On the Monroe Green in Fairfield County, a white clapboard meetinghouse has anchored the Connecticut town of Monroe since 1847, and a congregation has gathered on that ground since 1762. The Monroe Congregational Church is that congregation, and after more than two and a half centuries it remains what its founders were: an active parish on the green, a covenant community that takes its welcome seriously, and a member congregation of the United Church of Christ that calls itself, plainly and without qualification, Open and Affirming.
Locals know MCC for its 10 AM Sunday worship, its monthly open table at communion, a pair of Pilgrim Fellowship youth groups that pack Wilton Hall on Sunday evenings, and the strawberry shortcake served every Father's Day weekend on the green. Visitors are likely to notice something else first: the message at the top of every page that says, in two words, All Are Welcome, Always.
"All Are Welcome, Always"
On February 21, 2010 the membership of Monroe Congregational Church adopted an Open and Affirming resolution by congregational vote. The text of that resolution reads, in part: "Monroe Congregational Church is an open and affirming congregation, welcoming all who earnestly seek faith and fellowship in Christ to share in the life, leadership, ministry, membership, fellowship, worship sacraments, responsibilities, blessings and joys of our church. We invite and welcome into our community persons of every age, race, ability, economic and social status, nationality, faith background, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, marital standing and family structure."
The church is publicly listed as an ONA congregation within the United Church of Christ and supports that welcome in concrete ways. As an Open and Affirming church, MCC fully supports LGBTQ+ couples and their right to legal marriage in Connecticut, and couples of any orientation may be married here. The resolution was communicated to the Fairfield East Association, the Connecticut Conference (now part of the Southern New England Conference), and the ONA Program Office of the UCC Coalition for LGBT Concerns.
A Long Story on the Green
Members sometimes refer to the present building as "the meetinghouse," a name that honors the New England congregational tradition. The congregation's roots go back to 1750, when a winter meeting house for the Ripton Parish of Stratford was established near Moose Hill Road. By 1762 the General Assembly of the Colony of Connecticut at Hartford approved the formation of a distinct "Ecclesiastical Society" in "New Stratford," what is now Monroe, and a year later the society voted to approach Joseph M. White for a minister.
The Rev. Elisha Rexford accepted the call and was ordained on January 9, 1765, beginning a 43-year pastorate. The first meeting house was raised in June 1769, with the gallery finished in 1778 and the building completed in December 1786. A steeple was added to the west gable in 1792, and the bell was hung in 1796. Members of the early congregation fought in the Connecticut militia during the Revolution, and in 1781 Lauzun's Legion, part of Rochambeau's forces, camped near the Monroe Green on the way to meet George Washington at Yorktown.
In 1847 the present meetinghouse was erected on the green to replace the older structure. Its great stone foundation is, in the words of one local historian, "symbolic of the strength and determination upon which those early settlers founded their faith," and the intricate craftsmanship of the interior of the steeple is the work of a master builder. The same year saw the first Strawberry Festival, held to help finance an additional deeding of the green.
The story of the rest of the 19th and 20th centuries is one of steady building. Beardsley Hall, named for Dr. Edward McEwen Beardsley and financed largely by his widow Elizabeth through the Ladies Improvement Society, was built in 1886. The present parsonage on the green was purchased in 1869. Gas lighting replaced oil lamps in 1901, and the meetinghouse was electrified and the Ecclesiastical Society dissolved in 1922, when MCC was incorporated. Beardsley Hall was expanded in 1957, and on Thanksgiving Sunday 1967 ground was broken for a new building; Rexford House was dedicated the following year.
The meetinghouse itself was restored and enlarged in 1985 and 1986, when additional pews were installed, a handicap entrance provided, the balcony reopened, and the interior restored to as close to its original appearance as possible. A tracker organ was installed as part of that work. The Monroe Center Historic District, including the MCC campus, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
Two anniversaries stand out. In 2014 the congregation marked 250 years since the formation of the Ecclesiastical Society, and the church has now passed its 260th year. In 2011, by unanimous vote, the Rev. Jennifer M. Gingras was called as the church's 50th Senior Pastor, the first woman to hold that role in the congregation's history.
Sunday Morning at 10
Worship at MCC is held Sundays at 10:00 AM in the handicap-accessible meetinghouse. Large-print bulletins are available on request. The order of service includes praying, preaching, and singing together, with a steady variety of musical offerings drawn from the Adult Choir, the Bell Choir, and a Folk Band. Children are welcome to remain in the pew with their family, where they can use a quiet activity bag, or they may go to Sunday School (or the nursery, for the under-fours) after the children's time in the service.
