Wendell Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has stood at 421 Mattox Street in Wendell, North Carolina for well over a century, set just one block off Wendell Boulevard at Old Zebulon Road. Members and visitors know the congregation for the weekly celebration of Holy Communion that anchors each Sunday morning, a long-running choir program built on classical sacred music, and a steady calendar of community meals and seasonal events that draw neighbors in alongside the church family.
Sunday Morning at Mattox Street
The rhythm of the week turns on Sunday at eleven. Worship gathers in the sanctuary at 11:00 AM and centers on Holy Communion, which the church serves every Sunday to everyone present. Children are welcomed in the service and share a special moment with the pastor, while a staffed nursery cares for the youngest members of the household. Choir rehearsal begins at 10:15 AM, and Sunday School for all ages meets at 9:45 AM in the classrooms, with studies that range across the Bible and the Christian life.
For those who cannot easily get inside, the service goes out three ways at once. It is livestreamed on YouTube Live, broadcast on FM 91.1 in the church parking lot for anyone within a block of the building, and shared through Zoom as audio only for call-in listeners. Recordings of recent services stay on the church's YouTube channel, and a separate page gathers worship videos and Facebook links for those catching up later in the week. Hospitality and fellowship follow the service on the first Sunday of each month at 10:30 AM in the Fellowship Hall, with coffee, doughnuts, muffins, and the invitation to bring a friend.
A Choir and an Organist Who Treat Music as Ministry
Music shapes what Sunday morning feels like at Wendell Christian Church. The Music Director and Organist, Robert (Rob) Reilly, has been at the console since early 2013. He trained at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the Peabody Institute in Baltimore and has served congregations across the United Church of Christ, Episcopal, Baptist, Presbyterian, United Methodist, and Lutheran traditions, working with children's and adult choirs, orchestras, and handbell ensembles. He takes the role of music in worship seriously and strives to support everyone who sings and plays.
The volunteer choir rehearses at 10:15 AM each Sunday and leads worship at 11:00. Singers with willing voices and hearts are welcome, as are instrumentalists who would like to contribute. The choir's recorded anthems, posted on the Sacred Music section of the church's site, range across the centuries. Bach's St. Matthew Passion and Mass in B Minor, Handel's Hallelujah Chorus, Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus, William Walton's Drop, Drop, Slow Tears, and Ralph Vaughan Williams's Five Mystical Songs share space with newer pieces such as John Rutter's Look at the World, the African-American spiritual This Little Light of Mine, and hymn arrangements of I Am the Vine and I Surrender All. Seasonal posts gather music for Ascension, Pentecost, Easter, and Good Friday, including Edward Bairstow's Sing Ye to the Lord, Eugène Gigout's Grand Chœur Dialogué, and Louis Vierne's Final from the First Symphony.
Sunday School and the Children's Bible
Christian education for all ages is offered at 9:45 AM each Sunday. Classes cover biblical studies and other topics that connect faith to daily living. A staffed nursery is open during worship so parents of infants and toddlers can take part in the service.
Children are also at the center of a separate online outreach. The Education Committee produces Children's Bible Story videos, with guest readers from across the church family sharing Good News in age-appropriate language. Recent videos have walked through the story of Doubting Thomas, the Great Commission, Palm Sunday, and Jesus the Vine from John 15:1-8. The videos live on the church's YouTube channel and on the Children's Bible Stories page of the site, giving children a way to keep learning between Sundays and giving the wider Wendell community a glimpse of the church's ministry to its youngest members.
Wednesdays Around the Bible
The middle of the week has its own pattern. At 10:30 AM on Wednesday mornings, members and friends gather in the Fellowship Hall for the Wednesday Morning Bible Study, led by Virginia Mora and June Phelps. The group has worked through books of the Bible one at a time and takes a break during the height of summer before resuming. The study is open to anyone who would like to come, and newcomers can join the same way they join Sunday worship, with the meeting link shared in advance.
Wednesday also carries a short devotional service that streams on YouTube Live alongside Sunday worship. Special seasonal series, such as a five-week evening study of the book of James led by the pastor and his wife, have been offered on Zoom on Wednesday evenings. These studies, like the summer 2025 series on James facilitated by Rev. Ryan Craddock and Rev. Meredith Craddock, run as multi-week journeys and are open to all who can sign on.
Disciples Women and Disciples Men
The church's two affinity ministries are rooted in the wider Disciples of Christ family. Disciples Women meets on the first Tuesday evening of each month, from 7:00 to 8:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall, September through May. Its purpose is to provide opportunities for spiritual growth, enrichment, education, and creative service, joining women in the local congregation with regional Women's Ministries across the United States and Canada. Past studies have moved slowly through books of the Bible such as Exodus. The group welcomes all women of the church and supports the wider ministry through fundraisers such as memorial bricks in the Memorial Garden Patio and an ongoing Rada Cutlery catalog sale.
Disciples Men is affiliated with Disciples Men of the regional North Carolina Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and holds membership in the Coastal Plain District. The men promote service to the church and community, fellowship within the church and across the state organization, academic scholarships for students at Barton College, financial aid for young people attending summer programs at Camp Caroline and Christmount, and the spiritual life of the congregation. Their annual chicken barbecue fundraiser underwrites these projects, and members of the group have served on the executive committee of the State Board of Disciples Men and as officers of the Coastal Plain District.
