Four Churches on Meeting House Hill
Rye Congregational Church sits on Meeting House Hill at 580 Washington Road in the center of Rye, New Hampshire, a small Seacoast town minutes from Portsmouth. The congregation's motto reads, "Celebrating God's Love in the Heart of Rye Since 1726," and the current building is the fourth church erected on that same plot of ground.
The first was a small meeting house built in 1725 and dedicated in 1726. It was replaced in 1755 with a larger meeting house in the typical New England style, where Sunday sermons and once-a-month town meetings both took place. Before 1800 the parish was known simply as the Church of Christ at Rye. A third building went up in 1837 after the town sold the older one, and a Parish House was dedicated in September 1957. Then, on March 19, 1959, fire destroyed the third meeting house in ninety minutes. Funds poured in from parishioners, friends, businesses, lectures, plays, suppers, rummage sales, a fashion show, and a horse show. A Pilgrim Fellowship of youth donated two years' worth of United Nations trip savings to start the rebuilding fund. By dedication day the building fund had grown to $200,000 - the equivalent of more than $1.5 million today. Governor Wesley Powell, himself an ordained minister, preached at the June 4, 1961 dedication. A large addition on the north side of the church was completed in 1986, finishing the building as it stands today.
In the late 1990s a different chapter began. When the congregation then using the building sought to expand onto a parcel in Greenland, about forty local members formed a group committed to keeping worship alive in Rye Center. They registered with the state of New Hampshire on October 8, 1998 as "The Friends of a Congregational Community Church in Rye, New Hampshire," held their first meeting on January 24, 1999, and began weekly worship in September 1999. On January 3, 2000 the name was amended to Rye Congregational Church, the first service in the church on Meeting House Hill was held on May 7, 2000, and 124 men and women became charter members on September 17, 2000. The Reverend John A. Solie preached his first sermon as the new church's first pastor on October 29, 2000, and the deed for the building was transferred from the former congregation to Rye Congregational Church on December 22, 2000.
Sunday Morning at 10 AM
Worship is the central act of the church, and it happens at 10 a.m. each Sunday in the sanctuary. Ushers greet people at the door and hand out bulletins that outline the service and the week's announcements. Large-print bulletins and hearing-aid headphones are available on request. Hymnals and Bibles sit in the pews for those who want to follow along.
The order of worship draws mostly on traditional elements, with the choir offering anthems in the English choral tradition. Old and New Testament readings are part of each service, and a Youth Choir occasionally adds its voice. Near the middle of the service, Pastor Jon invites children up to the steps of the chancel for a Children's Moment, a short, interactive lesson keyed to the morning's sermon. Children age 4 through 12 then head to their Sunday school classroom, returning to the sanctuary as the final hymn is sung to rejoin their families for the benediction.
Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month. The church practices open communion, and the invitation includes children accompanied by an adult who can help them participate with reverence. After the service the whole congregation gathers downstairs in the Fellowship Hall for coffee, tea, and treats - on communion Sundays the spread grows into a more elaborate buffet prepared with help from other committees. Each Sunday service is livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel.
A Senior Pastor from Portland, Maine
Senior Pastor Jonathan D. Conant joined Rye Congregational Church in January 2023. He grew up in Portland, Maine, and first sensed a call to pastoral ministry at the age of 15. He studied music at Gordon College, where he met his wife Jennifer, a mezzo-soprano. Together they attended Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary while raising three children in a two-bedroom apartment. He graduated with a Master of Divinity and a Master of Counseling. After twelve years of worshiping, learning, and finally ministering as Associate Pastor at First Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Ipswich, Massachusetts, the family answered the call to Rye.
Pastor Jon describes his work as preaching, teaching, counseling, discipling, and walking alongside people as their stories intersect with the gospel of Jesus Christ. He and Jennifer live in Dover with their four children, Jeremiah, Isaac, Isabelle, and Eden.
Rylee Ferguson serves as Youth Minister. She holds a BA in Psychology and a Master's in Clinical Counseling from Assumption University in Worcester, Massachusetts, with a focus on child and family therapy. Before coming to Rye she led the Navigators campus ministry at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and worked as an assistant toddler teacher in a Montessori program. She directs the church's youth ministry and helps organize mission activities for the church's teens.
