150 Years on Berry Street
On September 20, 2020, Plymouth Congregational Church marked its 150th anniversary at the corner of Berry and Fairfield in downtown Fort Wayne. The Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, issued a proclamation honoring the milestone, and members continue to look toward how to "live faithfully into the future." Six generations of Fort Wayne families have passed through a sanctuary that still anchors a corner of the city's historic downtown, home to a 10:00 a.m. Sunday congregation that gathers each week in person and online.
Plymouth is a member congregation of the United Church of Christ and identifies itself in the historic Congregational tradition: "in essentials unity, in non-essentials freedom, and in all things charity." The church's mission statement is plain about its purposes: "Plymouth Church is an inclusive Christian Community welcoming you as you are, supporting you in your own journey with God, and challenging you to live out the teachings of Jesus individually, collectively, globally." Senior Pastor and Teacher the Rev. Dr. Timothy C. Murphy, who joined Plymouth in August 2018, frames the work as a Spirit-led partnership for love, justice, and peace.
The Four Covenants
Four covenants mark Plymouth's identity within the wider denomination. Together they amount to a public creed in practice, each adopted in a specific year and renewed in the congregation's life and grants.
- Open and Affirming (2001). Plymouth welcomes LGBTQ members, friends, and their allies. "We find strength in our diversity and a greater understanding of God's inclusive love." The Sunday closest to the anniversary of the ONA vote is observed each year as Open and Affirming Sunday.
- Just Peace (2008). Through prayer, study, and worship, the congregation seeks those ways of peace rooted in justice and liberation for all people. A Peace and Justice Committee meets on the third Thursday of each month.
- Global Mission Church (2012). Certified by UCC Global Ministries, Plymouth's outreach is "intensely local and intentionally global," so that all people may share in abundant life.
- Earthwise (2015). Plymouth is committed to being good stewards of God's creation, supported by a Green Team that responds to climate campaigns and energy conservation calls to action.
Pride at Plymouth, an annual one-day community festival with live music, a vendor fair, family-friendly drag show, drag story hour, kids' crafts, and food, lifts up the dignity, individuality, freedom, and love that members say makes the community stronger.
Sunday Morning at 10:00 a.m.
Sunday is the heart of Plymouth's rhythm. Hospitality begins at 8:30 a.m. in the Folsom Room, followed by Christian Education classes at 9:00 a.m. The Sanctuary Singers rehearse in the sanctuary at the same hour, and the chapel fills with the Adult Chapel Class. Worship begins at 10:00 a.m. in the main sanctuary.
The service itself is what the congregation describes as "creative and participatory": varied expressions of praise, prayer, music, and movement, with communion observed on the first and third Sundays of each month and healing prayer on fifth Sundays. Masks are optional throughout worship and church programming. The sanctuary is equipped with a hearing loop, and sign language interpretation is offered at every Sunday service. After worship, "Joys and Concerns" gathers at 1:00 p.m. on Zoom.
Worship is livestreamed on Plymouth's YouTube channel, which is updated each Sunday, and a full sermon archive stretches back several years. During the summer months - the first Sunday of June through the last Sunday of August - hospitality moves to 9:15 a.m. and worship stays at 10:00 a.m., while most other programming, including Christian Education and music rehearsals, is suspended.
A Music Ministry
Music is woven through everything Plymouth does. Maestro Robert Nance, a distinguished graduate of DePauw University's School of Music and the Peabody Conservatory, has served as Director of Music since 1999. He is also the founding artistic director of Heartland Sings, a company of professional vocal artists founded in 1997. Nance has guest-conducted the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, appeared on the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center, and in 2017 received Arts United of Greater Fort Wayne's "Artist of the Year" award.
Ensembles are open to a wide range of ages and skill levels. The Sanctuary Singers rehearse Wednesdays at 5:15 p.m. and Sundays at 9:00 a.m. and sing at the 10:00 a.m. service and at special holiday services. A Youth Music Ensemble of singers and instrumentalists serves periodically. The Plymouth Children's Choir (kindergarten through fifth grade) rehearses Wednesdays from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. and prepares music and drama for worship about once a month. The Plymouth Bell Ensemble, an intergenerational group of medium-advanced skill, rehearses Wednesdays at 6:45 p.m. in the sanctuary balcony and is also part of the Boar's Head Orchestra. Plymouth Players, a drama troupe, performs periodically in worship and at special events.
Plymouth also hosts the Plymouth Music Series, a season of concerts featuring national and local artists. All Music Series concerts are free and open to the public, supported by freewill offerings and donors. Past seasons have included the Grammy-winning vocal jazz ensemble New York Voices, Heartland Sings's Spanish-language community choir Canto de Corazón, pianist Reggie Berg, mezzo-soprano Alejandra Sandoval-Montañez, and the Plymouth Bell Ensemble's silver-anniversary celebration under director Tim Cunningham.
The Boar's Head and Yule Log Festival
Each December 29 and 30, Plymouth hosts the Boar's Head and Yule Log Festival, with services at 5:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. each evening. Boar's Head is among the oldest continuous Christmas traditions in the English-speaking church: a matter of record shows it was part of the Christmas celebration at Queen's College, Oxford, shortly after the university's 1340 founding. The colorful procession of the boar's head - the medieval symbol of evil, conquered by the Christ Child - is paired with the lighting of a fresh yule log from last year's ember, marking the rekindling of love as the old year gives way to the new.
At Plymouth, the festival is a year-round effort that pulls in the Boar's Head Chorus and Orchestra, the Plymouth Players, the Sanctuary Singers, the Bell Ensemble, and dozens of volunteers. The 50th annual festival was held in December 2026. Patron donors receive tickets; the Box Office opens for two hours on the second Thursday of December.
