Slatersville Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ

09/13/2026

SCC commemorates Apple Sunday today! 🍎 Our church has the oldest continuously running Sunday School in the country! 💒

09/10/2026

In conjunction with many of our neighbors in faith, Slatersville Congregational Church will be memorializing the twenty-fifth anniversary of September 11th by taking part in the Rhode Island State Council of Churches's call to toll our church bells and open our sanctuary to the community.

From 10:00am to 2:00pm tomorrow (09/11/2026), our church sanctuary will be open to the public for prayer, reflection, and fellowship. The church bells and carillon will be tolled at noon in memoriam, followed by a brief reflection/homily as provided by Pastor Sean. Whether you are a member of our congregation or you've never been inside of a church before, you are welcome to spend some time in peaceable prayer with our community.

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A Brief Message from Pastor Sean during National Su***de Prevention Month

As we know, difficult memorials can stir up hard feelings - and in our current age of isolation, it's all too tempting to sit alone with those hard feelings. If you are facing down emotional or spiritual distress, know that you are not alone - and moreso, that real supports are available. If you are in need of pastoral care on this heavy day or any other, please do not hesitate to reach out directly to our church to schedule an opportunity for pastoral support via a scheduled session, phone contact, or Zoom call. If your needs are more acute or oriented around mental/emotional/behavioral distress, consider one of the following appropriate supports:

- 988 Crisis Lifeline (24/7 call, text and chat access to trained crisis counselors who can help people experiencing suicidal, substance use, and/or mental health crisis, or any other kind of emotional distress): Call/Text 988, or visit http://988lifeline.org/chat for support

- Disaster Distress Helpline (crisis counseling and support 24/7/365 for anyone in the U.S./territories experiencing emotional distress or other mental health concerns related to any natural or human-caused disaster): 1-800-985-5990

- SAMHSA's Treatment Referral Routing Service (24-hour, free and confidential treatment referral and information about mental and/or substance use disorders, prevention, and recovery in English and Spanish): 1-800-662-4357

Please know that no matter the heaviness of your heart, you are good enough: God loves you, in all your imperfections and your struggles; God loves you, in all your failures and all your glories. You are worth the struggle; you are worth the trouble. May God bless you and keep you, my friends.

- Pastor Sean Amato

09/08/2026

Have you and your children been seeking a church home that doesn’t care who you are or where you’re from, but welcomes you all the same? Are you a person deeply interested in the social history of the Blackstone Valley, or a long-term churchgoer looking for the perfect time to return to weekly worship? If so, Slatersville Congregational Church cordially invites you to join us at 10am on September 13th, 2026 for one of our congregation’s most cherished celebrations: our Apple Sunday Service, the day on which we memorialize the story of our church’s beginnings.

In 1808, the esteemed Slater Family founded a Sunday school with a specific goal in mind: to offer a safe and enriching place for youth away from the local orchards and factories. At the time, many local children worked in the region’s textile mills and were unable to obtain an expensive ‘weekly’ education – and per history, these youth often spent their one day off troublemaking in the local apple orchards. In response, the Slaters’ Sunday school offered these youth the opportunity to receive a basic education and gain general skills that would not have otherwise been available to a child laborer. In 1816, the Sunday school was incorporated into what would become Slatersville Congregational Church; its programming has been coordinated by the congregation since then, making our church’s Sunday school one of the longest continuously-operating Sunday schools in America.

For years, Apple Sunday has represented a time in which the congregants of the church ‘return’ with renewed vigor and energy after the summer months – a twist on the New England church tradition of ‘rally day.’ In our modern era, Apple Sunday also marks the official start of our church’s autumn season with Sunday School sign-ups, new member class sign-ups, and the start of a new Bible study series after church service. So come with curious minds and be enriched, like so many generations before you have; come with open hearts, too, and take part in our congregation’s loving and historic legacy. We can’t wait to see you there!

08/30/2026

Our church hosted a "Bell Care and Repair" workshop today! We had some handbell visitors who brought their bells to be polished and serviced. Our own set was meticulously disassembled, polished, and reassembled. Thank you to Margaret, Marilyn, Teri, and Melissa for helping. Also, a big shoutout to Jeannie Cushman and Dan Moore for sharing their knowledge about bell maintenance! Handbell Musicians of America: Area 1

08/22/2026

Scouts are on the common! Come check it out!! Find out what scouts is all about! Troop 1139 Slatersville and Scouts BSA Troop 438 North Smithfield as well as Pack 7 Slatersville!!! They are here until 4 today.

08/01/2026

A Message from Pastor Sean

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Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.”

So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, yet my life is preserved.”

The sun rose upon him as he passed Peniel, limping because of his hip. (Genesis 32:24-31, NRSVue)

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Friends -

Wrestling with religion can be a real strain; Jacob showed us this at Peniel, when one of God’s servants (or perhaps God Himself – the theological jury is still out) popped Jacob’s hip out of joint as he literally grappled with his faith. To memorialize the experience, Jacob would receive a special blessing alongside his newly-acquired limp: evidence that he had struggled against and with forces well outside of his understanding, all to obtain an affirmative blessing from His Creator. And my, he wrestled for quite a while to obtain that blessing, didn’t he?

If my calendar is telling the truth, this upcoming week marks two years of my life spent as the settled pastor of Slatersville Congregational Church. To say that it has been an honor would be an understatement and a simplification; to say that I’m surprised that I made it this far as a pastor would, too, be an understatement and a simplification.

The last two years have represented two of the busiest and most challenging years of my life: two years of hard and holy work alongside you, all while I struggle to make sense of what it is to be a pastor in our troubled and partisan age. And not just what it is to be any pastor, but your pastor: what it is to be the spiritual leader of a nuanced, multigenerational local church that regularly navigates difficult crossroads and decisions.

All that wrestling can cause bruises and strains; all that wrestling, too, can produce abundant blessings. We are, indeed, blessed: we’ve found special new partners, and we’ve developed one-of-a-kind ministries; we’ve reinvested, too, in our reputation as “the church that prays” with both our words and our actions. In my time wrestling alongside you, praying and grieving and rejoicing alongside you, we’ve leaned into what it means to be a loving and welcoming church in this special community. I’ve remarked before that we represent the best of the Blackstone Valley… and these days, I have more than enough receipts to prove it.

I thank you, friends, for limping with me along this winding, convoluted path we call Christian life. Thank you for your patience and your grace; thank you for your willingness to grow with me, and for all we’ve shared between us. I look forward to what we will share next, too. Thank you for your steadfast hearts, your ready prayers, and the hands with which you build up the Kingdom of God. Thank you for letting me be your pastor.

God bless you, my friends. Let’s keep on walking. Amen!

Pastor Sean

08/01/2026

August hours for food pick-up from our friends at the North Smithfield Residents Food Pantry!

07/10/2026

That’s a wrap!! Thank you to all of the adult volunteers, especially Miss Michell, for helping to make this week “illuminating!” VBS 2026 💒🎉💕🤩🔦

07/10/2026

The Rhode Island State Council of Churches is right: it only takes twenty minutes to drive up to Slatersville from Providence, less if you're closer - and if you bring a friend, it won't feel more than ten! So come and join us for a special evening of sensory-friendly fun, food, and fellowship!

We offer a place of understanding for everyone’s differences, where people and families of different abilities can feel welcome, come to church, and be part of the community.