Two Centuries on Ellington Road
Wapping Community Church has stood at the corner of Ellington Road and Sullivan Avenue in South Windsor, Connecticut since 1803, when the congregation was officially founded. Across more than two hundred and twenty years the building has been remade and the surrounding town has grown up around it, but the church still gathers on Sunday mornings in the same white New England Congregational-style sanctuary that has long been described as the iconic landmark of the neighborhood. As Protestants within the United Church of Christ, members treasure the Bible as a source of guidance and inspiration and ground their life together in the life and example of his son, Jesus Christ.
The church is known for three particular marks. It is one of the longest-serving congregations in South Windsor. It has been an Open and Affirming church of the UCC since January 2017, after the members unanimously adopted a covenant welcoming people of every age, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, race, national and faith origins, mental and physical ability, social and economic status, family structure and educational background. And it runs a wide-ranging program of music, children's education and community service that reaches well beyond the building's walls.
Beliefs, Sacraments and Welcome
Wapping describes itself as a big, blended family of Christians that shares a love of God and service to each other and to neighbors. The congregation holds that each person has a unique relationship with God and Jesus Christ, and cherishes the diversity of experience that members bring. Following the Congregationalist tradition, the church celebrates two sacraments: baptism and communion.
Communion is offered at both Sunday services on the first Sunday of each month, and all are welcome to participate, including children. The Open and Affirming covenant is rooted in the prayer of Jesus that his followers may all be one, and in the command to love God with heart, soul, strength and mind, and neighbor as self. That welcome is carried into the practical life of the congregation through accessibility, an inclusive children's program and a roster of community partnerships.
Sunday Mornings at 8:30 and 10:00
Worship is offered on Sundays at 8:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. in the sanctuary. From June through August the schedule changes to a single combined service at 9:00 a.m. The Passing of the Peace comes partway through each service, when the congregation turns to greet one another in what has been described as a three-minute riot of handshakes, hugs, fist bumps and other warm signs of reunion. Visitors are welcomed into that moment just as members are, and many first-time guests comment on how many greetings they receive.
Worship is supported by a strong music program. Senior Pastor Rev. Mark Abernethy, who was called to Wapping in October 1998, prepares sermons that he describes as timely, relevant, thought-provoking and humorous. He is a graduate of Stanford University and Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and previously served as solo pastor of Bunker Hill Congregational Church, UCC in Waterbury. Pastor Mark is supported by Director of Music Maria Centola and Director of Faith Formation Erin Murray, who oversees the children's program.
Services are livestreamed on YouTube, so members who are away, traveling or unable to attend in person can still worship with the congregation.
Music Across the Building
Music is central to worship at Wapping. The Chancel Choir is a volunteer group of singers aged 13 and older who rehearse on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. and sing at most Sunday services. The choir draws on a wide repertoire, presents an annual Christmas program and occasionally joins other choirs for major choral works. New singers, including those with little experience or limited sight-reading, are warmly welcomed.
A Men's Choir enhances services on Mother's Day and Christmas, preparing its music in three or four short rehearsals and welcoming singers aged 16 and older. A Youth Choir for children and teens aged 4 through 18 rehearses on Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m. in the Chapel and prepares pieces that include percussion and world music elements for several services each year.
Director of Music Maria Centola, originally from Russia, brings a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Gnessin's College of Music and Graduate Professional Diploma and Master of Music degrees from the Hartt School at the University of Hartford. A pianist, organist and choir director, she has taught at Connecticut College, the Hartt School, the University of Connecticut and Miss Porter's School. She leads Unison Music Academy alongside her work at Wapping, which she has directed since 2013. The music program regularly invites guest musicians whose styles range from gospel and opera to jazz, classical, folk, Irish music and bagpipes.
Children's Ministry: God's Garden
Wapping's children's ministry is built around the God's Garden Church School Program, which serves children ages 3 through Grade 8 during the 10:00 service from mid-September through Children's Sunday in early June. Children begin the morning in the sanctuary with their families and then leave during the Passing of the Peace for age-appropriate classrooms.
Younger children, called 'Lil' Sprouts, are ages 3 through kindergarten and gather in the Gathering Room before heading to their classroom on the 3rd floor, where they sing, play games and do activities centered on the week's Bible story. Children in Grades 1-2 and 3-5 learn the Bible lesson through crafts, discussion, sharing and prayer. Grades 6-8 meet in their own classroom, often hosting guest speakers, reading and discussing Scripture and taking on service projects that introduce them to the congregation's missions.
A staffed nursery is available on the second floor for children 2 and under during the 10:00 service. The Childcare Room is a colorful space featuring age-appropriate toys, a high chair, a play yard, a small table and chairs and a changing table, and it opens at 9:45 a.m. Children are always welcome in worship itself, and the church notes that having them in the sanctuary is a delight.
Vacation Bible School is offered each June over five days, with Bible stories, crafts, music and games. The Sacred Dancers rehearse in the sanctuary after the 10:00 service in the weeks before Christmas and Easter, and children ages 3 through 18 are invited to take part.
