A Sanctuary Said to Be the Largest Built by Its Own Parishioners
Sudbury United Methodist Church sits on the south side of Old Sudbury Road (Route 27) in Sudbury, Massachusetts, across from Peter Noyes Elementary School and close to the intersection with Concord Road. Members of the surrounding MetroWest area have been gathering here since the early nineteenth century, and the current sanctuary is said to be the largest church built by its own parishioners in the United States. The building is known locally for the size of its worship space, for its two organs, and for a music program that draws singers and instrumentalists from across the region.
Worship on Sunday Morning
Sunday is the center of the week at Sudbury UMC. A 9:15 a.m. Sunday Morning Devotional Study opens the morning in the O’Reilly Room, with parallel programming for children called Kidbury UMC in Hawes Hall and Youth Devo for grades 6 to 12. At 10 a.m. the congregation gathers for in-person worship in the sanctuary, with hymn singing supported by the choir, the music director, and the church’s tracker organ. Ushers continue to operate spaced seating, room ventilation, and air purifiers, including a 36-inch exhaust fan in the alcove above the pulpit that provides five air changes per hour. After the service, the whole congregation is invited to Hawes Hall for coffee and fellowship at 11:15 a.m.
Services are livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook Live, and recordings are archived on both platforms so anyone can revisit a service at a later time. Sunday bulletins and announcements are posted as downloadable PDFs throughout the week.
Music That Has Long Defined the Church
Music is woven into the life of the church. The sanctuary organ is a two-manual Stuart tracker organ, which was completely renovated in 2001 to improve its action and increase its brilliance. In 2024 a Schlicker organ was installed in Davison Chapel and dedicated on September 15, 2024, allowing the chapel to host smaller, more intimate services. Sunday preludes and postludes regularly showcase the sanctuary instrument.
The music staff is led by Music Director and Organist Kevin Murphy, who has served at Sudbury UMC since 2001, and Choir Director Rob Hammerton, who first sang with the Sanctuary Choir as a Wayland high school sophomore in 1981 and has directed it since 2001. Together they lead three Thursday evening rehearsals: the Gospel Group at 6:30 p.m., Singing School at 7:15 p.m., and the Sanctuary Choir at 7:45 p.m. The Connexions Concert Series, founded in 2008, presents quarterly Sunday-afternoon concerts featuring local musicians and singers, followed by light refreshments.
Children, Youth, and Adults in Formation
Children’s ministry at Sudbury UMC is built around Kidbury UMC, which meets in Hawes Hall from 9:15 to 9:45 a.m. for children from Pre-K through fifth grade with crafts, puzzles, and games. Children’s Church for ages 4 through second grade begins right after the children’s moment in the main worship service, and activity bags are available for older children who stay in the pews. Family dinners, an Easter Egg Olympics, and intergenerational line-dancing events draw children and parents together throughout the year.
The youth program, led by Rev. Zack Moser, Pastor of Youth and Children’s Ministries, gathers for Sunday Night Fellowship from 5 to 7 p.m. with group games, devotions, and a sit-down dinner at 6 p.m. Summer mission trips have taken the group to South Carolina for Salkehatchie work camps and into Boston for service projects. Youth also take part in the Youth Ministry Collaborative, an interdenominational fellowship with other local youth groups, and engage in the Outdoor Church homeless ministry.
Adult formation includes a Sunday Morning Exploring Topics in Christianity class at 9:15 a.m., a Monday Evening Bible Study on Zoom at 7:30 p.m., and seasonal Lent and Advent Soup Supper and Study series. Magic Years meets monthly for members age 55 and older, gathering for lunch, speakers, videos, and travel-sharing.
A History Beginning in 1823
Sudbury’s Methodist class meetings first gathered in a local school in 1823. The first Methodist church building in town was constructed in 1836; that building now houses the Presbyterian Church in Sudbury. Construction of the current facility began in 1957, starting with the church school and continuing with the fellowship hall, offices, and sanctuary, which was completed in 1963. The chapel followed in 1983, with additional classrooms, offices, a meeting room, a choir room, an elevator, and a handicap ramp added in 1998. A major renovation of the parking lot and interior spaces was completed in 2017.
The building has a long ecumenical history. From 1964 to 1969, Congregation Beth El worshipped in the Sudbury UMC facilities while its own building was under construction; the favor was returned when Beth El hosted the Methodist congregation during the 2016 sanctuary renovation. In 1964 Cardinal Cushing became the first Roman Catholic Cardinal to speak in a Protestant church in an ecumenical celebration held in the sanctuary. Cardinal O’Malley worshipped with the congregation in January 2014 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of that visit and was blessed by a United Methodist pastor.