The bulletin itself is set up to be friendly to newcomers. Parts printed in italics are read or sung by the congregation; asterisks mark the places where the congregation stands. Ushers hand out bulletins, Bibles and hymnals are in the pews, and an usher can answer questions about where the restrooms and nursery are. There is no dress code. Members have been known to wear suits and dresses, jeans, and jogging suits, and the church's instruction to first-time visitors is simple: come as you are.
After the service, the whole congregation is invited to Fellowship Hour in Wilton Hall, right next door, for coffee, tea, and treats. Service times occasionally shift during Christmas, Holy Week, and Easter to make room for larger crowds; the current schedule is posted on the church's calendar. Services are also livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook.
The Open Communion Table
Holy Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of every month at MCC, and the table is open to everyone who wishes to know the presence of Christ and to share in the community of God's people. Deacons pass trays of cubes of bread and small individual cups in the pews on most Communion Sundays, with intinction - dipping the bread in the cup - practiced occasionally. The pastor presides at the table, assisted by deacons.
The bread and cup are real and carefully considered. MCC provides gluten-free elements and always uses non-alcoholic grape juice so that children and people with allergies may freely partake. Children who have received instruction are welcomed to the table at their parents' discretion, a practice that is consistent with the wider UCC, in which many baptized children and even infants may receive communion. Visitors from traditions that reserve communion to those in full doctrinal agreement are respected if they choose not to participate.
The congregation understands communion in the language of the United Church of Christ Book of Worship as a joyous act of thanksgiving, a sacred memorial of the crucified and risen Christ, an earnest prayer for the presence of the Holy Spirit, an intimate experience of fellowship that overcomes divisions, and a hopeful sign of the promised realm of God marked by justice, love, and peace.
Baptism
Baptism is the other sacrament observed at MCC. Following the teaching of the UCC, the church teaches that baptism is an outward and visible sign of the grace of God, that it joins a person with the universal church and the body of Christ, and that in it God works the power of forgiveness, the renewal of the spirit, and the call to be God's people always. Water, drawn from a long biblical tradition of cleansing and life, is the visible element. At MCC baptism is generally performed by sprinkling water on a person's forehead.
Anyone may be baptized: infants, children, youth, and adults. For infants and children, baptism marks their acceptance into the care of Christ's church, the sign and seal of God's grace and forgiveness, and the beginning of their Christian faith and life. Parents, in consultation with the pastor, may choose sponsors or Godparents for infants and young children. At the baptismal service the sponsors accompany the candidates, present them for baptism, and may make promises identical to those of the parents.
Because the UCC recognizes the validity of all baptisms, re-baptism is not practiced; if there is any question about whether baptism has taken place, a conditional phrase such as "if you are not already baptized" may be added. It is common, however, to renew baptismal vows in a service of baptismal renewal. Baptism is celebrated in the presence of the community gathered for worship, although in urgent circumstances, such as imminent death, any Christian may perform the baptism. The pastor uses the words "I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit," and adds "One God, Mother of us all" to enrich inclusive understandings of the image of God.
Children and Sunday School
MCC's Christian Education program is built on the conviction that "faith is a journey, not a destination," and that each person is gifted by God. Children are welcomed into a safe, judgment-free environment where faith is developed through relationships (peer to peer and intergenerational), biblical stories, and mission-oriented experiences in the church and the wider community.
During worship a nursery room stocked with toys is provided. Sunday School runs during the 10 AM service on most Sundays, mid-September through May, for children from age four through sixth grade. Classrooms are divided into two groups: ages four through second grade and third through sixth grade. The curriculum is "Living the Word," which follows the same narrative lectionary used in worship, so that what children hear in their classrooms lines up with what their families hear in the meetinghouse. The program is always looking for teachers, assistants, and substitutes.
Pilgrim Fellowship Youth Groups
MCC's youth ministry runs through the Pilgrim Fellowship tradition, a name that reaches back to the 1885 Monroe Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor, the precursor to the modern PF youth groups.
Senior Pilgrim Fellowship is a student-led, open and affirming high school youth group for grades 9 through 12. It meets on Sundays from 5:00 to 7:30 PM, outdoors or in Wilton Hall, with an emphasis on mutual support, discussion, spiritual growth, service to others, music, prayer, and fun. A student leadership team (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Minister of Outreach) is elected by the group each June and is supported by an adult leadership team with more than 50 years of combined experience in youth ministry. Members of other faith communities, and those with no formal faith background, are welcome.
