First Church of Christ, Middletown
First Church Middletown is a progressive, protestant Christian community with a message of hope for you and your family.
Founded in 1668, First Church is the actual first church in Middletown, Connecticut. For over 350 years we have cultivated deep roots in the Christian faith through worship, scripture study, prayer, and service. But don’t let being old fool you! It is our grounding in the Gospel of Jesus that leads us to be a progressive, justice seeking, service oriented congregation, where “All are welcome here!” truly means ALL.
Everyone is Welcome,Seriously!
Our members come from diverse religious backgrounds including other christian traditions, other religions, and no religious upbringing. While we hold Jesus Christ at the center of our faith, we are a non-creedal church which means you don’t have to assent to historic creeds or statements of faith to be a member. Curious questions and faithful searching are more important to us than everybody believing exactly the same thing.
First Church is a member congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC). As a Congregational Church, First Church is governed by its members, owns its own property, and is responsible for choosing its clergy. Membership in a congregational church is not a spectator sport. It takes everyone sharing their gifts and talents to keep our church thriving!
Get Involved!
We have lots of ways for you and your family to get involved and start putting down roots of your own including: small groups, Bible studies, social activities, service projects, music groups, children and youth ministries, and much more!
Areas of Action Events
Celebrate Diversity
Supporting, advocating, and celebrating exactly who God created us to be
Creation Care
Being responsible stewards of God’s creation for a sustainable future for all.
We welcome all, love all, and seek justice for all.
About the United Church of Christ
What We Believe
The United Church of Christ is a non-creedal denomination, and First Church is a non-creedal church. This means that we recognize, honor, and respect the wisdom contained in the historic Apostles’ & Nicean creeds, but we do not require anyone to profess or adhere to them in order to be members. Instead, we express our common beliefs in our Statement of Faith. Learn more below.
A note of welcome
from our pastor
Welcome to First Church in Middletown! We are thrilled you have come to our website. We hope you come visit us in person too, at 190 Court Street in Middletown. We worship every Sunday in our beautiful sanctuary space at 10 am, and have opportunities for gathering and service throughout the week.
You will find First Church warm, welcoming and eclectic. We are real people who care about bringing goodness into the world, in the context of Christianity. It isn’t so much what you believe that matters—we don’t like dogma either. We care about community and relationships, and think church offers something unique and valuable to our culture.
Everyone is welcome, and I mean everyone. We strive to stay aligned with the love and movement of God in the world, while creating a safe place for our faith to flourish. If you are young or old, gay or straight, male or female, or a little bit of all of these, you are welcome!
Rev. William Tanner
Our Staff
Kortney Balsamo
Office Manager
Kortney resides in Meriden with her three children and her husband. She loves to spend her spare time exercising, reading and spending time with her family and friends.
Kortney comes to First Church with an education and degree in Business Management. She worked for Curves for Women as a Manager of two locations for 7 years. Her favorite part of that position was assisting women to improve their health and their quality of life. She is very much a people person and loves working with all kinds of people.
Here at First Church, Kortney manages the office and takes care of many administrative tasks to support the life of the church. She is willing to assist anywhere she is needed to help members of the church or committees.
If you are interested in renting space for events, meetings, organizations, or individuals, please contact her directly. She works in the office on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9:00am – 2:00pm, Wednesday remotely from 9:00am – 2:00pm. You can email her at firstchurchucc@sbcglobal.net.
Reverend Will Tanner
Senior Pastor
Will brings to First Church a passion for justice and peace, and a faith that is deeply rooted in the power of God’s unconditional love to heal, transform, and redeem.
Born in Iowa and raised in California, Will holds a BA in Theater Design and a minor in the Study of Religion from Smith College, and a Masters of Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion. He was ordained in 2015 and served a joyful and vibrant congregation in Massachusetts until accepting the call to serve First Church in 2023.
In Massachusetts Will worked with the whole congregation to lift up the gifts and ministry of children & youth. Serving side by side, young and old, Plymouth Church in Framingham brought Jesus’ message of love & justice to the world.
Here in Middletown, Will is delighted to partner with the First Church community to bring the legacy of our historic congregation into a brave and faithful future. Together with God, we can work for justice and peace in our time and place.
Will hopes that you will be in touch soon. To schedule an appointment, home visit, or call, reach out to the church office or email Will directly at: revwtanner@gmail.com