Music in the English Choral Tradition
Music is woven into every Sunday service, and the program is led by two accomplished musicians. Choir Director Mindy McMahon is a mezzo-soprano and harpist with a Bachelor of Music Education in choral studies and a minor in harp from the University of Kansas and a Master of Arts in music history with a vocal performance emphasis from the University of New Hampshire. A long-term member of the Boston Early Music Festival renaissance group Cappella Alamire, she has six CDs to her credit and has performed throughout New England, the Midwest, Europe, and Turkey. She has also appeared in Carnegie Hall and Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall.
Organist and Accompanist Suzanne Sheppard is a classically trained pianist and composer with a Doctor of Musical Arts and a Master of Music from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory. Her performing credits include Principal Pianist for the Boston Ballet School, Accompanist for the professional ensemble Labyrinth Choir, and pianist at T.F. Green Airport. She has received prizes from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, ASCAP, and the Composers Guild, and she co-founded the vocal-and-piano duo The Sheppard Sisters.
The adult choir is non-auditioned and welcomes anyone who likes to sing. Rehearsals are Wednesday evenings from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., September through June, with a regular commitment on Sunday mornings. The sanctuary houses a 24-rank pipe organ with 1,700 authentic pipes and a Schimmel grand piano, and guest musicians and vocalists appear throughout the year.
Children, Youth, and Sunday School
Rye Congregational Church takes seriously the words of Jesus in Matthew 19:14, "Let the little children come to me... for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Children are valued members of the church family, and the Christian Education Committee works with the pastor and deacons to nurture their faith. Every volunteer who works with children goes through a background check, CPR and emergency training, and mentorship alongside an experienced teacher.
Sunday School uses a curriculum that changes from year to year. In the most recent school year the children worked through Kathryn Slattery's Dear God, I Have a Question, paired with scripture readings from the Adventure Bible, exploring who the Trinity is, what it means to be created in the image of God, and whether Jesus really knows their name. The teachers - Janet Whitehouse, Jen Conant, Nancy Russo, and Liyuen Buesing - bring classroom, music, and even culinary experience to the program. Beyond Sunday mornings, children sing with Sparrow Spirit, perform solos during worship, play handbells, take part in the annual Christmas Pageant, and join occasional family movie nights, ice skating outings, and visits with Pastor Jon.
Infants and toddlers through age 3 are cared for in the nursery for the entire service, with radio transmitters that let parents be reached if needed. A second-floor room overlooking the sanctuary is also available for parents who want to stay close to the service but need a quieter space.
Older children have more ways to participate. Once a month they gather on the chancel steps for a Children's Moment with Pastor Jon, and they may serve as acolytes lighting the altar candles, greeters, readers, or special musicians. Twice a year the children take over the worship service - in December for the Christmas Pageant and in June for a Children's Service that has included skits about David and Goliath, illustrated retellings of Joseph, sign-language benedictions, piano solos, and personal testimonies of faith.
Youth from fifth grade through high school meet monthly for fellowship, fun, and mission. The group has held bake sales raising money to send farm animals to African villages through World Vision, prepared a beef stew dinner for the St. Vincent de Paul kitchen in Hampton, gone bowling and ice skating, run scavenger hunts and pool parties, and traveled to Portland, Maine, for a Christian concert. Many of the church's teenagers also attend Young Life on Tuesday nights and a Bible study dinner on Thursday nights, and junior high youth are encouraged to join the local Wyld Life meetings.
Confirmation Class meets on Sunday afternoons for youth who are at least twelve and feel spiritually ready, culminating in a public profession of faith and full membership in the church. Vacation Bible School is offered each summer; recent programs have included Hometown Nazareth, a weeklong experience for ages 5 to 11 that recreates the sights, sounds, and tastes of Jesus' boyhood town with marketplace shops, games, and lively music. High school students are invited to help with Sunday School, the nursery, and Vacation Bible School, and may join the adult choir or bell choir.
Bible Studies and WISE Women
Midweek study is a regular rhythm at Rye Congregational Church. A Bible Study group gathers on Wednesday mornings at 11:00 a.m., and a Men's Bible Study meets on Thursday mornings at 7:30 a.m. Both are open to anyone in the community who wants to dig deeper into scripture.
