Our Story
Our Leadership Team
Our Minister - Rev. MaryAnn Purtill
Rev. MaryAnn Purtill is a compassionate United Church of Christ pastor whose ministry is rooted in joyful worship, community connection, and a deep commitment to service.
Â
Ordained in 2013, she brings warmth, authenticity, and a mission‑driven spirit to her leadership at Columbia Congregational Church. Her ministry is shaped by a lifelong dedication to helping people grow in faith and discover God’s presence in everyday life.
​
Church Administrative Assistant - Michele LaBrec
Michele has been the church administrator for more than 5 years. She will be the cheerful and helpful voice you hear answering the phone and greeting you when you enter the building during the week.
Church Music Director - Alex Chiu
Alex is a talented musician playing both the organ and piano for the congregation during service. He can also be found demonstrating the 4-in-hand technique in the hand bell choir.
Handbell Choir Director - Nancy Douton
Nancy has been playing handbells here since the inception of the Handbell Choir in 1976.  She took over as director several years ago and has kept the choir going and growing.
As noted above, Nancy also serves as our Handbell Choir Director, can often be found making waffles at our Saturday Community Breakfasts, and wears many other hats around here. She now adds another chapter to her service as she steps into this new leadership role.
Church President - Nancy Douton
Our Heritage - Congregationalism
Congregational Churches were organized when the Pilgrims of Plymouth Plantation and the Puritans of The Massachusetts Bay Colony acknowledged their essential unity in the Cambridge Platform of 1648. The Cambridge Platform essentially established a doctrine in which each congregation, or local church, has free control of its own affairs. The underlying principle is that each local congregation has as its head Jesus alone and that the relations of the various congregations are those of fellow members in one common family of God.
Our Denomination -
The United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ (UCC) is an inclusive and diverse community of Christians connected by faith that calls us to build a just world for all. Ministries of the UCC advocate at a national and global level, but our roots are planted firmly in our local churches.
​
UCC Churches believe all are welcome and United by God's love.  Justice and Jesus are inseparable. Our daily worship is anchored by the belief that God is still speaking.
Our Beginning
Originally, the town of Columbia was part of Lebanon, located just to the south. Residents of the area worshiped in the center of what is now Lebanon, a journey that required at least a seven-mile walk. In 1715, twenty-four men petitioned the town of Lebanon for permission to form their own ecclesiastical society because of the distance they had to travel. Lebanon approved the request, and in 1716 the General Assembly in Hartford granted official authorization. It took four additional years to secure a settled pastor, and for that reason 1720 is recognized as the year the Columbia Church was established.