You Are Welcome Here.
Come as you are. Bring your questions, your hopes, your whole self—and discover a community where faith, love, justice, and joy meet.
Touch a Truck, Fill a Truck
Saturday, October 3 · 10 AM – 1 PM
Plantsville Congregational Church, 109 Church Street
- Climb in and onto all kinds of trucks and vehicles
- Face painting and more
- Free, and everyone is welcome
Please bring nonperishable food to help us fill our truck for Southington Community Services.
Joyfully. Unconditionally. You.
“We, the members of Plantsville Congregational United Church of Christ, are an Open and Affirming congregation. In keeping with the life and teaching of Christ Jesus, we joyfully and unconditionally welcome people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions. We invite the members of the LGBTQ+ community into the full life and ministry of the church.”
Whoever you are, and wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.
Read About Our WelcomeQuestions Welcome. Wiggles Welcome. Children Welcome.
At PCUCC, children aren’t an interruption to worship — they’re part of the congregation, full stop. Wiggly, curious, loud, shy: all of it belongs here.
- Sundays at 10:00 AM
- Kindergarten – Grade 5
- Nursery for infants & babies
There’s Room for You in All of It
Groups, music, mischief, and quiet corners — here’s some of what happens at 109 Church Street.
Our Building Is a Mission, Not a Museum
Every week, our historic building is filled with neighbors — because we believe church walls should hold the whole community, not just Sunday morning.
Southington Community Services
SCS provides support services to Southington residents and links neighbors with private providers, human services, and government agencies. PCUCC provides space at no rental charge to support their work.
Learn more →Operation Stay Warm
Coats, mittens, scarves, and gloves for eight hundred to a thousand people every winter — a Southington Community Services project, housed right here.
Learn more →The Prom Shop
Prom dresses, suits, and ties — beautiful, nearly new, and free to anyone who wants one. Also run by Southington Community Services, also under our roof.
Learn more →The Friends Room
A program for young people living with disabilities, and the most energetic group in the building. Walk by the door and you’ll hear the laughter. We love having them here.
Learn more →
Reverend Jane Willan
Pastor Jane came to ministry with a calling to serve and uplift others, drawing from the teachings of Jesus Christ — and she preaches a progressive theology of inclusivity, social justice, and the transformative power of God’s love.
She earned her theological degree from Vanderbilt Divinity School, and when she’s not in the pulpit she’s a published mystery novelist. You’ll also find her hiking Connecticut trails with her husband Don and their chihuahua Ollie, while their cat Winifred supervises from home.
She would love to meet you — no appointment, agenda, or perfect attendance record required.
Missed a Sunday? Join Us Here.
Every service is livestreamed and available afterward on YouTube and Facebook.
Stay connected with what’s happening at PCUCC
News, events, and the occasional bit of joy — no spam, ever.
New Here? Wonderful.
Walking into a church for the first time — or the first time in a long time — takes courage. Here’s everything we can tell you ahead of time, so Sunday feels a little less unknown.
What to Expect
Worship is Sundays at 10:00 AM
The service lasts about an hour, with music, scripture, a sermon, and prayer. You can also join from your couch — every service is livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook.
Wear whatever you like
You’ll see everything from Sunday best to jeans and sneakers. Come comfortable. Nobody is checking.
Nobody will single you out
You won’t be asked to stand up, introduce yourself, or explain why you’re here. Come, sit, breathe. If you’d like to talk to someone, we’d love that — but it’s entirely up to you.
Children are welcome in worship
Wiggles, whispers, and crayons are all fine with us. See our Sunday School & Families page for programming details.
Ask Us Anything
Am I welcome if I’m LGBTQ+, divorced, doubting, or new to church?
Yes — to all of it, joyfully and without conditions. If you’ve been divorced, we’re glad you’re here. No explaining needed. If you haven’t set foot in a church in years, or ever, you won’t be quizzed at the door. If you’re not sure what you believe, you’re in good company.
