Westminster Presbyterian Church stands at the corner of 13th and Rodney Streets in the Trolley Square neighborhood of Wilmington, Delaware, where it has gathered since 1883. The congregation worships in a Gothic-style stone sanctuary, opens its doors to neighbors and visitors of every description, and takes seriously its identity as a church that is "reformed, always in need of being reformed according to the Word of God." Sundays begin with a 9:30 a.m. service and a generous post-worship breakfast, and the building stays alive through the week with choirs, classes, prayer gatherings, justice walks, and a long list of mission projects that reach from the neighborhood to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, and the Middle East.
From Sabbath School to Gothic Sanctuary
The seeds of Westminster were planted in 1857, when Central Presbyterian Church, then at 8th and King Streets in Wilmington, organized three Sunday Schools. One of them, the McDowellville Sunday School, met near the city's "Forty Acres" residential area west of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad tracks, where the families of Scotch-Irish immigrant mill workers had settled. The school met in the McDowellville School House, then moved to a room over a store on Pennsylvania Avenue and Lincoln Street, and in 1865 took shape as Rodney Street Chapel, a wood-frame building at 14th and Rodney on land leased from Robert Smith for one dollar a year.
The first church building on the present corner of 13th and Rodney was dedicated on December 2, 1883 and is the oldest part of what stands today. Rodney Street Church was formally organized in 1886 with fifty-five charter members: forty-eight drawn from the Central, Green Hill, and West congregations, plus seven new Presbyterians. The Rev. William Leonard McEwan was called as the first pastor. The same year the Women’s Mission Society was organized. On June 22, 1910, the congregation unanimously voted to adopt the name Westminster Presbyterian Church. The Gothic-style sanctuary where the congregation continues to gather for worship was constructed the next month.
Over the years, Westminster has added a Community Hall for fellowship, education, and mission, created a Memorial Garden where many of its members are laid to rest, established a Community Garden tended by members and neighbors, and acquired three neighboring properties to provide transitional housing in partnership with Friendship House. The covenant the church reads for itself today: "Westminster Presbyterian Church seeks to embody God’s boundless love by embracing, liberating, and empowering people - whoever they are and wherever they may be on their faith journeys - to realize the transforming power of Christ in our congregation, community, and the world beyond."
Sunday Morning in the Sanctuary
The Sunday service takes place in the Gothic stone sanctuary with its stained glass windows, beginning at 9:30 a.m. and lasting roughly forty to fifty minutes. An usher hands each worshipper a bulletin that lists the Order of Worship and prints the liturgy. Purple Glory to God hymnals can be found on the shelf beneath the pew in front of each seat, or at the end of the pew for those in the front row. Congregational hymns are typically led by the choir and organ, with a song leader and piano at other times, and congregants are invited to sing along, to join the printed prayers and responses, and to come forward for communion when it is celebrated.
Scripture is read, a sermon is preached by one of the pastors, prayers are offered, and hymns and choral anthems with organ accompaniment are sung, with occasional instrumental offerings. A children’s message is part of the service. The Lord’s Supper is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month and at occasional special services. Communion is served by intinction: worshippers come forward, take a piece of bread, and dip it into the cup of grape juice. Servers carry the elements to those seated in the balcony. Westminster practices the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) open table, welcoming all who trust in Christ to the feast regardless of age or understanding. Baptisms - both infant and adult - are also celebrated in worship.
Westminster livestreams the service at 9:30 a.m. each week and keeps an archive of recent sermons that can be watched on demand, with bulletins and sermon manuscripts available as PDFs. Worship is occasionally led by guest preachers, and the service time can shift for holidays or congregational events such as Easter Sunday, when services are scheduled for 9 and 11 a.m. The most recent guest preachers and pastors to bring the word from the Westminster pulpit include The Rev. Dr. Douglas D. Gerdts, The Rev. Dr. Jim C. Dunkin, The Rev. Dr. Rachel C. Hߣebert, The Rev. Dr. Randall T. Clayton, The Rev. Bill Getman, The Rev. Cindy Kohlmann, The Rev. Brad Martin, The Rev. Dr. Carl P. Daw Jr., The Rev. Don Lincoln, Destiny Magnett, and The Rev. Dr. Scott M. Kenefake, the congregation’s Transitional Pastor.
