"On a warm June evening in 1965, thirty people crowd into a living room in a house on Main Street in Norwell to explore the possibility of establishing a new United Church of Christ congregation in this town.

They come from all religious backgrounds. They are not afraid to take risks and, like Abraham, go out not knowing where they will end up. They have no land, no building, no experience in starting a new church, no guarantees; but they have a vision.”

David Norling, January, 1986

UCC Norwell started in the minds and hearts of a small group of people who met in the summer of 1965. Although there were Congregational churches in neighboring towns, this group wanted to explore the possibilities in Norwell. A member of the UCC conference came to visit the small group, and his advice was to have another meeting: if more people come, keep meeting, he said. If fewer people come, maybe this isn't your time.

Indeed, it was their time. By the following summer, the new church was chartered. It rented the former Assinippi Universalist Church on Washington Street. The first service was held in October of that year with 225 people in attendance. By December, Reverend Emmanuel Hedgebeth answered a call to serve as first permanent minister of the small church.Within three years, church school opened with 158 registered children, Women’s and Youth Fellowships were formed, and the church built the initial structure at its current location on Main Street. In October, Mr. Hedgebeth left for a pastorate in Woburn.

In November, a young and energetic pastor, David Norling, was called to Norwell to lead the growing church for nearly 20 years, bringing wide-reaching vision, overseeing a doubling in size of the physical church, growing membership to more than 600, and inspiring a commitment to serve based on individual giftedness. During his tenure, UCC Norwell formed ministries, served missions and lent a hand to South End Neighborhood Action Program (SNAP), Camp Wampanoag, Alcoholics Anonymous, Crisis, Inc., church music, visitation, Sharing Inc., Good Friday Walk, Rosie’s Place, Workplace Koinonia, New Beginnings, Mainspring House, South Shore Habitat for Humanity, Asaprosar and more. Associate Pastor Judy McCullough joined as Associate Pastor in 1986 and led the church from the time of David Norling's departure in 1988 until 1992.

In May, 1993, the Reverend Rochelle (Shelly) Stackhouse joined the church for a five year stay, before moving to New Jersey for her husband to pursue his career dreams. During this time, Mission and Outreach climbed to more than 20% of the total budget, Karen Harvey joined UCC Norwell as Director of Music Ministry, and Project 2000 was initiated, a major effort to define our core values in our life as a congregation, our missions and service and in God’s world, and the Stewardship of our resources.

After Shelly’s departure, UCC Norwell was blessed with good timing. As we began our search for a new pastor, the Reverend S. Chapin Garner was working to finish his own search from an Associate position for the Wellesley UCC church for a permanent home. Chapin joined in 1999 and continues as our pastor today.

Under Chapin’s leadership, UCC Norwell crafted and employed a teaching pastor model and a ministry model.

In 2005, UCC Norwell celebrated its 40th anniversary with a dinner event at the Barker Tavern in Scituate and a summer church cookout. Twelve of the original 151 charter members are still active at UCC Norwell today.

That same year, we adopted our current mission, reaffirming our commitment to one another and to Jesus’ calling:

“We are a Christ-centered inclusive community called to ministry.”

Building on the early mission for the congregation to serve as ministers to the world, UCC Norwell today has nearly 30 church ministry teams, including more than 20 active mission and outreach activities, and nearly 100 youth and leaders in our Jr. and Sr. High Youth Groups.