First Church in Boston is a Unitarian Universalist Church (originally Congregationalist) founded in 1630 by

John Winthrop John Winthrop (January 12, 1588 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and a leading figure in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the fir ...

's original Puritan settlement in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. The current building, located on 66 Marlborough Street in the

Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on Land reclamation, reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the ...

neighborhood, was designed by Paul Rudolph in a modernist style after a fire in 1968. It incorporates part of the earlier gothic revival building designed by William Robert Ware and Henry Van Brunt in 1867. The church has long been associated with

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and Boston's Freedom Trail which includes the

burial site Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and object ...

- Massachusetts’ first Governor who, as a member of First Church, fought for truth-telling and

freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

History

The church congregation was established in 1630, when the settlers on the '' Arbella'' arrived at the site of present-day

Charlestown, Massachusetts Charlestown is the oldest Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Also called Mishawum by the Massachusett, it is located on a peninsula north of the Charles River, across from downtown Bost ...

. John Wilson was the first minister, and the only minister while the church was in Charlestown. Two years later they constructed a

meeting house A meeting house (also spelled meetinghouse or meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes private meetings take place. Terminology Nonconformist (Protestantism), Nonconformist Protestant denominations distinguish between a: * chu ...

across the

Charles River The Charles River (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Hopkinton to Boston along a highly me ...

near what is now State Street in Boston, and Wilson was officially installed as minister there. In 1633 John Cotton arrived from England, and was a teaching elder at the church, helping to establish the foundation of the

Congregational Church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

, the official state church of Massachusetts. In 1677 Dorcas ye blackmore, a freed slave, became the first African American allowed to become a member of the church. In the 18th century, Charles Chauncy was a minister at First Church for sixty years, where he gained a reputation for opposing what he believed was the emotionalism of Jonathan Edwards during the

Great Awakening The Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals in American Christian history. Historians and theologians identify three, or sometimes four, waves of increased religious enthusiasm between the early 18th century and the late 20th cent ...

. A schism developed at the turn of the 19th century: this Trinitarian Christian church eventually transformed into a Unitarian congregation by the mid-19th century, as did many of the other state churches in Massachusetts. Massachusetts' state churches (largely Unitarian and Congregationalist, including First Church), were officially disaffiliated from the government in 1833. In the 19th century, the First Church moved to

in Boston. The building at 66 Marlborough Street in Boston dated from 1868, and was designed by Boston architects William Robert Ware and Henry Van Brunt. Second Church, also known as the "Church of the Mathers", was founded in 1649 when the population spread to the North End and justified an additional congregation sited closer to those individuals' homes. From 1664 to 1741, its clergy consisted of

Increase Mather Increase Mather (; June 21, 1639 Old Style – August 23, 1723 Old Style) was a History of New England, New England Puritan clergyman in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the sixth President of Harvard University, President of Harvard College (la ...

Cotton Mather Cotton Mather (; February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728) was a Puritan clergyman and author in colonial New England, who wrote extensively on theological, historical, and scientific subjects. After being educated at Harvard College, he join ...

, and Samuel Mather. Both churches were examples of the westward movement of Boston churches from the crowded, older downtown area to the newer, more fashionable Back Bay. This area was developed for residential use after lowlands were filled in during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Second Church's Back Bay location in the Fenway was sold (it is now owned by the Ruggles St. Baptist congregation) just before the merger. After a disastrous fire in 1968, First Church and Second Church merged and built a new building at the 66 Marlborough Street location.

Architecture

The current building incorporates the ruined street facade and " puddingstone" steeple tower of the previous church on the site (by Ware & van Brunt, 1868), which had burned in 1968. After a call for designs, the congregation voted for the proposal by Paul Rudolph, which was completed in 1972. The light-flooded, soaring interior is finished with Rudolph's characteristic bush hammered "corduroy concrete" surfaces. Decades later, the interiors are immaculately preserved. Great care has been taken not to permanently change the walls, and to reproduce the original textile decorations. File:2007 1stChurch Boston MA 382333230 a5f3856548 o.jpg, 1868 steeple tower File:2007 1stChurch Boston MA 382336789.jpg, Charred

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' wa ...

frame and facade File:2007 1stChurch Boston MA 382334061.jpg, Exterior steps forming an

amphitheater An amphitheatre ( U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meaning "place for vie ...

