 2003. She trained in conducting and collaborative piano, was Director of Chapel Music at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge from 1998 to 2003, and before that directed music at Boston's Arlington Street Church. She is a Resident Senior Scholar at the Women's Studies Research Center of Brandeis University, Artistic Director of the Concord Women's Chorus and Cantemus, and the founder of the now-concluded Boston Secession, whose recordings were reviewed by the New York Times, Gramophone, and American Record Guide.
Maggie Keeler is Minister of Children & Families. A science educator by training with a B.S. from Davidson College and an M.S. from Tufts, she served as Interim Children's Program Coordinator beginning in 2021 before stepping into her current role. She teaches Stepping Stones, co-chairs the Children and Youth Faith Formation Ministry, and lives in Winchester with her husband Ben and their two children. Luke Vaughn serves as Youth Ministry Associate, working alongside Rev. Maeve to lead both Junior Forum and Forum. Jeffrey Mead has been the church's organist since 2005 and is also Vice President and Trust Officer at Rockland Trust Company.
Sarah Marino serves as Office Manager and has been with the church since 2008, handling communications, administration, and bookkeeping. Ed Banzy is Building Manager, joining the staff in July 2018 after more than two decades in mechanical engineering and prior church administration. Dave Fay serves as Building Superintendent.
Music and the Choirs
Music is central to the worship life of the congregation. The choir rehearses on Thursday evenings at 7:30 PM and Sunday mornings at 9:15 AM in the Chancel, with no auditions and no attendance rules. Soprano soloist and section leader Susan K. Navien and tenor soloist and section leader Peter Owens anchor a roster of singers organized into soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone/bass sections. The Carilloneers, the church's handbell choir directed by Jeffrey Mead, adds shimmer and sparkle to services and welcomes new ringers. The Music and Worship Arts ministry also supports guest performers and concerts under the Ripley Presents series.
Children and Youth Ministry
Faith formation for the next generation is one of the church's deepest commitments. Infants and toddlers are always welcome in the sanctuary, where fidget bags help little ones stay engaged. For families who need more space, the Family Room just outside the sanctuary doors has sofas, chairs, carpet, a changing table, toys, and a live video link to the service. A professionally staffed nursery for babies and toddlers, joined by high school helpers, is located on the ground floor beneath the sanctuary and is a peanut-free zone.
Stepping Stones is the Sunday morning program for children in pre-K through fifth grade. Each week children begin in the sanctuary with their families and then head to classrooms after the Time for the Young. The curriculum walks through the Old Testament in the fall, the ministries of Jesus in the winter, and the New Testament in the spring, using games, crafts, STEM experiments, plays, and storytelling. Stepping Stones Adventure Days offer additional days of programming on school-year professional days and during a special summer week, and families also gather for Hand in Hand service projects with local non-profits and Sacred Seasons celebrations that include Advent candles, Christmas pageants, Palm Parades, and Easter egg hunts.
Junior Forum serves middle school students in grades six through eight, meeting on Sunday evenings at 5:00 PM. Forum serves high school students in grades nine through twelve, meeting at 6:30 PM on Sunday evenings for ninety minutes of fellowship, food, games, Scripture study, and prayer. Both groups undertake service projects throughout the year, prepare and serve meals at the Dwelling Place, build beds through the Mass Coalition for the Homeless, and help lead seasonal services including the Christmas Pageant and the community Easter Egg Hunt. Forum also hosts an annual 24-hour overnight retreat.
Adult Faith Exploration
Adult Faith Exploration oversees programs that help adults begin or expand their faith journeys. The Roots & Branches small group series meets five times a year in a range of formats (Sunday evening, Monday morning, Monday evening, Wednesday evening, and a Monday Zoom option) and gathers roughly once or twice a month to discuss a shared theme. A monthly Bible Study with Rev. Will Burhans meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 7:00 PM, exploring the historical, political, and religious background of scripture. Lenten offerings have included Tuesdays with Jesus, soup and conversation, Disagreeing Well, and a study of the Four Boundless States of the Buddhist tradition. The Ruth Group book club meets on the third Sunday of the month at 7:00 PM on Zoom, open to all women of the church and community.
The Men's Coffee and Conversation group meets Wednesdays at 8:30 AM in the Henry Room, except during the summer, around an agreed-upon topic. Grieving in Community is a bi-monthly support group that walks members through the spectrum of grief. Divine Yoga meets Wednesdays at 9:30 AM in Ripley Chapel as a gentle community practice for all levels.
Health and Wellness Ministry
The Health and Wellness Ministry has been part of the congregation since the early 2000s, when the UCC identified faith-based needs in this area and Kathleen Zagata, RN, MSN, was hired as the first Health Minister. After she transitioned from the role in 2023, the work continues through a committee of lay volunteers guided by Associate Pastor Rev. Maeve Hammond. Healing opportunities include Sunday healing liturgies and laying-on-of-hands prayer stations in the fall and during Lent, plus contemplative monthly healing circles. The ministry also organizes Eleventh Hour workshops at 11:00 AM after worship, an annual spring bike ride, a Caregiver Support Network, health-based education in the church newsletter, and maintains a life-saving AED in the church lobby along with cold, flu, COVID-19, first-aid, and mobility supplies in a closet near the Associate Pastor's office.