Arriving, Parking, and Getting In
First-time visitors are encouraged to arrive at least ten minutes early to park, find a seat, and meet a greeter or usher. The church parking lot is at the corner of West 13th Street and North Rodney Street and can be entered from either street; exits are onto Rodney Street only. Thirteen Street is one-way, and street parking is permitted where posted, so signs and street-cleaning notices are worth a glance. There are two main entrances: the parking-lot entrance on 13th Street, beneath the blue awning marked "1502," and the Pavilion entrance off Pennsylvania Avenue, an octagon-shaped glassy space that is easy to spot.
For accessible entry, the 13th Street entrance offers a ramp, a door-access switch (push button), and an elevator. Visitors can pull up to drop off before parking, or park in the lot and use the ramp at the corner of 13th and Rodney. Inside the building, name tags are encouraged and are available at the 1502 13th Street entrance, in the Pavilion, and on the literature table in the main hallway near the reception office. A self-service coat room sits off the main hallway near the Pavilion, and there is a coat rack in the portal outside the side (transept) door to the sanctuary.
What to Wear, and Where to Eat Afterward
Many who attend the sanctuary service wear what the church calls traditional church attire - dresses or slacks, a button-down shirt, or a coat and tie - and the same standard holds for special events such as concerts in the sanctuary. For small gatherings, mission projects, and the like, jeans and tee shirts are perfectly ordinary. Visitors who arrive uncertain how to dress are warmly assured that they are welcome to come just as they are.
After the 9:30 service, from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m., everyone is invited to the Holy Toast Café in Rodney Chapel. The café serves complimentary coffee, tea, and continental breakfast items year-round. September through May the menu is fuller: donuts, a range of breads for toasting, a freshly baked specialty item, fresh fruit, yogurt, and cereal. During the summer months the offering is lighter. Donations are welcome. The room functions as one of the congregation’s main touchpoints for informal conversation between newcomers and members.
Children and Youth
Children of all ages are always welcome in worship with their families, and children’s worship bags are available at the sanctuary entrances for the youngest among them. For those ready to join age-appropriate classes, Christian Education for Age 3 through Grade 5 meets Sundays from 9:45 to 10:30 a.m., and Christian Education for Grades K through 12 meets from 10:45 to 11:35 a.m. The Youth Service Corps holds its kickoff events and mission projects for children in grades K through 8 on Sundays during the program year.
Kathleen Kennan serves as Director of Christian Education and Youth Ministry, with Sasha Latina as Associate Director of Youth and Cameron Green as Choral Assistant for Children and Youth and a Youth Group Leader. Stephanie Burris-White directs Preschool Ministries. Vacation Bible School is offered as part of the church’s annual rhythm. Ava Herring and Beatrice Taylor ("Ms. Bea") serve in the nursery, and Westminster maintains nursery care as part of its programming for the youngest members and visitors.
Music and the Arts
Westminster is widely known for its music program. Dr. F. Anthony Thurman joined Westminster as Director of Music and Organist in 2020, after a career that has taken him to some of the largest instruments in the world, including St. Bartholomew’s, St. John the Divine, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and The Riverside Church in New York; the U.S. Military Academy Cadet Chapel at West Point; and the cathedrals of Cologne, Mainz, and the Gedächtniskirche in Berlin. He is also chief development officer for the American Guild of Organists, a regular contributor to The American Organist Magazine, and a frequent performer whose work has been heard on American Public Media’s Pipedreams and on YouTube.
He is joined by Marjorie Eldreth as Director of Music for Children and Youth and by Cameron Green as Choral Assistant for Children and Youth. The Westminster Choir sings at Sunday worship, leads anthems, and performs in concert, including an annual performance of Handel’s Messiah with orchestra. The sanctuary’s pipe organ, stained glass, and sculpture art are part of what makes the music program work, and the church maintains a YouTube playlist of past concerts, along with playlists for adult education, peace and justice programming, and children’s messages. Recent concerts have included the Copeland String Quartet.
A Working Congregation: Mission, Justice, and Earth Care
Westminster frames its mission work through the Matthew 25 call that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has issued to its congregations since 2016. The church has signed on as a Matthew 25 congregation, committing itself to building congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism, and eradicating systemic poverty. In practical terms that means working for justice and reconciliation, serving neighbors in need, and advocating for change in housing, health care, education, and more. Westminster is also a member of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, an association of congregations that support the full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people in the life and leadership of the church.
