Our Story

Park Congregational Church is sustained by faith in God and Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who is head of the Church. Whoever you are and wherever you are on life's journey, you are welcome here.

Park Congregational Church, UCC, engages and supports all people through worship, fellowship, learning and service so that all may find in this community the Spirit of the Living Christ.

In this spirit we declare that this church is Open and Affirming. We welcome persons of every age, gender, gender identity and gender expression, sexual orientation, race, national origin, faith background, marital status and family structure, mental and physical ability, economic and social status and educational background.

We invite all into the sanctuary of our fellowship and the full life and ministry of our church. 

YOU ARE WELCOME HERE. REALLY.

Our mission at Park Congregational Church is to embark on a mindful journey to follow in the ways, teachings, and example of Christ; to love God with all our heart, mind and strength; and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

We are an inclusive community drawn together to open our hearts, minds, and lives to the teachings of Christ.  

Our vision for Park Congregational Church is to enrich our lives and the lives of others through faith and spiritual growth.  

We cherish a diversity of views which allows us to celebrate the glory of God and welcome every person no matter who they are and no matter where they are on life’s journey.  

We will achieve our vision by implementing ministries that serve the church, the local community and the world.

Park Congregational Church, UCC is an Open and Affirming Congregation

which means that whoever you are, or wherever you are on life's journey, you are welcome here.

In accordance with our discernment of God’s will as expressed in the life and teaching of Jesus, we, the Park Congregational Church of Norwich, CT declare ourselves Open and Affirming. As an Open and Affirming congregation, we celebrate the sacred worth of all persons as unique individuals made in the image of God. Whatever your age, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, or physical, cognitive or emotional ability, we invite you to find a safe and nurturing spiritual home with us. All are welcome to participate, fully and without reservation, in the life, leadership, ministry and mission of this church as we seek to grow together in a community of faith.

Annual Meeting January 2019

 In September 1872 a meeting was held to discuss the possibility of starting a new congregational church. As new streets were laid out and houses built around Williams Park and the Chelsea Parade area of Norwich, there appeared to be a need for a new Congregational Church in this neighborhood. The response was so immediate under the leadership of Ebenezer Learned and Gen William G. Ely that the desired goal to raise a minimum of $70,000 was soon reached. Park Congregational Church was the seventh Congregational Church in Norwich, established by 105 members from the Second Congregational Church of Norwich, and the Reverend Malcolm McGregor Dana. Initially intended as a relocation of Second Congregational, it precipitated a split in the congregation when a group voted not to relocate following the completion of the new Park Church building. 

A large plot of land was donated at the junction of Broadway and Crescent Street by Mrs. Harriet Peck Williams; and a building committee consisting of John F. Slater, Charles P. Cogswell, Ebenezer Learned, and Hugh Osgood was appointed. Earl and Fuller Architects of Boston were engaged to draw up the plans and Norcross Brothers of Worcester were awarded the building contract on a building similar in design to the then new North Congregational Church in Springfield, MA.

Ground was broken on May the 8th 1873 by the newly formed Park Ecclesiastical Society and the cornerstone laid on July 10th. The actual trowel used, by the Rev Malcom Dana who would later be called as the first pastor of Park church, to lay the cornerstone can be found on a plaque just outside the Chapel entrance.

The chapel was completed according to contract by the first of April 1874 and dedicated on April 12 of that year. The Chapel clock was donated by the original construction workers.

On June 4, 1874 Rev. Malcom Dana was officially called as the first Pastor of Park Church; Church services were Sunday morning and evening as well as Thursday evening.

On November 17, 1874 the official dedication of the Sanctuary was held with the church being filled to overflowing; reportedly with 1200 people in attendance, filling the sanctuary and the chapel. The list of original members numbered 138. The completed church cost $100,000 with many additional gifts including: memorial windows, two organs, and belfry chimes. John Slater donated $33,000.

The original pipe organ came from “Walckers” in Ludwigsburg, Germany. The original lighting was gas and the original heating was coal/steam, with registers in every pew.

The Norwich Bulletin wrote, “This beautiful building marks an epoch in church erection in Norwich. It is certainly one of the finest churches in the state and as to its site has very few equals.”

In the beginning, Sunday School had more than 200 pupils and met in the chapel. One of the leading consecrated teachers was Senator Lafayette S. Foster, who served in the United States Senate from 1855 to 1867 and was a judge on the Connecticut Supreme Court from 1870 to 1876. He was President pro tempore of the United States Senate from 1865 to 1867, and was first in the presidential line of succession for most of his tenure, following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. His home is nearby, now part of Norwich Free Academy’s campus.

In 1897 Col. Hugh Henry Osgood donated the land adjacent to the church for a parish house and before he died he developed complex plans for the building. The Parish House was built so admission could be charged for social events, since at that time the general consensus was that there should be no monetary charge to use the church or chapel. The construction finally started in March of 1901 and the building was dedicated on November 2, 1902.