The Church Year in Wendell
Wendell Christian Church keeps a full church calendar. On a Sunday in October each year the congregation gathers for its Homecoming, now well into its second century. The 2024 Homecoming was the 114th, with the Property and Grounds Committee cleaning up the grounds in the days before, mums ordered through the Worship Committee for the altar, and a covered-dish fellowship lunch after the morning service.
October also brings the Pumpkin Patch Fundraiser on the front lawn, a two-week pop-up sale of pumpkins staffed by church volunteers on weekday afternoons and into the evening, Saturdays, and Sundays. Shrove Tuesday in late winter brings the pancake dinner at the beginning of Lent. During Lent the congregation joins the Wendell Council of Churches for a rotating set of Wednesday noon devotions and luncheons, with members of WCC helping host and lead at several of those gatherings. Sundays in Lent often include a fellowship lunch after worship, and Holy Week is observed with devotions and lunches each day from Palm Sunday through Good Friday. The Easter Sunrise Service meets at the Wendell town square at six-thirty in the morning, and Easter morning worship follows the regular pattern.
Advent brings a Christmas Family Night potluck in mid-December with caroling, a reading of the Christmas story, crafts, and games. The year closes with the Christmas Eve Service of Lessons and Carols at eleven at night, a service of word and music that tells the story of the Nativity through readings and carols, with favorite hymns sung together. Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall decorating takes place on a Saturday morning in late November, with the tall tree calling for the tallest helpers.
Throughout the year, the Disciples Women host fundraisers such as a chili take-out day, a Valentine's luncheon after worship in mid-February, and the long-running fish fry luncheon in late February hosted by Jimmy and Dianne Green and Chris Morris. Covered-dish lunches and special evangelism luncheons follow worship on many Sundays, and the congregation marks the church's life with annual and quarterly board meetings, an Annual Congregational Meeting in early December, and an Altar Flowers ministry that lets members place flowers at the front of the sanctuary in honor or memory of loved ones.
The Pastor, the Elders, and the Calling of the Church
Rev. Ryan Craddock was welcomed as the congregation's pastor at Homecoming in October 2024. He came to Wendell Christian Church from Hood Memorial Christian Church in Dunn, North Carolina, where he had been a member and associate pastor since 2020. He also works as a licensed addiction counselor at PRI Counseling Services. Before his time at Hood Memorial he served as an elder at Union Community Church in Plain View, and he has been ordained for Christian ministry with New Millennium Ministries since 2015. He is a candidate for ordination with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and is working through the Commission on Ministry. He holds a Master of Divinity from Campbell University in Buies Creek, where he met his wife Meredith, who is also a pastor. They enjoy games, gardening, going to shows, and walking Tippi, their new puppy.
A Board of Elders supports the pastor and the congregation. The current elders are Pat Davenport, Marty Greer, Gayenell Gull, Tim Gull, Ben Lambeth, Virginia Mora, and Lisa Morris. They are available for prayer requests, suggestions, questions, and concerns, and a contact form on the church's site lets members and visitors reach any of them directly.
The church's stated purpose is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in faithful response to God's will and purposes as revealed through Jesus Christ in the world. It seeks a faith and commitment to Jesus Christ in all people, serves the community of which it is a part, brings the Gospel message to bear on society, sustains and is sustained by the general and regional manifestations of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), works cooperatively with Christians in other communions, and seeks in all ways to make known the love of God.
Martha's Compassion Box and the Wider Neighborhood
The church's outreach to its Wendell neighbors runs through Martha's Compassion Box, a take-what-you-need, leave-what-you-can pantry sponsored by the CACS Committee and placed for community residents. The box holds books for children and adults, toiletries, and nonperishable food items. Powdered milk and applesauce have stayed in steady supply, while other items are restocked as members are able. Perishables are not accepted.
Through the Wendell Council of Churches, members help host the rotating Lenten lunches and devotions that bring congregations across the town together. The Pumpkin Patch Fundraiser on the front lawn, the fish fry and Valentine's luncheon, and the Christmas Family Night potluck all open their doors to friends and neighbors. Children and youth of the region are served through the church's support of camp programs at Camp Caroline and Christmount, with financial aid from Disciples Men helping young people attend.
Joining from Home or from the Parking Lot
Worship at Wendell Christian Church reaches further than the sanctuary. Sunday morning is streamed live on YouTube Live at the church's channel, broadcast on FM 91.1 in the parking lot, and shared as audio on Zoom for those who prefer to call in. Recordings of past services stay on YouTube and Facebook, and a separate page gathers devotional videos for Wednesday Devotions and Children's Bible Stories for any week a family wants to revisit. The Sacred Music section of the site collects hymn recordings and choir anthems, with lyrics and scores for new hymns added as the choir learns them.
Giving to the church is available online through Givelify, with the Givelify smartphone app searchable by zip code 27591 and the church name. Contributions can also be mailed to the church's PO Box. The church's address at 421 Mattox Street sits a block off Wendell Boulevard at Old Zebulon Road, and directions are linked from the church's contact pages. Whether someone is in the sanctuary, in a car in the lot, on a phone in another town, or watching on a laptop at home, the service is set up so they can take part.