Sunny Hill Preschool was founded in 1958 as a non-denominational extension of the church, and the Sudbury Savoyards, a community Gilbert and Sullivan theater group, formed in 1961 to raise funds for the congregation. Volunteers began preparing monthly meals for Rosie’s Place in 1974, and the first of many work teams traveled to Dominica in 1980 to support Methodist churches on the island. In 1991 the congregation entered a sister-church relationship with Greenwood Memorial UMC in Dorchester that continues to share worship services, social events, and service projects.
Reconciling and Welcoming, Faithful to a Vision
The congregation voted to become a Reconciling and Weloming Congregation in 2004. Its published welcoming statement affirms that all people, with differences in age, class, nationality, race, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, abilities, and limitations, are invited into the community of faith and called to grow, serve, and be fed by the fellowship. The mission statement of the congregation commits it to praising God through diverse worship, providing opportunities for spiritual growth, extending welcome, advocating using the Social Principles of the United Methodist Church, and committing time, talents, and resources to sustain and grow the ministry of the church.
Outreach in Sudbury and Beyond
The Outreach Commission, working with the Social Justice Commission and other ministry teams, supports organizations that provide aid, shelter, food, household goods, tutoring, and mentoring. Locally these include Habitat for Humanity, the Open Table Food Pantry, Fresh Start Furniture Bank, Boston Area Gleaners, the Greenwood Shalom After School Program, and Thrive Communities. SUMC Habitat volunteers have participated in MetroWest builds since 2001, and the Outdoor Church homeless ministry is led in part by the youth group.
Beyond the region, the church supports Dr. Belinda Forbes, an official United Methodist Global Missionary dentist serving Nicaraguans since 1999, and the New Horizon Methodist School in Paraguay. Work teams have served Methodist brothers and sisters on the island of Dominica since 1981, and earlier teams helped repair hurricane damage in South Carolina and Mississippi and assisted an agricultural school in northern Chile. UMCOR, the humanitarian relief arm of the United Methodist Church, receives ongoing gifts, and the Sudbury Savoyards long directed profits from their productions to UMCOR to fight world hunger.
Sunny Hill Preschool
Sunny Hill Preschool has been part of the church’s ministry for over sixty-five years, founded in 1958 as a non-denominational early childhood educational program. The preschool is NAEYC accredited and continues to offer a play-based, age-appropriate curriculum focused on learning and the joy of discovery. A separate Sunny Hill Preschool Committee, chaired by a member of the congregation, oversees the school in partnership with the church’s Finance Committee and pastor.
The Building, the Parking, and a Nutsafe Zone
The Sudbury UMC campus includes the main sanctuary (seating for up to 340), Davison Chapel, the O’Reilly meeting room, and Hawes Hall with a modern fully equipped kitchen. The lot accommodates 150 vehicles with well-marked spaces and accessible parking. Three entry routes serve different parts of the building: ramps and steps to the narthex and sanctuary on the right side, a central walkway and steps for the preschool, and a far-left walkway for Davison Chapel, Hawes Hall, and Sunny Hill Preschool. A rear ramp on the right side of the building leads to the O’Reilly Room, a side sanctuary door, and the church office. Restrooms are located in the narthex and at other well-marked locations throughout the building. The entire building is a nut-free zone; no edible nuts are allowed inside.
Office Hours, Staff, and Giving
Office hours run Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the fall, winter, and spring, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the summer. The professional staff includes Rev. Leigh E. Goodrich, pastor; Rev. Zack Moser, Pastor of Youth and Children’s Ministries; Kevin Murphy, Music Director and Organist; Rob Hammerton, Choir Director; Mike Greb, Business Manager; Shetal Kaye, Office Administrator; and Joe Picorelli, Sexton. The congregation is served by an extensive lay leadership structure, with commissions for Christian Education, Outreach, Worship and Music, Church Growth, and Social Justice, and committees for the Board of Trustees, Staff-Parish Relations, Stewardship and Finance, and the Permanent Endowment, which was established in 2001 and now includes a General Fund and seventeen Special Purpose Funds.
Donations may be made online through the church’s PayPal portal, dropped in an offering plate on Sunday, mailed to the church, or dropped off at the office. Annual pledge cards are available each year. Sudbury UMC is a 501(c)(3) organization, and all donations are tax deductible.
Cooperative Parish and Community Ties
Sudbury UMC belongs to a cooperative parish with neighboring Methodist congregations, joining for joint events such as an Animal Blessing Service, an Interfaith Community Thanksgiving Service, and a Blue Christmas Community Service. The congregation also participates in an interfaith community that includes Jewish, Islamic, Catholic, and Protestant neighbors in the area, and shares resources with congregations across the New England Annual Conference.