From the Masonic Hall to Oenoke Ridge
First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan has been a fixture on Oenoke Ridge since 1970, but its roots reach back to a spring day in 1956 when a small group of worshippers gathered for the first time in the Masonic Hall on Main Street. The Rev. T. Guthrie Speers, Jr., only the first of four permanent Senior Pastors in the church's history, preached at that inaugural service. Stuart L. Higley served as the first Clerk of Session, the principal ruling elder who would help shape the new congregation.
By the early 1960s, the enthusiastic young church had outgrown the rented hall. In 1959, Miss Susan Dwight Bliss donated four acres of land and an early twentieth-century home known as Bliss House, and the congregation set its sights on building a permanent sanctuary alongside it. The cornerstone was laid in November 1968, and on May 17, 1970, the first worship service filled the new sanctuary with voices that still echo there every Sunday morning. Rev. Speers continued as Senior Pastor for more than thirty-six years, retiring in 1992.
Two pastors followed. The Rev. Dr. Gary A. Wilburn, a dynamic advocate of progressive Christianity, served as Head of Staff from 1995 to 2007, and the Rev. Paul E. Gilmore led the church from 2010 to 2018. The current pastor, the Rev. Dr. R. Scott Herr, came to New Canaan after twelve years as Senior Pastor of the American Church in Paris. His calling follows a lifetime of ministry that began with his ordination in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and continued through posts in Wilmington, Delaware, Mexico City, Zürich, Fort Collins, and Paris.
Worship in a Sanctuary Built for Music
Each Sunday at ten o'clock, the congregation gathers for worship in the sanctuary that has anchored Oenoke Ridge for more than half a century. The service follows a traditional Reformed liturgy with contemporary relevance, ordered around the lessons chosen from the Revised Common Lectionary. Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month, with special services marking World Communion Sunday in October, Stewardship Dedication, Baptism, and Confirmation. The liturgical year is observed in full: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent beginning with Ash Wednesday, Holy Week with services on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost, Ascension Day, and the long stretch of Ordinary Time ending at Christ the King.
The church's music ministry is regarded as one of the finest in the region. Terence J. Flanagan, who joined the staff at the beginning of 2021 as Director of Music and Fine Arts, oversees the program. A past dean of the Westchester Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, Flanagan studied organ under Dr. John Weaver at both the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, and previously served for more than eighteen years at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City alongside the noted choral director Dr. Richard Westenburg. He brought a similarly distinguished resume to his earlier post at the Presbyterian Church of Mount Kisco. The sanctuary's Aeolian-Skinner organ is a centerpiece of the program, and a dedicatory recital featuring works by Daniel Ficarri, Marcel Dupré, and Widor drew a full house in 2026.
For those who cannot attend in person, services are livestreamed through LocalLive, with an archive of previous services available online. A digital guest book allows worshippers to sign in, share feedback, and offer prayer requests.
A Church for the Whole Family
First Presbyterian Nursery School has been an integral part of the campus since 1969. Independent and non-denominational, FPNS serves preschool-aged children with a play-based curriculum in bright classrooms, each featuring a two-story indoor playhouse, surrounded by spacious grounds and an expansive playground. Many FPCNC children begin their church life in the nursery school before moving up into the Sunday School program.
Sunday School meets concurrently with worship from September through June, welcoming children from Pre-K through seventh grade. The morning begins in the sanctuary with families; following the Blessing for Young Disciples, the children move upstairs to their classrooms in Bliss House. The curriculum walks them through the great stories of the Bible and encourages them to ask questions, voice doubts, and learn how to be good neighbors and caretakers of creation. Director Leah Saulsberry, a graduate of Fairfield University with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and minors in Health Studies, Educational Studies, and Latin American and Caribbean Studies, brings years of experience in childcare and child development to the program. She can be reached at leahs@fpcnc.org.
Youth Ministry serves young people from sixth grade through the senior year of high school and beyond, with confirmation class, Bible studies, fellowship events, and service opportunities. Confirmation is a year-long journey of study, prayer, and mentorship for high school students and older middle schoolers exploring what it means to follow Jesus and belong to a church community. Pastor Scott Herr oversees this work.
Sunday morning childcare is offered from 8:45 to 11:30 a.m. for any child during the worship service, with parents dropping off at the main-level Nursery School entrance and picking up after the service. For families with infants and toddlers, the Wee Care Nanny Agency in Stamford can be contacted directly for personal babysitting needs.
Wednesdays at the Well
One of the most distinctive rhythms at FPCNC is Wednesdays at the Well, the church's flagship intergenerational gathering. On the third Wednesday of each month from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m., the Common Room fills with people of all ages for supper, conversation, and learning together. Director of Family Ministries Stephanie Hare prepares the agenda, and a meal is provided. The series has been paired with an online course on Miroslav Volf's Public Faith in Troubled Times, designed to help members think about how Christians live out their faith in the public square.
