A Church with Open Doors, Open Hearts, and Open Minds
United Methodist Church in Wayne sits at 99 Parish Drive in Wayne, New Jersey, a single building on a quiet residential street that has been home to this congregation for generations. The members describe themselves as a multigenerational United Methodist church, and they sum up their welcome in a short phrase: open doors, open hearts, and open minds, with the addition that "All are welcome and All means All."
What the church values comes through in plain words. The community names five things it tries to cultivate: relationships, curiosity, creativity, compassion, and joy. Two rhythms hold the congregation together: small groups during the week and worship on Sunday mornings. Together they root people in what the church calls "the greatest story ever told; the story of God's abundant grace." The members see themselves as "empowered by the Spirit to grow in our faith by practicing loving kindness, witnessing to God's active grace, and spreading the love of Jesus the Christ in our community and the world."
Sunday Worship at Ten
Worship is offered every Sunday at 10:00 AM in the Sanctuary. The service is described as family friendly and blended, drawing on both traditional and contemporary expressions of faith. The same service is offered in person and online, with a Zoom meeting and a Facebook Live stream running for anyone who cannot be in the building. The Zoom link uses Meeting ID 823 9591 4126 with Passcode 092827, and a telephone option is also available at 1-646-558-8656 for those who prefer to call in.
Children are welcome in worship for the full service. After the Children's message, they are invited to leave the Sanctuary for Sunday school, but staying for the whole service is also fine. Following worship, the community gathers for a Fellowship Hour, with packaged cookies and other treats often set out for the gathering.
The sacraments shape the rhythm of the year. Holy Communion is celebrated on several Sundays throughout the year, including Epiphany in early January, the second Sunday in Lent, the Fourth Sunday in Lent, and other occasions. The pastor invites online worshippers to prepare their own bread and cup so they can participate from home, treating the livestream as a real shared table. Baptism Sundays are also marked on the calendar, including the Sunday that celebrates the baptism of Jesus, when the whole congregation renews its baptismal vows.
A Building that Welcomes Everyone
The church building is handicap accessible, with an accessible entrance closest to LeGrande Terr. The sanctuary is the heart of Sunday morning life, and adjoining rooms, including the French Chapel and the dining room, are used for adult small groups, handbell rehearsals, the Olive Branch Book Club, the Administrative Council, and the soup and cookie sales that fill out the church year. When winter weather makes travel difficult, the congregation has been known to worship entirely online, with the music director keeping time and the congregation singing along muted in their own homes.
Music at the Heart of Worship
Music is woven into almost every Sunday. The Jubilation Ringers, a handbell choir, rehearses after worship most weeks and rings during services throughout the church year, including Lent, Palm Sunday, and Easter. Their director works with the music director to weave handbells into the flow of worship, and bulletins name the pieces they will play so the congregation can follow along. During Holy Week, a special arrangement of "Make Me an Instrument of Thy Peace" is paired with a spoken prayer.
Parish Drive is a musical group that joins the church for services several times a year, including the Transfiguration, the Third Sunday in Lent, Palm and Passion Sunday, the Fifth Sunday in Lent, and Easter Sunday, when they fill the sanctuary with what the pastor calls "glorious music." The music director, Peter Candela, leads the congregation in singing. When worship moves to Zoom because of weather, Peter keeps the tempo, and the bulletin prints all the words to the hymns so online worshippers can sing along. On Easter, the sanctuary rings with the Jubilation Ringers while the children hunt for eggs outside, and the pastor reminds the congregation of the resurrection promise in a series of verses about seeds and cocoons and hidden promises.
Children, Sunday School, and Youth
Children are treated as full members of the worshiping community, not a separate audience. They come forward for a Children's message during the service, and afterward they have the option of moving to Sunday school or staying with their families. On Palm Sunday, the Sunday School kids decorate Easter eggs, and on Easter Sunday, an Easter Egg hunt takes place after worship. Youth serve as acolytes, lighting the candles at the beginning of the service and carrying the Light of Christ out at the end. The church periodically looks for someone to coordinate the acolyte schedule, and the role is treated as a real ministry of leadership for the church's young people.
Climate Café for Teens and Young Adults
One of the most distinctive programs at UMC Wayne is the Climate Café, a weekly gathering for teens and young adults that began in February 2025. The Café meets on Tuesday evenings from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM and is a place to share thoughts and feelings about the climate crisis, including the eco-anxiety and eco-grief that come with it. The church recognizes that the climate crisis affects everyone regardless of spiritual beliefs, and people of any faith background or none are welcome.
