“Our Mission is to live spiritually, to love inclusively, to learn continuously, and to leave a legacy”
Live Spiritually
As a cathedral for the human spirit we strive to enrich the spiritual and cultural life of our community. We believe that all of life is a theater for the Glory of God. We celebrate the interconnectedness of the sacred and the secular, outstanding music and liturgy, an expansive Choir School, and innovative dramatic and visual arts.
Love Inclusively
As a congregation of inclusivity we strive to welcome all people into the life of our church. We are a friendly and caring church where people of all ages, backgrounds, and life situations are always welcomed, and where our differences are celebrated and respected. We encourage the openness and authentic humanness that breaks down barriers of fear and builds bridges of trust and love.
Learn Continuously
As a center for progressive Christianity, we strive to nurture the development of resilient faith and noble values beginning with childhood, through adolescence and young adulthood, middle age, and on through our later years. We are “a thinking person’s church.” We enjoy the challenge of worshipping God with our minds, as well as our hearts. We believe that all of life’s big questions are ultimately spiritual in nature. While there are no easy or simple answers for life’s complexity and the challenges of our world, we are a church where unity is based not on mutual agreement but on mutual concern, in our commitment to love one another beyond the differences.
Leave a Legacy
As a catalyst for social change we strive to make a meaningful difference in the world, helping to create the kind of world that God intends. We believe in the “priesthood of all believers,” that is, we are all called to be the hands and heart of God, loving others by sharing our time, talents, and resources, and working towards the creation of more just and peace-filled social structures.
History
Now in our 60th year of worship, First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan was founded in 1956 under the first of only three permanent Senior Pastors in our history, the Rev. T. Guthrie Speers, Jr. The first Clerk of Session, or principal elder, was Stuart L. Higley. By the mid 1960s, Rev. Speers and his large and enthusiastic congregation had outgrown its original location, the Masonic Hall on Main Street, and began planning a new permanent home on a five acre parcel of land on Oenoke Ridge that had been donated by Miss Susan Dwight Bliss, in 1959. The cornerstone was laid in November 1968, and the first Sunday service took place on May 17, 1970 in the new sanctuary.
Rev. Speers continued as FPCNC’s Senior Pastor for more than 36 years until his retirement in 1992. From 1995 to 2007, the dynamic and impassioned advocate of progressive christianity, Rev. Dr. Gary A. Wilburn, served as Senior Pastor, and in 2010, the congregation welcomed Rev. Paul Gilmore.
From its inception, we have been a vibrant, loving community of faith well known for our commitment to openness and diversity, to social justice and inclusivity, to ecumenical fellowship and interfaith relationships. The church’s music ministry is highly regarded as one of the best in the region, and the church is sinfully proud of its strong Scottish heritage.
At the core of our being is the belief that the church is called to serve the greater communities in which we live, First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan was instrumental in the founding of New Canaan’s Waveny Care Center, South Avenue Cottage, and other important town and Fairfield County services. A significant portion of our budget and congregation’s interests and active involvement today is in service and ministry to the local community and to the world beyond our doors.
