Wilton Presbyterian Church (WPC) sits at 48 New Canaan Road near the southern end of Wilton, Connecticut. Its campus is shared with St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, and the two congregations have built a Joint Venture that runs through the life of WPC, from a shared nursery and church school to occasional joint worship.
WPC describes itself as a progressive, welcoming, and inclusive congregation seeking both to know Christ and to make Christ known to people from all walks of life. The motto at the heart of the church is, "God welcomes, includes and cares for all." Each Sunday, a ten o'clock service of worship gathers the congregation in the sanctuary, with a livestreamed recording available on YouTube for those who cannot attend in person.
Sunday Mornings at Ten
Worship is held every Sunday at 10 a.m., year-round. There is no dress code; on any given Sunday, members arrive in suits and ties, in jeans, in leggings, or in sports clothes on the way to a game. Greeters hand out a printed program at the door, and there are no assigned seats. Hymnals and Bibles are in the back of the pew or underneath the seat.
The service is rooted in the Presbyterian tradition. Most Sundays include anthems from the Chancel Choir accompanied by organ or piano and occasional guest instrumentalists, along with hymns, prayers, and a fifteen to twenty minute message from one of the pastors or a visiting minister.
Communion is celebrated twice a month, on the first and third Sundays. The church alternates between serving people in their seats and inviting them to come forward for the bread and cup. On those Sundays, the children return to the sanctuary to take communion with their families. All who wish to receive are welcome at the table.
The first Sunday of each month is also Wild Goose Sunday, an intergenerational communion service in which children remain in the service and the congregation tries something different. The Wild Goose is a name for the Holy Spirit drawn from Celtic Christianity, and the service is meant to follow the Spirit into new places. The full service runs about an hour, and most Sundays the congregation gathers afterward in Parish Hall for Fellowship Hour, with coffee, tea, juice, snacks, and conversation.
A single-use, gender-inclusive restroom is in the hall just to the left of the sanctuary. Additional restrooms are in the hallway at the back of the building.
A Joint Venture with St. Matthew's
Since 1971, Wilton Presbyterian has shared its campus with St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, a partnership the two congregations call the Joint Venture. The two churches share a common facility, a common church school, a common youth ministry, and occasional common worship services. Children attending the nursery, Church School, and Confirmation classes may sit alongside children from either congregation.
The shared space has also shaped WPC's interfaith work in the wider community. The congregation hosts an annual common worship with Grace Baptist Church of South Norwalk, an African-American congregation, and an annual interfaith worship bringing together Jewish neighbors from Temple B'nai Chaim in Georgetown and Muslim friends from the American Institute for Islamic Studies in North Stamford. The new David Graybill Series, Common Path: An Exploration of the Abrahamic Traditions, continues that work.
Children, Youth, and the Shared Church School
Children are welcome throughout worship at WPC. Following the Opening Hymn or the Children's Message, children in pre-K through seventh grade are invited to Church School. Leaders from WPC and St. Matthew's alternate in leading the classes, which meet in the shared facilities on the Joint Venture campus.
Sacred Adventures, for kindergarten through fourth grade, introduces children to the weekly Gospel lesson through crafts, games, storytelling, and imagination. What's the Word, for fifth through seventh grade, is a conversation-style exploration of the Bible that uses video, multimedia, and games to make the stories of faith accessible to everyday life. The curriculum places a strong emphasis on mission, and each fall and spring the children create small gifts of food or craft that are gathered into Give A Smile bags and delivered to members of the two congregations.
Every two years, fourth and fifth graders take a four-week deep dive into the Bible and, at a special service, receive their own Bible from the congregation.
The nursery welcomes children from newborn through age four. Lucia Sato, who has led the nursery for more than two decades, plans lessons, crafts, and snacks each Sunday. Parents may drop children off as early as 9:45 a.m. and pick them up after worship.
Older children and youth meet in Quest, the middle school group for sixth through eighth graders, and E.D.G.E., the high school group whose name stands for Every Day God Encounters. Both groups gather for fellowship, games, service projects, and conversation about faith. Service projects include Rake N Roll, caroling, Midnight Run, a WEPCO work day, and an annual mission trip during February school break. The high school group meets twice a month, once for a lunch and discussion, and once for a hands-on service project or a recreational outing. Confirmation is offered to older youth as part of the joint youth ministry with St. Matthew's.
Music at WPC
Music is woven into the rhythm of worship. The Chancel Choir, directed by Music Director Rodney Loren, rehearses on Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. in the Upper Core at WEPCO and on Sunday mornings from 9:00 to 9:45 a.m. in the sanctuary before worship. Anthems are chosen to illuminate the week's theme and to support the congregation's voice in the hymns. Anyone who likes to sing is welcome to drop in; no audition or commitment is required. The choir performs from September through June and takes a break in the summer.
A Bell Choir rehearses on Thursday evenings from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the weeks leading up to major holidays, generally November through December and March through April. No prior experience is needed.
The Music Ministry also exists to serve the wider community. The Chancel Choir has partnered with Pivot Ministries for joint music and testimony in worship.