And if you’re LGBTQ+, our welcome is a formal covenant we voted on, not a vague slogan. We are an Open and Affirming congregation, and you are invited into the full life and ministry of this church: worship, leadership, membership, marriage, all of it. Read our covenant here.
Can I come if I’m not sure what I believe?
Absolutely. Doubters, questioners, seekers, and people returning to church after a long time away are some of our favorite people. In the United Church of Christ we like to say God is still speaking — which means questions are part of faith, not the opposite of it.
What happens during worship?
Music (our choir and handbells are wonderful), scripture, a sermon from Pastor Jane, prayers, and an offering — which guests should feel zero pressure to participate in. The whole service runs about an hour.
Do I have to take Communion?
We celebrate Communion once a month, on the first Sunday. It is open to everyone — member or visitor, certain or unsure — and completely optional. If you’d rather let it pass by, no one will mind or even notice.
Where do I park, and which door do I use?
There are two lots. The upper lot has a sidewalk that leads straight to the church; the lower lot lets you park right up against the building. If you want to be as close to the front door as possible, there is street parking too. Use the ramp door — that’s where the greeters are, and they’ll be glad to see you.
Running late? Come in anyway. Nobody will turn around and look. Well, someone might, but only to smile.
Is the building wheelchair accessible?
Yes. The main entrance is a ramp door, so you can come in without a single step. There is an accessible, unisex restroom, and hearing assistance is available in the sanctuary — just ask a greeter. If you need anything else to worship comfortably, tell us ahead of time and we’ll sort it out.
How do I watch online?
Every service streams live at 10:00 AM on YouTube and Facebook, and recordings stay up afterward.
Who can I talk to before visiting?
Email the church office at churchoffice@plantsvilleucc.org or call (860) 628-5595. Pastor Jane is always glad to answer questions — there is no such thing as a silly one.
Finding Us
109 Church Street, Plantsville, CT 06479
We’re on the corner of Church Street and Main Street in Plantsville, a village of Southington. You can’t miss us: we’re the brown church that looks nothing like a Congregational church. If a hobbit went to church, this is where he’d go.
Sunday Worship at PCUCC
Sundays at 10:00 AM — in our historic sanctuary and livestreamed everywhere else.
Worship here is warm, thoughtful, and rooted in progressive Christian faith. Expect beautiful music, honest preaching, prayers for the world and for each other, and a congregation that is glad — visibly glad — that you came.
Bulletins & Sermons
Follow along with the weekly Sunday bulletin, or catch up on recent sermons — every service, sermon included, is recorded and stays up on our YouTube channel.
Music
Under Music Director Marilyn Cannata, our music ranges from sacred classics to contemporary arrangements. The choir rehearses Thursdays at 7:30 PM and the handbell choir at 6:30 PM — no auditions needed, ever.
Join the choir →Get Involved
Whether you want fellowship, music, exercise, quiet, or community theater chaos — there’s a group here with a seat saved for you.
Fellowship Groups & Ministries
Have a New Idea?
Some of our best groups started because one person said “what if we…?” If you have an idea for a group, ministry, or project, we want to hear it.
Tell us your idea →Community Partnerships
Our building is a mission, not a museum. These partners share our space and our commitment to Southington.
Southington Community Services
SCS “provides support services to Southington residents and serves as a link between private providers, human services and governmental agencies.” PCUCC provides space at no rental charge to support their operations.
Operation Stay Warm
A Southington Community Services project that provides coats, mittens, scarves, and gloves to eight hundred to a thousand people every winter. It operates out of our building through the cold months. To donate warm clothing or find out how to shop, contact Southington Community Services.
The Prom Shop
Prom dresses, suits, and ties — beautiful, nearly all of it new or close to it, and free to anyone who wants one. Run by Southington Community Services and hosted here each spring. Because nobody should miss prom over the price of a dress.
The Friends Room
The Friends Room is a program for young people living with disabilities, and they are, without competition, the most energetic and joyful group that uses our building. In their own words: “More than just a place to grow, The Friends Room is life empowering, life changing, and life saving.” We are lucky to have them.