Community service is built into Senior PF's rhythm. Past projects have included cleaning up Lake Zoar and local hiking trails on Earth Day, visiting shut-ins with a hot meal, raking leaves for seniors, and collecting coats for people living in homeless shelters. The group takes a fall retreat at Silver Lake Conference Center and holds its own worship service, Youth Sunday, every spring. Every summer, Senior PF travels on a mission trip, with past destinations including Detroit, Pipestem WV, Boston, Harlan KY, New Orleans, Cleveland, Burlington NC, Milwaukee, Buffalo, Chicago, Vicksburg, and Indianapolis, where the group has worked in food pantries, vacation Bible schools, homeless shelters, and on light construction and disaster relief.
Junior Pilgrim Fellowship is the junior-high counterpart, open to sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. Junior PF meets most Sundays during the school year from 5:00 to 6:30 PM in Classroom 5 and runs wilderness hikes, movie outings, games, service opportunities, bowling, fellowship, and parties.
Confirmation is a separate program for older youth who want to understand and own the vows of baptism, discover and assume the privileges and responsibilities of church membership, and begin an adult spiritual journey. The class reviews Scripture and basic Christian theology, the traditions of Monroe Congregational Church and the UCC, and the realities of the wider world, and confirmation sponsors play a meaningful role in the process.
Adults: Bible Study and Sacred Pause
Adults at MCC have a regular lectionary Bible study that meets on Thursday mornings from 9:30 to 11:00 AM in Dineson Parlor, September through June. The group usually works through the lectionary passages for the coming Sunday in order to be more open to the word of God preached the next morning.
On the first Wednesday of every month at 7:00 PM, MCC offers Sacred Pause Meditation in the Pastor's Study, an opportunity for stillness and guided meditation led by Pastor Jenn, who is a certified meditation teacher. Small groups and fellowship activities are woven through the life of the church throughout the year.
Outreach and the Mustard Seed Thrift Shop
Outreach at MCC is part of how the congregation lives out what it prays. One of the most visible expressions of that is the Spaghetti Dinner and BINGO Night, a fundraiser that supports compassionate outreach in the community and beyond, including Project Warmth, which keeps people supported through difficult seasons.
The congregation shows up in practical ways to address food insecurity. Volunteers prepare and deliver hundreds of bagged lunches throughout the year to St. George's Church in Bridgeport, and groups visit nOURish Bridgeport to prepare and distribute hot meals. Covenant to Care is the church's long-standing partnership with Bridgeport DCF social workers; through it, MCC provides Thanksgiving baskets, school supplies, and Christmas gifts for families in the DCF system.
Other recurring outreach includes the Annual Wine Tasting, the Annual Tag Sale (whose proceeds support a wide range of local organizations doing family support, recovery, and housing work), and the church's participation in the CROP Hunger Walk, joining with others to raise awareness and support efforts that fight hunger locally and globally.
The Mustard Seed Thrift Shoppe, a cheerful nonprofit secondhand store right next door to MCC on the Monroe Green, has been a major piece of that outreach since its founding in the early 1960s. Its name comes from a biblical verse, chosen by the wife of a former pastor, Rev. Keeling. The shop accepts donations of clothing, small household goods, and toys, which are sorted, tagged, and prepared by volunteers. It is open Fridays 10 AM to 3 PM and Saturdays 10 AM to 2 PM, with volunteer sorting on Tuesdays at 1:30 PM. All proceeds support the church's mission and outreach. The shop takes cash and credit card transactions for purchases over $15.
The Strawberry Festival
Every Father's Day weekend, the church takes over the town. The Annual Strawberry Festival dates back to the 1840s, when the first festival was held to help finance an additional deeding of the green. The modern festival is held Saturday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Sunday from 12:00 to 5:00 PM, with a festival worship service Sunday morning at 10:00 AM. Over a hundred crafters offer handmade goods; the food court serves burgers, homemade jam, strawberry pies, and dipped berries; and the famous strawberry shortcake is served in the church hall. There is live music, a bounce house, and games for children. The strawberry shortcake alone has made the festival a regional draw.
Weddings on the Green
The 1847 meetinghouse is a popular venue for weddings, with the aisle measuring 21 yards from the altar to the inside of the outside front doors. All marriages at MCC must be conducted by, or have, a pastor of the church as a participant. As an Open and Affirming church, MCC fully supports LGBTQ+ couples and their right to legal marriage in the State of Connecticut.
The pastor meets with couples for an interview and counseling, normally two or three sessions, to discuss the relationship and plan the details of the service. A rehearsal is usually scheduled the day before the wedding and lasts about 45 minutes. Strobe lights and flashbulbs are prohibited during the service, but couples may arrange to recreate the ceremony afterward for photographs. Unattended video cameras may be used by prior arrangement with the pastor.
