A Breif History of Wapping Church
For more than 200 years, people have been worshiping on the grounds of Wapping Community Church. The first meeting place was a crude shack about 20 rods (one rod = 16.5 feet) northwest of the present building. The memorial stone placed in 1976 near the entrance to the educational wing celebrates the 200th anniversary and is near that spot. In 1801, construction began on our present church building. It was erected by and for the different denominations worshiping in the part of South Windsor called Wapping, named for a street in London. The Baptist church and the Methodist church formed their own organizations later, and the Congregationalist church kept the building. The church sanctuary was completely renovated in 1953, an educational wing added in 1963 and the new offices and recreation wing were added in 1989. The link between the sanctuary and the educational wing was renovated in 2001 to make the sanctuary easily accessible to people of all levels of mobility and to provide a gathering space next to the sanctuary.
Wapping Community Church was created in 1936 by the members of the Wapping Federated Church, which had been formed by the merging of the Congregational and Methodist Church congregations. The members of Wapping Community Church voted in 1965, after many years of study, prayer, discussion and deliberation, to join the United Church of Christ.
Wapping Community Church is a forward-looking church in its ministry and missions, serving both as a center for worship and also a place to fulfill the needs of the greater community. We lean towards the traditional, with a tendency to emphasize education, nurturing and gradual growth in faith. Our approach to social issues is largely educational, leaving members to form their own opinions, rather than an activist approach that takes a stand as a congregation. Every day and night the church is used by church and community groups, for tutoring, basketball, volleyball, Boy Scouts, AA, TOPS, nursery school, etc.
Our worship style is classical, informal and very friendly; people from many heritages are at home here. We are explorers, and we find in the tradition of Christianity a solid base from which to live and ask our questions. We strive to translate the Gospel into action and the will of God into our common life.
Material concerning the history of Wapping Community Church was obtained from Lois Foster Watson's book "Wapping Five Corners - A History of Wapping Community Church" published in 1992. Copies of the book are available through the church office.
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