Questions Welcome. Wiggles Welcome. Children Welcome.
Children are full members of this community — not future members, not noise to be managed. Their questions make our faith better.
A Welcome to All Families
Families come in many shapes — one parent, two parents, grandparents raising grandkids, foster families, blended families, chosen families. Every one of them belongs here.
Our approach to faith formation is simple: children learn that they are loved by God exactly as they are, that the Bible is full of stories worth wondering about, and that questions are welcome — including the hard ones.
How Sunday Morning Works
Children begin Sunday morning with their families in the sanctuary at 10:00 a.m. They remain in worship for the Children’s Message—an engaging story, illustration, or activity connected to the same theme the adults will explore during the sermon. Afterward, the children follow their teachers to Sunday School for an age-appropriate lesson, activities, games, and crafts.
Our Sunday School Teachers
Our Sunday School teachers are carefully selected by the church. They include experienced teachers and childcare professionals who love children, their church, and God. They are faithful, trusted members of our church community, have completed background checks, and are an important part of our congregation’s mission to nurture children in a safe and loving environment.
The Details
- Schedule: Sunday School begins at 10:00 a.m. Children start the morning in the sanctuary and follow their teachers to class after the Children’s Message. Sunday School ends at approximately 11:00 a.m., when worship concludes and the adults gather for coffee hour.
- Ages & grades: Our Sunday School currently welcomes children from kindergarten through fifth grade.
- Nursery: Nursery care is available for infants and babies during Sunday morning worship. Families are always welcome to keep their little ones with them in the sanctuary if they prefer.
Our Safe Church Policy
Plantsville Congregational Church has a Safe Church Policy designed to protect the children and other vulnerable people entrusted to our care. All Sunday School teachers and others who regularly work with children are required to complete a background check.
For more information about our Safe Church Policy and practices, please contact Reverend Jane Willan or Rose Risser, chair of Christian Education, through the church office.
Sunday School Is Waiting for Your Child!
Would you like to sign your child up, ask a question, or simply get a feel for our Sunday School before your first visit? Complete the form below, and someone from our church will be happy to contact you. We look forward to welcoming your family!
Meet Our Kids
Face paint, popsicles, sidewalk chalk, sheep costumes — this is what faith formation looks like around here.
Our Welcome Is a Covenant
“We, the members of Plantsville Congregational United Church of Christ, are an Open and Affirming Congregation. In keeping with the life and teaching of Christ Jesus, we joyfully and unconditionally welcome people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions. We invite the members of the LGBTQ+ community into the full life and ministry of the church.”
Adopted by the congregation on June 13, 2021 — and lived out every day since.
What “Open and Affirming” Means
In the United Church of Christ, “Open and Affirming” (ONA) is a formal designation: a congregation that has publicly covenanted to embrace, support, and advocate for LGBTQ+ people. It isn’t a mood or a marketing line — it’s a commitment we voted on, adopted, and hold ourselves to.
For you, it means this: if you are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning — you are invited into the full life and ministry of this church. Worship. Membership. Baptism. Marriage. Leadership. Teaching. Serving. All of it. Not tolerated; wanted.
Why Our Faith Leads Us Here
We read the Bible as a book that welcomes rather than excludes. Jesus summed up everything this way: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37–39). Paul put it just as plainly: “Accept one another, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God” (Romans 15:7).
Too many LGBTQ+ people have had scripture used against them. We believe the church owes them the opposite: a public, unmistakable welcome. That’s why we say it out loud, put it on the website, and hang the rainbow where you can see it.
Resources
Helpful starting points for LGBTQ+ individuals and families:
Come Be Part of It
Worship with us. Sing with us. Lead with us. Whoever you are, and wherever you are on life’s journey — you are welcome here.
An Historic Church With Its Doors Wide Open
We are a progressive Christian congregation of the United Church of Christ, rooted in Plantsville and the greater Southington community — historic in our building, forward-looking in our faith.
