Preston ― From its inception in 1698, its first service in 1699 and through its 325th anniversary being celebrated this year, members of the Preston City Congregational Church have considered themselves rather than the building to be the church.

Buildings have come and gone, the current stately structure being the fourth to stand at the corner of what is now Routes 164 and 165, but through times of hardship and prosperity, members have congregated and worshipped together there.

That is the main theme of the church’s yearlong 325th anniversary celebration, which concludes at 3 p.m. Saturday with an anniversary service and celebration.

The event will feature guest ministers from the Preston City church’s “mother church,” the First Congregational Church of Norwich, its “daughter” church, the First Congregational Church of Griswold, and the Northeast Fellowship of Congregational Christian Churches and the National Association of Congregational Churches.

Local and state political leaders will join the celebration, as Preston City church also is a centerpiece in the small community, having hosted the town’s largest civic event, the popular Scarecrow Festival in September. The event was placed on hold during the pandemic and will return in 2025, church officials promise.

The church commissioned a new anthem for the anniversary by Joseph Martin, which will be performed for the first time during Saturday’s celebration. A large banner that proclaims “Gathering in Faith Since 1698,” hangs on a fence between the church and the church office.

The celebration continues Sunday at 3 p.m. with a free concert by the Coast Guard Academy Glee Club.

The church started its 325th celebration in 2023, celebrating the anniversary of when the Rev. Salmon Treat accepted the call to be the new minister for the First Church. Residents in the Preston area first petitioned the colony’s General Court for permission to organize their own town in 1687.

“Preston in order to become a town had to have a minister,” said Pat Marino, chairwoman of the anniversary committee.

She and Sandy Dudek, administrative assistant to Pastor Thomas C. Burke Jr., who was selected this past summer to succeed 36-year retired pastor the Rev. Stanley White, have been busy for weeks putting together this weekend’s anniversary events.

Dudek marveled that while America will celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2026, the church was in place 78 years before the country’s founding with the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

“Twelve men gathered on that very spot, so here we are,” Dudek said. “This church never sleeps.”

Avoiding a long journey

According to the church’s history narrative, residents wanted to start a new congregation to avoid the long trek to the church on the Norwichtown Green even after that church had helped build a bridge over the Shetucket River to help Preston residents reach services.

Years later, residents who were too far away from the Preston City church launched the First Congregational Church of Griswold, known as its daughter church.

The Preston City church always was located on the parcel at the junction of the two state routes. The first meetinghouse was described in the history narrative as “a crude, unpainted building with a steep roof.” It lasted until 1740, when a larger meetinghouse was built.

The ever-growing congregation needed a larger building, which was completed in 1803. But that burned to the ground in a spectacular fire on March 19, 1886. The story goes that undaunted church members cleared the site in a day, salvaged the old bell, melted it down and sold miniature bells to help pay for a new church. Some of those bells still exist, Marino said.

The new building, which still stands and has been newly renovated, was constructed in one year.

Preston City Congregational Church has 350 active members, with about 150 attending weekly services, and 70 children enrolled in Sunday school.

“I really think a lot of churches are closing because they don’t have Sunday school,” Dudek said. “Those kids are what’s going to keep this church going.”

Burke, 35, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, and 2018 Yale Divinity School graduate, said he started searching for an eastern Connecticut congregation to lead after his wife, Gretchen Wright, was hired as general manager of Goodspeed Opera House. He said he was drawn immediately to the Preston City congregation. He originally is from Bethel, and he and his wife have two young children, Thomas III, 2, and Archie, 4 months. They live in Haddam.

“This is such a vibrant church that is so full of life in a time when a lot of churches are struggling,” Burke said. “To be celebrating 325 years while thriving says something about the pillars of this community, about the foundation that they’ve created through their work and service to children, to families, to seniors and to the community.”

c.bessette@theday.com