A 190-Year-Old Welcome in Whippany
First Presbyterian Church of Whippany has stood on Route 10 in Whippany, New Jersey, since 1834, and the people there have not stopped welcoming newcomers in all that time. Tucked between a bank and a stretch of road that hums with weekday traffic, the congregation greets the wider community from a sunny sanctuary just east of the Whippany Road intersection, with a parking lot that wraps around the back. Its motto is simple and direct: God is love. Its mission statement is just as plain. Together the congregation lives fully in God's love and carries God's love into the community.
Anyone who walks through the glass doors at the back of the building will find a church that takes that mission personally. Pastor Sarah Cairatti likes to say that visitors who come through the back doors will feel the warmth and joy of the place right away. People of all ages worship here, children skip and play at the feet of folks who have attended for more than fifty years, and newcomers quickly feel at home. Coffee Hour after church during the school year, monthly Brunch Club at the Whippany Diner, the youth spaghetti dinners, and the Thursday evening Church of the Wild Things dinner church all keep that warmth circulating.
Welcoming Everyone Since 1834
The history of the congregation reaches back more than 190 years. Barbara Thompson-Howell, a longtime member, gathered the story in a written history of the church that is still available to read. Even with that long lineage, the church describes itself as not stuck in the past. Members thank God for God's faithfulness through decades of ministry in the Whippany community, including during significant floods when the wider community has pulled together. The long history has not produced a museum. It has produced a church that knows how to keep moving forward.
First Presbyterian Church of Whippany is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and a member of the Presbytery of the Highlands of New Jersey. It is also a member church of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, a network within the denomination that supports full welcome of LGBTQIA+ people in the life of the church and in society. The church's statement is unambiguous: All are welcome! All of God's children, including LGBTQIA+ folks, are invited into safe and welcoming congregational spaces.
Sunday Mornings at 10:15
Worship is the rhythm of the week. The service begins at 10:15 AM on Sunday mornings and runs through about 11:15 AM, after which the choir rehearses. Each service is described as genuine, creative, and full of Spirit. Pastor Sarah preaches each week, drawing scripture into its original context and bringing it into the present with what she calls sincere faith, a little bit of humor, and a lot of love. Her shorter reflections also appear as a casual podcast on Spotify.
The liturgy follows a familiar shape. There is a call to worship, a prayer of confession, a passing of the peace where neighbors greet one another, prayers of the people where anyone may speak a prayer request aloud if they wish, and the Lord's Prayer together. Communion is celebrated once a month, usually on the first Sunday, and everyone is invited to participate fully. Communion is served by intinction: worshipers walk forward as they are able and dip the bread in the cup before returning to their seats, and servers bring the elements to anyone who prefers to remain seated.
The sanctuary welcomes wheelchairs in both aisles, and the route from the back parking lot into the sanctuary has no steps or ramps to navigate. People who need to come and go during the service are invited to do so without worry. A sample Sunday bulletin is available online for anyone who wants to see the shape of the service ahead of time.
Music that Fills the Sanctuary
Music is a large part of what makes the service feel alive. The senior choir, directed by organist Christie Ventura, sings regularly. The Joyful Noise Handbell Choir, directed by Joanne Willans for more than twenty-five years, joins the rotation along with impromptu youth choirs. Soloists, flutes, guitars, and young musicians of all ages contribute to the sound. The congregation sings a mix of favorite traditional hymns and more contemporary worship songs, so newcomers will hear something familiar and something new on any given Sunday.
Choir rehearsal follows worship each Sunday, from about 11:15 AM to 12:15 PM. Handbells rehearse on Monday evenings from 6:15 to 7:45 PM. Musicians of any age who would like to share their gifts are encouraged to step forward.
Children, Youth, and the Wild Things
The congregation makes a point of celebrating children's participation in worship. Never worry about noise or interruption, with us. Jesus says, 'let the children come to me.' On most Sundays during the school year, after a short message for children and youth, young people are invited to leave worship and head upstairs to Sunday School. There, in big, light-filled classrooms, staff and volunteers (mostly professional teachers themselves) teach Bible stories, prayers, and service to neighbor in a multi-age setting. Younger children and any who prefer to stay with their families are welcome to remain in the sanctuary throughout.