The Café is not a teaching, therapy, or action-oriented group. It is a safe space to experience, honor, and share feelings about a changing climate, the loss of species, rising sea levels, and extreme weather. Pastor Ninabeth Metcalf facilitates the conversation, and two other adults are always present to listen and build trust. The group values curiosity, honesty, deep listening, trust, and compassion, and smartphones, tablets, and social media are put away during the gathering so that everyone can be fully present. Light refreshments are provided.
Small Groups, Book Club, and First Fridays
Small groups are a regular part of the rhythm at UMC Wayne. First Friday Fellowship is a monthly gathering held at noon on the first Friday of each month, with members bringing their own lunch and beverage while dessert is provided. The group has explored topics such as the origins of common English idioms, and the tone is conversational and unhurried.
The Olive Branch Book Club meets after worship on selected Sundays to discuss a recent book. Recent reading has included "What Remains" by Ida Smith. Other seasonal programs include a Lenten sermon series that pairs an ancient scripture story with a sacred story from the present, a Soup and Sides sale that has raised money for the church's ministries, and a holiday Cookie Sale with cookies, fudge, and biscotti. The Jubilation Ringers schedule their rehearsals around these events, practicing in the Sanctuary after worship on most Sundays.
Community Connections: Giggle and Grow, Koei-Kan, and the Food Pantry
UMC Wayne shares its building with Giggle and Grow, a Preschool and Early Learning Center whose tagline reads "Where the seeds of learning grow every day." The preschool is one of the main entry points to the building for many local families. The church also hosts Koei-Kan Karate of Wayne NJ, a regular community partner that uses the space for its martial arts program.
Outside its walls, UMC Wayne partners with the Wayne Interfaith Network Food Pantry. A collection box sits outside the Sanctuary doors for donations of non-perishables, and the list of needed items rotates through the year. Recent requests have included peanut butter, jelly, jar spaghetti sauce, canned stew, canned chili, black beans, pinto beans, and coffee.
A Long History in Wayne, from 1884 to Today
The congregation was organized in 1884 as the Community Church (Methodist-Episcopal) in Mountain View, NJ, a small community that is now part of greater Wayne. In 1933 the church became the Mountain View Methodist Church, and on Easter Sunday, April 21, 1957, the congregation broke ground for the new church building on Parish Drive, where the church still stands.
The pastor at the time, Rev. Edgar B. Rohrbach, described the day in a way that captures the scope of the move: "Today has been one of the crowning days in the history of Mountainview Methodist Church, and in my ministry. The early, or dawn service filled the church to capacity. The breakfast served at 7am, by the Men's Club was of the usual high order with every table in the dining room filled. The attendance in the Sunday school was 276. The 11am service filled the church to capacity, the room adjoining, the vestabule and the chairs on the porch with people on the stairs of the church. At 3pm we went to our new site and with appropriate ceremony broke ground for our new educational building before a large audience of members and friends of the church."
From those packed Sunday school rooms and sanctuary doors opened in 1957, today's congregation continues to gather under the leadership of Pastor Ninabeth Metcalf, with Peter Candela as Music Director, carrying forward the same spirit of community that has filled the building for more than a century.
Giving and Getting Involved
Members and friends support the church's ministry through online giving, with a secure giving link on the church's giving page. The church also publishes a quarterly Messenger newsletter, and contributions to the newsletter are welcomed from anyone in the congregation who has a story to share.
Volunteers are also needed for Sunday morning roles, including ushers who greet people as they arrive and hand out bulletins, coordinators for the acolyte schedule, and people to collect attendance sheets, replace prayer cards and offering envelopes in the pews, and tidy the Sanctuary after worship. Those who feel called to the work of the Trustees or the Administrative Council are invited to step into those roles as openings arise.
What to Expect on a First Visit
First-time visitors will find the Sanctuary at 99 Parish Drive, with an accessible entrance closest to LeGrande Terr. Worship begins at 10:00 AM, and the dress is whatever is comfortable. The congregation has, on occasion, invited members to wear their "favorite, craziest, or ugliest Christmas Sweater" to church, which is a fair indication of the relaxed tone. Children are welcome in worship, and a Fellowship Hour follows the service for conversation and coffee. Worship is also available via Zoom and Facebook Live.