Locally, the church hosts New Life Furnishings on Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., a mission program through which donated household furnishings are redirected to people setting up new homes. The Mission Hub directs the congregation’s international partnerships in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, and the Middle East (Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Afghan refugees). Justice and peace work includes the First Friday Walk for Justice and Peace, held from 5:30 to 6:00 p.m. on the first Friday of every month. Westminster has also been certified as an Earth Care Congregation by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) every year since 2010, in recognition of its work on creation care through worship, education, outreach, and advocacy.
Volunteers make much of this work happen. The church’s own list of serving opportunities includes ambassadors, audio and video, children’s programs, church officer roles, communion preparation, flowers, greeters, meal trains, Memorial Garden care, pew pockets, the Phix-It Corps, prayer shawls, Stephen Ministry, ushers, Vacation Bible School, wedding assistants, the Westminster-by-Heart Storytellers, and the Westminster Choir. Outside the building, members counsel adults, prepare and serve meals, collect and distribute food and clothing, do mentoring with students, drive and deliver goods, support partner organizations, mentor students, and give in-kind donations.
Pastoral Care, Prayer, and Grief Support
The Rev. Jill Getty, who has served Westminster since 2009 and now serves as Pastoral Care Associate, brings God’s healing presence to members in the hospital, in senior living facilities, and in their homes. She organizes home communion, shepherds the prayer list, conducts memorial services, directs the Stephen Ministry program, and counsels the deacons. The Prayer Ministry Team receives prayer requests confidentially. Stephen Ministry, a network of more than 13,000 congregations equipped through Stephen Ministries of St. Louis, provides one-to-one, Christ-centered care to people in the congregation and the community who are going through difficult times. The Better Days Grief Support Group is also part of the church’s care network, and members can volunteer to become Stephen Ministers themselves or to knit prayer shawls for those in need.
Deacons are elected to take particular responsibility for the church’s ministry of compassion and service, and the deacon board includes thirty-eight named members who care for the congregation’s pastoral needs. The Circle of Hope Prayer Gathering, held Sundays from 9:00 to 9:25 a.m. before the service, is another way members support one another in prayer.
Adults, Learning, and Westminster-by-Heart
Adults who want to dig deeper have a number of entry points. Adult education classes are offered on Sundays during the program year and are archived on the church’s YouTube channel under the playlist Education for Adults. The Westminster-by-Heart Storytellers is a particular ministry in which members share the stories that have shaped their faith. Life events - weddings, funerals, memorial services, and baptisms - are prepared with the pastors and the church’s wedding assistants. Weddings and other ceremonies may be scheduled in the sanctuary. Members and prospective members can explore membership in Membership Exploration sessions.
What Westminster Believes
Westminster is honest about the diversity of belief among its members and refuses to say "This is what everyone at Westminster believes." A few core convictions are held widely. All people are children of God, and God desires rich and fulfilling lives for all. Members expect to be involved in at least one mission endeavor that shares God’s love with people in need beyond the church walls. God is present with the congregation in celebration and suffering, strengthens the weak, guides the uncertain, brings hope in despair, and challenges the church to work for justice and peace. The Bible is essential to Christian faith, but not read literally; the Spirit sheds new light on Scripture and the church wrestles with passages that reflect an ancient or patriarchal worldview. Following Jesus is held to be the best, though not the only, path to God. Members respect people of other faiths and hope for mutual understanding through dialogue.
Joining, Giving, and Staying in Touch
Those thinking about joining the Westminster congregation can begin with a Membership Exploration session and follow up by contacting the church office. Giving is made online or through annual pledge cards, and the church publishes a comprehensive 2025 Annual Report that summarizes the year’s programs, spiritual growth, and finances. Two publications keep members and friends connected: the Westminster Weekly Word, an e-newsletter distributed every Thursday with short announcements and a submission deadline of Tuesday at 2 p.m., and the Westminster Chimes, a periodic full-color newsletter with issues available online going back several years. Both can be subscribed to online. The church’s social channels - Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube - carry additional updates, including videos of concerts and services. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the office closed on Fridays in July and August.