United Church on the Green, UCC: New Haven, CT

United Church on the Green, UCC: New Haven, CT A place of hope on the New Haven Green. Open & Affirming since 1989. Sundays at 10am. Come as you are. A congregation of the United Church of Christ.

A progressive, Open and Affirming congregation on the New Haven Green since 1742. We believe in a world of crucifixion, the church should be a place of hope. Whether you’re a long-time believer or a seeker with more questions than answers, you will be welcomed exactly as you are, no explanation required. We have a long history of standing for justice, from the Amistad incident and the abolition of slavery to the 1970 Black Panther trials. Today, we continue that work through our commitment to peace, social justice, and our "Just Peace" mission. Worship with us:
Sundays at 10am | In person at 270 Temple Street or online on YouTube.

St. Augustine said, "The one who sings, prays twice."We take that literally. Every Sunday at 10 AM, music is not somethi...
09/10/2026

St. Augustine said, "The one who sings, prays twice."

We take that literally. Every Sunday at 10 AM, music is not something that happens before the sermon. It is the sermon's other half.

Our Music Director, Caesar Storlazzi, is a lifelong New Haven native who studied at the Neighborhood Music School, Yale College, and the Yale School of Music. On any given Sunday, you might find him at the organ, the piano, the harpsichord, or playing the oboe. The repertoire ranges from classical standards to African American spirituals and bluegrass masses.

Then there is the organ itself: a three-manual, 53-rank mechanical action instrument built by Hillebrand in 1966 and rebuilt by A.D. Moore in 1999. It fills a sanctuary that has been a home for music in New Haven for centuries.

This is not background music. This is worship.

Come hear it for yourself. Sundays at 10 AM, 270 Temple Street, corner of Temple and Elm.

unitednewhaven.org/music

"It becomes clear why so many applaud the destruction of our nation in the cause of making it great again."Rev. Ray did ...
09/09/2026

"It becomes clear why so many applaud the destruction of our nation in the cause of making it great again."

Rev. Ray did not tiptoe around this one. He preached on Exodus 4 this Sunday, September 6, and drew a straight line from Pharaoh to the architects of the Confederacy to the present moment. The same reflex across centuries: when people with unchecked power are told they cannot keep what they have taken, they would rather burn it all down than let go.

He gave us a phrase for it: the phenomenology of privilege. Not just seeing that privilege exists, but getting inside of how it works and giving an honest account of what it does to the world around it.

This is the kind of sermon you do not hear in most churches. Watch the full recording on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xCVpZ9jLbI&t[link]

09/08/2026

"As I reflect on our current dilemma caused by peak white backlash, it becomes clear why so many applaud the destruction of our nation in the cause of making it great again."

Rev. Ray went straight to it this Sunday. He read Exodus 4 and then held it up against our own history. Pharaoh's response to losing power. The architects of the war of the rebellion and their response to losing power. The same reflex, centuries apart: no one is going to tell us what to do.

He called it the phenomenology of privilege. Getting inside of how privilege works and giving an account of what it does in the world.

Watch the full sermon on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xCVpZ9jLbI&t

There is a moment every Sunday, right after the service ends, when nobody is in a rush to leave.Someone grabs coffee, so...
09/03/2026

There is a moment every Sunday, right after the service ends, when nobody is in a rush to leave.

Someone grabs coffee, someone brings snacks, and a few people pull chairs together. The conversation picks up where the sermon left off, or it goes somewhere completely different. Last week, we talked about a book recommendation. The week before that, the best local french fries.

This is coffee hour at United Church on the Green. It happens every Sunday after the 10 AM service. It is not a program. It is just what happens when people actually like being around each other.

The sermon tells you what we believe. Coffee hour tells you who we are. If you have been thinking about visiting, this is the best part of the day to find out what our church is really like.

We are at 270 Temple Street, at the corner of Temple and Elm. Service starts at 10 AM. Coffee starts whenever the service ends.

unitednewhaven.org

"This story of hope, this story of freedom lives. It is a beacon in the midst of even the darkest night to remember that...
09/02/2026

"This story of hope, this story of freedom lives. It is a beacon in the midst of even the darkest night to remember that things can get better."

Rev. Ray preached on Exodus this Sunday, August 30. The story of Moses begins in the middle of nowhere, with a nobody in particular, at a time when everything seemed lost. And somehow, that is exactly where God starts.

If you needed to hear that things can get better, this sermon is worth your time.

Watch the full recording on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SipPuP6-JXQ

ICE OUT OF CT NOW - there will be a rally at New Haven’s City Hall this evening, September 2, at 5 pm as an effort to st...
09/02/2026

ICE OUT OF CT NOW - there will be a rally at New Haven’s City Hall this evening, September 2, at 5 pm as an effort to stand in solidarity with our neighbors and draw attention to the surge of ICE detentions across CT, including in our city of New Haven.

09/01/2026

"A nobody in particular ends up bringing deliverance to a bunch of other nobodies in particular, and in so doing, bringing a message of hope to a galaxy far, far away."

Rev. Ray went to Tatooine this Sunday. Not literally, but he took us there to make a point about Exodus. The story of Moses does not begin in a palace. It begins in the hinterlands, out behind God's back, with a nobody in particular. And that nobody changes everything.

That is how hope works. It does not start with the powerful. It starts with someone in the middle of nowhere who refuses to believe that the story is over.

Watch the full sermon on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW3KjX4z0vk

We have been an Open and Affirming congregation since 1989. That was before the Defense of Marriage Act. Before "Don't A...
08/27/2026

We have been an Open and Affirming congregation since 1989. That was before the Defense of Marriage Act. Before "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Before marriage equality was even part of the national conversation. We were not waiting for permission.

In 2009, we updated our statement to explicitly include transgender persons, because our original welcome was not complete until it named everyone.

Rev. William Sloane Coffin, who served as Yale's chaplain and as a UCC pastor, put it plainly: "There are no biblical literalists, only selective literalists. By abolishing slavery and ordaining women, millions of Protestants have gone far beyond biblical literalism. It's time we did the same for homophobia."

That was not a radical statement at United Church on the Green. It was just the truth we had already been living.

No matter who you are, no matter where you are on life's journey, you are invited and welcome here.

unitednewhaven.org

"We serve a vexing God that uses the small acts of frail people to bring about hope, salvation, and change for all."You ...
08/26/2026

"We serve a vexing God that uses the small acts of frail people to bring about hope, salvation, and change for all."

You do not have to move mountains. You just have to show up and do what you can, when you can, where you can. Rev. Ray reminded us this Sunday that the future changes because of ordinary people who refuse to stop caring.

Watch the full sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW3KjX4z0vk

08/25/2026

"We may not know which act will be the drop that will break the dam, that will allow the waters of righteousness to flow. But we do know that there is a drop."

Rev. Ray preached on Exodus 1:8-2:10 this Sunday. The story of a pharaoh who forgot Joseph and turned back the hard-won dignity of an entire people. It is a story about backlash. It is also a story about what God does next.

Do what you can, when you can, where you can. The future will change.

Watch the full sermon on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/live/uW3KjX4z0vk?si=qT5i5LBRw5ACdkip

Address

270 Temple Street
New Haven, CT
06511

Opening Hours

9:30am - 11:30am

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