Welcome!
Norfield Congregational Church is an ethnically, culturally and politically affirming congregation, that proudly proclaims, that "no matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, YOU ARE WELCOME HERE!!" Please join us in worship any Sunday and to take part in Holy Communion on the first Sunday of each month. Everyone is welcome!
Programs
We offer a number of programs for children, adults and families, special Family Events, opportunities for service and outreach and Christian Education programs. All Norfield sponsored events offer on-site, free child-care services. During our Sunday Worship Services (year-round at 10 am) we offer child-care services.
Other programs include Discovery Hour for children, many different Music Programs including Sanctuary Choir, Memorial Handbell Choir, Music Makers Ministry for children, and concerts by guest vocalists and instrumentalists throughout the year. We also provide a number of Adult programs such as Fellowship Hour, our Soul Food Series, Book Club discussions and more.
Service
In addition to taking part in our programs — worship, music, education, missions and outreach — members of Norfield may also volunteer to plan and lead our congregation by serving as Deacons, members of our Boards and Church Council, and other ways of giving service.
A Little History
For more than 250 years, Norfield Church (established in 1757) has been central to the life of Weston and surrounding communities.
Norfield, the "North Field" of the coastal town of Fairfield (est. 1639), represented the first attempts by settlers to develop the inlands. After years of struggling with the commute from country farms here to the church and government center at Green’s Farms, the earliest Westonites, called Outlivers, petitioned to have their own Parish. The Church was chartered as an Ecclesiastical Society, holding both political and religious authority, by the Connecticut Colony in 1757. The first meeting was held on June 23 of that year.
After the founding of the United States, the church and the town separated. Nevertheless, the Norfield church building served for town meetings until 1883, when a town hall and fire house was built right behind the church. The town’s one-room schoolhouse was also located here, and survives today as the Banks Room in the Parish Hall. Click here to read more about the history of Norfield Congregational Church.
Today
Norfield still has a strong public profile, hosting the Weston Senior Lunch programs, Boy Scouts, Kiwanis, and political forums, along with Norfield’s own fellowship programs, concerts, and meals. Rev. Robert W. Greene began his long tenure in 1955, leading the church until 1988, during a time of great growth and change for the town and the parish.
The present Norfield campus includes the Parsonage; the Memorial Garden; the Carriage Shed; the Parish Hall and Offices, incorporating the old schoolhouse (Banks Room) and the Mike Tine Youth Room; the Christian Education Building and Memorial Chapel, and the Greene Room behind the chancel in the church building and a Casavant Frères pipe organ. Since 2004, Rev. Dr. Bernard Wilson has provided inspiring preaching and strong leadership to take Norfield Church from its long history into its promising future.
Be doers of the word, and not hearers only… — James 1:22
Congregational Churches
Members and friends of Norfield Congregational Church are busy in active Christian ministry. Opportunities to serve abound, here at Norfield, in the Weston community, and around the world. We encourage congregants to prayerfully consider whether they may be called to serve in any number of ways.
Congregational churches are called congregational because the membership retains a great degree of authority and autonomy in many ways. This means lay involvement is a central and crucial part of the church. Ministry is done by all believers, not only ordained leaders.
Our Structure
The church is led in ministry by the Senior Minister, Rev. Dr. Bernard R. Wilson; Associate Minister for Children, Youth and Families - Pastor Thomas C. Burke Jr.; Director of Music and Worship Arts, Dr. David Connell; the Moderator - Mary Crawford; and Vice Moderator - David Lummis. The congregation’s Council gathers under their leadership to coordinate and support the efforts of the various Boards and Committees detailed elswhere on this website and in other church materials.
If you are interested in joining us in Christian service in any way, please feel free to contact us any time: we look forward to working together with you!
The Norfield Covenant
We promise to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and we take as our rule of life the words: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27; NRSV). We take this Church to be our Church, and ever mindful of our fellow members, we promise to walk with them in faithfulness and Christian love. We promise that so far as possible we will attend the services of this Church, share in its mission, and endeavor to make it a fruitful body of Christians.
I by my works will show you my faith —James 2:18
Please contact us any time for information or questions regarding membership:
Teri Gaberman
Norfield Congregational Church
64 Norfield Road
Weston, CT 06883
203-227-7886
email tgaberman@norfield.org