In the summer of 1911 the church interior was redecorated and electricity was installed. The church was rededicated on Sept 17th of that year.

In 1915, the renting of pews was discontinued, and a system of pledges was adopted. In 1925, the bell tower clock was replaced with a Seth Thomas clock mechanism.

The buildings suffered significant damage in the 1938 Hurricane. Most of the roof needed to be replaced immediately and significant interior damage was repaired over the next several years with a significant renovation being done in 1948.

Throughout the years several area homes were purchased and sold for use as the church’s parsonage, including the Teel house donated by William Slater, son of John Slater, in 1887.

In 1949, the sanctuary was completely renovated at a cost of $75,000: pews were rearranged to their present configuration with a reduced seating capacity of 450. The main doors were changed to swing outward. The main door vestibule was added. Heating was changed to iron radiators. The chancel area was changed and reconfigured. The organ pipes were hidden by drapes, and the organ console was lowered to be less conspicuous. Light fixtures were replaced (stain glass octagon). The ceiling was insulated. All woodwork was refinished in oak stain. Plywood was placed on the floor to level it and asphalt tile and carpet was installed. The Choir room became the Pastor's Office, “the Reverend Howe Memorial Study.”

In 1957 Park Church voted to join the newly formed denomination, the United Church of Christ, just as all congregational churches in the region were invited to consider doing so. United Church of Christ

In 1960 an addition which houses the library, a conference room, the office manager’s and the newly relocated Pastor’s study and the Park Church Cooperative Nursery School was made connecting the two separate buildings. The nursery school was officially established in 1964 and operates independently with its own Board. At the same time the Sunday school rooms in the Parish house were remodeled and a bright new look was given to the sanctuary in the summer of 1966 when it was redecorated. Also in 1960, the property at 275 Broadway was purchased from NFA and the house on the property was eventually raised with the exception of the 3 car garage which remains and is used for storage.

Park Church has enjoyed excellent clergy and lay leadership over the years. The longest serving Pastor was the Rev. Samuel Howe from 1883-1928. Numerous talented organists and choir directors, choirs, hand bell choirs, women’s groups, benevolent societies, youth groups and for many years boy and girl scout troops met at Park Church. The church has been involved in refugee resettlement projects, beginning in 1950 resettling a family from Hungary, and more recently a family from Syria.

The church has an extensive history of ecumenical involvement including: hosting the historic Connecticut Conference Annual meetings of the UCC several times, and many interfaith activities involving the Norwich Catholic Diocese and Congregation Beth Jacob, involvement in the annual interfaith Lenten series, including for several years an early morning Lenten service for students at NFA, and the Norwich interfaith clergy association, now the Norwich Area Interfaith Association. The church has been generous to many local and international causes. And through the generosity of so many the church was not only able to maintain operations and maintenance but to establish its endowments.

1. The original 1874 church windows were created by Friedrich Brothers of Brooklyn, NY.
2. The east and west transept windows were designed by Louis Tiffany of NY. (Louis Tiffany was known as the developer of Tiffany Favrile Glass) Mrs. Harriet Peck Williams donated the windows facing Broadway in memory of her late husband General William Williams. She also donated the ten Bell Tower Bells and the land for the original church building. The Bartlett memorial windows face the Crescent Street side of the building in the transept.
3. Among other memorial windows in the sanctuary is one dedicated “in the Memory of Sarah Huntington Smith. Born June 18, 1802 A Missionary in Syria she died near Smyrna September 30, 1836” She has done what she could, a reference to the Biblical book of Esther. 
4. The Rose window was suggested by the first minister, Rev. Malcolm Dana. It is possible that it was designed by Louis Tiffany.
5. The semi-circle window on the east porch, containing a cherub angel, was given by Ebenezer Learned, a local insurance executive, and member of the original building committee for the church.
6. The Bard memorial window in the chapel was given in memory of two brothers, Charles 10, and Frank 8, who died of Scarlet Fever within 23 days of each other in 1873. The boys were survived by their younger brother, Albert, born in 1866, who grew up at 241 Broadway, and attended NFA. Albert later went on to serve as a lawyer and civic activist who fought for cities to have the right to protect their architectural heritage, particularly New York City. A new biography about him was published in 2025, Servant of Beauty
7. The parish house 1902 stained glass windows in the hallways and parlors were created by Lewis J. Flagg and McDonald, Stained Glass Works of Boston.
8. On the second floor of the parish house is a stained glass window that portrays Jesus as a young man with the inscription “Blessed Are the Pure in Heart.” This window originally was located at a church in Minnesota. When the church was abandoned, the window was bought and donated to Park Church by Faith Atterbury, who had been a member of both churches. On the bottom, the window is marked: Tiffany Glass and Decorating Co., New York, 1893
9. On the third floor of the parish house, there was a cherub looking down from a deep blue field bordered with lilies. This window was removed and placed above the doorway leading from the Chapel to the Parlor during renovations in 2023, for better visibility by more people. (It also may be a Tiffany Window.)