Church of the Wild Things is the Thursday evening dinner church for young families, and it has become one of the church's most distinctive offerings. It meets on selected Thursdays from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. The format is simple: a welcome board at 5:30, a sign-language blessing of the meal at 5:35, a simple supper of chicken nuggets, fresh fruit or veg, applesauce, and a treat, and then a worship circle on the floor at 6:00 with candle-lighting, songs, bubble prayers, storytelling, and movement. Dancing with streamers closes the evening at 6:25. Two circles gather in parallel: Wild Things for infants through first grade, and a new Wild Pre-Tweens circle for grades two through five, where children meet without their parents and connect the stories of Jesus to hands-on service projects for neighbors. There is no cost to attend; donations support the ministry.
The youth group keeps a busy calendar of its own, including the annual Mountain TOP (Tennessee Outreach Project) summer mission trip to Altamont, Tennessee. In 2025 the team traveled July 5 to 13, joining Mountain TOP's 40th year on the mountain, helping meet the physical, social, emotional, and spiritual needs of the people of Grundy County. The youth also run fundraisers like the spaghetti dinners that fill the fellowship hall, and they have their own website at youthfpcwhippany.org. Confirmation is part of the rhythm here as well, marked each year on Confirmation Sunday with the whole congregation celebrating.
Bible Study, Brunch Club, and a Bit of Yoga
Adult formation centers on the Wednesday Morning Bible Study, which meets each week from 10:00 to 11:00 AM. Sessions are described as a place where faith grows alongside the congregation's friendships. Pastor Sarah has also written a Bible study series on friendship that is published on her blog, twocoppercoinsblog.wordpress.com.
Other recurring gatherings bring members together in lighter settings. The Brunch Club meets monthly at the Whippany Diner on Tuesdays at 10:00 AM. A drop-in yoga class with Gabrielle Passerini, a certified yoga teacher and longtime instructor, meets Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 8:00 PM. Participants bring a mat, water, an optional blanket or light weights, and a $15 donation. The class is open to all levels.
Hands and Hearts for Whippany and Beyond
Caring for neighbors is woven into the life of the church. The food pantry is open to anyone with a need; callers leave a message at the church office and a Deacon returns the call to set up an appointment. Appointments are made with first names only, and no application is required. The Deacons also serve a meal once a month at the Homeless Solutions shelter in Morristown and provide meals, transportation, and visitation for the sick, elderly, and grieving.
The church regularly gathers supplies and support for a wide circle of partner organizations: Habitat for Humanity, the Interfaith Food Pantry, Nourish NJ, Table of Hope, Howard's Mission, and families separated by detention. Hygiene kits have been assembled during Sunday services, and Habitat baskets are part of the All Saints Remembrance each November. The MLK Day VBS, a one-day Vacation Bible School held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, gives families a way to serve the community together. Every spring the Souper Bowl of Caring and Soup Lunches turn the church's appetite into mission giving.
Recovery has a home here too. Alcoholics Anonymous meetings gather on the property several times a week: Sunday evenings at 5:30, Monday evenings at 7:30, and Tuesday evenings at 7:30. The Deacons also help coordinate care through visits, meals, and rides for anyone in the congregation who needs them.
Joining from Anywhere: Online Worship
For those who cannot make it in person, worship is also offered online by Zoom every Sunday at 10:15 AM. Participants join from a computer, phone, or tablet using Meeting ID 953 723 837 and passcode 11111. Anyone can also call in by phone at 1-646-558-8656, type the meeting ID followed by the pound key, and use the same passcode. Microphones and phones stay muted until the passing of the peace, when worshipers are invited to greet one another. Sunday bulletins and the weekly announcement materials are posted online, including a helpful communion bread recipe for those joining from home who want to share in the sacrament by baking their own loaf.
An extensive archive of recorded services is kept on the church's YouTube channel, going back years, so anyone can catch up on sermons they missed or revisit ones they want to hear again. Worship archives are organized by date with the sermon title for each Sunday.
