To our amazing community, from The Congregation & The Rectory team.
A YEAR IN EVENTS
2025 saw over 200 individual events hosted at the Congregation. You know we had to keep our classic offerings on board, our House Night returned, although different it had all the same magic (and a little easier to handle), as well as Comedy Night, Match Made on Stage, and Open Mic staying as regular sightings to our events calendar. Of course, our space also became home to hundreds of externally produced events. From our regular grief group, mental health workshops and yoga to baby showers, office parties, book signings, and art galleries; we became a home for so many incredible memories. With the addition of the Rectory, our catering became even more enticing and accessible and our events got that much more interesting.
Highlight of the year for me? The night before Thanksgiving we host the biggest bar night of the year completely dry. In collaboration with the Phoenix, Passenger, and Recovery Action Network we create a safe haven for the recovering and sober community. This year we hosted an incredible group of folks and treated them to live music and a video and board game den in our Fellowship Hall. We can’t wait to see it return in 2026! Thank you to all of our event hosts and the community for coming out and supporting our programming for 2025. And as always, thank you to our incredible team behind the counter. Events bring chaos and uncertainty and our baristas, bartenders, event support staff, and cooks handle that intensity with incredible ease, patience, and kindness. I couldn’t fill our calendar confidently if it weren’t for my team backing me up. I am eternally grateful for you all. See you next year!
With Love Always,
Bella Brown (Events Manager)
A YEAR IN THE CAFE
A year is not only a unit of time based on how long it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun. It is also a collection of memories. As the days turn into nights and time seems to fly. One day we wake up and it has been 365 days passed. What makes up those days is a multitude of things: laughter with coworkers, cups of coffee for our favorite regulars, helping new faces step out of their comfort zone and try something new, or make them feel right at home by suggesting a timeless classic, watching our garden bloom and setting up a neighborhood farmstand, working together to raise funds for local non-profit organizations. It’s pizza and salad with friends in the greenspace, Taco Tuesdays, working (and partying) hard though house night, yoga on cool saturday morning, and that well deserved shift beer after a busy summer day. The Congregation lets me engage with my community and with my coworkers in a way that fosters growth. Some days there is anxiety. Some days there is frustration. Some days there are hurdles to jump. This is all part of a year in the life for anyone, and together we get through it all. Thankful for the wonderful ways in which we have all grown together this year, and ways in which we will grow for years to come.
Morgan Light (Cafe Manager)
A YEAR IN MARKETING
The past year has truly flown by for me here at The Congregation! Working behind-the-scenes on both marketing and events really highlights how much work and care we put into making sure every guest feels welcomed and each event feels inviting.
From a marketing standpoint, 2025 has been a big year for TCD. From thousands of new followers and 2m+ views on social media, to a feature on Good Morning America, to connecting with our community and bringing more people through our doors – it’s been an exciting 12 months. There’s even more to look forward to in 2026 as we continue to grow our new pizza restaurant, The Rectory, and our adorable vintage coffee & cocktail camper, Demitasse.
Some favorite moments have included brainstorming event names and poster designs alongside our event manager Bella, working shifts in Demitasse during live music nights, experiencing House Night for the first time, watching The Rectory open and find its stride, coordinating many private events, picking produce from our greenspace garden, and of course endless cups of coffee. A big thank you to our hard-working owner Betsy, our amazing team, and our loving community for making this a year to remember.
Kailee Ehnis (Marketing & Events Coordinator)
REFLECTIONS FROM THE CO-OWNER OF THE CONGREGATION & THE RECTORY
As this year comes to a close, I’ve found myself reflecting on just how much has happened within the walls of The Congregation and The Rectory in 2025. And more importantly, within the community that fills them every day.
Opening and operating neighborhood spaces is never simple. Doing it with intention, heart, and a commitment to hospitality takes an incredible amount of work from an incredible group of people. This year reminded me of that truth over and over again.
The Congregation: A Living Room for the Neighborhood
The Congregation continues to be what we hoped it would become: a place where mornings start slow with coffee and conversation, where afternoons invite work and reflection, and where evenings feel like a shared living room.
This year, we deepened our focus on quality; from the bar program to our food offerings, while continuing to host community events, gatherings, and celebrations that brought new faces through our doors. Watching friendships form, creative ideas spark, and neighbors return week after week is still one of the greatest joys of owning this space.
Most meaningful of all has been seeing our team grow. Many have stepped into leadership or taken on new responsibilities, sharpened their skills, and helped shape the culture of The Congregation into something thoughtful, welcoming, and proud.
The Rectory: Building Something New Together
June 2025 marked a moment we had been working toward for years, the soft opening of The Rectory. What many guests experienced as a “new” pizza restaurant was, in reality, the result of nearly five years of restoration, renovation, planning, and patience. Transforming a former home into a warm, welcoming pizza restaurant took far more time and care than we could have imagined when we first began.
Opening our doors in June allowed us to begin the process thoughtfully; training our team, refining systems, and learning the rhythms of the space. By September, we were proud to celebrate our grand opening and operate fully as the neighborhood pizza restaurant we always envisioned.
The Rectory has already grown into a place filled with families, longtime neighbors, celebrations, and regulars who have made it their own. Watching this once-empty house come back to life; full of laughter, conversation, and shared meals, has been one of the most meaningful accomplishments of my career.
None of it would have been possible without a dedicated team willing to build something from the ground up, step by step, and a community that believed in the vision and waited patiently alongside us.
The People Behind It All
None of this happens without people; the team who show up early, stay late, solve problems, support one another, and bring hospitality to life every day. This year asked a lot of them, and they rose to the challenge with professionalism, creativity, and heart.
To my entire team across The Congregation and The Rectory: thank you. Your dedicated work and support truly matters, and it shows.
And to our guests: thank you for choosing to spend your time with us. Thank you for your patience, your feedback, your celebrations, and your loyalty. Independent, neighborhood-focused businesses exist because of people who care where they gather.
Looking Ahead
As we move into the new year, our focus continues to remain clear: continue improving, continue listening, and continue showing up for the community.
There is more to build, more to learn, and more moments to create together. I’m incredibly proud of what The Congregation and The Rectory have become and even more excited about where we’re headed.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being part of this journey.
With gratitude,
Betsy (Co-Owner and Managing Partner)