Throughout the academic year, Adult Forums follow the Sunday worship service at 11:30 a.m. and run no later than 1:00 p.m., with a light lunch. Recent forums have featured visiting scholars, authors, and community leaders: the Rev. Dr. Christy Lang Hearlson of Villanova University on children's boredom and faith, Lauren Patterson of the New Canaan Community Foundation on community health and mental health initiatives, and the Rev. Dr. Andrew Root on ministry in a secular age. A Wednesday morning Bible study led by Darlene Harmon meets each week at 10:00 a.m., with coffee and tea at 9:45 a.m. The study has worked through the Apostle Paul's missionary journeys in Acts, the Psalms, and the life of King David.
The Men's Gathering is a bi-weekly fellowship that meets online two Wednesday mornings a month from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. for Bible study and faith journey talks, with occasional in-person gatherings throughout the year. The Labyrinth is offered in the sanctuary a few times each year, including a half-day retreat that allowed participants to walk both the Classical seven-circuit and the eleven-circuit Chartres Cathedral patterns set to music.
Special Church: A Place of Joy on Thursday Afternoons
For nearly four decades, Special Church has been one of the most cherished ministries of First Presbyterian. Founded in 1987, the program welcomes teens and adults with special needs to the Bliss House Common Room every Thursday from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. for an hour and a half of faith, fellowship, and fun. Each gathering begins with Words of the Week, moves into a craft or art project often linked to the church calendar, and concludes with thirty minutes of music and singing, a time when, as the church has said, every soul responds. The program is free and open to all; information is available from Wendy Starr in the church office.
A Deeply Presbyterian Polity
First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan is part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and the church's governance follows the historic Presbyterian commitment to representative democracy. The Session, made up of active ruling elders elected by the congregation to three-year terms, makes decisions for the running of the local church and serves as its spiritual leaders. The Session is responsible for ensuring that the Word of God is preached and heard in worship, for authorizing the celebration of the sacraments, for receiving and dismissing members, for overseeing the education and mission of the church, and for stewarding the church's finances and property. The 2025-2027 Session includes Pastor Scott Herr and a team of elders organized around Membership, Personnel, Finance, Communications, Congregational Life, Nominating, Worship Music and Arts, Adult Education, Family Ministry, Youth, Mission and Outreach, and Buildings and Grounds. Bob Spangler and Jennifer Van de Graaf serve as Co-Clerks of Session.
The Board of Deacons is called to minister to those in need, the sick, the friendless, and any who may be in distress both within and beyond the community of faith. Deacons lead the people in worship through prayers of intercession, read the Scriptures, present the gifts of the people, and assist with the Lord's Supper. The 2025-2027 Board of Deacons is co-moderated by Kathy Edwards and Dan Mason.
At FPCNC, the Deacons offer care and support in concrete ways: confidential emergency financial assistance through the Deacon Fund, support for bereaved families during memorial services and receptions, participation in the Prayer Chain, assistance in preparing families for the baptism of their children, transportation to and from worship and personal appointments, the delivery of Christmas and Easter flowers to the homebound and to families who have recently lost loved ones, and the provision of meals to members in temporary need.
Pastoral Care and Prayer
The Pastoral Care Team, led by Stacy Arevalo, meets monthly to share prayer concerns and updates on those in need. The team supports people who are declining in health, homebound, grieving a loss, or struggling with a significant change in their circumstances. Prayer, as the church holds, is as essential to spiritual well-being as breathing is to physical health, and prayer requests can be shared with Stacy at sarevalo@fpcnc.org.
Mission: Internally Strong, Externally Focused
From its earliest years, FPCNC has lived by a motto of being a congregation that is internally strong and externally focused. The church was instrumental in the founding of New Canaan's Waveny Care Center, South Avenue Cottage, and other important town and Fairfield County services. A significant portion of the congregation's budget, interests, and volunteer hours still flows outward into the local community and the world beyond.
At the center of the church's local hunger response is the Cents-ability program, which encourages parishioners to donate their spare change to the New Canaan Food Bank, the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Hunger Relief program. Filling in the Blanks provides area public school students with four to six non-perishable meals to take home over the weekend, and FPCNC regularly collects non-perishable items for the New Canaan Food Pantry at St. Mark's Episcopal Church. Each year the congregation shops for, prepares, and serves about 1,200 meals at the New Covenant House soup kitchen in Stamford. Meals on Wheels of New Canaan also counts several FPCNC parishioners among its delivery volunteers, and a Lenten food drive and the annual SOUPer Bowl of Caring in early February both feed the work of the local food banks.