Christmas, Lent, and Easter at Plymouth
The Advent season is observed at 10:00 a.m. on the four Sundays leading into Christmas. Two Christmas Eve services are offered on December 24: a 4:00 p.m. service that includes worship, communion, and childcare, and a 10:00 p.m. service with carols and candlelight. The Luminous Night: A Service of Lament and Promise, held on the first Wednesday of December, pairs scripture, poetry, and song with space for those who feel anxiety, grief, anger, or disappointment in the holiday season, replacing pressure with peace.
Holy Week begins with Ash Wednesday and continues through Maundy Thursday supper and foot-washing communion, a Good Friday Tenebrae Service with dimming lights and choral music, an Easter Sunrise Service at 7:30 a.m., an Easter breakfast at 8:15 a.m., and a 10:00 a.m. Easter Celebration. The annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration is held on the Sunday before the holiday each January, often in partnership with Pilgrim Baptist Church.
Children, Youth, and Adult Education
Children are welcomed in worship. Childcare for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers (ages 0-5) is provided in Room 11 of the educational wing from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. (summer hours: 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.). Elementary-aged children begin in the sanctuary and depart after the Peace Prayer for children's fellowship and Children's Choir rehearsal. Sunday School classes for preschool (ages 3 through first grade) and elementary (second through fifth grades) run from 9:00 to 9:50 a.m., exploring Bible stories through video, activities, and discussion.
Youth in grades 6 through 12 meet on scheduled Sundays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for projects, food, fellowship, and service. Teens regularly volunteer at Matthew 25, the Positive Resource Connection, and other local agencies, with overnights, fundraisers, and mission trips rounding out the year. Kara Jaurigue, a lifelong Plymouth member and mother, serves as Youth Director.
Adult offerings include the Sunday morning Adult Chapel Class, the Pastor's Lectionary Bible Study with Rev. Dr. Murphy on Wednesdays at 4:45 p.m., the Women's Book Study on the fourth Tuesday at noon (open to all who identify as a woman), a Wednesday evening small group discussion series, and "Our Whole Lives" comprehensive sexuality education for families, children, and teens.
Small Groups for Every Interest
Plymouth maintains more than twenty small groups, organized under three umbrellas. Fellowship groups include Joys and Concerns (Zoom, Sundays at 1:00 p.m.), Tapping into Faith at Mad Anthony Brewing Co. (last Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.), the Centering Prayer Group (Mondays at 5:30 p.m.), Film and Faith Under 40 (periodic), the Makers Group (third Thursday at 6:30 p.m.), and Standish Circle Colony (periodic). Educational groups include the Adult Chapel Class, the Pastor's Bible Study, and the Women's Book Study. Service and justice groups include the Peace and Justice Committee, the Green Team, the Anti-Racism Action Team, the Reproductive Rights Action Team, the Just Neighbors Team, Study Connection Tutors, and the Caring Team.
Food 'n' Fun, a program of the Congregational Life Board, gathers groups of eight members and friends - couples and singles of all ages - for up to eight monthly gatherings from October through May, whether pitch-ins, picnics, restaurants, or progressive dinners.
Serving Fort Wayne and the World
Plymouth members volunteer with dozens of partner organizations across Allen County and beyond. Plymouth-coordinated initiatives include Growing Hope Globally (food security in developing nations), the Indiana Center for Middle East Peace, Just Neighbors-Interfaith Homeless Network (Plymouth serves meals three weeks a year), Study Connection (members tutor Fort Wayne area students on Wednesday afternoons at the church), and Faith in Place (a Hoosier climate and energy network).
Individual members also volunteer with Amani Family Services, Associated Churches of Fort Wayne and Allen County, the Center for Nonviolence, Crossroad Child and Family Services, Easter Seals Arc of Northeast Indiana, Faith in Indiana, Fort Wayne Habitat for Humanity, GiveHear, Inasmuch Ministry, the Indiana Beyond Coal Campaign, Matthew 25, Mustard Seed Furniture Bank, NeighborLink Fort Wayne, Positive Resource Connection, Safe Families for Children, SCAN (Stop Child Abuse and Neglect), the Sierra Club's Northeast Indiana Group, Turnstone Center, Vincent Village, and Wellspring Interfaith Social Services.
The Plymouth Grants Program
Each year, Plymouth channels significant congregational generosity into the Plymouth Grants Program. In 2026, the program distributed $101,584 to community-driven nonprofits. The Benevolence Committee awards grants of up to $2,000 for specific expenditures, while a separate Capacity Building Grant of $20,000 is offered annually to help an agency permanently improve its mission capability. Priorities for funding include basic human needs - food, clothing, shelter - and mental and physical health and wellness. Applications open in November and are due in early January, with funds disbursed throughout the year.
Visiting Plymouth
The Plymouth parking lot is directly across the street from the main entrance, at the corner of Berry and Fairfield, with a limited number of handicapped parking spaces at the west entrance of the building. The lot directly behind the church is not church-owned, and members and visitors are asked not to park there. Office hours are Tuesday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Friday by appointment only. Visitors entering the building during office hours should use the Berry Street office door, where receptionist Jake Slone will greet them. The sanctuary is open for personal prayer Tuesday through Thursday during office hours; ask the receptionist to be shown in. For pastoral emergencies, the office line at 260-423-9424, ext. 398 is staffed.
Contributions to Plymouth can be made online or by mail to 501 W. Berry Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802, with a note on the memo line for any designated program.