Welcome!

Rye Congregational Church

~ Celebrating God’s Love in the Heart of Rye Since 1726 ~

***We have switched to YouTube.***

YouTube Link:  https://youtube.com/@ryecongregational?si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE

580 Washington Road, P.O. Box 862

Rye, NH  03870

Phone: (603) 964-4061      Email:  Worship@ryecc.com

Rev. Jonathan D. Conant, Senior Pastor

Pastor’s Email:  PreacherInTheRye@ryecc.com

Our Pastor

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”  Luke 24:27

Rye Congregational Church is very pleased to welcome our Senior Pastor, Jonathan D. Conant to Rye Congregational Church.   

Rev. Conant was born and raised in Portland, ME and heard God’s call to pastoral ministry at the age of 15.  He attended Gordon College where he met his wife Jennifer,  a fellow music major and a gifted mezzo-soprano.  They attended Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary while living in a two-bedroom apartment with their three children.  Pastor Jon graduated with a Masters of Divinity and a Masters of Counseling, and believes Jennifer earned those degrees along with him.  After 12 wonderful years of worshipping, learning, growing, and finally ministering as Associate Pastor at First Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Ipswich, Massachusetts, God clearly led this family to Rye Congregational Church in January of 2023.

Rev. Conant believes that the Church is not just a group of good people who clean up well.  It is not made up of finger-wagging moralists who just tell you to behave better.  It is made up of those who know they have fallen short of God’s standards, both actively and passively, and that the problems out there in the world truly start with the problems in our own hearts.  By sheer amazing grace, we have found that through Jesus’ perfect life, death and resurrection, He offers forgiveness, wholeness, new life and eternal purpose.  As we hear His word preached, experience hospitality and genuine community with His followers, receive the sacraments of baptism and communion, prayerfully carry each other’s joys and burdens, and carry His good news to the ends of the earth, He grows us together in family resemblance.  That process will continue until one day, when He promises we will look like Him and see Him face to face.  He will come again to make all things new, and to wipe away every tear from our eyes.  The home we’re all longing for deep down, is the home we find in His presence.  So, we try in all we do, consistently imperfect no doubt, to point to Him and not to us.  We would love for you to learn more about Him along with us.

“I love preaching, teaching, counseling, discipling, turning wrenches, rooting for the Patriots, singing renaissance choral music, hunting, fishing, and talking about spiritual formation. My greatest joy comes in walking with people and learning their stories and seeing how the gospel of Jesus Christ intersects, reroutes and even redeems painful parts of their stories.”  Pastor Jon

Biblical • Traditional • Independent

 “From one man, He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined that times set for them and teh exact places where they should live.  God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him, though He is not far from each one of us.”  Acts 17:26-27                                

Our Worship Service                               

“All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (Timothy 3:16)

Our Worship Service begins at 10:00am on Sunday Mornings with a Scriptural Call to Worship, and an opening hymn, followed by a pastoral prayer and the Lord’s Prayer.   At this point in the service, our choir, directed by Melinda McMahan and accompanies by Suzanne Sheppard, sings a special anthem.  After an Old Testament reading, Pastor John spends a little time with the children during the Children’s Moment, then they are dismissed for Sunday School.  After the New Testament reading, Pastor Jon delivers his sermon.  He is a gifted speaker and his sermons have a message for everyone, young and old.  Following the closing hymn and benediction, all are invited down to our Fellowship Hall to enjoy refreshments prepared by our Fellowship Committee.

Communion is the first Sunday of the month. 

By amazing grace, we have found that through Jesus’ perfect life, death and resurrection, He offers forgiveness, wholeness, new life and eternal purpose.  As we hear his word preached, experience hospitality and genuine community with His followers, receive the sacraments of baptism and communion, carry His good news to the ends of the earth, He grows us together in family resemblance.  He will come again to make all things new, and to wipe away tears from our eyes. So, we try in all that we do to point to Him and not to ourselves.  

Rev. Jonathan D. Conant

Our Children

Jesus said: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”  (Matthew 19:14)

The children gather for worship with the adults at 10 am on Sunday mornings.  About 10-15 minutes into the service, following the opening prayer, Scripture, and a hymn, about twice a month the pastor gives a special message to the children called the Children’s Moment where they join Pastor Jon on the steps at the front of the sanctuary for a short lesson.   They are then dismissed to their Sunday School program.  They re-join the adults following the service at the coffee hour fellowship in the Fellowship Hall.