A Family on Main Street in East Setauket
Three Village Church sits on Main Street in the heart of East Setauket, on the North Shore of Long Island, and the building has quietly become a steady presence in the life of the Three Village community. The congregation describes itself as a family of Jesus-followers animated by the gospel of grace, committed to loving God and loving others across generations, perspectives, and backgrounds. Their stated purpose is simple: to know Christ and make him known.
The rhythms of the church flow outward from that single sentence. Two Sunday services fill the sanctuary with a mix of contemporary and traditional music, small groups gather in homes across the area on weeknights, a food pantry hands out groceries twice a month at the church's west entrance, and a regular stream of support flows to missionaries across the globe. What ties it all together is a conviction that the Bible is the authority for faith and life and that grace, not performance, sits at the center of Christian community.
Sundays at 9:15 and 11:00
Visitors have two opportunities to join the gathered church on a Sunday morning. Worship services are held at 9:15 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. at 322 Main Street. Children's programming for nursery through fifth grade and the middle school ministry SixThirtyOne run during the 9:15 service. Between services, Coffee Express in the Commons gives people a place to linger, talk, and meet new friends. After the second service, the church hosts weekly college and career lunches during the school year.
Lead Pastor Josh Moody writes that newcomers should expect to be greeted at the door by someone ready to help them find their way. The dress ranges from jeans to suits, and the music draws from a contemporary band that also weaves in hymns and newer songs. Services include prayer, Scripture reading, congregational singing, and a Bible-based message, and no one is put on the spot as a visitor. Every few months, the church offers a free one-hour lunch called "Taste of 3VC," where guests can meet church leaders, ask questions, and learn how to connect.
Children, Youth, and the College Bus
Three Village Church takes its family ministries seriously, and that is visible in how each age group is served.
The Children's Ministry, coordinated by Michelle Boutcher, reaches children from infancy through fifth grade. Sunday school classes at 9:15 are organized by age: nursery for newborns up to age 2, PreK for ages 3 and 4, a combined kindergarten and first grade class, second and third grade together, and fourth and fifth grade together. Each volunteer has cleared a thorough application and background check. Beyond Sunday school, children take part in special moments during the year, including Palm Sunday singing and scripture reading, the Christmas Eve children's service where the Christmas story is enacted, and outreach events like the Easter Egg Hunt, Vacation Bible School in early August, and the Community Fall Festival in late October.
SixThirtyOne is the youth ministry for sixth through eighth graders. The name nods to the 631 area code that covers Suffolk County, and the ministry works in partnership with Young Life of the Northern Brookhaven area. Students meet on Wednesdays from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. in the Commons. Social media handles @sixthirtyoneyouth on Instagram and sixthirtyone on Facebook keep families connected week to week.
The College Ministry is one of the most distinctive features of the church. Because Stony Brook University is right in the neighborhood, Three Village Church runs a bus that picks up students from three campus stops - H Quad, Hamilton, and Tabler - before the 11:00 service. After the second service, the church provides a free lunch and a chance for undergraduate and graduate students to meet, make friends, and grow in Christ alongside other students. The bus runs weekly while the university is in session.
Small Groups, Alpha, and Stephen Ministry
The church believes that the Christian life is not meant to be lived alone, and the bulk of its midweek ministry is designed to put that belief into practice.
Small groups typically consist of eight to twelve people and meet in homes or other informal settings. Members share a meal, share joys and burdens, pray for one another, and study the Bible together. Groups meet in many different communities and at many different times across the area.
Alpha is an eleven-week introduction to the Christian faith held on a weeknight. Each session includes a meal, a brief teaching, and open discussion. It is free and open to anyone with questions about the meaning of life or about God, no matter their background.
Stephen Ministry provides one-to-one lay care for people going through a difficult season. Stephen Ministers are church members who have completed fifty hours of training and are then matched with a person experiencing grief, divorce, job loss, chronic or terminal illness, a crisis of faith, or a major life transition. They meet weekly for about an hour, and a Stephen Leader supervises the relationship and protects confidentiality. Stephen Ministry is coordinated by Arlene Pimentel with leaders Angela Leung, Wayne Chesley, and Rob Taylor.
Men's and Women's Bible Studies
The men's and women's ministries both revolve around Scripture, prayer, and friendship. The men gather for Bible study and discussion on Saturday mornings at 8:00 a.m., year round, sharpening one another as iron sharpens iron. The women's ministry offers several Bible study sessions throughout the year, generally on Tuesday and Saturday mornings at 9:45 a.m., led by women who are committed to helping others grow and deepen their walk with Christ. Free childcare is provided during the Tuesday meetings.
The Food Pantry at the West Entrance
The 3VC Food Pantry opened in October 2021 and has been running steadily ever since, serving an average of 190 people twice a month, about 38 households each time. It is open the first and third Saturday of every month from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and guests are invited to come receive bags of non-perishable staples along with a selection of by-request items. The entrance is at the west side of the church, with signs to guide visitors in.
Volunteers are ready to pray with anyone who comes by, and the church considers it an honor to do so. Items are donated by the congregation and supplemented by the 3VC Mercy Fund. There are several ways to help: dropping off non-perishables in the red bin near the main entrance during the week or on the pantry table on Sundays, donating grocery gift cards to fill nutritional gaps, or giving to the Mercy Fund through the church's giving page.