Justice and Outreach
The Mission and Outreach Commission, the Justice Ministry, and a wide network of partner organizations carry the congregation's compassion into the wider world. Direct service projects include monthly meal preparation at the Dwelling Place of Woburn, ongoing food collection through the Little Red Wagon for the Woburn Council for Social Concern open food pantry, sandwich-making and delivery with The Outdoor Church of Cambridge, four annual Habitat for Humanity of the Merrimack Valley build days, Thanksgiving Basket Collection with FAN Winchester, and Christmas Tree Giving to Germaine Lawrence and the Woburn Council for Social Concern. Bibles4Kenya ships gently used Bibles to congregations abroad, and the YOUTH VILLAGES BackPack Heroes drive stocks backpacks for kids served by Youth Villages.
The church's signature outreach experience is a multigenerational service-learning trip to Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, undertaken in partnership with Re-Member. Participants build bunk beds, outhouses, stairs, and wheelchair ramps, install skirting on mobile homes, tend community gardens, learn from Lakota speakers and cultural programs, hike the Badlands, and reflect together on the relationships they are forming with the Oglala Lakota people. Recent trips have included children, youth, and adults working side by side. A composting pilot in Chidley Hall, run with Black Earth, is reducing food waste, and the Justice Ministry supports local rallies including Bearing Witness @ ICE in Burlington and the Greater Assabet Indivisible Network's Justice 4 All gatherings.
Outreach Grants distribute annual funding to nonprofit partners. Recent grants have supported the BMC Grow Clinic, End Hunger NE, Food Link, Immigrant Support Alliance, Mass Coalition for the Homeless, Neighborhood Counseling and Community Services, Network for Social Justice, Room to Grow, The Outdoor Church of Cambridge, UTEC, Winchester ABC, Winchester Farmer's Market-Anna's Fund, Woburn Council of Social Concern, Women's Lunch Place, Year Up United, and Youth Villages. The Repair Cafe, hosted several times a year in Chidley Hall, brings volunteers together to repair small electronics, lamps, furniture, knives and scissors, sewing and knitting, and children's toys.
The Building and Reno Garden
The church building, over a century old, is closed during July and August for repairs, upgrades, and rest. Spaces include the Sanctuary, Ripley Chapel, Chidley Hall (used for fellowship, Boy Scout meetings, and Repair Cafe events), the Tucker Room (home to Rockabye Beats, FAN Winchester playgroup, and other gatherings), the Palmer Room (where Lenten soup suppers and adult programs meet), and the Henry Room. The Family Room and Pooh's Corner serve families with young children.
The Reno Garden, a columbarium and remembrance garden on the property, offers a natural setting for the placement of cremated remains, which are poured directly into the ground and become part of the soil that nourishes the garden's trees and perennial plants. A short prayer service called the Placement Ceremony may be held in the garden, with or without a separate church memorial service. The location of each placement is not marked, but loved ones' names can be inscribed on the Memory Bench and recorded in the Memory Book. Future placements can be pre-purchased. The garden also features a labyrinth, a remembrance walk, benches, and a fountain.
Sharing the Building with the Community
The church hosts a remarkable range of community partners in its building. The Neighborhood Cooperative Nursery School (NCNS), a parent-led cooperative preschool for children ages three to five, is located below the sanctuary. The Winchester School of Chinese Culture, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, runs a weekly after-school program and an all-day summer camp on site. Boy Scout Troop 503 has been sponsored by First Congregational since 1903 and meets Tuesday evenings in Chidley Hall. The Winchester Foundation for Educational Excellence has its headquarters on the third floor. The Family Action Network hosts a toddler playgroup on Fridays from 9:30 to 11:00 AM. NAMI hosts Family-to-Family classes, the North Suburban Child & Family Resource Network runs weekly playgroups, the Winchester ABC house uses the church hall for family dinners and special events, Sounds of Grace hospice choir rehearses on Sundays, and Temple Shir Tikvah uses the sanctuary for some holidays. Arts groups including the Karen Bernard School of Dance, Rockabye Beats, Cecilia Wong's Tai Chi, Hechi Painting Studio, and the visual artist Jenny Olsen also rent space.
Weddings, Baptisms, Funerals, and Pastoral Care
The sanctuary, chapel, and outdoor garden are all available for weddings, including LGBTQ weddings, which the congregation has blessed in sacred services long before they were legally recognized in Massachusetts. Couples meet with a minister three times for preparation, and a sliding scale of fees is available for those unable to meet the full cost. Baptisms are scheduled within the regular Sunday service of worship and include a meeting for first-time families to walk through the meaning of the sacrament. Funerals and memorial services are tailored to the life of the deceased, and the Ministry Team is also available to lead house blessings, rituals of separation at the time of divorce, healing prayer circles, anniversary blessings, and departure blessings when families leave town.
Visiting, Giving, and Getting Connected
First-time visitors are warmly welcomed. The church offers free parking on either side of the building, with lots entered from Vine or Dix Streets, plus free street parking along Church Street and around the Town Common. The side doors under the historic steeple are easy to find. Handicap access and an elevator are located on the right side of the building, with clear signage to direct visitors to the sanctuary. An inductive hearing loop serves hearing-aid users with Telecoil, and assisted listening devices are available. Worship bulletins and sermon texts are available online, services are livestreamed on YouTube, and a sermon and podcast archive goes back many years.
Giving is supported through Venmo, Vanco electronic funds transfer, checks, cash in the plate, appreciated stock, PayPal, and the Pledgeling platform. A planned giving program accepts bequests, IRA gifts, appreciated securities, and other deferred assets. Stewardship and Financial Resources ministries steward the congregation's annual budget, planned giving, capital campaigns, and endowment.
Voices from the Pews, the church's podcast (formerly called Wisdom Well), shares faith stories from members of all ages, hosted by Rev. Maeve Kieran Hammond with co-creator and producer Andy Spiegel. The church also maintains an online directory, weekly e-newsletters, and active social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X, LinkedIn, and Linktree.