W.I.S.E. Women Fellowship meets from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month in the church conference room, with a Zoom option for those who cannot attend in person. The name stands for Worshiping, Inspiring, Socializing, and Empowering, and the group is open to adult women of all ages for fellowship, Bible study, and mutual encouragement.
For those who have lost a child, a Grief Support for Bereaved Parents Group offers a quiet place to share. The church also hosts the Rye Driftwood Garden Club, Rye Art Study, the Rye Historical Society, the Seacoast Knitters, and Alcoholics Anonymous, and several exercise and yoga classes sponsored by the Town of Rye meet in the building. The campus includes a Christian Library, a Children's Chapel, a very large gym, a kitchen and dining area, and a hall with a stage - more than 30,000 square feet in all.
Reaching Out: Mission and Community
The Missions Committee supports local, national, and international non-profits that serve people in need. Locally, the congregation collects and delivers non-perishable food to Operation Blessing's food pantry and prepares and serves weekly dinners for the homeless through St. Vincent de Paul. The church also gives financial support to the Salvation Army, which in turn provides food vouchers to neighbors who have fallen on hard times. Each Christmas, members prepare and deliver gift boxes through Operation Christmas Child, which Samaritan's Purse distributes to children around the world. One Great Hour of Sharing, an international program the church has supported for more than seventy years, channels funds into hunger relief, clean water, disaster assistance, and recovery for communities suffering from war or poverty.
Mission is also local and personal. The Membership Committee describes the church as "a bible believing church, with a traditional worship service, in a non political environment," where members can speak to God in His house, hear the Bible read and taught, and share in warm fellowship over coffee and treats after the service. Membership is open to anyone who has been baptized, professes faith in Christ and the Bible as the inspired Word of God, and accepts the church's Statement of Faith. New members are celebrated on New Member Sunday, with options for adults joining by transfer or through the New Member Program, youth joining through Confirmation Class, and children of communing members baptized as covenant children.
How the Church Is Governed
Rye Congregational Church is an independent Christian fellowship that recognizes Christ as its head and the scriptures as its only authority. The Senior Pastor is the spiritual leader of the congregation, and the Board of Deacons provides spiritual oversight, ministering to individuals and families through personal visitation, counseling, prayer teams called Barnabas Teams, the Benevolent Fund, and the Care Team ministry that assigns a caregiver to every church member.
The Church Council is the governing body and includes the pastor, the Deacon Chair, the Moderator, the Clerk, the Treasurer, and the chairs of the eight standing committees: Christian Education, Fellowship, Finance, Membership, Missions, Nominating, Personnel Administration and Oversight, and Property. Standing committees are elected by the congregation for two-year terms, with the Nominating Committee matching members' gifts and willingness to the open positions. Members have a voice and a vote at Congregational Meetings and even select their own pastor.
The Statement of Faith anchors the church's teaching. Members affirm that the Old and New Testaments are the inspired and infallible Word of God, that there is one God eternally existing in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior whose death and resurrection bring salvation, that the Holy Spirit renews and empowers believers, that salvation is wholly by grace, and that the church is called to proclaim the gospel to all the world and to observe the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper.
Finding Rye Congregational Church
From I-95 north or south, drivers take Exit 3, follow Route 33 about 1.5 miles to Ocean Road, then continue to Lafayette Road (Route 1). Heading south on Route 1, a left turn at the traffic lights at Washington Road brings visitors up the hill to Rye Center, where the church sits on the right. The parking lot is just past the building, and the entrance is through the red double doors on the side of the church. Drivers from Route 101 east or west take Exit 11 toward Stratham and Portsmouth, follow Route 33 to Ocean Road, and then make their way to Washington Road the same way. Visitors coming up Route 1 from the south can cut through Lang Road to Washington Road.
Funerals and memorial services are welcome at the church, and baptisms for children or adults are held during regular worship services with the whole congregation as witnesses. Weddings may also be arranged through the pastor and church office. Giving is available online through the church's secure giving page, and sermons - both recent and going back several years - can be viewed on the Sermons page or the YouTube channel, alongside livestreams of each Sunday's service.