Music is a joint decision between the couple, the pastor, and the church organist, Will Duchon; other organists may be used with approval and a bench fee. Couples may bring their own musicians with prior approval. Use of the meetinghouse is $300 for non-church members, the pastor's services are $500, and the organist's services are $400 for the wedding service plus rehearsal fees. Wilton Hall in Rexford House is available for catered receptions for church members only, with a $300 security deposit and a $50/hour rental fee, plus an additional $25/hour if alcohol will be served (with a signed waiver and prior approval of the Trustees). Rice is not permitted; couples are asked to use flower petals, lavender, birdseed, or soap bubbles.
How MCC Is Run
As a congregation of the United Church of Christ, MCC believes that Christ is the head of the church and that decisions about church life are made best when the people of the congregation are involved. The church is not run from the top down; it is a congregational church, which means local members guide their own ministry and leadership, in shared covenant with other UCC churches.
At the regional level, MCC belongs to the Fairfield East Association, a body of 23 UCC churches that supports member congregations and oversees ministerial standing. Associations belong to a larger Conference; MCC belongs to the Southern New England Conference of about 570 other UCC churches. Every two years, representatives from across the UCC's roughly 4,600 congregations gather at General Synod to discern and vote on statements and resolutions that reflect the voice of the wider church.
Within MCC itself, about 80 volunteers serve on boards and committees, nominated and elected at the Annual Meeting. Most boards and committees meet monthly, and their chairs coordinate work together through a monthly council meeting with the pastors. The four principal boards are the Deacons (who guide the spiritual life of the church, support worship leaders, welcome new members, and provide spiritual care), the Trustees (who oversee finances and property), Christian Education (which supports faith formation for all ages), and Outreach (which supports hands-on mission projects and partnerships). A Fellowship board plans community-building events.
Pastors, Music, and Staff
The Rev. Jennifer M. Gingras is the Senior Pastor. Pastor Jenn grew up in Madison, Connecticut, attending the North Madison Congregational Church, UCC, and spent much of her youth at Silver Lake Camp and Retreat Center, which she still calls her spiritual home-away-from-home. After a 12-year career in sports marketing, she followed a call to ordained ministry, earned her Master of Divinity at Yale Divinity School in 2007, and was called to serve MCC as Associate Pastor. In the fall of 2011 she was called by unanimous vote to be the church's 50th Senior Pastor and the first woman to hold that role in its history.
Her passions in ministry include prophetic preaching, the emerging church, mission and outreach, outdoor ministry, and crisis response. She has served on the board of directors of Silver Lake Conference Center, chaired the Fairfield East Association's Committee on Church and Ministry, served multiple times as a Synod Delegate, and is a member of the Unified Fitness Review committee representing the Fairfield East Association. She is a certified meditation teacher and has volunteered with the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) in East Jerusalem. She and her husband Clark are parents of two adult children and a teenager; her personal interests include her hobby farm and spending time in Maine.
Will Duchon is the Music Director. A native of White Plains, New York, he began studying piano at age seven, earned a BFA and an MFA in music performance at Purchase College (SUNY), and has performed extensively in solo recitals, chamber ensembles, and as a concerto soloist with several orchestras. He has recorded four albums of solo classical piano works. Will began his church music ministry in 1981 and came to MCC in 2006. He also serves as the church organist for weddings. Since 2004 he has been a broadcaster for WMNR-FM Fine Arts Radio.
Heather Hisey is the Associate Music Director. A gifted musician and collaborative leader of the Chancel and Bell choirs, she helps shape meaningful worship through music that is excellent and welcoming, supports the planning and leadership of services, and works closely with instrumentalists and vocalists.
The Covenant at the Center
On January 1, 1978 the congregation adopted the Covenant that still anchors MCC's identity: "We declare our faith in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In Holy covenant, we bind ourselves to God and each other, becoming devoted disciples and active apostles. We promise each other to be faithful in worship, and in support of this church, whose Savior and Lord is Jesus Christ. In Christian love, we will care for and support each other. With the Bible as our guide, we willingly promise all that we are, and all that we have, to the fulfillment of God's Kingdom. Freely we say these things, glorying in the joy of our salvation."
That covenant, along with the Open and Affirming resolution, the long history on the green, and the long list of weekly and seasonal rhythms, is what makes Monroe Congregational Church what it is: a 260-year-old congregation on the green, still gathering at 10 AM on Sundays, still passing the bread and the cup on the first Sunday of every month, still teaching children in Beardsley Hall, still packing Wilton Hall with Pilgrim Fellowship teens, still filling the green with strawberries on Father's Day weekend, and still saying, in two words, All Are Welcome, Always.