First Presbyterian Church at Dayton

Pastor:  The Rev. Wendi L. Werner (she/her)

Rev. Wendi L. Werner has been part of the PC(USA) since 1995; ordained a minister of Word and Sacrament in 2006.  Wendi served for over a decade in multi-staff church settings in north-central New Jersey, before taking a call in here in the central part of the state.  She started serving as pastor at the First Presbyterian Church at Dayton in 2009, where she has felt blessed by the opportunity to live within the fullness of call.

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Together with the leadership of the Dayton Church,  her shared accomplishments include the re-establishment of the Board of Deacons; the church building's accessibility project which included both a lift and addition designed to communicate welcome; the adoption of a statement on full inclusion; restoration and revitalization of the manse property; and the re-establishment of mission outreach including clothing drives and the Open Kitchen program, which offers a monthly dinner at no cost where any and all can find welcome.

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Wendi is an active member of the South Brunswick area Interfaith Clergy Association, which works throughout the year to foster respect and mutual understanding of the diverse religious traditions within South Brunswick. She is also an elected representative on the Township's Human Relations Commission. In service to the wider church, she was active in the former New Brunswick presbytery as the 2016 Presbytery moderator, chaired the 2017 Central Leadership Team, served on the Committee on Ministry and she was an elected representative to the New Jersey Missional Communities Working Group, which was charged with creating a formal proposal for the reimagining of New Jersey presbyteries including but not limited to boundary lines.  In the Presbytery of the Coastlands, Wendi has served as a member of the Core Team and and interim Commission on Ministry.  She served as the Coastlands Presbytery moderator in 2022.

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Wendi has been trained in conflict mediation by the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center and is part of the Northeast Synod's Mediation Network.  Additionally, Wendi holds a certificate of completion in Mediation and Conflict Management from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.  She has been a student of family systems with an emphasis on Bowen theory for the past several years through the Bowen Center in Washington D.C.  Additional training includes the Art of Transitional Ministry.

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Wendi is married to Noel D. Werner, Director of Music at Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton. They are the proud parents of seniors - one in high school and one in college!​​

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