Pastor Sarah and the Team
The Rev. Sarah J. Cairatti is the congregation's pastor. A Franklin, Tennessee native, she graduated from Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, and from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where she fell in love with creative ministry and with her husband, Brian. Before coming to Whippany she served as Associate Pastor for Youth and Young Families at a church in Virginia and led the Presbyterian Church (USA) Young Adult Volunteer Program in Washington, D.C. She keeps a blog with adapted sermons at twocoppercoinsblog.wordpress.com and hosts a more conversational podcast on Spotify.
Joanne Willans serves as Director of Youth Ministries and as Handbell Choir Director. She studied music at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and at Westminster Choir College, and completed additional work at the College of Saint Elizabeth in religious education and youth and young adult ministry. Before coming to the church she taught instrumental music in the Hanover Township Public Schools. Joanne and her husband Steve live in Whippany with their four children.
Christie Ventura directs the choir, leads music in worship, and encourages musicians of all ages to share their gifts. A native New Jerseyan, she holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from William Paterson University with a concentration in classical piano. Before joining the church she served as Director of Music at a church in Bloomfield, and she has been teaching piano and voice since 2005. She is the owner and lead teacher at Bravo Music Academy in Denville.
Denise Lee, a native of Whippany, serves as Church Secretary, administering the office and managing communications, publications, membership, and records. She can be reached Monday through Thursday mornings at the church office.
Elders, elected by the congregation, form the Session, which leads the spiritual, administrative, and financial life of the church. Deacons, also elected, lead caring ministries, including meals, transportation, visitation, the food pantry, and the monthly meal at Homeless Solutions in Morristown. Elders serve on committees for Worship, Property, Finance, Christian Education, Mission, and Personnel.
Beliefs and Welcome
The church confesses the historic Christian faith in the language of A Brief Statement of Faith (1983), one of the confessions of the Presbyterian Church (USA) found in the Book of Confessions. The congregation proclaims that in life and in death we belong to God; that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, the church trusts in the one triune God. It confesses faith in Jesus Christ, fully human and fully God, who proclaimed the reign of God by preaching good news to the poor, releasing the captives, teaching by word and deed, blessing the children, healing the sick, binding up the brokenhearted, eating with outcasts, forgiving sinners, and calling all to repent and believe the gospel.
The church is intentionally welcoming. Its online statement of welcome reads: All are welcome! All of God's children, including LGBTQIA+ folks, are invited into safe and welcoming congregational spaces. As a member church of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, the congregation works for equity in the church and the world, engages the church to invite all of God's children into welcoming spaces of affirmation, healing, dignity, and purpose, educates for the gifts of LGBTQIA+ people in ordained office and marriage equality, and equips the church to speak a prophetic word in anxious and divided times.
Finding the Church and Giving
The church sits on Route 10 West, just east of the Whippany Road (Route 511) intersection. From Route 80, drivers take I-287 south to the Route 10 East exit, proceed through the third traffic light at Whippany Road, then take the next jug handle at Troy Hills Road to loop back onto Route 10 West. The church is on the right, with entrances before the church, between the church and the bank, and off the jug handle. From Route 24 East, drivers take the Hanover exit onto Whippany Road, follow it to Route 10, cross over Route 10 into the jug handle, and turn right into the parking lot. From I-78, drivers take I-287 north to the Route 10 East exit and follow the same jug handle route from Whippany Road.
Visitors park in the rear lot and enter through the double glass doors. There are no steps between the lot and the sanctuary, and the sanctuary aisles accommodate wheelchairs. Anyone with questions, ideas for service, or a desire to learn more can call the church office at 973-887-2197, email fpcwhippany@gmail.com, or fill out the contact form online.
Giving supports the church's ministries in the community. Gifts may be mailed to the church office at 494 Route 10, Whippany, NJ 07981, or given online. The church also offers planned giving options including IRA charitable distributions, gifts of appreciated stock or mutual funds, charitable bequests through wills, charitable remainder trusts, and retirement plan beneficiary designations. Anyone considering such gifts is encouraged to consult their own financial and legal advisors, and the church office can provide its tax identification number for retirement plan paperwork.
From the back doors of a 190-year-old church on Route 10, the warmth that visitors feel is the same warmth the congregation has been carrying into Whippany since 1834.