File:2007 1stChurch Boston MA 2070348322.jpg, View towards sanctuary File:2007 1stChurch Boston MA 2067441398.jpg, Organ loft, finished in "corduroy concrete"

Notable people associated with the church

* Lowell Mason (organist 1807-1811) * John Wilson (pastor 1632–1667; died 1667) * John Cotton (pastor 1633–1652) *

, founder and governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony * Stephen Winthrop, son of John Winthrop * John Norton (pastor 1656–1663) *

John Wheelwright John Wheelwright (c. 1592–1679) was a Puritan clergyman in England and America, noted for being banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the Antinomian Controversy, and for subsequently establishing the town of Exeter, New Hamps ...

(pastor) * Valentine Hill, (

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

) * Robert Keayne, (student/notetaker) * Benjamin Keanye, (member) * John Davenport (pastor 1668–1670) * Thomas Cobbet (

reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

1645) * James Allen (pastor 1668–1710; died 1710) * John Oxenbridge (pastor 1670–1674) * Joshua Moodey (pastor 1684–1692; died 1697) * John Bailey (pastor 1693–1697; died 1697) * Benjamin Wadsworth (pastor 1696–1737) * Thomas Bridge (pastor 1705–1715; died 1715) * Thomas Foxcroft (pastor 1717–1769) * Charles Chauncy (pastor 1727–1787) * John Clarke (pastor 1778–1798) * William Emerson (pastor 1799–1811) * John Lovejoy Abbot (pastor 1813–1814) * Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham (minister 1815–1850) * Sophia Henrietta Emma Hewitt (music director 1815–17(?), daughter of James Hewitt * Charles Zeuner (music director 1839–?) * Lucien H Southard (music director 1848–?) * Rufus Ellis (pastor 1853–c. 1885; died 1885) * Whitney Eugene Thayer (music director 1869–1875) * Arthur Foote (music director 1878–1910) * Charles Edwards Park (minister 1906–1946, emeritus 1946–1962) * Rhys Williams (minister 1960–2000) * Stephen Kendrick (minister 2001–present) * Paul Cienniwa (music director 2006–2017)

Gallery

State St. (1632–1639)

File:1stMeetingHouse KingsBoston1881.png, First meeting house, built 1632 File:JohnWilson 1stChurch Boston.png, John Wilson (pastor 1632–1667) File:JohnCotton.jpg, John Cotton (pastor 1633–1652)

Washington St. (1639–1808)

File:17thcMap CourtSt SchoolSt Boston Drake1917.png, Location near Old State House, 17th century File:JohnDavenport 1stChurch Boston.png, John Davenport (pastor 1668–1670) File:Old Brick Church, built 1712, demolished 1808 by unknown artist Old State House Museum, Boston, MA - IMG 6790.JPG, Old Brick Church, Washington St., built 1713 File:JohnClarke 1stChurch Boston.png, John Clarke (pastor 1778–1798)

Chauncy Place (1808–1867)

File:WilliamEmerson 1stChurch Boston.png, William Emerson (pastor 1799–1811) File:1808 ChauncyPlace 1stChurch Boston.png, Chauncy Place, 1808–1867 File:1stCong ChauncyPl Boston HomansSketches1851.jpg, Chauncy Place, 1808–1867 File:NathanielFrothingham 1stChurch Boston.png, Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham (pastor 1815–1850)

Marlborough St. (1868–present)

File:Unitarian Church, Marlborough and Berkeley St, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg, 19th century File:RufusEllis 1stChurch Boston.png, Rufus Ellis (pastor 1853 – c. 1885) File:2590347158 BerkeleySt Boston.jpg, Marlborough St. and Berkeley St., 1920

References

External links

First Church in Boston website

1630 Christian Covenant of First Church in Boston
{{Coord, 42, 21, 13.7, N, 71, 4, 28.3, W, region:US, display=title 1630 establishments in the Massachusetts Bay Colony Back Bay, Boston Churches in Boston Religious organizations established in the 1630s Towers in Massachusetts Unitarian Universalist churches in Massachusetts