Mission and Faith in Action
From its earliest days, WPC has been defined by mission. The congregation helped start the CROP Walk in Wilton, has built a church manse in Kenya, and has sponsored volunteers in mission to Maine, South Africa, and Nicaragua. A long-running partnership with the Domestic Violence Crisis Center, with Pivot Ministries' drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, with the Wilton Food Pantry, with Manna House in Norwalk, with Ogden House for senior meals, and with the Liberation Programs reflects a continued commitment to neighbors in need.
Today, much of the mission work is coordinated through the Faith in Action Committee and a network of local partners:
- Midnight Run, which brings volunteers into New York City to deliver food, clothing, blankets, and personal care items to people experiencing homelessness.
- Open Door Shelter in Norwalk, where donations of new socks and underwear gathered through the Soctober collection are delivered each November.
- Rise Against Hunger, a meal-packaging event coordinated by Wi-ACT, the Wilton Interfaith Action Committee, that draws more than 650 Wilton volunteers in a single day and packages enough meals to feed more than 400 children for a year.
- Stay at Home in Wilton, which helps seniors age in place.
- CT Pride Center, Triangle Center, and other advocacy partners for LGBTQ persons in southern Connecticut.
- Americares' Homefront program, a one-day housing rehabilitation blitz.
WPC's youth are central to many of these efforts, from Soctober and the Rise Against Hunger packaging day to Midnight Run and an annual mission trip during February school break.
Adult Education, Small Groups, and Retreats
Adult formation at WPC takes many shapes. Small groups meet through the year for Bible study, dinner series, and seasonal studies. Recent offerings have included a Lenten dinner series called Taco 'Bout Jesus, an Advent study based on the book Unplug the Christmas Machine, and an evening Bible study called Six O'Clock Psalms that spent a week on each psalm and meditated on themes like denial versus abrasive truth telling and amnesia versus remembering.
The church's signature adult education program in the current season is Common Path: An Exploration of the Abrahamic Traditions, a three-part evening series named in honor of the Rev. Dr. David Graybill, WPC's pastor from 1988 to 2011 and a champion of interfaith work in Wilton. Each 90-minute session begins with a moderated panel featuring Muslim leader Golnar Sadeghi, Rabbi Linda Goldberg, and the Rev. Jessica Jones, then opens for small-table discussion and a dessert potluck.
Weekend retreats are a long-time tradition. The annual Women's Retreat returns to StonyPoint Center, a Presbyterian retreat center in the Hudson Valley, for a weekend of prayer, sharing, crafting, singing, walking, and a campfire with s'mores. The Rev. Cass Shaw, an honorably retired Presbyterian minister, has been a recent guest speaker.
What WPC Believes
The congregation's stated beliefs begin with a simple claim: all of God's creation is sacred, and all people are created in God's image. The church is decidedly Christian and simultaneously welcomes the wisdom of God known through other faith traditions. It is openly affirming of LGBTQIA+ persons and is a founding member of Presbyterian Promise, an advocacy organization for full inclusion in the life of the Presbyterian Church. WPC teaches that women's voices in the sacred text are important and that bodies are holy. The fullness of God is best understood, the congregation teaches, by lifting up all people regardless of skin color, social location, ethnicity, or heritage.
Pastoral Care and Leadership
Pastoral care is led by the Rev. Jessica Jones, working in coordination with the co-pastors, Deacons, and Elders. Anyone wishing to meet with a pastor, request prayer, or be added to the prayer list can do so through the church office.
The pastoral team is led by three co-pastors. The Rev. Mark Montgomery, who most recently served as Interim Senior Minister for First Presbyterian Church in Greenwich, oversees administration. The Rev. Chris Tate, who has served in the PC(USA) since 2006 and previously at WPC as a transitional pastor, oversees outreach and technology. The Rev. Jessica Jones, a Wilton native and graduate of Yale Divinity School, was ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 2018 and is board certified as a hospital chaplain; she leads pastoral care and faith formation.
Family ministries for children and youth, from pre-K through twelfth grade, are directed by Julie Fowler. Rodney Loren directs the music program. Lucia Sato leads the nursery.
WPC is part of the Presbytery of Southern New England, one of the regional bodies of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
A Sixty-Plus Year Story
WPC traces its roots to the early 1960s, when eleven Presbyterians began gathering in local homes for study, song, and prayer. The group grew quickly under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Stewart MacColl, who served as pastor from 1961 to 1979, meeting first in the American Legion Hall, then at Cider Mill School, and finally moving to the Parish Hall on the current WEPCO campus. The Rev. Steve Jacobs continued that work from 1980 to 1987. Under the Rev. Dr. David Graybill's leadership, the congregation dedicated the current sanctuary in November 2004.
From the beginning, two principal passions have defined the congregation. The first is to share the blessings of faith with the wider world, expressed through hands-on mission. The second is to share the Christian faith openly with other people, expressed through the Joint Venture with St. Matthew's, the interfaith work in the wider community, and the long list of mission partnerships. The current pastoral team has welcomed many young families whose presence has reinvigorated the congregation's mission and vision.
The church is at 48 New Canaan Road, Wilton, Connecticut. The office can be reached at 203-762-5514 or wpchurch@wiltonpresbyterian.org. Sunday worship is at 10 a.m., with a livestream on YouTube. Giving is available online through Realm. The next chapter of WPC's story is being written in worship, in the church school, and in service to neighbors near and far.