Our mission is to be a warm and inviting space dedicated to fostering community engagement, partnering with local services to extend our mission beyond the walls of our building. Or as we like to put it: our building is a mission, not a museum.
Meet Our Team
Rev. Jane Willan
PastorA Vanderbilt Divinity School graduate and published mystery novelist, Pastor Jane preaches a progressive theology of inclusivity, social justice, and the transformative power of God’s love. Off duty: hiking with her husband Don and chihuahua Ollie, under the supervision of Winifred the cat.
Marilyn Cannata
Music DirectorA graduate of Syracuse University and Central Connecticut State University, Marilyn blends a diverse range of musical genres — from contemporary to sacred — leading our choir and arranging music for Sunday worship.
Jill Battaglia
Coordinator of Programming & OperationsOrganizational skills, sharp intellect, and a wonderful sense of humor: Jill manages daily church operations and creates programming for congregation and community alike — while also being a devoted mom, PTO volunteer, and Ranger at Mount Southington.
Our UCC Connection
We are a congregation of the United Church of Christ — a denomination known for firsts in American church history and for the conviction that God is still speaking. That comma matters: never place a period where God has placed a comma.
About the UCCOur History
Our congregation was founded on December 20, 1865, in the first months after the Civil War, and in 1866 it built the church that still stands on the corner of Church and Main. The architect was J. Cleveland Cady, who went on to design the original Metropolitan Opera House and part of the American Museum of Natural History in New York — which is why a small village church in Southington looks the way it does. Gothic Revival, brown, with a tower and spire and deep porches, it was praised at the time for its chestnut and black walnut woodwork and its acoustics, and it was built to hold five hundred.
The Sunday School wing came in the 1950s, when the village was growing and so were its families. The Memorial Garden came later still, a quiet place on the grounds where we remember the people who made this church what it is.
A hundred and sixty years on, the building holds Sunday worship, a winter coat drive, a prom shop, a music program, and a dozen weekday groups. Our founders built it for the whole village. We’re still using it that way.
Church Resources
The Sunday Bulletin, Steeple Notes, the church calendar, and worship online — all in one place.
Sunday Bulletin
If you want the bulletin to follow along at home, or from your pew.
Steeple Notes
Our monthly newsletter — everything happening at PCUCC, delivered with charm.
Building Use & Rentals
Our building hosts community groups throughout the week. Interested in using the space for a meeting, class, or event? Contact the church office and we’ll talk through availability and details.
Contact the office →Memorial Garden History
The story of our Memorial Garden and its board.
Can’t find it?
Email churchoffice@plantsvilleucc.org or call (860) 628-5595 and we’ll point you the right way.
Generosity Keeps the Doors Open — Literally
Your giving keeps this building warm, the music playing, and the doors open to Southington Community Services, Operation Stay Warm, the Prom Shop, the Friends Room, and everyone who walks through them.
Ways to Give
In worship: the offering plate, every Sunday.
By mail: Plantsville Congregational UCC, 109 Church Street, Plantsville, CT 06479.
Pledges & Memorial Gifts
Our pledge drive runs in October and November, but a pledge is welcome any month of the year.
If you would like to make a memorial gift in honor of someone you’ve lost, please talk with Reverend Jane. She’ll help you find the right way to remember them.
Other questions about giving? Contact the church office at churchoffice@plantsvilleucc.org or (860) 628-5595.
We’d Love to Hear From You
Questions, ideas, prayer requests, or just want to say hello before you visit — reach out any way you like.
Church Office
Plantsville Congregational United Church of Christ
109 Church Street
Plantsville, CT 06479
📞 (860) 628-5595
✉️ churchoffice@plantsvilleucc.org
Office hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
Need Pastor Jane? You can reach her any time. Leave a message on the church phone and she’ll get back to you quickly.
Send a Message
Life at PCUCC
Worship, music, children, and community — a look at what happens here. Tap any photo to see it larger.
What’s Happening at PCUCC
Worship, music, fellowship, and community events — all in one place.
Tip: on phones, the List view is easiest. Click any event for details, directions, and “Add to my Google Calendar.”