Youth Ministry and Confirmation
Middle schoolers gather as Junior Pilgrim Fellowship (JPF) two Sunday afternoons per month from 4 to 6 p.m., September through early June, for fellowship, mission and discussion in the Community Room. The group is open to young people in grades 6-8 from South Windsor and nearby towns. High schoolers in grades 9-12 meet as Senior Pilgrim Fellowship (SPF) on Sunday afternoons from 4 to 6 p.m., September through July 1, in the Youth Room. SPF includes at least one week-long mission trip each year, with recent trips taking young people to rural Maryland, New York City, Philadelphia and South Dakota to volunteer with needy communities.
For interested 9th and 10th graders, the church offers a confirmation program based on the UCC's A Congregation's Guide to Confirmation, Affirming Faith. Sessions are taught by the Senior Pastor, Deacons and other qualified adults and cover Community Life, Our History and Heritage, God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Church and God's Gifts and Our Response. The experience includes a mission component, visits to other churches and a retreat. The Rite of Confirmation takes place during Sunday worship, and confirmands become full members of the church.
Finding the Building
The sanctuary sits on the second floor of the church building at 1790 Ellington Road, and the congregation has worked to make that approach welcoming for everyone. Parking is available in the large lot next to the church, with handicapped spaces designated immediately on entering off Sullivan Avenue and a drop-off driveway alongside. A second, smaller lot is accessible off Petersen Way.
Three doors lead to the sanctuary. The Front doors face the intersection of Ellington Road and Sullivan Avenue. The Gathering Room door is reached by a brick sidewalk that runs from the main lot past the gymnasium. The Petersen Way door leads from the smaller lot, up a short flight of stairs on the left.
For those who cannot use the stairs, the Sullivan Avenue entrance is wheelchair accessible. An elevator off the semi-circular drop-off driveway carries visitors to the second floor, where a left at the end of the long hallway and another left open onto the Gathering Room and the sanctuary beyond.
Stephen Ministry and Pastoral Care
Pastoral care at Wapping includes a Stephen Ministry program, which offers one-to-one, confidential, Christ-centered care from trained Stephen Ministers to members of the congregation and to people in the wider community who are working through crisis or grief. A separate Touchstones Ministry sends members of the congregation to visit homebound parishioners, keeping them connected to the wider church family. Pastoral care is also part of Pastor Mark's work, and the church welcomes people from beyond the congregation who are looking for counsel in difficult seasons.
Missions and Community Partnerships
Service to others is one of Wapping's defining marks. The Missions ministry lists a deep bench of ongoing partnerships:
- Foodshare provides essential food support and helps neighbors access nourishment. The church hosts a free December luncheon and distributes coats, mittens, gloves and scarves.
- MACC (Manchester Area Conference of Churches) receives food drives, holiday meal gift cards and Christmas gift cards, and the church organizes regular volunteer days at the MACC pantry.
- Covenant to Care supports students and children in need through backpacks of school supplies in August and Christmas gifts each holiday season.
- South Windsor Food and Fuel Bank benefits from food drives, holiday meal gift cards and additional Christmas gift cards.
- Cornerstone, a faith-based nonprofit, receives donations and clothing drives to support neighbors needing food, clothing, shelter and other essentials.
- Habitat for Humanity is supported by a dedicated team of volunteers who help individuals and families create places they can call home.
- CROP Walk, hosted at the church each October, is a community walk dedicated to ending world hunger.
- Scout Bottle and Can Drive happens twice a year to support Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops in Hartford's North End.
Wapping also takes part in the life of South Windsor more broadly. Clergy and members participate in Memorial Day and veterans' recognition ceremonies, the annual multi-denominational Thanksgiving service, Heritage Day and other civic celebrations. Two church-run events have become town traditions: an Easter Egg Hunt and a Halloween trunk-or-treat.
Weddings, Funerals and a Town Landmark
Throughout the year the church hosts weddings and funerals in the sanctuary, serving both members and people who arrive with little or no prior connection to Wapping. Many are drawn by word of mouth or by the iconic white New England Congregational building at the heart of town, and the church describes its goal as offering a warm, comforting space where families and loved ones can find solace and celebrate milestones with dignity and grace. Inquiries go through the church office.
How Wapping Is Supported
As a self-funded Congregational church, Wapping depends on the financial giving of its members and friends. By the church's description, the congregation is intentionally lean for a church of its size. Annual giving comes through recurring weekly or monthly gifts, intermittent gifts, special-purpose gifts directed by the giver, and endowments and bequests placed in the WCC Endowment Fund or designated through wills and other estate planning. Online giving is available through a secure giving page, and the church also invites volunteers into the music program and Church School as teachers and helpers.
Wapping Community Church sits at 1790 Ellington Road in South Windsor, Connecticut, and is reachable by phone at 860-644-0833 and through the church office email. Sunday services, the God's Garden children's program, the Stephen Ministry and a full calendar of choir rehearsals, youth fellowships and community service projects keep the building and the people who fill it moving through the week.