A Mission Heart from the Beginning
A missions mindset has been at the very core of Three Village Church since its inception. Bob and Muriel Ward, a founding couple of the church, entered the mission field soon after the church began. Today the congregation supports 20 missionaries and 14 missionary organizations around the world, and there are regular opportunities to join short-term mission trips.
Among the partners the church walks with are Reach Beyond, formerly HCJB Radio, working through media to reach refugee and unreached people groups, with two new radio training studios recently installed in Ivory Coast. Rebecca Gibbons serves with YWAM in Thailand as the Asia coordinator for Discipleship Training Schools and ministers to children at risk in her village. Eve Buasri, raised as a Buddhist in Thailand and now a lead teacher with YWAM's DTS, has a vision for more Thais coming to faith in Jesus. Nick and Bekah Ecker serve with ABWE in the southern Chilean town of Rio Bueno, planting reproducible, gospel-centered churches through evangelism, discipleship, and community.
Other partners include Andrew and Bethany Case, who translate and teach in Oaxaca, Mexico, producing the Hebrew-teaching YouTube series "Aleph with Beth" and working on a Chatino Bible translation; Paul Holt with InterVarsity's Student Ministry; Trans World Radio, whose animated Bible story series "Share the Story" was created with a Muslim audience in mind; Chris Studley of Northern Frontier Camp in the Adirondacks, a wilderness camp for boys and men; Wally and Joan Wiley with Mission Aviation Fellowship in Papua; Younoussa and Alphonsine Djao, who lead discipleship training in West Africa through New Generations; Long Island Youth Mentoring, which connects at-risk youth with Christian mentors and currently has 70 children waiting for a match; and Soundview Pregnancy Services, with three centers on Long Island.
The church also partners with Helping Hand Rescue Mission in Huntington Station, Bangladesh Theological Seminary, Far East Broadcasting Company, For His Children in Ecuador, New Hope Family Services in Syracuse, and Mesa Global, formerly Overseas Council, which partners with seminaries in more than seventy countries.
What Three Village Church Believes
The church's statement of faith is rooted in historic Christian orthodoxy. Members affirm that the original writings of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired, unerring Word of God, the complete revelation of His will and the final authority for Christian faith and life. They believe in one God, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They confess that Jesus Christ is true God and true man, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, who died on the cross as a sacrifice for sin, rose bodily from the dead, ascended to the right hand of God, and now serves as our High Priest.
Salvation, the church teaches, is accomplished by Christ's sacrificial death and is offered as a free gift to all who repent and trust Christ as personal Lord and Savior. Humanity was created in God's image but fell into sin and now needs regeneration by the Holy Spirit for salvation. The Holy Spirit's ministry is to glorify Christ, convict people of sin, regenerate believers, and indwell, guide, instruct, and empower Christians for godly living and service. The church is composed of all who have been regenerated by the Spirit and placed their faith in Jesus Christ. Three Village Church also believes in the bodily resurrection of the dead, the personal and imminent return of Jesus Christ, and the final judgment of believers to everlasting blessedness and unbelievers to everlasting punishment.
The Leadership Team
Josh Moody is the lead pastor. He grew up in Nashville, graduated from Baylor University, served as a police officer in Baltimore, and earned a Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary before pastoring at Shelter Rock Church on Long Island. He and his wife Kim have four children. Andy Boutcher is the discipleship pastor; he came up through Three Village Church as a teenager, returned after seminary and chaplaincy training, and now leads small groups, Alpha, and the college ministry alongside his wife Michelle and their three children.
Michelle Boutcher coordinates children's ministry, having served at the church since 2012 as a Sunday school teacher, youth leader, VBS volunteer, and family events coordinator. Heather Pleier, a graduate of Taylor University with years of church music experience in the US, China, and Germany, leads the worship ministry. Ralph Castiglione, a chiropractor by profession who grew up on Long Island, serves as missions and outreach coordinator, connecting the congregation with missionaries and organizations near and far. Sandy Via, an experienced nonprofit administrator and long-time church member, serves as executive director, and Kristen Calendrille is the administrative coordinator who supports the ministries day to day.
The Stephen Ministry team is led by Coordinator Arlene Pimentel with Stephen Leaders Angela Leung, Wayne Chesley, and Rob Taylor. The church also partners with Faith Preschool, a separate program for babies through Pre-K that shares the church's building and grounds.
Plan a Visit
Three Village Church is located at 322 Main Street, East Setauket, NY 11733. Office hours run Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the office can be reached at (631) 941-3670 or office@3vc.org. Services are livestreamed and recorded on YouTube for those who want to follow along from home. The church also runs a weekly newsletter that anyone can subscribe to, and uses Church Community Builder (CCB) as its online directory.
People who want to give can do so online through Subsplash Giving, drop a check or cash in the white box outside the main office on Sundays, or mail a gift to the church's Main Street address. The next step for newcomers is simple: come as you are, expect a warm greeting, hear the Bible taught, and see what it looks like to follow Jesus in community on Long Island.