Hi everyone, welcome to Here We Are: Brattleboro’s community talk show. I’m Wendy O’Connell, and this week my guest is Reverend Dr. Scott Couper. He’s the pastor at the Centre Congregational Church here on Main Street—the big beautiful white church right downtown. He also teaches humanities at the Community College of Vermont.
Scott studied international relations, received a master’s degree in theology, and a PhD in history. Beginning with a study abroad program through SIT, he spent 20 years in Africa focusing on grassroots movements, NGO management, and human rights abuses. As he wrote in a recent letter to the editor of The Commons:
“I endeavor to cross-pollinate that which I study and teach with that which I preach.”
Wendy: Welcome, Scott.
Scott: Thank you. I’m so glad to be here.
Scott shared his journey growing up in a military family—three parents and two grandparents all served, spanning every branch of the U.S. military. Instead of enlisting himself, Scott followed a different call: the church. “The church became my military,” he said, describing 20 years of service in Africa where he worked closely with partner congregations, accountable to their guidance and needs.
He spoke about his deep respect for benevolent authority and how serving in South Africa’s congregational church—home to generations of Zulu Christians—was like traveling back in time to New England’s congregational roots. It was there he discovered his role model, Nobel Peace Prize winner Albert Luthuli, about whom Scott wrote the first substantive biography.
Though his calling wasn’t originally to parish ministry, Scott found he loved it:
“Often we’re led to where we don’t want to go. And once there, we discover it’s exactly what we were meant to do.”
Scott described his passion for both preaching and teaching. In the classroom at CCV, he finds students open and persuadable, while in the pulpit he’s inspired by parishioners whose faith, honesty, and integrity continually push him to grow.
The Centre Congregational Church itself is an open and affirming and just peace church—welcoming LGBTQ+ people, striving for justice, and engaging in interfaith partnerships. The church provides space for Zen Buddhists, a Muslim prayer room, Hindu chanting groups, AA and NA, and collaborations with the Jewish community. Scott envisions the church as an interfaith campus, where people of all faiths—and no faith—share values and space as partners.
His time in Africa continues to shape his perspective, especially as he navigates Brattleboro’s own challenges with substance abuse, mental illness, and socioeconomic issues. He reflected on the paradox of abundant safety nets in the U.S. alongside persistent gaps in care.
Throughout the conversation, Scott returned to the importance of community, aspiration, and the transcendent:
“The best place to find the divine is within other people. That’s why community and worship are sacrosanct.”
Wendy: Scott, wonderful to hear your stories and your vision for the church. I really appreciate you being on the show.
Scott: Thank you. I appreciate this forum because you bring people together by what you do.
Wendy: Thank you, Scott. And thanks to all of you for joining us today for this inspiring conversation with Reverend Dr. Scott Couper of Centre Congregational Church. Tune in next week for another episode of Here We Are.