Beyond the immediate neighborhood, the church supports Americares and its free clinic program, the Domestic Violence Crisis Center, Goodwill of Western and Northern Connecticut, the Navigator program at Waveny Lifecare Network for those affected by Alzheimer's, the New Canaan Behavioral Health Alliance, Person-to-Person's Christmas Dove program, Silver Hill Hospital, and the Voices Center for Resilience.
The SOUPer Bowl of Caring, now in its third year, is a youth-inspired movement that has generated more than $175 million in local hunger support across the country. At FPCNC, the event has featured eight different soups, a frozen-pint takeaway option, and a suggested donation of five dollars per pint, with all proceeds going to the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County.
Music and the Arts Beyond the Sanctuary
The music and fine arts program extends well beyond Sunday morning. New Canaan Chamber Music and Orchestra Lumos use the sanctuary as a concert venue, and the Charis Chamber Voices return regularly for seasonal performances. FPCNC's own Director of Music, Terence Flanagan, and singers Lisa Flanagan, Devin Mitchell, and Nikolas Brannan are members of Charis. Coffee Concerts, a recent addition, offer Sunday morning programs of sacred solos by choir members in the sanctuary from 11:30 a.m. to noon, with coffee and snacks in the Common Room. An Open Mic Night, hosted in cooperation with local musicians, invites members and friends to share music and poetry, originals and covers, in the evenings.
A Congregation Proud of Its Scottish Heritage
The Presbyterian tradition traces its ancestry back primarily to Scotland, where in 1560 the Parliament of Scotland adopted the Scots Confession of faith as the creed of the Scottish kingdom. First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan has long celebrated that inheritance. Every spring, on Scottish Heritage Sunday, the church fills with the sound of bagpipes, Scottish dancers, and music, and the picnic and Cèilidh that follow the worship service draw people from across the region. The church enthusiastically encourages its male attendees to don their kilts for the day, and plaids are welcome all around.
The Year Painted with Seasonal Rhythms
The church year at FPCNC moves through a familiar cadence of celebrations. Easter brings an Easter egg hunt on the grounds. May opens with Scottish Heritage Sunday, and July brings Peaches on the Patio, a casual reception after worship with peaches and cream, peaches and whipped cream, and peaches and ice cream. The Sunday after Labor Day is Rally Day, a picnic on the front lawn under a big tent, with special music, games, rides on Old Faithful, and great food. Advent is marked by a tree lighting, music, crafts, and the family Christmas party at the Manse hosted by Pastor Scott and Kim Herr. Christmas Eve brings a 5:00 p.m. family service with pageant and a 10:00 p.m. candlelight service of Lessons and Carols with Communion, and a Blue Christmas service in the days before offers a quieter, more contemplative space for those carrying grief through the holidays. The year closes with a New Year's Eve concert and party in the sanctuary, followed by treats and celebration by a roaring fire in the Common Room.
Baptisms, Weddings, and Memorials
First Presbyterian Church welcomes the celebration of the full arc of Christian life events. Baptisms are scheduled through the church office and follow the Book of Order of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), witnessing to the truth that God's love claims people before they are able to respond in faith. Weddings are occasions of both joy and reverence, conducted according to the liturgy in the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship. A staff minister ordinarily presides, and Director of Music Terence Flanagan is ordinarily the organist. Other clergy may participate at the presiding minister's invitation, and guest musicians must be approved in advance. A wedding at FPCNC is an act of worship, and the music is expected to be sacred and appropriate for formal liturgical worship.
Memorial and funeral services are held under the direction of the pastor and are seen as an opportunity to stand with those in grief and mourning and give witness to the Resurrection hope held in Christ. The Memorial Garden and Columbarium on the property are available as a final resting place for the ashes of members and their loved ones, and a service of interment can be arranged either in conjunction with or separate from a larger memorial service.
An Inclusive and Welcoming Community
The church's stated welcome names, in plain language, the breadth of community it seeks to be: a welcoming, worshipping, learning, celebrating, caring, giving, and serving community, reflecting the inclusive love of God, and nurturing each person's spiritual formation. The congregation celebrates the rich diversity of all God's children and finds its life enriched by people of every race, age, gender, economic status, marital status, and sexual orientation. The mission is to live spiritually, to love inclusively, to learn continuously, and to leave a legacy.
Becoming Part of the Community
Visitors are always welcome, and membership inquiry classes are held on Sunday mornings following worship twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. The class is the entry point for those considering membership and covers the mission and vision of the church, the activities and offerings, the ways members can use their gifts in service, and the history and beliefs of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). All are welcome to attend whether or not they are presently considering membership. On Sundays when new members are received, the Session welcomes them at 9:30 a.m. in the Common Room, the congregation receives them at the 10:00 a.m. worship service, and a reception follows in the Common Room.
The church office is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and the office manager, Wendy Starr, is the first point of contact for general inquiries, baptisms, memorial arrangements, weddings, and membership. The church is located at 178 Oenoke Ridge Road in New Canaan, Connecticut.